Summer vacation has officially begun

YUUS! Horray! Woohoo! BOOYAH! Yahoo! Yippie! and Woo-ha!

For the majority of everyone, school has been blown to pieces and summer
vacation has officially begun! That means more ZaFesting, more magic, more
gaming, more ZA, more pepsi, more peach iced tea with hose water, more
street language, more overused sayings, more magic missles, more overall
crazed actions by yours truly as well.

This weekend was a great time to see everyone again after a long dry spell
(well, not that long but still) and sorta "catch up" with the old times and
start anew. And that's what it's all about really -- starting over on a
clean slate. And that's what I'm trying to do as well -- some things
directly and others may be transparent to everyone else. The point is -- I
just want to have fun this summer. I want to minimize the frustrations and
the annoyances that riddled me part of the way through last year. If you
need me to explain those I can, but I think everyone knows most of the
details (If not go to the cyberpalace site and look for the Year 2000
review) I know everything isn't gonna be perfect, but I just want to keep
the motivation and high spirits I have now to roll through the entire summer
and beyond.

I really want this e-mail to be a reflection on the past school year and how
it has affected at least some of us in particular. I sorta debated with
myself whether or not to even bring this topic up since school is OVER but
that doesn't mean we can just sweep all our issues under the carpet. I'll
start out with my situation first off: in the beginning of the fall everyone
had left and for the first time in a long time I was struck with a bout of
loneliness and really had nowhere to go with it. I had lost all my old
hobbies and interests and really didn't do too much at all except work at
the rink (my ONLY social escape at the time) and agonize over school. I
guess my saving grace was the fact that I got to see everyone again during
Thanksgiving and Xmas break, which was great. After New Years, I really
made an attempt to regain some sort of motivation, and I figured the best
way would be just to simplify down to the bear minimum and build myself up
from there. And in many ways that strategy worked. I guess I was so
immersed in everything beforehand that I lost my love for it all, because
everything was becoming such a burden I didn't want to carry anymore. It
wasn't easy but I survived. I kept in touch with all of my friends and we
did a lot of things over the computer.

That's my story. I know that a few of my friends that went away to school
suffered from similar difficulties -- mainly caused by being away from
valued friends and family for such an extended period of time, and being
confined to the dorm with no way to "break out". And others had problems
with grades, exams, etc. that they couldn't enjoy the upside of student life
without having to worry about making the grade. Highly frustrating, but I
guess that's a part of being in college -- studies come first -- that's why
you are there in the first place!!! I know that sometimes another problem
arises: and that's when your objective before attending school changes
greatly once you're there. Not only do you agonize over a prior decision,
but you have to go through the remainder of the year being someone you're
not. Usually this happens when you go away just to "get away" then once the
excitement wears off you're stuck wondering why you ever did such a thing.
You need not worry. Learn from your mistakes. The worst is over, and you
can move on now. Just try to make the best decisions from now on. We are
adults now, and we can't have mommy and daddy bail us out all the time
anymore. I like to use my famous personal quote "you got yourself into this
mess -- only you can get yourself out".

I also want to look at the positive aspects of college life because there
are a lot of them. Everyone has grown in some form, whether it be aptitude,
mind, spirit or else you've gained at least something. Unless you attended
the School of Cave Life and Solitary Confinement there's something you have
attained. Use your skills wisely. DO NOT put 18 points into "Teeth" :)
(Translation to non-computergeeks: don't waste 18 years of your life in
addition and subtraction class when you've got a new set of skills to work
on) You are out to capture the world. Grab it by the tail and put it in
your pocket. The world isn't out to get you. The world doesn't care who
the f*** you are unless your name is Suddam Hussein. I hate to quote Matt
Foley but it's probably more true than not.

You aren't gonna amount to Jack Squat. What does this really mean? How can
this be a positive or at least motivating statement? Well, I'll explain.
First off I'd like to say that this doesn't mean you can't make a difference
in someone else's life because you certainly can! But in the big picture,
the world won't feast or famine because of your presence. Accept it. In
the history of the world in which more than 15 billion people have lived,
only a handful had made any significant changes to how we live our lives.
If nothing else, that is a motivating statement that can only make you want
your life to be impactful. But until your worldwide fame, DON'T WORRY ABOUT
WHAT ANYONE THINKS OF YOU. Notice I did not say to neglect any
acknowledgment or disrespect a person's feelings. But don't think that the
weight of the world is on your shoulders either. Some people get so
stressed out over things which have absolutely no real meaning. Just don't
get yourself into a situation in which you are obligated to "save the world"
and you should be fine. Oh well, enuff of that jibber-jabber!

JUST THINK OF THE BEATLES SONG "HEY JUDE" Perfect for this situation.

Everyone have great week and be prepared for more festivities in the coming
days/weeks!

-Chris