Post random thoughts, observations, and events of the day...

And here it is, the graduation speech I delivered at my high school graduation.

Friends, family, and guests, thank you for coming here today to support this class and what we have done. Class of 2009, congratulations! Congratulations on making it this far. The journey has just begun for us, and there is a lifetime of great things ahead of all of us. We all have our dreams and a new life to look forward to today.
Class of 2009, I have a challenge for you. Today, I want you to remember what it was like to be a five year old kid. Now, answer this question as the five year old you would have: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Now, think of who you are right now. Answer the same question we’ve been asked hundreds of times this year: “What are your future plans?”
If you’re anything like me, those two answers are drastically different. What a difference thirteen years make.
When you were five years old, the world was without limits. If you closed your eyes and thought hard enough, you could fly. When people asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, there were no limits. You might be the President of the United States or a world-famous singer. Your answer had nothing to do with money or challenges, but only with what you thought would make you happiest. What changed? Somewhere along the way, we started thinking within limits.
When people asked us what we wanted to be when we “grew up,” our answers became less exciting. Instead of dreaming big, we answered instead with what we viewed as realistic and reachable. These new “dreams” were things that we may or may not actually want to do, but were reasonable. Money and challenges and roadblocks became a part of our consideration with what we wanted to do with our lives. We forgot what it was like to dream without any limits.
The funny thing is that there can be no limits. No matter what anyone has ever told you or what you have told yourself, there are no limits. The one and only limit is the one that you place upon yourself. If you believe that you can accomplish anything and put your whole self into accomplishing it, you will. The opposite is also true. That’s the only limit there is – how willing you are to dream big and reach for that goal.
“A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” Robert Browning wrote that, in his challenge to his reader to set his dreams outrageously high and then reach for them. He (and I) believe that dreams are meant to be set without limits and then worked for. Browning was challenging us not only to dream big, but then to stretch with all our might with our hands, our hearts, and our souls in order to reach our dreams.
Class of 2009, trust me here and close your eyes. Just for one moment on this day, dream. Dream about what will make you happiest. Dream about what will make you the best that you can possibly be. Most importantly, dream without limits. (Long pause.)
I challenge you to reach for that dream, that pure one without any limits. I challenge you to stretch as far as you can to accomplish that dream. No matter what your dream was, don’t let anyone, including yourself, tell you for any reason that you “can’t” accomplish it. Remember, the only limit on your dreams and accomplishing your dreams is the one that you set upon yourself. If you set no limits upon yourself, there are none. If you stretch and work to reach that dream and miss, well, then, that’s what your heaven is for; at least you will have no regrets and will have lived that dream. And who knows, you may just surprise yourself. Dream big and reach high. Thank you.

It doesn’t feel like it…maybe that’s because my life has been a whirlwind this year and I’ve been crazy buzy since forever. So an update for those who care!

After spending what felt like a million hours preparing for a musical entitled…wait for it…”Urinetown.” This play is a satirical look at a socialistic society. The rich extort the poor and force them to pay a ridiculous fee in order to use the bathroom. The play takes place as they begin to revolt. I played “Senator Fipp,” the transvestite corrupt senator who turns around just before he’s murdered by the angry mob.

After the musical, I spent 24 hours a day, 5 days a week working on English projects and papers and reading. I was up to my ears in work for my independent study and spent all of my waking hours writing poems (to be posted later) and blogging and such. The 2 days a week that I wasn’t working on English, constantly, I was hanging out with my love as much as possible.

Finally, I submitted all of my work and my love came home for the summer. Then I graduated. At the beginning of June, I walked in a cap and gown and delivered my graduation speech.

Since then, I’ve been going, going, gone all the time. I spent a week at the beach with my closest friends. I spent a day at PSU scheduling classes and gaining confidence about my future. I spent half a week at Knoebel’s Grove hanging out with my other set of closest friends and talking like I haven’t talked to people in months, with total honesty. I spent a day in Hershey Park and the rest of my time was spent working. (I have the infamously glamerous job of picking fruit in the mornings and selling fruit in the afternoons.)

Now my summer is still busy, but less so. I’m working and spending as much time as possible with my love. We’re using this summer as our escape and spending tons of time together. So far, it’s been the busiest, best summer ever. I can’t help falling in love with him every single beautiful summer day.

And now I’m back! My life hasn’t gotten less busy, but I realized how deeply, how intimitely I missed this site, sharing my feelings and talking to my friends here. I’m revamping my list and starting today!

Last night I had the absolutely most vivid dream of my friend Dee. In my dream Dee and I were going to go on a skiing vacation (which is odd as neither one of us have ever gone skiing or ever even talked about skiing) but we were going skiiing out of state.

My dream is so vivid. I can remember exactly what our air fares were going to be, how much our hotel room was costing and how much our lift fees and skiing lessons were going to cost.

It was really out of context for anything that Dee and I would ever have done together and yet it seemed so natural and real.

I wonder if Dee is skiing right now? I do think she visited me though and that felt pretty nice

I was kind of cruising around 43T this morning, (actually avoiding doing the thing that I am supposed to do today which is organize my kitchen and rearrange the pots & pans and storage containers per Mr. HippieChick’s request) and I come upon an entry that I thought was cheer worthy, so I cheer it . . . only to have a message come up that I cannot cheer this user or something to this effect. I went to comment on it instead and I cannot comment on it. This guy has blocked me!!! I don’t know that I have ever even spoken to him. Well c’est la vie . . . I gave the cheer somewhere else.

I suppose in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter it just kind of irritated me that “The HippieChick” is blocked for no apparent reason. I would at least like to know what it was that I did/said that was so offensive.

I am meeting my first 43ter in person. Ohmigawsh. And I am crying in anticipation.

Meeting my first 43ter in person – in the city which was my home when I was a baby.

I had forgotten to make that connection!

YES! This trip is SOOOOO much more significant than I had even imagined!!

Crying more!!!

Yesterday was my Father’s Birthday. Were he still alive, he would have turned 90 yesterday. Yesterday as it happens was also his Mother’s Birthday. He was born on her 22nd Birthday.

WHERE IS FLIRT??

but tonight I scored a 1st edition copy of “The Alice’s Restaurant Cookbook” which was written by the actual Alice May Brock who owned the “Back Room Rest” which was “the Alice’s Restaurant” that Arlo Guthrie sang about way back when.

I am just jazzed to hae it as when it first came out, I had memorized all 18 minutes of the “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”

Hey I was just a young hippie chick gettin’ started . . . this is just a little blast from my past and I do really like cookbooks.

We have a little foster pug here with us. His name is Bobby and he is 5 years old. He is sick with Acute Renal Failure (ARF). Right now I do not know if it is possible for him to recover or if he will stay sick. I still have lots to learn about this. As I understand, the extent that a dog can recovery from Acute Renal Failure depends on the severity of the kidney damage, the underlying cause of the ARF and the supportive treatment. As I am new to this and to his particular situation, I will have to learn as I go and as I care for Bobby and take him to his vet appoinments.

He was taken to a doctor in Yuma a few weeks ago as he had been ill and vomiting for “about a month” Hello people??? A month??? He was diagnosed with Accute Renal Failure. The most likely cause for this seems to be that they were giving him frozen grapes as treats “because he likes them”. A lot of people do not know that grapes and raisins can be deadly to dog. I didn’t know for the longest time. So maybe they just didn’t know they were hurting him . . . but geez . . . a month of vomiting?

Poor Bobby, he is so sweet. His people had opted to put him down rather than to attempt treatment. The doctor asked them if they would be willing to surrender him to APARN which they did. The doctors office took care of him for a week before bringing him to APARN. APARN had a problem in that they had no available hospice space for him, so I said I would do it. I am nit sure what would have happend to him if no one stepped forward. I was initially worried about having yet another dog, but after two weeks, everything seems to be O.K. I know our neighbors think we have lost our minds. (yes . . . we have 4 pugs and 2 great danes here)

Bobby is just being taken care of (sponsored) by APARN, not being put up for adoption due to his health issues. He has been with us for two weeks now and is actually starting to show improvement. I am so excited!! He eats a canned prescription dog food and takes tons of meds. He was getting subcutaneous fluid (I kind of actually like doing this . . . it fascinates me sort of) but now he is drinking enough and eliminating on his own so that he doesn’t have to have it done anymore.

He is just as sweet and cute as can be. I want him to get better . . . but part of me (the really selfish part) wants him to be not quite enough better to be adopted. I really like him!!!

Mr. & Mrs. Hippiechick got married 3 years ago today.

It was a very good decision!!!