|
 Merry
Christmas! Although there is no doubt that it has been
an eventful year, I can still vividly remember the Y2K ball ticking
down at the dawn of the new Millenium. It seems hard to believe that
occurred two years ago.
I turned 14 this year, and had a small sleep-over with my good
friend Thomas. I have grown considerably taller, and I am still
amazed whenever I am able to look at my dad eye-to-eye, not only at a
physical level, but also at the value of our beliefs and knowledge.
Although I do not suggest that I am as worldly as he, gone are the
days that his seemingly unending wisdom mystified me. That
demystification had first started to occur when both of us made it
into MENSA, and when it was suggested to us that I start college
before my dad did when he was my age. I am quite proud of what I have
achieved in knowledge and skill, but I can't help looking back and
wishing I had spent my time more carefully. And although it has
become a bit of a joke between Mom and I, I am still caught off-guard
when I have to lean over to hug her.
I started taking classes at the local college back in August. We
picked English Composition 101, 3 hours every Wednesday, because my
parents had run into trouble coming up with papers for me to write. I
actually finished the class on December 12th, the final being an
impromptu essay, just like the mid-term. Although it was interesting
to write so many papers, I found the class itself to be rather
lacking. This next semester I will be taking an Algebra class and a
Spanish class (French wouldn't fit with the schedule). Although I
have some guess of what the Algebra class will be like, I am left to
wonder about Spanish. It's an adventure in my view.
 Within
this last year my family has gained two leading edge computers, both
at a very nice price form a little place called UBid. The first one,
which we got in May, is a 1Ghz AMD Athalon with a GeForce 2 Ultra and
256mb of SDRAM, a CDRW, and Windows 98. The second one, which we got
about a month ago, is a 1.3Ghz AMD T-Bird, with 356mb of PC133 ram.
It didn't include an OS, but it did have a DVD-Rom drive. Along with
that, we also picked up Road Runner. I have been a very happy camper
about that. Now, Dad and I can play Red Alert 2 at blazing speeds.
I'm not exactly sure what I can do to help with my mother's recent
health problems, so I just try to be there for her when she needs
someone for comfort or to talk to. I just hope she can be as
comfortable as possible until we get the whole thing figured out.
Both my dad and I have been skipping out of work to play Red Alert 2
over our (soon to be house-wide) LAN. Although that has cut back our
output, it sure has been fun ;). The Crabgrass Cowboys (a band we
webhost) has been doing well, having gotten 4 or 5 gigs in just this
month. We had a nice trip to the Ozarks (yay for Bobby Vinton), but
the rest of our trips went southward at some point in the planning
and execution phase. Along with losing my best friend Thomas to the
dreaded move, another "friend" moved but a subdivision away
and never called to give me his new phone number and address.
Although he is still in communication with Thomas and others, it has
been almost a year since I have spoken to him. You think you know
somebody... All in all it has been an eventful year, but I certainly
hope that next year turns out even better. It better be, I'm running
out of friends and parents!
A "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" go out
to all of my friends and family. I wish you luck, happiness, and
prosperity for next year. And a special "w00t" for my best
friend in New Jersey, Thomas.
Jesse |
