Gregory’s Blog?

Most people know that music runs my life and it always will. I just love hearing it and making it! So, i was thinking what I could write my free blog on, and i decided that i am going to write about what drives me… my music.

Everyday i listen to my i pod and i can never function without it. I even listen to music on my way to class. One song that I really like is “gunpowder and Lead” by Miranda Lambert. Even though I grew up with country and a lot of people dont like country i still enjoy some of it. but i dont like too much “twang” in it. I like stuff with an upbeat rythym.

One singer that I am in love with is Quindon Tarver. If you have seen the most recent Romeo and Juliet with Loeonardo DiCaprio, you have definatly heard him. He sang “doves cry” and “everybody’s free” in the movie. He just lifts my spirits when i have a bad day. I love his voice! even though that was him when he was younger i still listen to him on youtube.

Although i say that i am obsessd with some singers, i dont JUST listen to them. I have all types of music on my i pod and on my computer. If i like it, i will listen to it. I have all kinds of music for each mood i have. I try not to favor too many of them (artists that is) but i can listen to a lot of music. One kind of music that kind of gets on my nerves would have to be rap. Im sorry for those of you who listen to it, but if i cant understand what the heck they are singing, i dont need to listen to them. But the ones that i can understand, then yes, i wuold listne to them. that and if the lyrics arent too bad. But if there is a song about “popping a cap in somsone’s a**” or “Slappin a hoe” i dont listen to it. I think its just stupid. Music is a gift, and some people just spoil it to a point to where its a curse. when i am riding in a car, i can deal with people blarring their stereos to something decent, but if it’s something like what i have just listed above that i dont like, then forget it, they should get a ticket for disturbing the peace and insult to art.

I FINALLY GOT MY BOOK TODAYYYYY! YAY! Even though i am extremely late on getting it, I still got it! and i am not putting that book down for anything! I started to read it today and I got only six pages in because my mom made me put it down when we got home and do other things. (i know i JUST said im not putting down for anything… but once you meet my mom, you would understand.) So anyways… even though i am only six pages in, i am already liking the book! hahaha! it kind of reminds me of my sister when she was pregnant. It seemed like my sister was going to just pop when she was pregnant. And she also had an unsatiable appetite. I can’t wait to start reading it again, but i have to get all of my homework finished first. So i am rushing hahaha. I would start writing on how it raises post-colonialism, but I am not really that far into the book hence me being on page six. (i am so repetitive on that) and i dont really have any questions that deal with the reading of the book. When i thnk of some, i will ask them from my classmates!

Today, we were under attack by the savages from land. I took cover in the ship while we were under attack. i did peak out of a crack though the whole time. I felt like i never blinked! The old man that told me stories unfortunatly disappeared earlier this evening. I think that the savages knocked him into the water. it wouldnt suprise me if that did happen. I am starting to worry less and less about sharks. Sharks stay in the water and can only hurt in if you are in the water. Savages… are everywhere! You can almost never escape them. They are starting to become more scary than the sharks that i fear the most. we are to make dock by tomorrow morning. I fear the worst.  This man on the ship known as Marlow is obsessed about finding his friend. He talks of him constantly and it is getting very annoying. So i just walk away from him.

I think that the captain is starting to make me get used to the outside of the ship. I think that because he is starting to make me go outside more and more for his errands. The only thing that he did was make my fears worsen hence the whole being under attack thing went on this evening. So from now on i am playing ill so I dont have to do anything. I am staying in my cabin the rest of the ship. And when we dock tomorrow morning, I am not setting foot off this ship. And i am going to block the doors of my cabin so that if a savage decides to get on the ship, they wont be coming in here. Well, here’s to hoping.

Okay, so as you already know, I work at Smoothie king and i love it! But what is a job without flaws right???! Well, I can only name a few flaws… Like closing the store or opening it. It’s always so much work! I mean yes, it’s supposed to take some work, but it shouldn’t take THAT long to do so. But what REALLY gets on my nerves is when someone tries to modify or change their order once it’s already been placed. What happens is once we get your name and place the order… it’s kinda permanent. You can’t really go in the computer and change it, instead you have to make a new order. Like today, there was a group of teen girls that came in… One of those groups of girls that think they own everything, yet they are so nice. well, after two of the girls placed their orders, the third one decides to get a LARGE chocolate shredder (which i think is disgusting! Its so gross!) so anyways, i ask if that will be all and she replies with a yes. I ask her name and of course its the most random and weirdest name ever! D’onte. Is that like French or something? So, I make the BIG smoothie (it’s a friggin 44 oz and you see it on the display that we CLEARLY have) she watches me make the smoothie and put it on the blender and right before i pour it into the cup she says “oh i change my mind… i want a medium” Now, i was like oh my god! WHAT?!?! but i kept my cool and i was like “okay, well I cant go into the computer and change it to a medium, so why don’t you keep the large and drink some now and some later?” she said “no, i want what i want” She had gotten a little snooty with me. “oh yes mam” i said and i poured the smoothie that i had made into the meduim cup… and i still made her pay for the large without telling her. I know it sounds mean, but hey, karma is awesome! All i had to do is simply overcharge for a medium. Hey she used a debit card anyways, it’s not like sh ei going to know that I charged her extra unless she double checks. Anyways, when customers do that to me, and I have to re-order their smoothie, i can’t void the previous order since i am not a team leader or higher. So i can’t clock out at the end of the day since i have open checks under my name.  But that is the only flaw at Smoothie King that I don’t like.

This week has been a pretty nice week. I mean other than the motion sickness (which I never thought would EVER effect me) it’s pretty nice… I guess. :/ And there is not really anyone that I talk to. I just stay to myself and try to stay out of everyone’s business. But, there is this one old man. I don’t remember his name, but he has talked to me and he just kind of creeps me out. His stories are interesting though. His stories of the sea monsters that he makes up are really intriguing. I never say anything in response to his stories, but i am awe struck and speechless. He tells me of this sea urchant that swallows passing ships. He is not a whale or squid, but much worse. A disgusting urchant he is, with red gleaming eyes and 1000 tentacles with razor sharp spurs at the end of each one. Just thinking about it urkes me.

Other than the old man, there is everyone else who tries to start conversation with me. I ignore them and go about my job on the ship, which is to make sure we are on the right track, organizing the ship and knowing that the other sailors are doing as they are told. i am not captian or co-captain, just his apprentice i guess you would say. I had disgusted my position and where i stand on a ship (preferrably not on deck), and he thought it best to be his assistant and help him since I am a hard working man. Being his “left hanfd man” is not the worst job in the world and I really enjoy it. I just hope he doesn’t change his mind on this though. I hate being on deck. Any moment is unpredictabkle. You never know when something bad is going to happen and you are going to be knocked into the water and killed in the water by sharks.

Oh boy…. I thought this was going to be asked. I feel really bad about this. Oh jeez. okay, so long story and since this blog has to be two paragraphs long, i will try to make it short. Alright, as you already know from my previous blog about my book… I have not recieved it yet… which is REALLY Bad considering the reading is supposed to be coming to a close pretty soon. I have been extremely busy! On top of school, i am in the play, in select choir, etc (read past blogs to know exactly what is going on) and i also have a job to keep. I know that being busy is not an excuse. But i ask that I do not get critisized for not reading, it will get done if its the last thing that i do! I work at a Smoothie King and we are always busy considering we are in port brusly (we nicknamed it that at work since we are always confused on if its port allen or brusly). anyways, we never have a break and I am not really allowed to do school work even if i do have time to do so. The other day i had tried to do math homework, and they did not allow me. That, and we got customers (im sorry “guests”) one after the other.

So all in all, I never really have time to do anything… even if its stuff that I want to do. Like, I started reading wicked during the hurricane and I had gotten half way through the book and then school started… i have yet to pick it up ever since. I would quit my job and try to get “un-busy” and “de-stressed” but I am sorry, I get money for school and i have a 500 dollar loan to pay off. And I actually enjoy my job. And they also (Smoothie King) said they will like to be used as a reference when I go to college. They know how important that is to me. And i was complimented a lot this weekend for what a great job i have been doing! i WAS EXTREMELY PROUD OF MYSELF!  But i will try to spread my time out so I can do the assignments! (like reading, and getting these blogs done before sunday night… maybe even friday night! hahaha!) but my progression in school will increase! i promise!

“Who are you?” is one of the most common questions asked by someone who doesn’t really know you. Who am I should not be the question i think. I think that the question should be, “what have you done with your life?” it doesn’t matter who are. All that matters is what you have done. And i live by that moto of mine. Everyday I try to make people happy. I try to make people smile as much as they can. I try to be there for people who don’t ask me for help. I try to be as nice as possible and as patient. I try not to yell a lot when I get frustrated or angry. But it gets the best of me. In English class the other day I did raise my voice because i was stressed and I didn’t know exactly what we were supposed to be doing. I apologize for acting stupid. But sometimes I just break. I had gotten into a fight with a friend about something really stupid and i was just frustrated. It was petty and instead of going somewhere else and blowing off some steam, I took it out on someone else. I feel bad for doing so, but what happens, happens. As for what I have done with my life so far, well, I haven’t really been doing that much until this year. I am an officer for thespian club which is really awesome and fun. I am in Praise Bandm which is what I wanted to be in since freshman year. I am in select choir, another thing i wanted since freshman year. And I have always wanted to be heard! This year is when I get my chance. I am a peer leader and i am know a chair person along with some others for leadership services on the cornerstones council. I want new people to the school to feel welcomed and wanted. something i didn’t really recieve my first year at EHS. I feel that if i am a free spirit, that people will start to show their true colors around me and I love it. A dream of mine is to open my own academy of the arts once I get older. Some people would laugh at the fact that i would ever want to do that. Not because I wish to do something to help others or to do something so “out of the ordinary”, but because some peopel don’t see me as a leader. I do not wish to name anyone, but everytime i say i am going to do something like that, I am shot down and it makes me stop from doing something. Like last year, I thought i would run for president of the junior class. Some of my friends thought it was a good idea, that we needed someone excited for the job to do so. But one person (and it only took ONE person) to tell me it was a stupid idea. That i wasn’t right for the job. When I had told her that I was thinking about possibly running for president, she laughed. Not really a friendly thing to do. When i asked her why she was laughing… she just asked. “you?….. Greg, I don’t think so.” and she turned and walked away. This year I decided to change that. Just because someone says no to something i feel i have a calling to do, I am not going to back down. It is going to take some serious convincing to stop me and i am ready for anything. My grandmother (R.I.P.) always told me that if i have a strong feeling in something that I believe in, do it. and if i fall down, just get back up and try it again, or do something new, just dont give up. My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in 2005. She  underwent tons of chemo-treatments and she stayed strong for as long as she could. She lost her battle on July 12th, 2005 around 3pm. Now that I think about it, she would want me to live my life as happily as i could, and help others along the way. So i dedicate this year, my junior year, to my grandmother, Marla Jean Gregory.

OK. so this blog is not letting me post the picture to my blog, so i will post the link at the bottom.

i really like this painting. it reminds me of a soul with the many colors and shapes. it tell me that we can be creative and love life just the way it is, and even though we are full of spirit, there is a little darkness inside of everyone. I love how the painting’s lines arent all going in one direction. Instead they are all going horizontally or vertically. it kind of makes me think that the painter is going against the laws of gravity and i really like that in a person. Someone that likes to be creative and break the rules really gets my attention. The painting kind of resembles me. thats one of the reasons why i chose it. You see, i am full of life all of the time. More so outside of classes. and i do have a dark side that some people do know about and others that dont.

The connections that I can make between Modern Lit and Modern Art is that the writer or artist doesnt really want to make it easy for you to figure out what their piece of art is about. They want you to think and ponder it for some time. Like when I read Modern Lit, i sometimes have to think of several morals of that story. when i look at art, i try to think of what the artist is trying to say in their art. Another thing about the two is that the sepnd a great deal of time on details. A writer spends time on the details of a scene or they try to make the imagery strong, and so does the artist of modern art. Some pieces of art deal with political views, whether it deals with war, or feminism in Washington or politics. When I went to Houston last year, there was a painting, and I overheard some old guys talking about a painting they were observing. One of them said “it’s like the cold war, you see the destruction?” The other guy said, “yes, it’s like the cold war, but not so cold.” What the hell that meant??? I have no idea. But writers can do the exact same thing. They can write about something wrong in america and express the way they feel about war or about having women in politics. A picture says a thousand words.

http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/images/galleries/FRANK_06/005.jpg

  Today was the first day on the boat. I have to admit… I am a little nervous. You see, when i was a child, my father took me out on a boat once. We were going fishing for our family. I come from a poor family background and we never had the money to buy bread and other foods that were sold in the market place. My dad decided that if we wanted to survive, we would have to go fishing. We had tried to catch fish from shore, but they werent big enough to feed all of us. So my dad started to build a little boat, and when he had finished, he wanted to bring each of us, my 5 other siblings, out to fish. So one day, it was my turn to partake in fishing for the family since there was only room for 2 people in the boat. We were far enough out to sea in order that we could not sea the ocean floor. I was terrified. My father had advised me that he brought my other siblings out that far all of the time and I needn’t worry. He was wrong. After two hours of fishing and only catching 3 fish, i got a snap on my line. SUCCESS i thought! I was so proud of myself, until my moment of pride was then shot down to pure fear. I did not catch a fish. What i caught was a shark. I tried to stay in the boat, but the shark took me in. I went under water and was tangled in the line. My heart pounding i was disoriented. I tried to swim, but i didnt know if i was swimming downward further into the mighty depths of the sea, or if i was swimming to safety. All i knew was that it wasnt a good thing to be in the same area as a shark. i finally thought to myself “i need to calm down and think.” so i kept my lungs full of air for a brief moment and realized that i was floating upward. I then knew which way to swim. My head finally surfaced from the water and i had seen the boat. What i did not see shocked me. My father had jumped in to save me. I swam to the boat and got in. I looked for my father everywhere, calling him as loud as i could………. nothing. I looked for him for another 3 hours with no progress. I didn’t understand. I did not see any blood in the water and i knew that the shark would have killed him for sure. When i arrived on shore, met by my whole family, they knew something bad had happened. My mother asked me where my father was. I shook my head and looked down as if i had failed my father and my family. She then broke down in tears. I didn’t know what to do. No one ate that night except for my two youngest siblings, Sarah and Brendal. They didn’t understand to as why our father had gone missing. We told them that he was taken by mermaids and that he was living life as a merman now. It saddened me, everytime we went to the shore, to see my little brother and sister calling out to my father.

Being on a ship like this with only 5 men is a little scary to me. I never know when someone is going to fall in the water and be hurt, or even killed. Other than that though, life on the ship is a little restless. Everyone is excited to see what we will find in Africa. I have heard countless stories of savages and blashphemy. In reality, I just feel almost the same way i did when i fell off the boat when i was a child. Disoriented. Nervous. Scared. I just hope that no one on this expedition gets hurt. We will soon see.

I AM GOING TO BE AN UNCLE AND I AM EXCITED! hahaha! okay, some people don’t really know that I am going to be an uncle soon and if you are reading this…. guess what??…… IM GOING TO BE AN UNCLE! hahaha! My sister was impregnanted (ew. i dont even want to calculate when she…. ehhh nevermind.) but anyways, she is having a boy and his name is going to be Hayden! which is the perfect name for my nephew! Although i would much rather have a niece, I shall live! haha! I’ve always thought when the day would actually come when i would be called Uncle Greg. (wow! that sounds so weird!… Uncle Greg! lol!) But my sister had her baby shower yesterday and it went exceptionally well! I didn;t get to stay because guys werent allowed, but i got to buy stuff for Hayden!!!! I got him a “Brown bear brown bear what do you see” book! and i got him a brown stuffed bear to go with it! Those were some of my favorite things when i was growing up! my bear and my brown bear book!

I dont know if I want kids when I get older. I am still kinda on the fence about it and I am not really worried about it anyways. For several reasons. but… eh! lol! That and im still kinda like a kid! Right now i am more worried about what college I am going to get into! I really want to go to a school of music! I’ve been searching all summer and I have yet to find one that i really really want to go to! that and i still don’t know what kind of things i want to with my music! I do want to perform all over the world though! and I think i want to open my own Academy of the Arts! I have thought about it a lttle and i want to own a place for teens that feel really passionate about theatre, choral, and dance! Along with some visual arts! Right now i am in the progress of raising money to go to the college i want and i am really optimistic about my future!