A Difficult Month Transpires

On the first day back I saw Cassie at Einstein’s and we talked about Jack’s mother. She looked really sad for me and told me to give Jack her regards. Later that day I heard that Jack’s mother had died. Emily came into my room and told me about it. She teared up on my bed and I put my arm around her. Afterwards I e-mailed Cassie to tell her the news. I told my mom, dad, and grandmom (my granddad was away) about it and they offered their condolences to me and told me to pass them along to Jack.

                That night I did my Public Speaking homework. I also found a way to arrange my Ethernet cord so it doesn’t look weird. I simply put it behind Tyler’s TV and under his and my bed. 

The next day I went to a meeting for my internship with two Muleskinner editors, the one I met with last year, and a red-headed girl Ellen Becker. I learned that assignments were given on Mondays and Tuesdays and due the next Monday. She told me she would love for me to do an introductory piece for this month and I agreed and gave her my contacts and everything. The next day I found out the funeral for Jack’s mother would be at 1:00 on Saturday the 22^nd at Central Presbyterian church. That night I started on my introductory piece. I also chose three events on my life for the body of my speech: starting the JCCC Autism Spectrum Support Group, coming to THRIVE, and writing for the Muleskinner for my internship.

                On Friday I thought back to the time when my friend Elizabeth suffered the loss of her father in a lawn mowing accident. I found out from her on the phone just as I was in my art class. Hanging around my neck had been a pendant showing an elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesh, who symbolizes to many Hindus the notion of impermanence shared by Buddhists and Hindus alike. I had gotten it from my uncle Todd a year ago as a birthday present, which he had gotten in a shop Little Nepal in Boulder, Colorado. Seeing it every now and then soothed me so much.

I wrote a Thank You note to Phil for allowing me to work so many hours over the summer, and to my grandmom for the fifty dollar check she sent me for my birthday. Jack came back to school. I hugged him saying, “I’m sorry for your loss.” Jack seemed to be almost completely unaware that anything had happened. I talked to my granddad who reminded me of the griever’s phase one, denial, and realized Jack’s false peace couldn’t last too long.

                That weekend, after eating at Crazy Dog’s, I went down to Hasting’s and found to great books: Creating Comics a book on comic book author’s process for creating their works, and a Simpson’s comic book Bart Simpson’s Pal Milhouse, and bought them both. I got back and worked on finding a quote for my speech in my Public Speaking class. I found a quote that goes, “Let the beauty of what you love be the things you do," by a thirteenth century Persian poet Jelalluddin Rumi

That night I read my Simpson’s comic book which started with Milhouse having trouble keeping hold on his “imagination” but then ended up stopping an armed robbery. I was inspired by the message as I have the ability to imagine things.

               

On Monday I submitted my introductory piece and on Wednesday gave my speech in front of the class for Public Speaking and I thought it went pretty well. Another student said in a speech, “You may think things are well now, but trouble is just around the corner.”

I did my homework for my Transition Planning class in the Union computer lab. Unfortunately I lost my flash drive in there. It wasn’t in the computer I left it in, or my pockets, or at the front desk. 

              The next day I got an e-mail from Mrs. Fahrmeier complimenting me on my article in the Muleskinner. As I left the library I saw a collection of musical instruments including several ethnic ones, which interested me as I collect ethnic musical instruments. I got to the cafeteria and Esther, the woman who works at the check-in congratulated me on my article. I saw a copy of the newspaper sitting on her desk.

                On Saturday I went to the library and found several good Lonely Planet books. I checked out one on India, West Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, and Australia. As I ran on the treadmill, I also decided to get a new haircut to give me a new attitude on live. Plus, it would look nice at Jack’s mom’s funeral. The next day I went to the shopping square yet ProCuts, where I had gotten my haircut for the formal last year, was closed on Sundays. I did however have a nice time looking in Hasting’s Books. I saw an issue of Sufi magazine, a magazine devoted to the study of spirituality in art, literature, philosophy and practice, which had an article called Silence, the Breath is Precious. I was always told at the Pathless Land that “we are the silence.” I knew that in Buddhism, the breath reminds us of the fact that we are all alive, and silence I thought, must allow us to observe our breath. I bought a copy of that magazine and walked back to my dorm. On my way I remembered how Jack’s father had not been eating around the time of his wife’s terminal diagnosis. Then I remembered my Buddhist belief that all human beings are doing what they are doing, right or wrong, in pursuit of happiness, whether they be Jack’s father not eating or suburban kids doing acid. I felt kind of inspired at that to tell the truth because if we’re all doing something to find happiness, then deep down, no matter what is going on, we believe it’s possible.

                When I got back to the dorm I continued making friendship bracelets that I had planned to make and sell last year to raise money for the THRIVE program. Later I thought back to how I said in my speech that doing the things I loved had led me to greater success. Then I thought maybe doing what I love in other areas, like bird-watching, going on beaches, seeing rock art and ruins, sailing a dhow in Kenya and Tanzania, friendship bracelet making, flute-playing, and coin collecting, ethnic musical instrument collecting, smashed penny collecting, bottle cap collecting, stamp collecting, Snapple cap collecting, and Simpsons comic book collecting could also lead me to greater success. After that I did my homework for my Transition Planning class. Then I went to the library and checked out two movies that were listed on dharmaflix.net: Dark City and Mists of Avalon. Unfortunately that night I didn’t have my night time medication. On an unrelated note, I thought of the quote the student in my Public Speaking class said, “You may think things are good now, but trouble is just around the corner.”

               

The next day I went to ProCuts and got my haircut. The day after that, after I got back from my Screenwriting class, I took a nap. I talked to Mom on the phone and she said she would come get me and Emily on Saturday between 11:15 and 11:30 and that my medicine should come tomorrow. The next day I got back the grade for my speech which was an 85%. Our next project would be a social justice topic and we were given a list of examples. I got my medicine in the mail after my class got out then I took a nap. I was glad I had this problem with my medicine however because I was worried about that quote I heard in my Public Speaking class about trouble always being around the corner because now that I had this problem, I knew that when there is trouble, I can deal with it.

I thought about my next speech for my Public Speaking class and thought about doing the “Asia Spring” (the Asian equivalent of the Arab Spring). I talked to Teresa in my Person Centered Planning and she told me that one asset to doing it is that so few people know about it. I decided I’d do it. That night I also worked on a bracelet to sell and raise money for the THRIVE program.

The next day I realized that the Asia Spring was important to me as an artist and writer because of free speech and free expression involved in it. The day after that at 8:10 in the morning, us THRIVE students were required to go to Jessica’s office and then walk with her to the Board of Governor’s meeting during which there would be a presentation on the THRIVE program. I stayed there until about 8:50 and then walked to my Public Speaking class. During class, we got into groups and talked about how to relate our topic to our audience. I realized that internet censorship is relevant to college students as a college is a place for the exchange of ideas, which the internet spreads. I also realized that the possible security crisis in many of the countries affected by the Asia Spring is relevant to UCM students because many of these countries are where students study abroad.

When I got out of class I found I got some mail which included my last paycheck to deposit in my UCM account and my new state ID. I also did some rearranging of my room. First I used that brush my grandmom gave me and the bucket from the popcorn bucket Tyler gave me to sweep of my desk. Next I picked up that sticker I had lying around from my desk from last year saying, “Am I too sexy” and put it on my drawer. I also recycled the program for the Convocation.

The next day Mom came and picked up Emily and I for Jack’s mother’s funeral. Sheldon came with us too. He lent me a shirt for the funeral and Oscar and Logan from THRIVE told me they sent their thoughts and prayers with Jack. 

We got to the funeral an hour later it seemed. Dr. Mayfield, Mrs. Fahrmeier, Alex Place and his mother, and Taylor and Tyler were present. Donna, my art teacher, was also there.

After the funeral I shook Jack’s dad’s hand and told him, “I’m sorry for your loss.” I also told him that Oscar and Logan from THRIVE send their thoughts and prayers and Cassie sent her regards. I told the same thing to Jack and got Dr. Mayfield, Mrs. Fahrmeier, and all the THRIVE students with Jack to take our picture. I said the things I said to Jack to several of Mrs. Ditch’s friends and to her sister.

My mom, Emily, Sheldon, and I got home and I used that time to pack up my piggy bank, bird binoculars, watercolor supplies, a closet bookshelf Mom got me, my Harry Potter stones, and some of the pennies, nickels, and dimes in my collection. I also saw that one of the bookshelves Mom got me had been painted and had the nails taken out of it. Afterwards, Graham drove us back to UCM.

The next day I finished another friendship bracelet and started finishing a new one. I also got the plastic case the shelf Mom gave me came in and some snack wrappers and I started gluing them on it making a purse for Mom which I would give her for her birthday. That day Alex asked me to watch the movie Clue with him. I said sure and did my treadmill exercise an hour earlier so I could get back in time to watch the movie with him. At the Rec Center I found pamphlets on various things affecting people I know: Grief and Loss (Jack), Overcoming Procrastination (Cassie and often myself), and ADD and ADHD (Emily and myself, though I had adapted to it well). While I was on the treadmill I also found three stores that sell Bongo Comics (publishing company that makes Simpsons comic books) in Kansas City. Then I came back and we watched the movie together.

The next day in my Public Speaking class we had a speaker come. This speaker, a blonde female student, was from the American Democracy Project which got young people to vote. She talked about how young people rarely vote so politicians seem to talk more about issues concerning older people, such as social security and she gave us who were from outside of Missouri absentee voting forms. I also realized that I could say for my Social Justice presentation that helping people in the Third World feels could because I’ve known what it’s like doing it myself having volunteered at a fair trade retailer in Overland Park called Ten Thousand Villages.

That day I learned from my Lonely Planet book on Tanzania about the Festival of the Dhow Countries or the Zanzibar Film Festival based in Zanzibar, Tanzania, which showed films from all over the Indian Ocean nations. I also realized I could probably find more Simpsons comic books at Barnes and Noble in Kansas City. After class I got a hole-puncher in the Union bookstore and I came back and started making bookmarks from our Tyler’s and my thrown away toilet paper rolls, which I would decorate with some drawing and hopefully sell to raise money for the THRIVE program. I also realized as I wrote in my meditation journal that I didn’t feel so tired after I did my meditation. Unfortunately I realized I didn’t have my backpack but I told Nathan and he said I could give him my point sheet tomorrow.  

That night Tyler also shared some French Onion sun chips with me as we watched TV and when we were done I took the bag and used it as part of the material to make a purse for my Mom for her birthday (which was a couple of weeks ago) along with the plastic wrapper the closet bookshelf came in. I went upstairs and got some snacks, Doritos and Butterfingers, and found a beetle lying on the ground where it could be easily stepped on.  Out of Buddhist respect for all life, I picked it up and took it outside. I later used the wrappers my snacks came in for my mom’s present as well. 

The next morning I found my backpack at the Union front desk after realizing I’d left it at the bookstore. Then I went to my Screenwriting class and the teacher gave everything in class this month’s issue of American Cinematographer. Later that day I went down into town and bought some more embroidery floss to make friendship bracelets to maybe raise money for the THRIVE program as I had started a year ago. I bought some more glue at the Union, as I had run out making my mom’s purse, and that night I watched Escape from Witch Mountain with Tyler.

The next day, Julie, a very short THRIVE student with Down Syndrome who graduated last year came to visit us. I said hello and learned she now lived in her own apartment and worked for her dad at a hospital. I sat down with her and several other THRIVE students in the cafeteria and we ate dinner. The next day I went to the UCM Talent show and the next day I finished studying for my Public Speaking exam, which was the next day.

Labor Day Weekend 2012

On Friday Mom picked me up and drove me home. On the way home I heard about Jack’s mom being put in a hospice program and having an estimated three to four weeks to live. That was unfortunate. When I got home I got Dave’s old computer and that night I went to Dad’s where he, Jamie, Cam, and I ate at an El Salvadorian restaurant in Downtown Overland Park. On the first night of September, I went to my mom’s from my dad’s house to have dinner with Mom’s friends, the Bakers. The next day, Dad and I went to Micro Center and I got Microsoft Office for my computer. Then later that evening, I got in a car with Jamie and drove back to UCM.

The Birth of a New Year

I made it to UCM and with the help of Dad and Jamie, I got all my stuff into my new dorm. I filled out some paperwork for Jena Rhodes, the CA for the first floor of South Ellis. I saw the sister of one of the new THRIVE students who I dated during my middle school years. Her name was Elizabeth. We broke up many years ago and moved on but we still remained friends. We caught up on news and I learned that she was now engaged. I told her congratulations and after she left, I proceeded to unpacking my things. I put up my Buddha poster and my Lego Architecture sets and my bottle cap collection along my windowsill and set up my altar. I built my Sungyemun Lego set which I put with my other Lego Architecture sets along my windowsill.

After I got unpacked, the THRIVE students, first and second year, and the mentors, went to the TV Lounge and introduced ourselves. Then we split into groups each led by a mentor to go look around the campus so the second year THRIVE students could help the new students get more acquainted with it. I got paired up with Nathan, Jack, Taylor, and Autrey, Sheldon, and Paige, three of the new students.

I went to the Campus Kick-off that night before me, Hillary, Phillip, Amanda, Dave, and Kayla went to see the comedian Rob Gleeson perform in Hendrix Hall. After seeing the comedian, I got back to my room and then Tyler and I went to a meeting in the TV Lounge where we were given our roommate agreement forms. After the meeting, Tyler and I got to our dorm and filled ours out. 

The next day, all the THRIVE students went to see the Convocation before we went to Brunch with the Deans. That night I went down to the Rec Center for the first time in a while but realized I forgot to bring my earphones to watch TV. Thankfully Tyler was gracious enough to let me borrow his headphones until my earphones came in the mail.

The next day I went to my Screenwriting class which took place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-10:45. One of our assignments would be to find three sources for a movie and pick one. I already had two ideas but was debating on a third.

After class got out I deposited my three paychecks in my bank account at UCM and withdrew twenty dollars. Then I went down to the Einstein Brother’s at the library where I saw Cassie for the first time in months. We were both glad to see each other. I asked about her summer and she said it went good.  She told me about working at a summer camp then asked me about my summer.  I told her about going to New Hampshire and working at Hen House. It was good to see her after three whole months. 

Unfortunately my Student ID wasn’t working in the cafeteria so Esther, the check-in lady, had to write my name and number down on a sheet of paper until I got a new ID. I called my mom that day and asked her that she send me my earphones and she said they would come on Thursday. Still hoping to do whatever I could for Jack’s mom, I took one of my meditation cards, the Medicine Buddha one, and set it one my altar, in the hopes that this bodhisattva (Buddhist saint) would help Jack’s mother as I honored him during my daily practice by bowing before my shrine. But I knew I had to not expect it to cure Jack’s mom and not base my faith off whether it does or not. In Tibet, the Medicine Buddha is venerated in devotion when loved ones are sick. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.  Either way it is a way to help realize and awaken one’s Buddha nature.

The next day I went to my Public Speaking class and after that, I went to the Union and got a new ID. I also printed off my syllabus for both of my credit courses, some papers for my Screenwriting class and a paper for me to read for my Public Speaking class called What Every Yale Freshman Should Know. Then I went to the bookstore and got my Screenwriting textbook.

Afterwards my ID card still did not work in the cafeteria so I went to Housing and found out I had not signed up for a new meal plan so I signed up for the full meal plan like I did last year. During lunch, I looked on-line at Lonely Planet’s section on Nepal, to go there as a Buddhist pilgrim and I read about a strange Hindu temple in which a woman multi-tasked by combing her hair as she makes love to her husband. After lunch I read Chapter One of the textbook for my Screenwriting class where I learned that true screenwriters spend about five hours a week on their screenplays, so I decided I could probably work that around my schedule. I went to my Transition Planning class, which, this year, would not be taught by Mrs. Carter but a teacher named Mike Brunkhorst, or Mr. B as he liked to be called.

                The next day when I got back from my Screenwriting class Alex Place, the brother of Elizabeth, asked me if I wanted to go rock-climbing with him. I said sure and we went down to the Rec Center and ran into Jack on the way and he agreed to join us. Unfortunately the rock-climbing wall was closed so we went back to the dorm. After that however, I went to the library to try and work on Plato math and, in addition to seeing Cassie, I saw and interesting thing on the wall of the library called 19 Possible Discoverers of America before Columbus. There were several Norse explorers mentioned, and Indian one, an Irishman, Danish and Portuguese, a Black African Muslim from Mali, but what stuck out to me was a Chinese explorer named Hui Shun. Hui Shun was a Buddhist monk from China in the fourth century and supposedly landed in Guatemala where he taught and preached Buddhism to the indigenous people of the region. In fact, the name Guatemala was believed to be named after Gautama Buddha, the Historical Buddha. 

So Buddhism maybe had reached the West before Columbus. I had always speculated so after I read the book Buddha or Bust: In Search of Enlightenment, Happiness, and the Man Who Found them All. The author, an American Buddhist journalist named Perry Garfinkel, suggested in his chapter on Buddhism in America that Buddhism had reached the New World before Columbus blended of course, with traditional Native American beliefs, just as Christianity is among several Indian cultures in North and South America, such as the Maya. Now more evidence was starting to pile up.

I was going to work on Plato math but then I got a call from Jessica asking me to meet her by the UCM bookstore at 12:45 to pick up my books. I got there and mentioned I had already picked up my Screenwriting textbook and so I got the book and the packet for my Public Speaking class. I went down to the library to work on Plato math thinking about that temple I read about in Nepal and then it came to me, the third source of an idea for a screenplay. A screenplay that takes on how we multi-task so much in our society about a woman who makes love to her boyfriend whiles she does other things such as papers, phone calls, and credit card bills. 

Afterwards I worked on Plato math and went down to the Rec Center. I came back and read the paper for my Public Speaking class, then went upstairs to check my mail and, sure enough, I had gotten those earphones from Mom. 

Tyler went home the next day to work at his job over the weekend at AMC Theater. That night I went to New China Buffet with Hillary, Philip, Amanda, Philip’s friend Marty, Kayla, Daniel, Kimmie, Jack, Corey, Emily, and Autrey, Tyler, and Paige, some the new students from THRIVE, and a UCM student who was thinking of becoming a volunteer.

On Saturday, my mom came and we went down and ate at Crazy Dog’s. Then we went to Hasting’s and I sold some of my old books and DVD’s I didn’t want and got $11.50 worth of store credit. I also got a crossword puzzle and I got a thing where you scratch at the surface and get three matches in a row, you get a prize, which they were giving out with every purchase. I got three matches so I got five dollars store credit the next time I sell anything at Hasting’s. After that, Mom and I went back to my room and she helped me hang a drape over my windows.

Unfortunately I realized when I tried to do Plato math that day that my earphones weren’t working. After that I went back to my dorm and then went to the cafeteria. I saw that Spongebob Squarepants was on so I tried to sit near the TV. At the table next to me was Mckinsey and across from her sure enough was Cassie.  Cassie said, “You can sit here.”

           I sat down with them and talked. I found out Cassie was living in the Foster/Knox apartment building. Time flew by fast as we ate and as I sat with Cassie, I noticed something going on inside me that I just couldn’t express. We finished dinner and Mckinsey said, “Well it was good to see you.”

Cassie said, “Well, I’ll see you around, maybe at Einstein’s.”

“Yeah,” I said.

That night I found out my study hall nights were Monday and Tuesday.  I also watched Pawn Stars on the TV that Tyler brought as he was home for the weekend.  I worked on Plato again the next day and I worked on a few of my screenplays for a full hour.  That night I did my homework for my Transition Planning class and my Public Speaking class and I ran on the treadmill, watching King of the Hill on my phone, which was actually very frustrating.

The next day I went to the UCM computer store and bought some new earphones, some really cool red, black, green, and yellow earphones which came with a bag to carry them in and smaller earpieces. They worked fine and I used them as I did Plato math. I also worked on a few of my screenplays for another hour that day. That night I went to study hall and after that I went to the Rec. Center and ran on the treadmill using my earphones to watch King of the Hill and they worked great.

When I got back from the Rec. Center that night, Alex said, “We should hang out sometime.”

“Sure,” I said.

I asked Alex what kind of stuff he likes and he said, “Japanese stuff, antiques, Nintendo, looking at Medusa stuff.”

“Cool,” I said. “We should watch Pawn Stars some time. It has a lot about antiques.”

“Ok," said Alex.  

The next day during my screenwriting I class there was a student who needed a note taker so I volunteered to be one like last year. Then I went down to Einstein’s in the library before I went there to work on my screenplays for an hour and Plato math. I worked on Plato and my screenplays for an hour the next day and went to study hall again. The next day I worked on Plato math and worked on some of my screenplays for an hour and the next day I did my exercise for my screenwriting class.   

Tyler left on Thursday morning and when I went to Einstein’s that day, I found Cassie wasn’t there because she was sick. So I sent her an e-mail saying I hope she gets well soon and gets all the things she needs for her classes. Later that day I finished Plato math and did my homework for Public Speaking. 

Back to School Season

On the first day of the month, I went to my shift from 10 to 4 and afterwards I went to the Pathless Land with my granddad. I worked from 1:30 to 5 on Friday and the next Monday I worked from 7 to 10. On Wednesday I worked from 10 to 4 and after work I talked to Mom about birthday presents for mine was coming up rather soon. I mentioned the Lego architecture sets, which I had several of at home and she said, “Hey ,why don’t you bring them to school?”

             “Ok, yeah,” I said.

I went to the Pathless Land with Granddad that night and I worked on Friday from 1:30 to 5 and on Sunday I got a call from Phil the manager saying that they could use me on that day until 6:30. I got there and 1:30 and when I got off work my mom told me that Jack’s mom needed treatment tomorrow and Thursday so he wouldn’t be going to art class. Her sister was also flying in from Boston. That night I e-mailed Cassie, one to tell her about Jack’s mother so she would be forewarned if she saw her, and two, to wish her a happy birthday for her birthday was on August 14, where mine was August seventeenth, making her almost exactly one year younger than me.

                I too did not go to art class the next day because I had a psychiatrist appointment with my new doctor, Kevin Mays replacing my old one who retired this summer. Before I went though I got a call from Phil asking if I could fill in a shift down at the Hen House on Roe from 2 to 7 and I said yes. So the next day I went there and when I got off my mom, Dave, and I watched Casablanca from the library, which was mentioned in Cinema Nirvana.

                I worked again the next day and went to the Pathless Land only Granddad wasn’t there that time. He and my grandmom were in Maine, so I went with my dad and he had a good time there. The next day I went to my art class and afterwards Mom and I took Jack to Pizza 51 restaurant before going home. It turned out Jack’s mom’s operation had not worked, but they were going to take her to the hospital tomorrow to try it again. For the rest of the time, Jack and I swam for a little bit, though we soon stopped because the water turned out to be way too cold, and for the rest of the time we watched Family Guy episodes on the DVR. That night I packed The Skull Mantra, The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing, Surrender or Starve, my bird-watching book, Upside-Down Zen, Cinema Nirvana, and The Origins of Myth and Symbol, along with my journals, Lego Architecture sets, my altar supplies, and my flute.

                The next day I got new shoes as I seemed to have already outgrown the one's I got at the beginning of the summer. After work, my mom, Dave, Jamie, Cam, Nora, and I went to Elsa’s indulging in exotic Ethiopian cuisine as we had earlier this summer. When we got home I opened presents. I got a blue and black Mexican poncho, or drug rug as Jamie at Evergreen State College likes to call it; a book called 1616: The World in Motion about how that year impacted the course of history through changes in society in Europe and Asia and the slave-trade in Africa; I got a Lego Architecture set called the Sungnyemun based of the Sungnyemun gate in South Korea; a marker sketchpad; and a Hotei figurine with a bell inside it. For those of you who aren’t full time Buddhists like me, Hotei is the fat, laughing Buddha you see in Chinese restaurants.

                It was a pretty good birthday and the next day Dad and I went down to the barber shop in Prairie Village where I got a haircut. Then we went down to Target where we got shaving cream, razor blades, toothpaste, neo-sporin, deodorant, soap, shampoo, tea, snack food, and a binder. I went to Old Chicago to eat with my dad, Cam, and Nora for my birthday and then Dad and I went to Barnes and Noble where I got a book Treasures of the Buddha on sacred Buddhist art and architecture throughout the world and two penny folders for my coin collection. Then my dad and I got home and I opened his present, which was a xylophone from Ten Thousand Villages, a store selling handicrafts from the third world to help artisans in those countries, since he knew I collect ethnic musical instruments.

                The next day before heading off to UCM with Dad and Jamie, I went to Mom’s and got my clothes and other things I needed for school and we loaded them into my dad’s car. Then before going off to school, we went to my grandparent’s house where I got my birthday presents: a decorative calligraphy brush and a DVD called Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet, which talked about Tibet’s Buddhist nuns and how they successfully preserved their faith under Chinese occupation. Then we said goodbye and drove off to UCM.

Many Reunions

On Sunday I called Jack and asked if he and Tyler would want to get together at my house on Wednesday and he said yes. The next day I went to my art class with Jack and I got a call from a woman named Danielle asking me to take part in a THRIVE focus group. My phone had broken earlier so I couldn’t answer it, but when I got home I was able to talk to Danielle and she asked me if I could talk on the phone on Wednesday at 10am about what went well with the THRIVE program and what didn’t and I agreed. Then at 7 I went to work and at 10 I got off.

            The next day my mom and I rearranged my altar a little bit. I put up images of Tibetan Buddhist saints and so on who I recite mantras to in my daily meditation, including the White Tara, a manifestation of the Green Tara; Chenrizig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion who the current Dalai Lama is believed to be a manifestation of; Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom; and Padmasambhava, an Indian Buddhist monk who brought Buddhism to Tibet. I got these images from a pack of cards my dad bought me while I was in tenth grade.

I went to get a new phone for me before I went with her to her yoga class. After that we got home and then went to eat at Saigon 39 before going to see the movie Moonrise Kingdom. Overall, I thought it was pretty good and I liked the story line. After we got out of the movie theater, we saw in the parking lot a small stray kitten. We tried to grab it, but it got away. After we couldn’t find it, Mom left it some of her chicken from the restaurant and I left it some of my rice and vegetables.

The next day I took part in the THRIVE focus group with Hillary, Zach, Gabe, and Dave. I told them that what I was ready for the THRIVE program partly as a result of having gone to Johnson County Community College for three years, that I liked about the THRIVE program was how I began exercising regularly after taking Adaptive PE, how I learned to become a better textbook reader, and how I learned to ask for help. After the focus group was over, Tyler and Jack came over and we swam, ate lunch, and I gave them a grand tour of the house.  That night after they had left, I went with my Granddad to Winstead’s, then Barnes and Noble, then the Pathless Land. The next day I went to my art class then went to the library to pick up the DVD of Casablanca that I ordered.

On Saturday I helped pull weeds from the back patio in preparation for a party for people from Dave’s choir. I went over to my friend Erin’s house and we watched two movies, The History of the Celts and Good Fortune, a movie about why foreign aid in Africa is doing the opposite of what it was intended to do, since we both have an interest in history and political science. After I got home I took Wally for a long walk and I called work and found out I work on Monday from 7 to 10, Wednesday from 10 to 4, and Friday from 1:30 to 10. The next day I went to Yoga class with my mom and Dave.

The Cradle of Civilizations

I emptied the cat’s litter box and packed some more before we went to the airport. We got on the airplane and took off to Boston, Massachusetts. We took a bus to our hotel where there was a jar of chocolate and macadamia nut cookies for visitors. Mom, Dave, and I each took one then took the elevator up to our room. It had a living room with a foldout couch, a television that hung on the wall, a dark wood desk with steel legs with wheels, and a lamp in the corner. There was a microwave and a sink in the corner facing a dark wooden framed mirror and a trash can. The floor had rectangular ceramic tiles a carpet with orange and gray waves on one side and dark gray and light gray waves on another. The only other rooms were the bathroom and the bedroom.

Mom and Dave looked up restaurants and decided on the Garden of the Cellar. We took a taxi and reached Harvard College. Mom and Dave liked its gothic architecture, but I thought it was kind of ugly.

We made it to the Garden of the Cellar where we sat at a small table. Mom sat next to Dave and I sat across from them. I drank a glass of water then had a keg beer. The appetizer included bread with olive oil and for dinner I ordered a cellar burger, medium, with mustard on the side. The burger was huge and came with rosemary fries. The mustard was rather spicy but that was good and I shared a small round donut with Mom, which came with several dipping sauces. After we paid and left, we walked through the neighborhood where I saw several bookstores until we hailed a taxi and rode back to our hotel. We each had a chocolate and macadamia nut cookie before we took the elevator up to our room.

The next day I got up, took a shower, and then went down to breakfast. I had two cinnamon rolls which tasted very fresh, a cup of orange juice, and a sausage patty. On the television was a man talking to a fortune-teller in Morocco then to a man in Mali.

After breakfast we brought our stuff down to the lobby and walked up the street from our hotel. We passed an antique shop with a brightly painted sign and after a taxi ride we passed several old-fashioned colonial neighborhoods and saw the obelisk, which was nearly thirty stories tall. I climbed the steep spiral staircase up the building occasionally holding onto the wall to let families go down and use the railing. I made it to the top where I could see Boston below through rectangular windows.  The walk down was considerably easier than the walk up.

After that we saw Freedom Park and made it to where we could see the U. S. S. Constitution and a World War II destroyer in addition to a magnificent suspension bridge. In the distance I could see a tall clock tower. We followed a brick line known as the Freedom Trail until we reached an old cemetery, which was a great way for me to contemplate our own mortality. After passing several shops and old colonial buildings, we reached the Old North Church, where one lamp was lit to warn of a British attack on ground, and two lamps were lit to warn of a naval assault. I looked in the gift shop then went back to it so I could get some water from the vending machine for which I bought a homemade cherry lollipop, a blue and white candy cane stick, and while I was at it, a pocket owl as a souvenir. Then I bought bottled water from the vending machine before we went on a guided tour of the church.

We went into the foyer through a side door up a steep wooden staircase into a room then up another steep wooden staircase into the bell room. Our tour-guide, a short, dark-haired young woman, led our group back down the stairs and through an underground charnel room, explaining that parishioners wanted to be buried where they worshipped, before the city of Boston cracked down on it, proving to me that religious freedom is not absolute and does not cover practices that are harmful to the welfare of others.

We went through a door into low-ceilinged charnel halls one containing the tomb of a British general when the British seized the church. It twisted and turned every so often until we made it outside and the tour was over.

After the tour was over we saw the churches Garden of Assisi. Then we left through the back way and saw a giant statue of Paul Revere. We walked farther along and saw the house of Paul Revere before we went to a seafood restaurant, where I got a shrimp roll and some lemon tea. We ate lunch by a fountain where Mom shared with me some lobster from her sandwich and then we took a taxi back to the hotel, got our stuff, and drove to New Hampshire.

            We passed peaceful country road, coming across a bearded man sitting on his front lawn wearing only shorts and then we reached our house, a quaint little cottage next to the lake. We went a few houses down where I saw my grandmother, Uncle Andy, Aunt Marge, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Barb, and my little cousins, Kyley and Hunter. After dinner Uncle Andy and Aunt Marge drove me back to our cabin and my mom and Dave came back a while later.

The next day we went to see a waterfall and Castle in the Clouds, the mansion of Thomas Gustave Plant, who made his fortune in the steel industry. After dinner tonight we went out for ice cream. I got raspberry sorbet with gummie bears. We looked at the docks, which had several boats and one great yacht. We looked in a shop selling shirts before we went back to our cabin.

The next day I woke up and later I went down to the beach where I kayaked while taking pictures with my newly charged camera. I picked out several reeds, which I took to our cabin and laid them out to dry and then give them to people as gifts. For dinner we went to a seafood restaurant where I drank a Samuel Adams Summer and ordered some pan seared swordfish. After dinner, my mom, Dave, Uncle Andy, Aunt Marge, and I drove down to an ice cream shop where I ordered a two scoop Denali Chocolate Moose Tracks, which turned out to be much bigger than I expected.

The next day Mom and I went to the Libby Museum and then had lunch with my grandmom, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Barb, Kyley and Hunter. I ate a delicious grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and then Mom and I explored the town. After we looked in a jewelry store, I went to the bookstore where I had been hoping to go. I saw one book that really interested me called In the Shadows of the Buddha about an American Buddhist pilgrim in Tibet who saw the atrocities the Chinese are committing and went to great personal risk to smuggle out evidence.

            That night I had dinner over at Uncle Kurt’s, Aunt Barb’s, Kyley’s, Hunter’s, and Nannies cabin. After dinner Kyley and I drew on this portable sketch board she owned which you can erase when you’re done and start over. That night I felt I really bonded with her.

The next day Mom, Dave, and I climbed Mt. Washington. When we got to the top we took the train down and then went back to our cabin. That night we ate out at the town. I had a hamburger, which was rather big with some fries.

On the last day Mom, Dave, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Barb, Kyley, Hunter, and I ate steak Florentine, mangoes, potatoes, and tomatoes. The next day we dropped Cam and Graham off at an airport at Manchester, New Hampshire, then Mom, Dave, and I flew to Memphis, then to Kansas City. When I got home I called Hen House and found out I work on Monday from 7 to 10.

First Months Back at First Home

On the first day of summer, I called Hen House and found out I work on Sunday from 4-8, Monday from 3-8, and Friday from 1:30-10. That day I also e-mailed Cassie Burghoff, whom I became a quick friend of, asking for us to stay in touch over the summer and get together some next year. My work schedule got changed so I don’t work Sunday, but I did go to work on Monday and Friday. On Sunday I had a parmesan chicken dinner my mom cooked, the first home-cooked meal I’d had in a while.

On Wednesday, my granddad picked me up at my house, and we went to Winstead’s and Barnes and Noble before going to the Pathless Land like we used to do before I went to UCM. On Saturday when I was with my dad for the weekend, I went to a local bead store and bought three blank pendant pieces on which I would hammer a design with a nail to make a necklace for my mom, grandmom, and Sherry for Mother’s Day. On Sunday I went with my mom, Dave, and Cam to a local Prairie Village restaurant called La Provence for Mother’s Day and at work I filled out a W4 form. That day I saw my old friend Alex Habib’s mother at work, and she gave me his cellphone number.

The next day I started doing something I did before I went to UCM. I dug through the Lego bucket at home and put the pieces to the Harry Potter sets, which got scattered a long time ago, into bags according to which set they went to, put the ones I didn’t know which set they went to in a separate tub, put the pieces to a lego ninja fortress into a separate bag, and put all the megablocks, bionicle, playmobile, and connex pieces I found in their own boxes. I also hammered a flower on the pendant for my mom and gave it to her. She loved it. I hammered a Chinese symbol for harmony on a necklace for my grandmom, who loves Asian art, and I hammered a cross inside a Star of David for my stepmom. When I went to the Pathless Land with Granddad the next night, I gave him my grandmom’s pendant, which he said she would love. When I got to my dad’s house, I gave him Sherry’s pendant to give to her and Dad said she would love it. The next day I went to my art class with Jack and worked more on some watercolor drawings and on Friday I worked from 1:30 to 10.

On Saturday I had a day off so I rode my bike to the Corinth library and checked out two books: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Screenwriting and The Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Writing.  The next day when I went to work, I found out I work on Monday from 6-10, Friday from 1:30-10, and Saturday from 7-3:30.

On Monday the next day I went to work from 6-10, and on Wednesday I went to Winstead’s with Granddad and Barnes and Noble before going to the Pathless Land. On Friday I went to work from 1:30 to 10. Dad picked me up and told me that I my History class I got a C, and in my Creative Writing class I got an A. My dad told me the THRIVE staff sent a very good report about me along with it too.

The next morning, I went to work from 7 to 3:30. I found out that day that my work hours for the week are Sunday from 4 to 8, Monday from 6 to 10, Friday from 1:30 to 10, and Saturday from 7 to 3:30. When I got home, I read the report from the THRIVE staff and it was very nice. I went to work on Sunday and Monday and went to Winstead’s, then Barnes and Noble, then to the Pathless Land with Granddad, and on Thursday I went to my art class with Jack.              

On the second day of June, there were hot dogs and burgers provided to employees during their breaks. After I got off work, I walked home and looked in the store in the Prairie Village shopping center Bag and Baggage, where I saw Lonely Planet Phrasebook India and Lonely Planet Phrasebook Africa which are two places I have long wanted to visit. I got home and ordered a book called Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies. I also placed two books on hold from the Corinth Library by Robert D. Kaplan author of Ends of the Earth: Imperial Grunts and Eastwards Towards Tartary: Travels in the Middle East. The day after that I went to my art class and work, and the next day I ordered a book online called Upside-down Zen: Discovering the Marvelous in the Ordinary. 

            My granddad on my mom’s side of the family was coming into town to visit us so I asked if I could get someone to cover me at work on Friday. I went to the Pathless Land with my other granddad as I do most nights, and the next day I went to work and found out my shift was covered. My pop-pop, as we like to call him, and his girlfriend Sandra came in on Friday and we had dinner along with Cam’s girlfriend Nora. Then the next day I went to work from 7 to 3:30. The next day I went to work and the day after that I went to my art class then later to work.

            The day after Monday I watched some birds in my backyard for an hour. I also rode my bike for half an hour and swam in our backyard pool, which I figured I’d better do before time runs out to do it. My granddad was away in Canada, so my dad and I went to Pei Wei for dinner, and I got a bottle cap for my collection that I started to do from my Kirin Beer. Then we went to Half Price Books, and I looked at a book on Harry Potter collectibles. My brother Jamie, who recently studied abroad in China, came home from Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington. 

            The next day I found out my neighbor, Mrs. Han offered to pay me to pull weeds from her backyard on my way to work. The next day I went to work and after that I pulled Mrs. Han’s weeds. I went to work the next day and the day after that I had a day off and went to my family lake house at Lake Lotawana and Jamie gave Dad and I souvenirs of his trip to China. I got a wooden Hotei head (Hotei is the fat, laughing Buddha), a Chinese dream catcher, and a pencil from the Chengdu Tibetan hotel. There I watched the birds, and my grandparents came and Jamie showed us photos of his trip to China before we went to dinner. I also talked to my friend Erin.

            The next day I went to work and asked off for the fourth of July and the day after that I had a day off during which I found some photos from my middle school and high school years and put them in the photo albums I got in Warrensburg. On Wednesday, instead of going to the Pathless Land with my granddad, I worked from 4 to 8 because of I was covering for another courtesy clerk.

            On Friday I went to work and found out my work schedule for the next week was Monday from 3:30 to 8; Wednesday from 12 to 5; Thursday from 3:30 to 10; and Saturday from 1:30 to 10. The next day, after work, Jamie, my stepsiblings Kate and Graham, who were in from town, my mom, my stepdad and I went to eat at Elsa’s Ethiopian Restaurant where we quickly filled up on Beef Tibbs, Doro Watt, injera, and other food of Ethiopian cuisine. The day after that Jamie and I ate lunch with and stayed over at our dad’s and ate dinner with our grandparents before Jamie left for Evergreen the next day.

            The next day I went to work and the day after the next day I went to work and went to the Pathless Land with my granddad and on the way, he gave me some coins he brought back from his trip to Canada. I went to work the next day, and I got hired by Mrs. Han to water here plants and feed her cats on Sunday and Monday. I went over to her house so she could tell me what to do and I helped her moved her geranium plants from her upstairs balcony to her backyard.