My dad has only taught me two things in my entire lifetime. Don't do drugs or get a girl pregnant. In a lot of ways, he's pretty damn smart about it.

I went to another Mars Volta concert on Saturday night. To be honest, I was a little disappointed since they didn't play three hours like last time, but I had fun anyway. I ended up taking my friend Gavin because I figured he would love it just like I loved my first Mars Volta concert. The music was inspirational, although I couldn't see Cedric most of the time. I felt very small in the crowd, looking at the backs of people's heads and feeling my ribs being crushed by massive elbows. The audience was really too big. A Perfect Circle was playing, and I don't really like them, but a lot of people do. I got really mad at the people who kept saying that Mars Volta "wasn't that good" and that a Perfect Circle would be way more awesome. I wanted to punch them in the face actually. Not only was a Perfect Circle not that good, they had nowhere near the energy that Mars Volta had. Nowhere near the amount of marijuana smoke either.

Blaise and I had a few cigarettes inside the auditorium when Mars Volta stopped playing and the lights were off.

I was looking at a female friend of mine today, and I was getting kind of upset because I could see mascara crust on her face that I've never seen before. Her eyes weren't as pretty either. And her overalls were just horrible. I wanted to invite Robert Frost over and ask him to tell her to go fuck herself. If I had a child named Silus, I'd throw him in the toilet.

I'm kind of disappointed with myself. I had this history project due today. We basically had to read any non-fiction book written about something epic in the 20th century and write a report on it. I'm glad I took English Honours because I never would have been able to bullshit it without the writing skills I have developed. I'm sure I'll either get an A or an F on it because he's biased towards girls. I don't blame him. I'd probably be biased towards them too.

The girl who I was talking about in my English class was really bugging me again today. I'll just call her Annie because I hate that name. So Annie was sitting there with her onion shaped head and her "fashionable" sunglasses talking to this goth kid named Dustin. I really have nothing against him, he's just really quiet and wears eyeliner sometimes. I think he thinks highly of himself because he "doesn't need to get good grades" and writes poetry in his spare time. His sister is a friend of mine though.

I've been noticing that I keep saying that I hate something or someone and not really mean it. I mean, I suppose I dislike a lot of things, but I don't think I hate anything. Well, maybe the sick feeling I get when I see a cat made of manna on the side of the road. I really do think I have a high standard for what I like nowadays. Not that it matters.

Anyway, when I think of something better to say, I'll write to you really soon. For now, here's an essay I wrote on "Death of a Hired Man" by Robert Frost. I'm sure you can find it if you look hard enough.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
George Ha
Per 4

The Death Of The Hired Man
As life passes us by, friends, character, and appearances change by circumstance. However, family is consistently there through both our highs and our lows. Despite troubles and misunderstandings between family members, we have come to depend on home as a place we may go for support, for shelter, and as a place where we are needed. However author Robert Frost presents in his poem, The Death Of The Hired Man, that family is not always supportive, but instead can push away those who have come to rely on it, and although other family members may welcome and love and understand, it is the ones who push us away that are truly wanted in our lives. Frost compares and contrasts two main sides of family – those who take us in despite their true feelings, and those who turn their backs on us because of their true feelings.
Warren and Mary’s characters are resolute throughout the entire piece. Mary plays the mother figure, representing the side of family willing to accept and love members of her family, no matter what they have done, or how she truly feels about them. She does not judge Silus, but rather sympathizes with him, speaking of only the good truths about his character. Warren on the other hand plays the more harsh, truthful, down to earth father figure. He, unlike Mary, does not sympathize with Silus, treating him more as a burden on himself and the farm rather than a family member. Warren deprecates Silus, asking questions like, “What good is he? Who else will harbor him at his age for the little he can do?” Although Silus is older than him, Warren acts pretentiously towards Silus, treating him like an inadequate waif, undeserving of a good home.
Although Mary is nothing but kind towards Silus, he insists on winning over Warren instead. Mary “tries to make him (Silus) smoke” but instead, Silus nods off and says little to her. Yet, when Silus asks Warren for pay, he asks for just “enough to buy tobacco with”, as though he would rather work for a smoke, than to be offered a kind pipe without doing anything to deserve it. Silus desires the compassion of someone who thinks he is worthless rather than the compassion of someone who loves him. Human nature dictates, showing that we desire what we can’t have, rather than accepting the love that is forever there.
Mary says later in the piece that “home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in,” in an attempt to persuade Warren to let Silus stay, pleading with Warren that as family, they are obligated to offer Silus a home. However, Warren replies that he “should have called it (home) something you somehow haven’t to deserve,” saying that Silus has done nothing to earn his keep, and in turn, he is not obligated to let him stay. Silus feels worthless, always trying to lift himself higher than he is. Yet, he must have heard Mary and Warren arguing, as his heart seemed to be broken when Warren went to check on him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------