The Best of the Best

Original Air Date: 10.12.04
Opening Song: "Haters" - Hilary Duff

Life has been awesome lately. The other night I stopped by the mall to pick up some Halloween/Haunted Hallway essentials and a Britney Spears poster (of course), and on the way to Suncoast a chick yelled at me, "I like your ass!" I couldn't help but smile out of both flattery and fear. It was great fun.

And today was ultra-sweet; I was nominated for another scholarship based on my GPA and extra-curriculars. It's the Ron Brown scholarship (worth $10,000 a year), so I just have to construct another essay on which extra-curricular means the MOST to me: Band. And while I was in the Guidance office, I stopped and talked to Carlise for the first time in 3 years. Oh how I love small talk! You know, when you ask things and expect a one-word answer, not furthering the relationship but not taking it back.

To make things even better, I've been getting so much praise for my clarinet playing skills... especially from Lauren's dad. He keeps insisting that I've had private lessons because of my sharpness, my clarity, and my posture. That is kind of true; I studied at the Peabody Institute for about a year in elementary school. Also, when I came in today and received new music for Navy Band Day, I sight-read it perfectly and knew the rhythms better than the people who actually practiced it on Friday. Speaking of Friday, I had to miss school (sadly... Boo. Hoo.) because there was a downpour in my basement and a pipe just exploded in the upstairs bathroom so at 3AM my mom was panicking, trying to stop the firehose-like stream with everything from boots to laundry hampers. Surprisingly, I was the only one who slept through the entire ordeal. Go figure. Also on Friday, the Boys Soccer Team delivered the donuts that I bought from them (for $6.00) during Band class, and Satan, of all people, decided to take them and turn them into the "office." M'hmmm. Like I actually believe that.

Even more praise was given to me today during senior skit practice for my dancing skills. I did my usual acrobatics (handsprings, aerials, some 80s-inspired moves) and the biggest WOOOO came when my tech vest flew up to reveal my abs; I felt so... unclean. Especially since Stefanie wheeled in 2 dance mirrors so we could see ourselves in action; I felt like a cheap stripper or something... not that that's always a bad thing. The only low points in those practices is afterwards, you know, when I see the watch knob branded into my hand or feel a burning sensation down there from having my unit slammed against that damn cafeteria floor while doing The Worm. Owwwie! If there's one thing I've learned after all these years, it's been to suck it up and never reveal your weaknesses.

Little known fact: My first name was originally Justin. It changed in the delivery room when my Uncle Jim called while my mom was doing her thing. And I've always been thankful for that, especially when I was a kid because my best friends were Adrienne, Scott, and Justin... I needed to be different. JUS+IN E$QU!RE? Nah.

What did I learn? Flattery and praise do make you feel infinitely better and make you strive to be the best. Because of Mr. Truffer's compliments, my clarinet playing has improved even more and as a result of Ms. Dorsey's admiration of my achievements, I'm gonna try my damndest not to start slacking off with less than a year left in high school. And I've always had that name in the back my head... I've always thought of what my other life would be like... if I could live my other possibilty... as Justin Hoke (my parents would probably be divorced), would I be exactly the same person? Probably not. What if my eighth grade year was nothing special and I actually went through with attending Cardinal Gibbons (private school) instead of Northeast like I originally planned to? Then I would've never met Shannon or Carolyn or Chelsey or John or Marianne. It's weird when you actually think about it, how your life would be drastically altered because of the tiniest changes. You should try and map out your life (so far) and think about how the slightest things make you who you are today. That's all for today. Good Night, y'all.