Winter Break 2012-2013

        I got home and I worked on my Lego City sets and the next day I cleaned out my room a little bit. We decorated our Christmas tree and I made three toilet paper roll dioramas by gluing pieces of paper to the inside of toilet paper rolls to make a picture. One was for Abby, my cousin, of Harry Potter riding a broomstick against the backdrop of Hogwarts Castle, and the other two were for my friend Erin for Christmas and her birthday, which was on November 22. One was of Bilbo Baggins running from Gollum with the ring from The Hobbit which was one of her favorite books, and the other was of a famous historical women’s rights advocate, Carry Nation, who I learned about in my history class last year, showing her taking an ax and chopping down a bar, for which she was famous. The latter I thought was a good idea for her since Erin was a die-hard feminist. The next day I got a call from Tyler asking me if I wanted to go see The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey because he is an AMC employee and could go to screenings for free and bring one friend. Gladly, I said yes.

               

Later that day, my mom and I went to Barnes and Noble where I got a new journal for my meditation journal and a new bottle cap from a drink I bought at their café which I added to my sign when I got home. That night I also got an offer from my granddad to move boxes at his church for a food drive on Tuesday morning and I said yes. The next day, Tyler’s mom picked me up and took us to an Italian restaurant where I enjoyed some delicious steak before we went to see the movie. After the first few minutes of it, I was immediately hooked in, partly having loved The Lord of the Rings for most of my life, and could hardly think of anything else. It was a great movie, I thought.

                The next day I went to my granddad’s church and helped several elderly people there move boxes. I met them as well as their priest, a short, dark-haired woman, Mother Cindy. We got the boxes to a community center and my granddad paid me $20. Afterwards he took me to an ice cream shop in town where I enjoyed pumpkin flavored ice cream. We talked the whole time and then he drove me back.

                After my job for my granddad, I took to focusing on my real job and called Phil and told him I would be able to work over the break and he said he would put me on the schedule. I found the Kansas City star article about The Hobbit movie in our recycling bin and I retrieved it and hung it on my door, partly because of its significance to me as a screenwriter, and partly as a door decoration and a collector’s item. I also rode my bike for half an hour around my neighborhood, then got back and practiced my flute for half an hour. Later that night I called Erin and the next day I went to my old high school Horizon Academy in Roeland Park for a reunion and I saw my old friend Ian Sneid, who is also autistic and goes to Johnson County Community College. 

                Later that day I tidied up my room and the outside of it, which was full of Cam’s stuff, and picked up some airsoft gun pellets which I put in an origami box to use in making a cat’s ball. Later I took Wally for a walk and then my granddad picked me up and we went to the Pathless Land where I gave Ben a Buddha statue I made out of bread dough from the UCM cafeteria. He loved it and even set it on the table in the middle of our circle. The next day I made another toilet paper roll of the Buddha preaching his first sermon in Deer Park and later I read my book The Skull Mantra. The next day I made my dad’s Christmas present who is a psychologist: a toilet paper roll diorama of a quintessential therapy session with a guy sitting on a recliner. I also covered my toilet paper roll diorama with brown construction paper to make them look better.

                For the rest of the day I called Hen House and found out I work on Sunday from 9-5:30 and I cut rings from toilet paper rolls, covered them with construction paper, and glued them together to make a Christmas ornament. I also made a toilet paper roll of Punakha Dzong, a famous Buddhist monastery and Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage site in Bhutan. The next day I went to a bookstore in Downtown Overland Park and I bought a drink, getting a new bottle cap for my collection. Later that day, Dad, Jamie, and I went to my grandparent’s house where we celebrated Abby’s birthday. I saved several paper plates we used to make into things like Frisbees and ring toss games and I poked a hole in a plastic bottle cap I saved to put a toothpick through it for Sherry for Christmas.

               

The next day I went to work where I got a new bottle cap for my collection on my first break and a USDA bottle cap where people write six-word memoirs inside during my lunch hour. On my last break I got some saltwater taffees and saved the wrappers to make into a bracelet. The next day I made a draddle for Sherry and an origami kawasawi rose for Cam for when on dates with Nora. I also made a toilet paper roll diorama of Taktsang Dzong, another famous monastery and pilgrimage site in Bhutan and I made the saltwater taffee wrappers into a bracelet.

The next day, Mom, Dave, Jamie, Cam, and I opened presents. I got some Beavis and Butthead boxers, a Buddha bar, a survival tool kit, some tweezers, a wallet to fit the shape of my pocket, a National Geographic 50 of the Last Best Places in the World, Lonely Planet’s Dream Trips 2013, a Lego Architecture Rockefeller Center, and a map showing the decline of European colonialism from Mom, a tree’s tooth from Washington from Jamie, some Nerds from Cam, a $200 check from my grandmom (my mom’s mom), and a $25 Lego gift card from my Uncle Andy and Aunt Marge. I built the Rockefeller Center and later Jamie, Cam, and I went over to our grandparent’s house with my Dad where we also met our Uncle Todd, Aunt Laura, and cousins Abby and Eric. From Uncle Todd and Aunt Laura I got a five-headed Ganesh statue that they bought in Colorado, a book called The Maya, a stamp magnifying glass and tweezers, and a Tibetan paper wall hanging from Colorado from my grandparents, and a book called Family Guy and Philosophy; Buddhas, Bouddhas, Buddas, and Boeddhas showing Buddhist sculpture throughout the ages; Good Citizens: on Creating an Enlightened Society by Thich Nhat Hanh; two Jew’s harps for my ethnic musical instrument collection from Kazakhstan and China; and a bird tweeter to attract birds from my dad. I gave each of them their presents and they all liked them as well, including my dad who got a kick out of the toilet paper roll diorama. Then we went on our walk through the park in Lee Summit, an Edwards’ family tradition, then came back and eat steak, fries, mashed potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding and I read Family Guy and Philosophy in a nock in my grandparent’s upstairs floor.

The next day I got my THRIVE progress report which said I passed all my classes, except not posting the grades for my credit courses on there, and good remarks about my internship and other areas of college life. That night my granddad and I went to the Pathless Land as usual and I got a new bottle cap from a drink I bought at the café and learned of several other books of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing (published and edited by his son Christopher) such as The Lays of Beleriand, The Shaping of Middle Earth, and The Lost Road and Other Writings. I also bought a copy of the magazine issue Saveur: 46 Delicious Recipes from Around the World and two Lonely Planet books, one on Botswana and Namibia and one on Zambia and Malawi. The next morning I went to my art class with Jack and I got back and cut out several rings from toilet paper rolls to make Christmas ornaments. The next day I cut out pieces of construction paper to make toilet paper roll dioramas of Tango monastery, Tsonga, Cheri monastery, and Lhuentse Dzong in Bhutan and I got some more glue from Bruce Smith and a Snapple drink along with a new Snapple cap for my collection, and two sodas from Better Cheddar getting two new bottle caps for my collection and adding them to my sign.

The next day I called work and found out I worked 3:30-8:30 the next day and Monday and Saturday from 3:30-8. Later I went to see The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey again but with Jamie, Mom, Dave, and Kate. The next day I got a call from Phil asking if I could come in that day at 12 and I said yes and I also got a new bottle cap (not a crown cap) during my break and a new USDA cap after work. The next day I got another USDA cap from my drink during my break at work and I found a new bottle cap lying around the house which I added to my sign.

As the first day of January came, I started making a toilet paper roll of Tsonga monastery in Bhutan and later my friend Erin and I got together and I gave her a present for Christmas and her birthday. She gave me presents for Christmas and my birthday as well: two DVD’s History Channels Barbarians Volume I and II. We went and ate at the Cheesecake Factory and afterwards we went to Barnes and Noble where I got a Lonely Planet book on South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland, and a Winter 2012-2013 issue of Parabola magazine. The next day I met up with my Granddad and he gave me several old Smithsonian magazines he had for my collection and we went to Pei Wei, where I got a new bottle cap from my drink, and Half Price Books where I bought a Lonely Planet book on West Africa, The Lays of Beleriand, and The Children of Hurin, before going to the Pathless Land. I went to my art class the next day-Jack for some reason wasn’t there-and later on I got a haircut. The next day I made a toilet paper roll diorama of Lhuentse monastery in Bhutan and the day after that Dad, Jamie, and I ate at an Asian restaurant. The next day I went to work and made a bracelet from the Hershey’s Nugget wrappers from the ones I got on my break. On Sunday I went to brunch with Dad, Cam (Jamie left for Washington), and my grandparents at a fine Mexican restaurant before I went to work again.

On the first day of the week when I woke up I felt stressed that next year I would be making the big transition to regular UCM, understanding now how certain people who were going through big transitions felt. I felt a lot better after I did my daily meditation and on Tuesday I found a new bottle cap in the Prairie Village shopping center and I realized I was glad I didn’t live in a country like Sudan or Afghanistan, which might discourage bottle cap collecting due to its connection with alcohol content. I also made a paper mache bowl for all my mani stones. The next day I went to work and later went to the Pathless Land with my granddad and during the next day also I went to work. On Friday, I rode my bike and my dad and I ate together at BRGR so we could see each other one last time before I went back to UCM. He also ordered me some stamp hinges for my collection. I went to work the next day and the day after that I got a flu vaccine, suddenly sympathizing with all those professionals I know who do a lot of tedious paperwork, then I finished packing up and my mom and I went to Target where we bought shredded Mozarella cheese, pepperoni, and plain bagels to make pizza bagels, beef jerky, and some lollipops for snack food. After that we drove back to UCM.

Exit Internship, Enter Finals

On the first day of December I finished my paper mache paperweight with my name on it and I worked on my travel plans to Liberia. I did some laundry and I got my mom to wire $50 from my account at home to my account at school. Then at 6:50, I went down to the Black Box Theater where Tyler and Jack would be giving a performance for their Jazz Dance class. I saw it and thought it was great and I thought the school seeing them was a wonderful way to make students aware of people with disabilities on campus.

                When I got back I watched The Medallion with Tyler and a few other THRIVE students who came to join us and I started on another paper mache paperweight with six rocks embedded in it each having a letter painted in white watercolor pencil forming the word “Wisdom.” The next day I started making my Christmas present for my cousin Eric: paper maches bust of Aang from the show Avatar the Last Air Bender, which he liked. 

The next day I went to my Public Speaking class and listened to a presentation on the pros of space travel: apparently space travel had given us so many of the modern luxuries we have today. That night I went to a Christmas party over at a local resident of Warrensburg’s house where I filled up on turkey, rolls, but still had somehow room for cherry cobbler. I also ate some delicious mangos which suddenly made me eager to shop at fruit markets when I visit Africa and other places on my travels. The family who invited us let us THRIVE students take home some food and Tyler and I brought back some mangos and blackberries. I also talked to Mom that night and she said instead of her wiring me $50 she would just sent a check of $100 from my account at home.

                The next day I got a CD rewritable from the vending machine to save my power point for my speech on in the Lovinger building and I finished my notes and my power point presentation for that speech. I also went to the THRIVE Award Ceremony at Mazzio’s Pizza where I won five awards including: an award for finishing Plato, an award for Awesome Attendence in Person Centered Planning, All 4’s in Participation and Accountability in Transition Planning I, All 4’s on my Progress Report, and for the award we all get, The Reporter Award. For each award we got to pick out a prize from a table. I picked out three bouncy balls for my collection of bouncy balls (which I’m now thinking of quitting as I have so many collections), an origami swan, and a mouse pad to use as a coaster for my water bottle on my desk. When I got back I had a lot of trouble printing off my sources for my speech for my Public Speaking class until I decided to give it a rest for a while and go run on the treadmill. When I got back however, I had no luck with Tyler’s printer but then Hillary found out about my problem and let me use her printer so I got my sources printed off.

                The next day however, I couldn’t save my power point to my e-mail account because my internet wasn’t working.  9:00, the time my class started had come and nothing was working. But then fortunately Kriti heard of my problem and lent me her flash drive. I got to class and gave my speech and felt incredibly relaxed as I did so and I apologized to my teacher for being late and explained it to him and he said it was no problem. Back at my dorm, I found some more pebbles and turned them into mani stones and I returned Kriti her flash drive. Later that day I went to the Muleskinner office for my internship and they said it would be better if I came tomorrow. I told them that I had something going on at 3:15 tomorrow so we agreed on 2:30.

                The next day I got as much done as I could on writing the first thirty pages of a screenplay for my Screenwriting class. I got done twenty-six pages and I turned it in. I went to the Muleskinner office at 2:30 and did some editing. Then I went to my mock interview with Mr. B realizing only minutes before I went in that I didn’t have my resume. Mr. B said that was alright and I could just e-mail him.  Otherwise the interview went pretty well. Mr. B said that I was confident and gave appropriate responses to his questions. When I got back I e-mailed him my resume and that night I also enjoyed taking several cartoon pictures with my cellphone camera, such as Tyler, Kriti’s boyfriend Josh, a female Asian student who swiped cards in the cafeteria at late night, and Salman from my Public Speaking class who worked in the cafeteria at late night. I also sent those pictures and several other pictures of my time in Warrensburg to my Dad.

                The next day I bought some new mechanical pencils at the Union bookstore and I went to the library and read that Lonely Planet book on Mongolia where I learned that Mongolia is a good place to buy stamps, such as ones featuring religious images, wildlife, traditional dances, and even ones with the faces of celebrities on them such as Princess Diana and Jerry Garcia. Then I went to the Lovinger building and printed off my take-home Screenwriting exam which I learned was due on the 13th. I did some laundry later that day and I worked on making two paper mache paperweights, one with six rocks embedded in it each with a letter on them forming the word “Wisdom,” and the other with ten rocks embedded in it with letter on each of them forming the word “Compassion.” Together they said two key Buddhist principles, wisdom and compassion. Then I displayed these paperweights from my window so people walking by would be reminded of these great values. The next day I finished those paper mache paperweights and later that day I learned that I can write twenty-six pages of a screenplay in only a few class days and suddenly I felt much better about my ability to get a screenplay done.

                On Sunday I went down to Hasting’s and bought a Winter 2012 issue of Buddhadharma magazine for my magazine collection and on my way back, a car pulled into the parking lot of a gas station only two or three blocks from UCM and called my name. I looked and saw Cassie and Mckinsey in the car with Cassie in the driver’s seat and she offered to give me a ride back to UCM. I got in and thanked her for doing this. She said, “It’s no problem. It’s really cold out right now. I’d do this for anyone. I just think it’s the right thing to do.” I enjoyed hanging around them and what a kind person Cassie really is. Afterwards at dinner while Tyler and I sat with Jack, Kayla, and Amanda, I asked the three of them if they would like to, with Tyler, who had already agreed, and me, like to buy our own house that we use as a hang out place and they thought that would be a great idea. Tyler told me Gabe, Zach, and Alex from last year’s THRIVE students were also up for it.

                The next day I went to my Public Speaking class and took my exam which I thought went pretty well. I also got back a grade for something else in the class and I had an eighty-two out of one hundred points. The next day I worked on my take-home Screenwriting exam and I went down to Crazy Dog’s where I got a beer and some food to relax, along with a new bottle cap for my collection that came with the beer. The day after that, I finished my Screenwriting exam and I signed up to be checked out the next day. I also started packing up. The next day I turned it in and also got my screenplay pages back and got one hundred twenty points out of one hundred fifty. Later that day, I finished packing up and I made a Christmas ornament from my origami swan as well as one of my Buddhitz sticky notes and a Feng Shui coin. Then Jenna, the CA from the first floor of Ellis came in and inspected my room then said everything was fine. After that, my mom arrived and I put my stuff in her car and we rode on home.

Warrensburg, Missouri, November 25-30, 2012

On Monday after I got back we didn’t have Transition Planning class for the rest of the semester except for a mock interview. The next day, after seeing how I make so many crafts out of recycled trash-wallets out of snack wrappers; bookmarks out of toilet paper rolls; crosses out of lollipop sticks; and so on-I thought maybe I should join a student environmental group like what they had a t JOCO.  On Wednesday, Mr. B asked me to come see him at 2:40 about my interview time. I went there and he said he wanted to reschedule it for 3:15 next Thursday because he had a meeting in St. Louis on my original date and I said sure. When I went to my Person Centered Planning I told Teresa I was thinking of joining a student environmental organization and she gave me a list of student organizations and sure enough I found a group called the Environmental Awareness Club. I also talked to her about my other blog The Autist Dharma and how my dad likes how it blends Buddhism with so many pop-culture things. She said it sounded like he’s very proud of me. I’ve wanted to make films that reflect the teachings of the Buddha for so long now and I realized that’s the kind of thing I’m good at.

That night I saw a commercial on the Disney Channel about planting trees and I thought how much easier life for people in Africa would be if there were more trees and how people could work more easily and be saner so warlords would have a harder time inducting people into their armies. The next day I had a bite to eat in the cafeteria with Alex and I realized the Environmental Awareness Club could sell the eco-crafts I make to raise money. On Friday I ran into Cassie at lunch where she was sitting with a group of friends and said hello to her. I asked her how her Thanksgiving went and she said it went pretty good. I told her mine went good to. I got my mom to wire fifty dollars from my account at home to my account at school and I started using some rocks I found and collected to make a paper weight saying my name. I made a paper mache log in which I embedded the rocks and on each of them I wrote a letter of my name. I also made a photo holder for the picture of the Dalai Lama on my altar by wrapping a third of a paper clip around the base of a flat rock and curving the other end to hold the photo, and I watched Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor with Tyler.

Warrensburg, Missouri, November 1-16, 2012

On the first day of November as I was getting checked in at the cafeteria at breakfast, I heard that Esther’s, the check-in lady in Ellis, brother-in-law died recently and I was asked to sign a card for her.  I did and during my Screenwriting class I did an in-class exercise.  After class I found the name of a class that I thought looked interesting called Alaskan History and Myth.  I thought this stuff seemed interesting because of a Buddhist scholar Tom Lowenstein who I read since I was twenty who also had an academic interest in the Alaskan Inuit myth and ritual.  I know myths of various peoples of can provide a good source for a film.

                I saw Esther at lunch and told her I was sorry for her loss and after lunch I went down to the library and checked out a Lonely Planet book on New Zealand which I thought looked like a good place to travel because of the Lord of the Rings being filmed there and after Cassie hearing Cassie tell me about her study-abroad semester there.  The next day I went into town with Hillary, Philip, Kayla, and Sheldon and Philip showed us a wonderful looking Italian restaurant his uncle owned.  That night Mom called me saying she had my ballot sent to her and asked me to tell her what to put for me.  I did and she said she would send it tomorrow.  I watched King of the Hill on the treadmill that night and I saw the Spanish spoken in there and realized the maker of the show must know it as he’s from Ecuador.  It’s true what they say: you should write what you know.

                The next Monday morning I had a dream that Cassie’s father died and I went to his funeral, just as I had done with Jack for his mom and Elizabeth with her father.  For a while I resisted recycling the card Jack’s father sent Mom and I thanking us for supporting them, which simply stood on my desk, as it had some much meaning.  But then I remembered what the Buddha taught about letting things go so reluctantly I recycled it.  I know the card was only a symbol of the appreciation Jack and his father had for my mom and I, not the feeling itself.  The next day an idea suddenly came to me that the dream I had about Cassie’s father might have been saying that I comfort her, especially now with her school and work load being stressful.  That same feeling that I had when I sat with her and Mckinsey was there again.

                I saw Cassie in the cafeteria that day and learned she took a day off work to get caught up on her homework.  The next day I made an appointment with Krisana West who I met with last year about my courses for next semester on Friday at 10 and I saw Cassie in the cafeteria the next day as I went there to fill up my coffee and we said hello.  I realized she might have another class to take before she does her practicum as I remembered last semester she had to talk to the head of the Social Work department to get into a class she didn’t have the prerequisite for.  But if she did I knew she could use that semester to take courses towards a Master’s or graduate degree in Social Work and finish earning it at the University of Kansas City Missouri or Columbia University.  I also decided that whatever it was I wanted with Cassie could wait, if it came at all, until she was settled into the social work world.  I really just wanted her to be happy.

                The next day when I saw her at Einstein’s I noticed her hair was losing some of the black dye she had put into it a few months ago but I didn’t say anything.  I practiced for my speech and I bought a blank CD from the vending machine to put my powerpoint for my speech on.  I remembered how in my last speech I lost points because I didn’t have a drive for my powerpoint.  I saved my powerpoint onto it and I gave my speech the next day.  After that I went to my appointment with Krisana and I signed up for a University Library and Resource Skills class and a Geology class and lab.  After that I went down to the Union where I bought some poster board to use to make a bottle cap sign with all the bottle caps I had collected since I started collecting them a few months ago and I saw Cassie from a distance in the bank.  I went down there to say hello and told her I noticed something was different with her hair and that I liked it as I always do.  She said, “Thank you, I appreciate that.”  I also noticed her hair was wavy and not in a ponytail the way it was when I first met her and always liked.

                That night, Tyler went down to the Rec Center with me along with his trainer Cody.  He had been trying to lose weight for quite some time and I told him it was all a matter of continuing to exercise.  By the end of our time there he lost one and a half pounds.  Tyler and I got back to our dorm and we watched Family Guy Blue Harvest which he had brought with him to school.  The next day after reading about the mud-brick mosques, fortified villages, painted facades, and palaces and forts in West Africa from my Lonely Planet book, I made plans in my travel journal to go visit them.  The next day Tyler joined me while I meditated and I found out he meditates by watching his thoughts just like my dad does.  I also worked on two friendship bracelets.

                The next day I went to the bank and found out I had no money in my account at school because two dollars had been withdrawn for my statement fee but the woman at the bank told me I could sign up to get it on-line free of charge so I did that.  I also started using my bottle caps to make a sign that says “Om mani padme hum” on the poster board I got with the sticky stuff I use on my dorm walls.  The next day when I saw Cassie down at Einstein’s I told her if she had another semester to go she could use it to get credits towards a master’s degree in social work and she said she didn’t know what she was going to do and she was just trying to get through her classes.  I decided to make my bottle cap sign say the variation of “Om mani padme hum”: “Om mani peme hum,” because that’s the only version that would fit on my poster board and I rearranged my mani stones in a way I thought looked better.  The next day I practiced my flute for half an hour and called Hen House and asked for Phil and they said he’d be in the next day.  I also read about the ancient Nigerian city of Calabar in my Lonely Planet book and I made plans to go visit it.

                The next day I worked on my self-evaluation paper for my last speech in my Public Speaking class and I practiced my flute for half an hour.  I had some ribs with spices for Native America Heritage month, the first time I had tried ribs, even though I had eaten plenty of barbeque over my life and I called Phil and told him I would be available to work from the 17^th to the 24^th and he said he would try to put me on the schedule.  That night Tyler showed me how to make a root beer float in the cafeteria by getting some root beer and getting vanilla ice cream from the soft-served machine.  Then the next day Granddad came and took me home to my mom’s for Thanksgiving break.

Warrensburg, Missouri, October 28-31, 2012

The day after I got back I made a mani stone from the pebbles in my collection which I have found in Warrensburg. Basically, that is a stone that has the Buddhist mantra Om mani padme hum (Hail, Jewel in the Lotus) carved, or in my case, painted on it, found throughout Tibet and parts of the Himalayas. I used my watercolor pencils and wrote it in Tibetan like the stones I’ve seen in books, and put it with my other mani stones. I decided to print off some of my sources for my Public Speaking class today and the rest the next day because the Lovinger computer lab only allows twenty-five pages to be printed of a day and I had to print off my outline for a screenplay for my Screenwriting class. I returned my books that were due today and I checked out Lonely Planet books on West Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania again and a Rough Guides book on Zanzibar.

                During my Transition Planning class I did some corrections on a homework assignment which Mr. B let us do. The next day when I saw Cassie at Einstein’s, she seemed happy to see me. I also wrote up my outline for my next speech and submitted it on SafeAssign and printed off the rest of sources. I talked to my mom that night and told her I had my voter registration form at home and she said she would look for it and try to send it. Early in the morning the next day I read that the voter registration form can be faxed so I wouldn’t have to worry about mailing it before the deadline. I called my mom and told her that you can fax the voter registration form and she said she would do that when she found it.

                I talked to Teresa during my Person Centered Planning about my confusion over the fundraising aspect of starting the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group and after talking to her I realized I could talk to the Office of Student Activities about that. I also mentioned that I wanted to find peer mentors, people who modeled good communication for the group and help them if people came to them with a problem and realized I should talk to the head of departments. That night my mom called and said she’d faxed the form and I went to the THRIVE Halloween party wearing a cowboy had I’d got at the last minute and just saying I was Indiana Jones. In order to throw less away I took the Styrofoam plate I used to eat off of and cut out bits of it and made it into a decorative plate which I hung in my dorm.

Kansas City, Kansas, October 26-28, 2012

I got home with my mom that night and she, me, Dave, Cam, and Graham ate at Elsa’s Ethiopian restaurant. I spent the night building some of my Lego sets, looking for pieces to them in the bucket of Legos and putting megablocks pieces I find with the other megablocks pieces. The next day, my mom and I went into the Plaza and I got some new shoes which adjust better to the heel of my foot and I looked in Barnes and Noble at the Lonely Planet books in the travel section. That night I went with my dad, Cam, Sherry, Grandmom, and Granddad to eat dinner at a steakhouse in Overland Park. I came back that night to my mom’s and we watched the movie, Memento, one of the films mentioned in my book Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies, as I want to write Buddhist themed films and think it’s important for me to learn from those kinds of films. The next day I took Wally and Lulu for a walk while some people came to buy one of our puppies. Then later on I went back with my mom to school.

Warrensburg, Missouri, October 1-26, 2012

On the first day of the month (a Monday), I took my first exam for my Public Speaking class. On the whole I thought it went pretty well. The next day I got an e-mail from Andrew Lyons from the Muleskinner asking me if I could attend a presentation sponsored by Queers and Allies for my article and I e-mailed him back to say I could. I got permission from Keke to do my study hall the next night and I went to the presentation in the Union. The presentation was by a man named Ryan Sallans and it was about his transition from female to male in Aurora, Arkansas. I took notes and I got back and got g a call from Matthew Hutchinson saying he could do the interview on Thursday at 2:00.

The next day I found out I got one hundred percent on all the exercises for my Screenwriting class and a eighty-two percent on my exam and printed off an absentee ballot form and filled it out. I saved some snickerdoodle cookies from the cafeteria and put them in my altar bowl. I also went to Walgreens and got some more shampoo and I donated a candy bar. I worked on a lot of my article for the Muleskinner and I read in my Lonely Planet book on Mongolia that Mongolian students often wish they could forget Russian (their colonial language) and “learn useful European languages.” I remembered what I read in my Lonely Planet book on Mongolia and realized that since Mongolia was never colonized by wealthier European nations, t never learned their languages and could never do business with those countries. Afghanistan, Iran, and Ethiopia were three countries that were never colonized and suffer for similar reasons, although Ethiopia probably benefits from its native Amharic language because they can learn Arabic which is similar to Amharic so they can do business with them. I did realize that countries that weren’t colonized can do well, however. Thailand was never colonized and it does well for Southeast Asia, perhaps because it is part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, many of which speak French.
I went to study hall that night as I planned where Andrea from my Public Speaking class was volunteering and after running on the treadmill for about an hour I realized Tibet could do well economically if they throw off Communism because they will know Chinese. I guess the reason the former Soviet nations have such unfree economies is because the only non-native language they know is Russian so they can’t develop business relationships.
The next day worked on my travel plans to Mongolia and I interviewed Matthew over the phone and he answered my questions. I typed them when I got back to my dorm and sent them to Andrew.
On Friday I did my laundry and I ran into Cassie, Mckinsey, and Tyler at lunch and sat down with them and we had a good time. After I got back to my dorm I started my outline for my next speech in my Public Speaking class and I made another friendship bracelet.

On Monday I got back my exam for my Public Speaking class and found I had gotten a C which wasn’t bad. That day and the next day I practiced my speech for my Public Speaking class and on Wednesday as I prepared to give it, I felt nervous but I realized that’s helpful and it’s normal. Then I gave my speech and it was pretty good. The next day I worked on my travel plans and the day after that I had lunch with several THRIVE students, including Jack, and I took the trash in my room out.
The next day Tyler’s parents and his paternal grandfather came to visit. I noticed how they turned on the television to watch football while I was still in bed and Tyler’s father asked Tyler to come out to the hall with him. Tyler came back and told me his parents wanted him to remind my they have their own routine when they visit. Tyler’s dad asked him to come out with him again and I ended up getting fully dressed with Mrs. Weekly in the room. Tyler apologized for the confusion and told me his grandfather had Alzheimer’s.
I went to the library and checked out a Rough Guides book on Kenya where I learned about an interesting Iron Age site. I saw a picture of a Kenyan tribal elder which suddenly made me see things about Tyler’s grandfather’s problem. In much of the Third World, elderly people are honored and still play a role in society, unlike the West, so they don’t go their life without using their mind a great deal. I also picked up a Lonely Planet book on East Africa and checked the two books out.
I worried about Tyler getting Alzheimer’s due to his genetic history and the fact that he has Down Syndrome but I talked to my granddad and he said they might have a cure for Alzheimer’s by that time. I got a package from my mom which included some lip balm, some nail-clippers, and some Russell Stover’s chocolates. I also learned about Shiva Caves on the coast of Kenya, with carvings of the Hindu gods Shiva and Ganesh and I found out about some Swahili ruins.
That night I watched the movie Nim Island with Tyler and the next day my granddad came to visit. He gave me something, a bag of old coins that were his father’s and we went down to Crazy Dog’s. After that we went to Hasting’s and he got me the fall issue of Buddhadharma magazine and a beginner’s yo-yo kit and I introduced him to Tyler, Kriti, and Kimmie. That night I decided I might like collecting yo-yo’s since I now have so many of them: the one’s in the kit, plus the one Hillary gave me last year, and a yo-yo that use to be my brother’s and I found with his old stuff and the surface shows a map of the world. I also set my alarm for an hour and a half before my class starts each morning on my cell-phone so I don’t have to set it every night.

The next day I learned about some more ruins in Kenya and I made a table out of construction paper and the box lid of the kit my granddad got me and put my alter on the top and my glasses case and valet on a rack below. I also realized that my laptop might not be coming on because the cord isn’t working so I called my mom and asked her to send me a new cord for my laptop. The next day I did my self-evaluation paper on my last speech for my Public Speaking class and I filled out a survey on Sudexo which if you do they donate to Habitat for Humanity.
The next day however, I got sick and I e-mailed my instructors, Andrew, and Teresa to tell them. I did however get my new cord for my laptop in the mail and it let my computer turn on. Tyler let me drink some of his Pepto-Bismol and I went into town and got some Seven Up. The next day I felt better and went to my class.
On Friday I saved a coupon for ProCuts for my next haircut and the day after that I learned more about the ruins of an ancient Swahili city-state called Gede in Kenya. On Sunday I typed up my paper for my Public Speaking class on what my next speech topic, for a persuasive speech, would be which was going to be getting people to consider traveling to sub-Saharan Africa.

On Monday I got back the results of my last speech in my Public Speaking class. I would have done better but I accidentally forgot to submit my outline for my speech onto SafeAssign so I got a fifty-five percent. Better than nothing. The next day in my Screenwriting class, the teacher gave us all a copy of that month’s American Cinematographer and the next day I went to the Dollar General Store, where shampoo and dental floss were cheaper, and got some. I also got a new yo-yo for my collection there and I got a cowboy hat at Hasting’s for my Halloween costume. Mom called that night and asked if I wanted to come home for the weekend and I said yes so the next day I rode home with her in her car.