On A More Serious Note...

Original Post

On this day, twelve years ago, thirty-seven people woke up in Columbine, Colorado, thinking it would be any normal Tuesday. Little did they know, their lives would be changed forever. In fact, thirteen of them would die that day, long before their time. The students of Columbine High School were unaware that they would be witness to the most brutal high school shooting in American history.

Dylan Klebold (left) and Eric Harris (right) were eighteen years old. At this young age, they were also responsible for the deaths of twelve students, and one faculty member. Twenty-one others were injured by their assault. These two young men were deeply troubled individuals with access to 9mm assault rifles, and the properties required to make bombs.

On April 20th, 1999, Harris and Klebold arrived in seperate cars on campus. They set off bombs in their high school’s cafeteria at 11:17 AM. As people escaped at approximately 11:19 AM, the pair opened fire on the unsuspecting victims.

At 11:29 AM, after fleeing from a sheriff, Harris and Klebold moved to the school’s library where they shot at and injured/killed 34 people. They left at 11:42, marking the end of the massacre.

At 12:08 AM, the pair returned to the library, where they committed suicide. Dylan Klebold, 17 years old, killed himself with a single shot in the head. Eric Harris, 18 years old, swiftly followed, shooting himself once in the mouth.

In the span of 49 minutes, countless lives were changed forever. Two young men, that suffered from depression, disturbances, aggression, violent urges, and above all, bullying, lashed out. Lashing out even seems like too understated.

Cassie Bernall, Steve Curnow, Corey DePooter, Daniel Mauser, Daniel Rohrbough, Rachel Scott, Lauren Townsend, Kyle Velasquez, Kelly Fleming, Matt Kechter, Isaiah Shoels, John Tomlin, Coach David Sanders, Dylan Klebold, and Eric Harris all died on April 20, 1999. These people had lives, loved ones, and futures. None of them will ever get to grow old and die of natural causes, and have many life experiences that we take for granted.

Please never forget, and please remember, your actions towards others have repercussions. So treat everyone around you with respect

Happy 4/20

Original Post Here

We are Stoner.
We go to work everyday.
We've thought about life more than you can understand.
We've values that you overlook.
We are the ones who hold your hair while your poison ejects itself.
We are the ones who can talk to the cop, since you can't even stand.
We are prosecuted by those who are jealous of our zeal.
We don't need help or your opinion, or that new fancy liver.

We are understanding, compassionate and forgiving. If the laws changed tomorrow, we would not hold spite for all the years or harassment.
We are joyous, happy and outgoing. Not only do we love the greatness we have found in life, but feel compelled to share it with you as well.
We are dependable, chivalrous and loyal. We don't smoke to much pot and accidentally screw our best friends girlfriend.
We are accepting, trusting and doubtless. Ethnicity? Race? Social status? Don't worry about all that, sit down and have a toke with us.

W will not give up. We will survive your trials. We will endure your lies. And sooner or later, we will win.
We are all together. We all accept each other. We are all one.
We are Stoner.

Once Upon A Time...

Something I Think You'd Need

I've been reading The Perks of Being A Wallflower again the past few days (oh, what a hipster I am, yeah, yeah, yeah) and while I could ramble on for hours about the merits of the book and how wonderful it is, I'm going to shut up and get to the point.

Charlie, the main character, is given a series of books to read over the course of the book by his English teacher (I'll tackle those later) and while reading one of them is inspired to try to write something. He only makes it one sentence in before giving up. Although it probably wasn't such a bad thing, Charlie was a terrible writer.

The point of the story here, is to talk about a few things most writers should probably have at their disposal before they begin an endeavor into the literary world. Some of these things Charlie had, most of them he didn't.

1) Imagination by the shit ton.
No really. Your imagination never should have left childhood.

2) A semi-ridiculous belief in the impossible.
This includes, but is not limited to, faeries, dragons, and magic. Indulging in these things doesn't make you immature as long as you limit it to your writing time. It helps you make the characters you create and their worlds more believeable.

3) The internet.
Were this 1976 I would have said a library, but you need to be able to back your shit up with thorough research. And you know what? Even though this is 2011, a library never killed anyone. I quite like them. They're quite often more helpful and less distracting than the internet.

4) Copious amounts of liquid.
Be it tea, coffee, soda, whiskey, scotch, or rum. Pick your poison and keep it on tap for when the Muse whacks you over the head and you get into a frenzy and forget to eat. The human body can go for weeks without food, but only days without water.

5) Someone sane.
Their job is to pry you away from your medium of choice and force you to talk to people, bathe, and eat. They can be crazy in their own way if you like, they just can't be your kind of crazy.

6) Liquor.
For those attempts at negotiating around writers block.

7) A Snuggie.
For when you write on the couch or in bed or something. Mostly just because I believe people need Snuggies.

8) A very diverse taste in music.
Some music isn't going to make you want to sit down and write. Some is. And more often than not, those tunes aren't in the same genre. So if you (for example) like Daft Punk and listen to only Daft Punk and any of their fellows, you're going to have to expand your horizons just a tad. Because while Interstella 5555 was amazing, the music might not make you want to crank out a chapter.

9) Good grammar.
I don't think I need to get too in depth on this one.

10) Someone you trust a whole helluva lot.
This person might also double as your sane person. Their job is to read your earliest drafts and tell you in complete honesty if they suck or not. They also get to read every draft after that and the finished piece. Try very hard not to abuse them, this person breaks very easily and is just as sensitive as you. You may need a few of these and not all of them at once.

Quet Girl- Langston Hughes

I would liken you
To a night without stars
Were it not for your eyes.
I would liken you
To a sleep without dreams
Were it not for your songs.