"Redemption 5/30/05. My best friend Birdie has had the biggest effect on my life. We met one cold, stormy night in the dead of summer. It was 1998. And yet, when I met her I had the odd feeling that we'd met before. It was like we were soulmates. She, with her dark curls and emrald eyes seemed to radiate light. But I was more taken aback with the way she said "Henry". To some people Henry seemed like a lame, broken down horse. But to Birdie, Henry was a work of art.
And now, as I sit next to Birdie and ponder our life as best friends, I'm reminded by the fact that she's getting married in 2 months...actually 5 weeks. Suddenly our lives are going to drastically change. She'll be married and I'll be living in Mississippi. And now as we sit in a crowded bar with our dear friend Constance, we hold on to these memories. Change is inevitable but our friendship (fueled by our mutual love for Miller Lite, Rum & diet Coke and Rasberry Martinis) is eternal. Signing off for now, F. O. D."

"Me and Jen are the best people ever & Pearl man woooo! We're at the bar for my 21st birthday & I'm very horny & wearing a condom hat!!! Who wants to use it w/me? -L. & J."

"Dear fellow bar goers- So many people focus on the responsibilities of life, such as doing good in school and being the best they can at their job. People focus on that so much that they loose touch of who they are and things that really matter in life. The important things in life is frieds ad family- without those things, nothing else matters. In my opinion, a truly succesful person loved their friends, their family, and themselves first, and does their "job" (whatever it may be) to better their surroundings. Above all, do what your heart tells you first, and don't worry about waht the "popular" desicion may be. Your heart never lies. -B.
West Chester"

"I would like to breed humans and sell them to Nike for a lot of money. For example if you took Shaq and Lisa Leslea and breeded them it would turn into the best basketball player. Only if i could sell them to Nike, cause Nike would nurish them and train them into being a great ball player. But that is just fer fun."
-(unsigned)

"5/21/05 I was suffering from Major writer's block about 7 years ago. then I heard "Ana's Song" by Silverchair, had a good cry, and found I could write again. It impacted me in a huge way, cuz if it hadn't happened, I never would have written again. And then I wouldn't have written this. And the page would have been blank here." -(unsigned)

"5/21/05. I thought it would be cool to take this girl I was dating to a concert because she is a musician. Unfortunately the concert we ended up going to was Tantric. Ifelt like an ass because they suck. What made the night worth it was the fact that she tole me she was in love with me. I'm still with her today. She's the best thing that has happened to me. Thank you Tantric! Haha. " -(unsigned)

"5/21/05. Not being positive about which had the greatest impact on my life, I would have to say discovering that there were alternative healing opportunities such as reiki and shiatsu. Realising you have the opportunity to heal others as well as yourself is a life changing moment. Especially when you never imagined you could. -M.G."

"Upon my travels to the north one place has found a deep impact on my young life. Algonquin Provintial Park is in the Ontario provience and incudes 76,000 square km witch is filled with hundreds of lakes, protected animals including moose, timberwolves, lake trout, and (?). My grandfather introduced this region to me at an early age. I highly recomed this land to anyone who is trying to find themselves, or seeking true adventure. -A.B.R"

"My mind is as blank as this page of paper..... –C."

"Next week I am going to Mexico. Not the first time, it's not that adventuros, just the second. My father lives there, I sort of met him a few months ago. I mean, I knew he was Mexican but when my adoption records were finally made public to me (after months of waiting) I went down. Its kind of what I expected-not poor, but not wealthy by any means. Anyway, next week I'll be visiting Chico for the second time. xoxoxxx. -J."

"6/1/05. I'm thinking how much I love to be 21! Finally after all these years I'm finally able to enjoy what everyone else has been doing! There are so many options of things to do each night of the week that I never knew before I became 21, now I get to pay twice as much to be drunk as I did in high school, aren't I lucky?" -(unsigned)

"I might get published? Oh REALLY?! Well it's about fucking time. I finally got my first rejection letter last week and I was so happy. I told everyone I knew. Why so happy to be rejected, you ask? Well, after sending query after query, submission after submission into the black hole of the publishing world, I was just psyched to hear that someone even acknowledged my (albeit unskilled, unemployable) existance. And now, after running into the hundredth high school classmate, I get told the best thing that ever happened to any of them was not going to college, cause now they not only well paid employees, but sought - after positive job candidates. So, in conclusion, perhaps college really is a terrible idea, because I (along with my degree holding friends) have this strange idea that I'm supposed to do something I like with my weekdays (instead of just spending my week nights at fake Irish pubs and beijng satisfied with it.) -L.C.N."

"What had a major impact in my life? Well, my ex-boyfriend cheated on me about 15 times w/probably 7 different people. So, i learned not to trust dickheads and to stop being so damn naive. I learned that i can be alone and still survive on my own w/out a dickhead of a boyfriend. -M."

"Learning the meaning of deception at 13. After 1 year of pain believing my dear daddy was soon to die from lung cancer. Only to finally find out it was a lie. Good excuse to stay out at the bars & cheat on my mommy. Funny that he spent nights crying that he wouldn't see his little girl get married. He didn't. Not because he died... but because he lied. L.I.V."

"In the seventh grade, on a family vacation to the beach, over the unlikely medium of pop radio, I first encountered the blues. It was through the imperfect conduit of Tracy Chapman's "Gimme One Reason", but it was the blues nonethless. All week long I would sit by the boombox radio, pushing the manual station tuner wheel back and forth, listening for the sweet music. I loved it. Specifically, at one point - I remember I was cruising out of a parking lot in the family minivan as the song was playing, I told my parents of my new found love. "Welp, I think our boy likes the blues, Ma." said my dear old dad to mom. "I think you're right, Pa" I denied it vehemently, of course, but the damage was done. (unsigned)"

"6/6/05. Got wasted Saturday. Was escorted to my friends by 4 strangers, 2 chicks, 2 guys from Baxter's in Dub C. My friend informs me the next a.m. and I happen to watch the news that p.m. to see a girl on vacation in Aruba w/120 some friends and she disappeared the last day after she left 2/ 2 guys (obivously strangers since she was from the states), it's a week later and they're is a manhunt for her body. I have been blessed by the grace of God to not be in her position after the stunt I pulled Saturday. An eye opener! I'm almost, no I am scared straight, don't get drunk and stupid, people are more than happy to take advantage. Take care. J. N. S."