Lenticular_J

Whaaaaat. Oh, wait, you live on the West Coast don't you? That explains it... Kriegs, was the thing about the Camaro their God-awful turning radius? It's worse than my dodge! A friend of mine got a new Camaro (they're mad wealthy) and let me drive it around the block. It was ridiculous. Plus, I think the new Camaros look like they're trying to look like Mustangs.

How many people here have even had to live under not one of those systems, but both? That's the whole point of these ads. It plays off of one person who had a bad experience, trying to manipulate people who've never had to use a Canadian system. The title made me chuckle, though. Looks like something in the Enquirer. The Canadian system doesn't look too awful to me, but then again I haven't been to the doctor in years. I don't even have my immunizations. Whoops.

Movie went about as slow as the book did. A couple exciting parts, and those were short and exciting. The rest was pretty dull. It could have been better if it didn't follow the book, and Harry just went to muggle-England, bought a gun, and popped a cap in each and every Dark [wagon].

Are Veyrons just a British thing or am I the only person on the planet that thinks those cars all look like someone with a hare-lip?

Went around Canyon Lake with a couple friends (and a crowbar) for four hours. Found a house, and "The G-Spot". Seriously, that's what was graffiti'd there. Haha, I just took a shower and it felt so gooooood.

You look like any other eighth grader to me.

I don't like those fringey things. Of course, here in Texas, you'd be an outcast with one, even though I assume they're pretty popular on the west coast. I don't think either will look great on you. But then again, can't look worse than not getting a haircut either. Anyways, are you starting school soon or something? I usually get my haircut a week or two before the first day of school.

Just got back from a friend's house. Had a lot of fun. Me, him, and one of our lady pals did terribly at baking cookies. Then me and him played chess and had man talks. Then we slept for 13 hours.

You all fail. It's Medieval: Total War, but the first one. Someone take my turn.

It's already 84 degrees for me, and it's 11 in the morning. Can't wait for today. For two weeks it's hit at least 105 every single day, around 1. Of course, at my family reunion it was about 110 all day all three days we were there. In a cabin, with 150 people, with no air conditioning. Haha, it was cooler outside.

I'm trying to scrape together enough money to see Staind and Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson in August. My dad's also taking me to me Pat Benatar in Ruidoso (3 days after school starts :P). This town doesn't appreciate music unless it was extremely popular years ago (and now they desperately need money) or it's local and cheap.

I got admitted to South Plains College's Dual Credit. Sweeeeet.

:shock: How is the girl who was babysitting going? I hope she and the other girls can overcome the trauma. Didn't know them that well, I just know she went to the same school I did. [cabbage] like this is starting to happen a good bit. Ain't good. Ain't good.

Chantex and electric cigarettes. My aunt did both of those. You're supposed to smoke while you use Chantex for some amount of time, and she weaned herself with electric smokes at the same time.

Of course I don't want Ryan Seacrest on my passport oh I do with all my heart. I just think this image of America is outdated and, well, wrong. We could start at the state level - someone tell me what comes to mind when they think of Texas.

C. I wouldn't see it anyways. SEP fields are very powerful on me.

Well, I was looking through my passport while I was driving through some of the smaller towns in the Texas Panhandle this weekend, and I noticed two things: 1) Many of my passport's pictures involve the Great Plains or the Rocky Mountains, as well as the wild animals that once flourished there, and 2) Every single small town had a Dairy Queen, and 9 out of 10 had become complete [cabbage]-holes in the past two or three decades. This got me thinking: Why is this American image of wide open plains and sweeping, majestic mountains, all full of wildlife, still prevailing? For one thing, the Great Plains are a barren, flat expanse full of nothing but a few farms. As a friend of my father's said, "The only thing between Amarillo and the North Pole are a couple barbed wire fences." A relatively small percentage of our population lives on the great plains, or in the rural areas of the South, and today many of these areas are completely poverty-stricken. For some reason, a few of the things that are "American" are animals - grizzly bears, buffalo and bald eagles especially. The thing is, if you see one of these creatures in your lifetime, you will be very lucky! All of them are (or were very recently) incredibly close to extinction and in remote regions of the country, when before America came as a nation grizzlies and buffalo wandered as far south as Mexico and as far east as the Mississippi (sometimes farther, although I note no specific examples). Bald eagles, I assume, were once a flourishing, common bird, while now they really live in preserves or even Canada! Take a few of John Mellencamp's songs. These seem to sum up the still-lasting impression of America as a country that's still primarily rural and life being good. I can't say whether or not life was as good back then (although my family says the towns in the Panhandle, like Pampa and White Deer were the lovely little "small town" of our imaginations). But listen to the music. [hide="Small Town" - John Mellencamp][yt]3eDkAG3R0h8[/yt][/hide] [hide="Jack & Diane" - John Mellencamp][yt]jcJz-x6idd8[/yt][/hide] Now, in the past, the US was still a very rural and farming-related country, even though the cities were major centers of the world. However, today things are different. Urbanization is very rapid in this country, because all the money is going to the cities! The only reason a town like Canadian, Texas could survive right now is because their land is being ravaged for oil and natural gas (land my Papaw's father actually owned and sold, all down the Canadian river throughout the whole of the Panhandle and then some). Our image of football, rock'n'roll and Dairy Queen was great in the past. But today, America's cities are extreme centers of change and power in the world. This "Christian Nation" is something like 83% full of people that identify themselves as Christian, but more than half of them do not attend church regularly nor do they follow rigid Christian principles. Take a look at cities like San Francisco and Dallas - they're becoming major centers for the gay rights movement, and it's movements like that which are rapidly overwhelming the old, stale Dairy Queen beliefs of our current generation of "leaders". And yet, I still haven't seen Ryan Seacrest on my passport. I really don't know how this can be discussed - I was just thinking furiously about this and wanted to get my ideas on paper. Do what you will.

[hide=]Forum Username: Lenticular_J Age: 14 State (US only, do not give a city): Texas Nation (do not give a city): United States Educational level: -if secondary or below, what level? Going into my sophomore year. -If at a university/college, what level and what is your major/minor course of study? 1. Have you ever attended a worship of any religion? Yes. -by choice? Yes. -What kind of worship? Baptist, Methodist, Protestant, Catholic, as well as watching Islamic praying and visiting a Jewish Temple. -Did you regularly attend this worship, by choice or parental guidance? Nope. 2. Do you consider yourself religious? -Please explain in two or three sentences. Yes, I consider myself religious in a different way. I see religion, not as a vague concept that people blindly follow, but one of the essences of humanity. Belief is the Gorilla Glue of civilization, and many foundations of society, language and culture were formed via means that could be called religious. 3. Is there a god, gods, or a supreme deity? I akin my own God to a clockmaker. Builds it, cares for it. Father is too cliche for me. But, whatever people believe, people believe. But everyone believes in something, be it science, God, or tulips. Therefore, I believe these are all linked. -Did said god, gods, or supreme being create the Universe, according to your belief? Not completely sure. I believe God evolves with the evolving universe(s) and the sentience inside. 4. Is there an afterlife? It would be nice, although I guess I wouldn't notice if there wasn't. 5. How do you believe that existence came about? (in a nutshell) I have no [bleep]ing idea. To hazard a guess, the Big Bang started this universe up. Whether the Big Bang was influenced by God, or by other dimensions, or other universes within our own dimension, I have no clue. After that, I'm not quite sure either. I don't quite think that life as lush as the Earth's could just pop up. But then again, as far as I know, animals and plants don't think to themselves, "Why am I here? What am I? What's the point of all this?" And of course I don't know that - animals are even more different from us than humans that live on different continents are. 6. Have you ever attended a worship of any religion that you do not consider yourself a part of? Yes. -What? Islam, Judaism. -Your thoughts on the experience? The Islamic service seemed very intense. It was only the prayer as well, one before dinner. The fervor was very powerful. At the Jewish temple it seemed more relaxed, although obviously not many Jews go to Temple any more - the place was almost empty. 7. What are your thoughts on non Judeo-Christian Western religions? Remember that religion is a broad term so please be specific. Well, I don't understand enough about Western religions apart from the three biggies and the ancients. Unless you're counting Santeria and Voodoo and all, which I know nothing about except for native and Christian influences. 8. What are your thoughts on Judeo-Christian religions? Remember that religion is a broad term and that both of these groups have many subdivisions that have radically different beliefs and practices. Broadly, they're all incredibly similar. Monotheistic, most have a form of Sabbath during which worship occurs ... Today they are very stable religions for the most part, which is good and bad. No more violent crusades for the Holy Land, exactly, but they are becoming stale and feeble. The strong survives, which goes for ideals as well as Nature's creatures. 9. What are your thoughts on Asian religions? Remember that religion is a broad term so please be specific. Mmmm. Meaning Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism I'm assuming. Well, they're all very similar. The same way Islam and Christianity sort of branched away from Judaism, it seems that Hinduism is generally the founding father of Asian religions. Belief seems much more powerful in Asia than in the West. 10. What are your thoughts on African religions? Remember that religion is a broad term, so please be specific. I don't know enough about African religion to have thoughts. 11. What are your thoughts on South American religions? Remember that religion is a broad term, so please be specific. Nothing to speak of. The only "South American religion" I know of is Roman Catholicism. That's kind of sad. 12. What are your thoughts on Aboriginal religions (any native group that was displaced, such as Native Americans, Maori, Aborigines, etc)? Remember that religion is a broad term, so please be specific. Well, these religions seemed much less rigid organized structures as a wadding of belief. I believe that is good, although it obviously didn't help lead to extreme civilization advancement. 13. What are your thoughts on pagan religions (Wiccan, alternative, Satanic, and other non-traditional forms of worship)? Remember that religion is a broad term, so please be specific. Also note that many alternative and pagan practices are not affiliated with Satanic worship. Well, a lot of the hearsay over Satanic worship is [cabbage]. There isn't a decimation of innocents to please Lucifer. Non-traditional forms of worship are usually a bit more interesting than organized religion, just because the belief seems powerful and casual at the same time. 14. What are your thoughts on atheism, the belief that there is no supreme being(s)? Please remember that there are degrees to this belief, and that not all share the same thoughts. Well extremist atheism is, to me, worse than extremism for religion - although extremism and the forcing of beliefs is always complete bull [cabbage]. Apart from that, it's just another way we humans try to categorize what we don't understand - this time about ourselves. 15. What are your thoughts on agnosticism, the belief that a supreme being(s) exists, but the individual chooses not to worship it/them (or if one is unsure if a supreme being exists, but does not outright deny its existence)? An interesting stance. Some would say the more logical. I just think it's akin to youths, particularly radical youths. Everyone wants to belong to something, and hopefully they'll find it at some point - but exploring and experimenting are very good ideas. 16. Have you ever publicly chastised someone who believes in a religion/school of thought different than yours? Yes. -elaborate Well, everyone knows I've chastised fellows on these boards for being complete [wagon], religious and non-religious. I've chastised friends and family because they say completely racist things and then claim the Bible says you should - showing they don't understand the religion the believe the follow so much. -what group were they? what group were you? Mostly atheists and various Christians, I'd guess. 17. If you belong to a religion or non-religion, please identify. Could say I'm a Deist, I guess. Not that it will get you into any parties. -Did you consciously choose to follow this belief? Not really. Just sounded like a good way to categorize how I feel. -Did you belong to another belief, by choice or force, before following this belief? I called myself a Christian, although I never worshiped and actually never read the Bible until I started becoming interested in my own beliefs. -Did you personally research (as in personally in the first person) options before coming to this belief? Very much so, as I've explained. 18. Is intelligence (not IQ, but actual intelligence) correlated to one's belief in a religion or non-religion? Keep in mind that intelligence can not be measured by any science, this is simply your judgment call. Well ... In a way. Along with pressure from those close to you, especially growing up. The more intelligent realize they have options, and will explore them, whether they come to the beliefs of, say, their parents, or not. The less intelligent will be happy with what they have, although the very intelligent (whether true believers or greedy mother [bleep]ers) can abuse faith easily. The least intelligent will follow whatever they find to be the cool thing, which is never cool. Be yourselves, [bleep] faces. 19. Does religion, in your observation, do good in the world? Please cite specific groups or denominations. Sure. There is not one religion I know of that doesn't, in general, contribute masses of funds to charity or its own members. 20. Does non-religion, in your observation, do good in the world? Please cite specific groups or denominations. Sure. Non-religious people are usually much more interested in the outside (metaphorically) than the inside, which leads to fantastic scientific advancements. 21. Does religion, in your observation, do bad in the world? Please cite specific groups or denominations. Of course. Plenty of extremists and radicals in every religion, although Islam and Judaism are having some real trouble with that now. 22. Does non-religion, in your observation, do bad in the world? Please cite specific groups or denominations. Yep. Extremists and radicals are common in atheist circles as well as religious ones. 23. Please list your experience with sexual education, including but not limited to: lectures by parents, schools, religion, or non-education. Please do not list your sexual experiences. Nothing from my parents, really, except that abstinence is dumb and I should just be safe. School and most Christian churches here want me to stay abstinent (funny, I'm still a virgin and I don't go to church, but many people I know claim that abstinence is the way of God when I know they experiment with everything but vaginal intercourse hahaha I feel like a nerd.) 24. Have you engaged in sexual intercourse of any kind? Please do not list your sexual experiences. A yes or no will suffice. No. 25. What, in your opinion, defines "love?" A physical, mental, emotional and even slightly telepathic connection between two people that grows like a fire, and must be as well-tended. 26. Have you ever been in, or are now in, a relationship? Yes. Not now, though. -Is sex involved? Never gone farther than a shirt off and exploring hands. 27. Are you single/committed relationship/married? Single. 28. What, in your opinion, is sex's place in a relationship (or lack of relationship)? Helps with the bond. 29. Have you ever partaken in an illicit substance (excluding alcohol or marijuana)? No. -if so, what? -Have you ever lost control of your actions while under the influence of an illicit substance? 30. Have you ever partaken in marijuana? Yep. -Do you habitually use this substance? No. -Have you ever been "stoned?" You could call it that. Didn't enjoy it. -Have you ever lost control of your actions while under the influence of marijuana? Got really tired and boring. Didn't have fun. 31. Have you ever partaken in the consumption of alcohol? Yes. -Do you drink socially or alone? Or both? Socially. -Have you ever been drunk? Yes. -Have you ever lost control of your actions while under the influence of alcohol? Yes, that's why I don't aim to get drunk. 32. Have you ever regretted a sexual encounter? N/A 33. Have you ever regretted using an illicit substance? (excluding hangovers) 34. Have you ever regretted using alcohol? (excluding hangovers) Yes, the times I've gotten drunk. 35. Have you ever given serious thought (longer than 30 minutes in a year) to the existence of a supreme being(s)? Think about it constantly, really.[/hide] Eh. I have a tummy ache. But I thought, hey, this is an actually interesting poll.

We're buying a shotgun soon. We sold our guns quite some time ago, because we never hunted or even target shot. But, Lubbock is getting increasingly dangerous. My mom manages a bank, and the manager of one of their sister branches here was kidnapped and beaten not too long ago. Also, at least five of my friends have been jumped and robbed for absolutely no reason in the last couple weeks. We carry legal knives around (I have a knife my dad bought to replace the K-BAR he lost long ago) and rarely walk anymore, because we're scared. It's awful. A girl at the middle school I went to was babysitting recently, and some guys broke in, two of them raped her and the girls she was babysitting while the other two cleaned out the house. We're not going to take this [cabbage] if it comes to our house.

How was the West? :D Preeeetty mad crazy. Just got back from our biggest family reunion yet. Funnily enough, it was the strangest. Found out there's a whole other branch of my family (great grandfather's brother), and a lot of them are my age. Very fun. But there was no alcohol, no weenies and goop, hardly any card playing, and we were done by 11 at night! What's up with that.

This past month, I got a lot of reading done: Alas, Babylon (Pat Frank) Interesting book. Had to read it for school. Very realistic and personal. Made me a little paranoid about being prepared for a total nuclear annihilation of the States, but apart from that a very good choice for a summer reading project. The Lord of the Rings series Eh. I saw the movies first. That ruined it. Ilium and Olympos (Dan Simmons) Sci-fi at its peak. Hopping between Ilium in 1000 BC to what's left of the solar system four or five millenia from now effortlessly, infusing a dozen stories together and still shocking you with the ending (which is, inevitably, going to make you smile due to a cheeky 20th-century reference), well, that's what Dan Simmons kicks [wagon] at. The New New Journalism (I forgot who) A bunch of interviews with journalists who really get into their subjects. One guy almost got killed during his reporting. Pretty cool. Steal This Book (Abbie Hoffman) Haha, I love reading 70's stuff. Really neat to look into the mind of one of the great activists. Plus, his "Yippie Survival Handbook" can teach one a thing or two. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams) All the Hitchhiker's Guide books. [bleep]ing love it. I understand so many references now that I used to use without even understanding them. Douglas Adams had such a great outlook on life. He recognized how depressed and whiny people are, but also how important staying happy and keepin' on truckin' are.

How do you make a Mustang better? Drive it into a river. Ahahahahaha. Honestly though, it doesn't look like it necessarily needs anything. Turbo, fuel injection, mods ... None of that stuff is really worth the money. And I'm assuming you have the typical Mustang engine, so really if you're expecting more of a purr rather than a roar you'd better be prepared to spend thousands at a specialty shop. But I don't know that much about Fords. Well, I don't know a ton about vehicles, but I digress...

Heeey, people welcomed me back. That sure made my evening. Anyways, I have done for the past two days the one thing I've been deprived of for a month: sat on my [wagon] and played videogames. Haha, I certainly missed that.

I'm assuming you're both under 16, as most 16 year olds don't think they're in love after two weeks - especially if they think they're relationship's perfect (hint: if you don't fight, it won't work guys - I've never known a girl who doesn't like to argue with the people she cares for.). When you start to get in a relationship and spend time with an "outsider", your old friends will feel territorial and jealous about your time, especially if you spend a lot of time together. This really extends to all ages, but it can be really bad at this age, because I'm absolutely positive half of your conversations involve something you've done with this girl. But, enjoy it while it lasts. Take rollercoasters. What, ten minutes of fun? But it's still fun. Enjoy it, get off, and hope that you get to find an even better one when you're done.

I think he's a year older than me, so that makes him a late bloomer here. On the note of actual advice ... What your parents don't know won't hurt them. Although you should probably stop talking to her on your phone, to be honest - they hold the bill. Talk inappropriately to her in person. Girls are much more awkward themselves if you have the same confidence face-to-face as you do on the phone. And Mage, most people don't use pre-paid.