Getaway

Arriving at school this morning, I saw a flier for a missing person, and the name was familiar. That's never good. I recognized her name and photo immediately. She's in the class where I'm a teacher's aide, and I had noticed that she had been absent two days in a row after having perfect attendance last quarter. Immediately, I heard that her friend was missing too. That's a bit more comforting because it's not likely that they were kidnapped together; instead, they probably ran off in a Thelma and Louise style. I've never seen that movie. It'll be interesting to see how this develops. I hope they return home safely and soon.

I'm going on vacation this weekend. Yeah, I know, it's weird. I don't think I've ever been on vacation in the month of March. But my great-aunt's condo in lovely Ft. Pierce is free for the weekend, so I guess my parents decided to spring for it. We're going, and my grandparents are coming along too. It should be nice to escape the pressures of daily life. Not that daily life pressures me much on the weekends, but...

My friend Luke brought his guitar to school today so Tyler could change the strings. The three of us all have calculus class together with Mr. Gates. Before class, Luke and I were talking guitars, and Luke told me that Mr. Gates played classical guitar and sang. If you know Mr. Gates, you would find this fact very odd, as he is the most serious, straight-laced, professional teacher you will ever meet, and to many people, he doesn't exactly seem like the kind of person who "has a life" (as they say). If you play the guitar, you are likely to have a life. (Though the converse of this statement is not true, the contrapositive is.)

So, before class started, Tyler was playing Luke's guitar. When Mr. Gates came in, some people asked him if he knew how to play. He said that he used to play. Then we asked him if he wanted to play for us, and he said something along the lines of "Most definitely not." He explained that he used to play the guitar a bit when he was our age, "but then the rigors of life set in."

As we grow up, life becomes more rigorous. Actually, that doesn't always hold true. It's more like a bell curve, I think. But at this stage in the game of life, things are getting more complicated. I have quite a few hobbies and interests. Will I, like Mr. Gates, have to shelve them once I grow into adulthood? How can I avoid becoming a boring adult? How can I balance my emerging adult self and my inner child? I have no idea. I just hope that the conditions will be favorable for me to keep what's near to me dear to me.

What if Mr. Gates continued playing the guitar? What would he be like today? I bet anything he'd be a more fun person, and maybe someone with a little more wonder and appreciation for everyday life. Which is not to say that he hasn't got a lot of wonder and appreciation already, but... well, he's... I don't know. The intellectual musings break down here.

On YouTube: Here's a Canadian news report about a revolutionary new phenomenon known as "Internet."

Here are some famous sounds used in songs.