TODAY,

I screamed as loud as I could.

But it's ok, no one heard me.

Dear Tyler Gobble,

Thank you for being my friend.

I love and appreciate you.

With utmost sincerity,

Jordan

Break-ups and downs

Kinsley works at a nursing home and I’m an RA.

We exchange stories of crazy residents.

And wonder what it would be like if hers mixed with mine.

Worn, creased faces beside fresh, acned ones.

We laugh at the thought.

-Scary Realization:I care a lot about these girls and genuinely want each and every one of them to succeed.

-This kind of emotional investment was not in my contract.

I feel like a failure when girls move from my floor or like I threw in the towel when Sheltered Princess moves down the hall to get away from Blunt Elitist.

I’m learning not to take it personally.

The best part of this gig is the built in support system of the staff. They get me through the hard days and convince me repeatedly that I’m worthwhile. They’re a wonderful bunch.

But I have my favorites, I’m not going to lie.

It Rained Rained Rained, and we Loved Loved Loved.

I bought the ticket on a whim after Cody had invited me to the concert.

Going to concerts always makes me nervous. I never feel quite cool enough.

Brand New, Manchester Orchestra at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.

The Windy City.

It took us hours to get there.

(four of them)

I drove them all. This is a huge personal accomplishment.

Once we arrived, paid twenty bucks to park, and hit up a starbucks, we found ourselves in a head shop listening to a stonned Kevin Smith Replica talk about a “sack of tatoes”.

Also, for the low, low price of two dollars I rescued a sunny yellow hat from a dreary army supply store; but my favorite purchase of the day was a worn Edith Wharton novel from a cutesy used bookstore.

The concert was a madhouse. Manchester was mind-blowing and Brand New stirred up passionin the crowed that I didn’t know existed.

I can’t believe I’d forgotten how much I liked getting shoved around by horrifyingly hugemasses of sweaty, intoxicated people.

It was late once we headed back toward home. Our eyes got droopy and as the driver, I knew we wouldn’t make it the whole way, so we parked at a truck stop and napped for a few hours.

It was freezing.

I’m astonished that we didn’t get murdered by a serial killer.

Cody D is one of the loveliest additions to my life. Without him, I’d be lost.

(By the way his eye ball is almost completely healed now.)

And Derek, the trust sidekick is pretty swell as well.

Dear Walt Whitman,

Thank you for taking me away this week.

[I celebrate myself, and sing myself]
By Walt Whitman

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loaf and invite my soul,
I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
My tongue, every atom of my blood, formed from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.

Creeds and schools in abeyance,
Retiring back awhile sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,
I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy.

I appreciate the the escape and am glad we are friends now.
Love,
Jordan

"The sign says Stu West, but my heart says jail"

This weekend was:

• Duty.
• Bodily Fluids in the stairwell (nasty).
• Travis time (nice guy).
• Alexander (Cowboy, boyfriend)
• My foray into matchmaking (Lauren and Abe).
• Excellent.
• "Let me lend a machete to your intellectual thicket" (great line).
• Long
• Challenging.
• A visit from my Mumsy (I am loved).
• Quesadilla (vegetarian).
• Underage drinkers.

~

The RA job is getting harder as my duties don’t mesh well with the expectations I have for myself as a student.

Friends make it easier.

Attitudes make it harder.

The basic necessities of life are starting to become a hindrance that I don’t have time for (eating, sleeping, breathing).

But I’m really starting to love it. “It” being where I’m at and what I’m doing.

I’m learning something new every day and I feel like I’m being prepared for future challenges.

I can’t wait for real life, but for now, this is a decent substitute.

Aspen's Grizzly

Do it.

Personify.

“Read. Read Read. And then Write. “

Chew it up and spit out metaphorically.

"I want to hear a poem where ideas kiss similes so deeply that
metaphors get jealous,

Where the subject matters so much that adjectives start
holdin' pronoun rallies at city hall.”

I want to hear a story..

…with two bickering languages, only one of which I speak.