h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Power hungry, eh? I cannot think of anybody over here who can be called power-hungry. The most successful kind in our class, the 'chief boy' (I don't know what Americans call them, that's the kid who 'leads' or 'represents' the entire school) is now one of the heads of our biggest insurance companies, but I can't call him 'power hungry', he basically had to do what he was raised to do, he was expected to be successful so he has to be successful. I was also expected to be successful but I chucked it all because I loathe everything about what counts as 'success' in our society. That doesn't mean I loathe my friend 'chief boy', who incidentally has the same name as I do; I am still in contact with him, we get along quite well in fact. He just does what he has to do, I do what I have to do. We also did not have any kids who could be called 'arrogant'. There was no bullying in our school. The 'worst' kids were merely somewhat irresponsible or a bit apathetic.

Well, actually quite a lot of things do happen in ten years' time. There were a few tragedies. One girl I knew rather well shot herself a year after high school. Another girl, whom I was in love with, married the biggest thug in school, he got her pregnant and then left her with the kid after two years or so. Now she's back in town, (I see her from time to time), and she has to raise the kid on her own.

'Normal' is only normal relative to a particular cultural setting. What is normal in Africa would be extremely abnormal in America. Man I tell you there have happened some extremely bad things on this continent because people didn't have a proper understanding of what 'normal' is.

I see you're also saddened by the news of Douglas's death. Well I am not really that sad - death is just a stage in life that we all go through sometime! I would have liked it if he stayed around a while longer because some interesting things are bound to happen over here soon, but I guess he must have finished his life's mission over here and departed to a better situation! He did accomplish something, I don't think he needs to feel any regrets! But I'm not in his shoes, so I don't know, I just hope he's happy now!

I'm not so much sad as shocked. I mean, I accidentally clicked on the Front page thingie when I was trying to go back to my page after posting something, and all the sudden my jaw dropped and my eyes popped about two feet out of my head. I mean, he was only 49. My *dad* is 49. And DNA was in much better shape than my father is... I guess it sort of struck a dissonant note with me. Plus, I've been here almost since the beginning of h2g2 when DNA's presence was felt a little more keenly than it was recently. I never actually talked with him, but I did feel I knew him in some sense. So I'm saddened, and am praying for his daughter and wife. I'll miss him. Death is but a part of life, but one can feel a sense of loss and regret... whether he does or not. *shrug*

(sorry about not being around much.. RL has gotten far too busy lately...)

I read of Douglas' demise in the newspaper. I hoped he would stay around a bit longer, but I knew he wasn't being very careful about his health. My own dad became fifty seven a week or so ago and he's still as strong and fit as a horse, he looks quite young and he still has a lot of zest for life. I really hope he gets another few decades. My mom is 56 and she'll be 57 in November but she currently has bad lung problems because she smoked for over thirty years. She quit recently but a great deal of damage has already been done. My dad's dad died at the age of 48 from a heart attack and I never knew him. I believe that his death has had a very great effect on my father as well as his brothers and sisters. All my other grandparents lived until I could meet them, but none lived very long after that. My great-grandparents lived very long though - often into their eighties or even nineties! All my father's brothers and sisters are still alive, and all my mother's as well.

If I think seriously about it, the death of a beloved parent or spouse must always be a very hard thing to handle. I hope Douglas' family will be OK, I am sure they will find lots of support. As for us here at h2g2, without him around it will be a bit different, it will feel a little emptier over here.

Don't worry about being busy, at least you're doing something!

My city paper finally ran an obit for Douglas yesterday... I honestly cried when I read it. I never thought someone I never actually met could make me do that (I don't cry for much), but I guess writing does that to people. I'll miss him, but every time I do, I can just reread the books.

Weird thing happened today... I was walking down the hall at school and this huge wave of anxiety came over me (stress? possibly... *sarcasm*)... and the next thing I thought was "Don't Panic." I guess he did what he came for... because it sure made me feel better.

Well, yes, I guess I *am* doing something... not that I want to be doing it. I guess it's better than being bored out of my skull... and I've had my share of that lately.

What bores you so? School? Try this remedy: sit and draw funny pictures in your notebook while the teachers yap!

School, yes... because most of my teachers have quit teaching for the year since we're almost done, and I've really nothing to do. It gets frustrating...

And I already doodle in my notebooks... I'm running out of things to draw!

So why don't you write some stories? How are you progressing with your intended novel(s) or other writing projects?

Not so well... I'm so busy with school related work that when I do get a free moment I'm too tired to work on anything. So every few weeks, I do sit down and make myself write and I actually get quite a bit done when I do (I'm a word count fanatic, mainly because when I *do* write I try to do a minimum of 300 words, and the word count of new sections is usually around 600... ). I also do a lot of poetry writing, but only get about one or two written a week where I used to write write at least six a day... it's just insane workloads and stress that's wearing me down. But in two days the worst of it it will be all over.

C'mon, Sunday!

So where does this insane workload come from? When I was in school I tried to remove as much of the load and the stress from myself as possible. I need time to do what I want to do. My entire lifestyle is geared towards not having to be bothered with deadlines and expectations and other nonsense. I don't know how much I write at the moment, but I can rather easily sit down and write between two and three thousand words within a period of three hours or so.