Zuihitsu

♦ Bell towers are large and unnecessary. They make nice music though. So much math and mechanics go into them. Every sound has to be the right pitch. Under the tower is a large purple tree. It would be difficult to draw, like many other things. The light reflects off of some leaves, others it cannot reach. The branches intertwine, some drooping, others stretched towards the sun. A boy sticks a sign out of a window. From what is written on it, I am reminded that we have some funny people here.

♦ Funny things to write on a sign then stick out of a window:

· Inappropriate names of body parts

· “pillage”

· “help me”

· When given a thumbs up in response to a sign, drawing a thumbs up on the sign.

· “LALALA”

· “I like tacos”

♦My backpack was stolen. Not the nicest prospect. Two purses were also stolen. Today, they all turned up behind a couch on a different floor of our building, emptied of things dear and valuable. I was happy, though. That my new jacket, my sunglasses I purchased in France (approximately €7), and my phone charger were intact. My iPod was still gone, of course, and this I was upset about. I was sure someone had put it in a pawn shop by now.

♦ Things that give me a headache:

· Homework

· Lawn mowers

· Things getting lost or stolen

· Bad hair days

· Frantic packing

· General everyday absurdities that upset my fragile nerves and cause stress to take over me.

♦Hair can get annoying. No matter how many times you go to the stylist, it can still be pretty messed up. I scorn those with huge 80s hair. It is the 21^st century, in case they haven’t noticed. Billy Idol is no longer that popular and Madonna has lost some of her gusto. I don’t care if to you “music makes the people come together, yeah”, your hair isn’t going to make anyone “walk this way”. Crimped hair is okay, as long as it’s not too frazzled. But really, 80s hair people, there is such thing as too much volume.

♦ Every school has them. Cliques. Maybe more than there are here at camp. I once stood up to a clique. I told them how I felt, after getting way too sick of them. We were all in the girls’ locker room after gym and I was fed up with their crap. I came around the side of the lockers and started yelling. For my sake I hope I was at least a little bit intimidating. I told them how they put people down, and it felt good to point out their wrongdoings. I hope I had an effect on them, taught them something they’d never forget. Do you know what I got instead? Laughed at, and an afternoon of tears. I’d done what I’d always wanted to do and stood up to them, but they only laughed in my face. I called my mom from the teacher’s office. While waiting for me to come and pick me up from school earlier than she would, a few friends and a teacher came to talk to me. I had expected to be alone. That’s how I felt the world had just left me after what had happened. Apparently, I was wrong. They comforted me, even if they didn’t know it. They couldn’t feel what I felt, I knew that for sure. But with their subtle jokes and words of kindness, I felt pretty loved. Of course, I was still shaken. I would be for a few days. My hope now is that karma will get those girls later, because I failed to do it then.

♦ My friends are crazy, and through laughter and tears, they are true. One of my friends, named Logan, needed a garbage bag to clean out her 1’x1’x2’ locker. She had winter coats, boots, sweatshirts, books, etc. People dear to me, like Logan, always seem to make me laugh with their mischievous antics, even if they aren’t trying. Another friend and I were playing a call and response sort of competition with funny and random noises. They got louder and progressively weirder as we walked in between the middle school and the high school. All of a sudden, an inquisitive janitor poked his head around the corner of a small alcove in the wall. We shut up and made an “oops” face, but kept walking. When we got to where that janitor was, we saw three other janitors chuckling at us. We ran, hard, laughing the whole way. No matter what we’re doing, things always get weird when I’m with my friends.

♦Focused people are fun to watch. They barely ever stop what they are doing. People writing are usually very focused, unless they stop to look around the room and think, racking their brains for inspiration. They hold a certain position throughout the drafting; elbows on or off the table, legs crossed or not crossed, etc. They barely ever notice you watching, and they barely give you a glance if you do.

♦Things that I say seriously (my form of sarcasm) that people laugh at, which sometimes makes me angry because I am serious:

· “I’m gonna screw up the face of the person who stole my backpack. So bad, their family won’t even recognize them.”

· “I hate people like that. They think they’re better than everyone else. But will they be successful? No. I’ll just let karma gnaw at their souls.

· “Care Bears are beastly. When I get old and rich I’m gonna make a Care Bear mansion. Or maybe I’ll just be a crazy cat lady and name the cats after Care Bears. Who knows?”

· “Screw it, I don’t care if they’re called the hill toppers, they need outdoor escalators!”

· And in response to their muffled laughter, “Shut up, it’s not that funny!”