Dreaming of Flying

To see more of the photographer's work click: Here!!!

This is a poem that I wrote about what I felt and what I saw when I looked at this picture:

Soaring, Flying
A cape the color of blood whipping about my ankles
a feeling of joy, ecstasy, as I zip through the air

steel, plastic, and ground rolling past
just a blur

A fist streched out into the air in defiance

A flying superhero

The town hero

loved by all

....... going to rescue someone in distress

I am flying

But, wait I never even left the ground

Janea !!!!!!!! :D

Dungeons and Dragons is a cult???

To find out what I am talking about : click here!!!!!!

A lady by the name of Beatrice sent in a story about her son Billy, and that he hung himself by using a pile of books. In this pile a couple books were D&D. Beatrice didn't know what they were so she assumed that they were related to Billy's death. She claimed that Dungeons and Dragons is a cult and so I wrote a comment about why I disagree.

I wrote this as a comment that theoretically Beatrice would be looking at.

I understand that you are in lots of pain, it is expected seeing as you have just lost your son. In fact if you were not grieving, then I would be worried. As I understand it your son hung himself and the books that were unfamiliar to you, you assumed had to be related to why your son passed on. You accuse either correctly or incorrectly that Dungeons and Dragons is a cult.

If you had paid much attention to your son could he have been able to spend a large portion of his time playing Dungeons and Dragons? Or would he have done something else? If you were so concerned about Dungeons and Dragons, why did you not check in with your son, before his death. Why didn't you see how he spent his time and helped to re-direct him then?


Here are some points that you made suggesting your son was a cultist, he may not have been, read on:

"Does he question the rules and commands you lay down as a parent? Dungeons, at least superficially, promotes independent decision making, though we all know this "free thinking" would be more aptly described as "thinking consistent with the tenets and dictates of the Dungeons movement and ideology"."


For the first statement, does he question your authority? Most people that have graced this earth once in their lifetime have questioned Authority. Here are a couple names that I can think of that have changed the world and haven't been cultists. Ghandi stood up for what he thought was right even if it was against the authority. Martin Luther king junior changed the lives of the African Americans of the united states (he also questioned authority). Rosa Parks refused to sit in the black section of the bus, (she was black, and she was thrown in jail). Elizabeth the 1 of England, questioned authority by being a female ruler that refused to marry.

I do not know of any country that hasn't questioned authority at least once in it's history, do you? For example, the United States, if someone hadn't questioned or rebelled against the British Authority then we would not be where we are.


"Are his grades slipping of late? One of the myriad of sinister consequences of adherence to Dungeons is the sheer amount of squandered time spent convening and practicing its cult teachings. Dungeons is highly addictive and, if left unchecked, can push a child's entire life aside to make room for more Dungeons."


A bad grade. Tsk, tsk tsk. A lot of kids have gotten bad grades at least once in their life time, that doesn't make them cultists. Did you ask him why his grades where slipping? Did you talk to the teacher, or did you just leap to the conclusion that he was a cultist? Does that make all kids who have gotten bad grades cultists?.... hmmm


"At best, Dungeons is directly responsible for the social failures their adherents experience when mixing with jocks and beauty queens."

Billy did not succeed in interacting with Jocks and beauty queens, so you assumed that he belonged to a cult. Was it you or Billy that thought that knowing how to interact with the Popular crowd" was a necessary social skill? Do you condemn all people who do not hang out with jocks and beauty queens to be cultists? Maybe you put too much pressure on Billy about his social life that didn't need to be there? Did you ever talk to him about this? My point lies in your true honest answers to these questions, not verbal answers but the answers that only you would be able to answer. So, maybe knowing how to interact with that particular group is not the issue here, it lies somewhere else.


"Friends made over dungeons aren't friends at all. True friendship can only be forged through community-building activities like softball and linestepping"



Billy played inside and played Dungeons and Dragons, again the fault here is not with his friend activity building activities but in something that you put on Billy. Linestepping and softball,being physical do not condemn someone to belonging to a cult. It would not hurt if today's children were more physically active but yet again that is a minor issue. It appears that you think that community-building activities like linestepping and softball are the correct ways to make friends. Are these your interests or his? Were you expecting a cookie-cutter son that played outside? Did you expect your son to be someone other than who he was? Apparently, that is not what you got, and you were unhappy and ashamed of that. What kind of mother expects her son to fit her every ideals and gripes and complains about it when he isn't what she wanted? Oh right I know the answer to this one .... you Beatrice.


I am not saying whether or not your son was a cultist, but if you are going to claim things like that or say that this alleged game is a cult then I suggest before you will convince me and a certain number of people, that you gather some credible, believable, proofs, or evidence before you start make raving claims that are not proven to be true.

My advice is as follows:

Your son is dead, so instead of slandering his name with claims that he was a cultist, I suggest you research your claims instead of posting them on a website when what you are saying does not fit reality. I know that you are in lots of pain, but please do not make stereotypes that you can not prove and in such a brash way that get yourself in more pain that results in a domino effect.

I suggest you visit a psychiatrist to help you overcome your grief, because I feel that you could direct this grief in a more positive way. So join a linestepping team. Play some softball.Pray. And heaven forbid do not post anything on the internet without reading it twice and waiting a day.

I wish you good luck in overcoming your grief and I hope that you understand that this comment was only typed to help you fix your problems.

Well that is all for now,

Janea!!!! :D

Thomson's Violin

Thomson’s Violin scenario

One day, you wake up in hospital. In the nearby bed lies a world famous violinist who is connected to you with various tubes and machines.

To your horror, you discover that you have been kidnapped by the Music Appreciation Society. Aware of the maestro’s impending death, they hooked you up to the violinist.
If you stay in the hospital bed, connected to the violinist, he will be totally cured in nine months. You are unlikely to suffer harm. No one else can save him. Do you have an obligation to stay connected?

My response...... would I save them or not???

If I was in a hospital and there was a famous person in the bed next to me and the only way that person wouldn't die was if they were to be attached to me with tubes for 9 months, and that 9 months would have to be spent in a bed, would I or wouldn't I give up 9 months of my life for this person?

Just because this "musician" is famous is it right that they get to waste nine months of my life? Would I charge them for this wasted 9 months? Does it matter how old this famous "musician" is? If it was a nobody would I save them then? Does it matter whether or not they are famous? My answer : no

I think that as a person who cares about right and wrong for me it would be phsycological suicide to let them die. I do not think it would be fun or cool or envy making to have a parasite, but I do think that my conscience would not be able to know that just because it would be boring to stay in a bed for 9 months that I let someone die. It would not matter to me one way or another if the person in need was famous or destitute. I do not care how old or how young this person was.

The only thing that would matter to me is what this person would do with their life that I just spared.

I think that my only charge would be that they would have to do something worthy with their life since I just helped them. My charge would be that for 9 months they would have to do something or somethings to help others. For nine months the only thing that should be of utmost importance is helping others, making a change in the world however they could.

People of Sparks, my book review

The people of Sparks is a very easy read. The people of Sparks is a book that takes place in the future as a world that is struggling to back on it's feet again. Part of this struggling is about when the people are confronted with conflict disagreements and the eventually war. The main characters are Lina and Doon and they have to decide how to change the hostility in a different direction. As an easy read that brushes on human nature and morality it is a good book. A fast read, that sometimes strays of topic and at other times rolls with the punches. Most of the time this book flows and essentially can be finished ver quickly.

How my education/ learning experiences have changed

The number ranking I would give myself is probably 90 out of a hundred because I have not given it my all since I have come here, but I have started being more attentive. In general I love to learn but I did not exert myself.

For a little bit of background...
From the middle of 7th grade to the end of 8th grade I was home schooled and I had to challenge myself in order not to die of boredom,and before that I was at a school where I was not challenged because the teachers taught us to be like parrots , not to voice our opinions, rather to just to spit back what they had shoved down our throats.

Most of the time I did not do well, because I did not agree, and to say what I didn't believe would have been lying, and the other half of the time it was because I was not challenged, there was no thinking involved.

At high Tech high so far it hasn't been like that, and I am really glad. The teachers have asked for our opinions and if you disagree you are allowed to say so. We are not parrots here. At High Tech High we make a stand, we are individuals, and united as one, all at the same time.

I do not procrastinate because it makes me nervous . I hardly ever cram, and when I do; I know that I do not do as well. When I am in class I pay attention, and try to understand the concepts. When it comes to homework though I find that I do what will get me a passing grade not what I know is my best work.

In Spanish I went from struggling, to actually trying hard to get good grades. I went from a b- to an A- and granted that is not that big of a difference but to me it makes all the difference in the world.

In math I would create answers in my routine journal but not give explanations for them, and the explanations I did leave were nebulous. I have gone from a b- to an A- . I have started trying harder and making sure that my explanations are clear and actually match my answers.

In Humanities I have found that I am not afraid to share my work as much as I am afraid of the reception I will get. In Mr. Ross's class I have to work hard to maintain a good grade, and the writing assignments he gives us makes it so I have to think and be creative and original.

I feel that as a student at this school during these months I have become a much better student. I have become a more attentive student which exhibits the result of my new grades.This has been a very interesting learning experience , I know that I have changed a lot and have become better at working in groups. I have a lot of new information about computers that I have learned. And I have a much wider, broad; lexicon. I also every once in a while bring home a new word from Spanish that is really cool. My word for this week is calaca or skeleton.

The man with his head in a box - written by - Janea Mark

Ed was a man. But he was not your every day Joe-bloe 42-year-old businessman that worked for a major investment company. Ed would wake up each morning and get ready for another boring day at the office where his boss yelled at him, and the coffee tasted like month old lasagna that has been left in a margarine container.
One day after a depressing day at work Ed was driving home. As Ed drove his very depressingly boring car he suddenly ran into an old lady who did not wait for a turn to cross the street but just simply ran in front of Ed’s car saying, “yippee!
Ed leaped out of the car to see if the old lady was all right, and she was, but she just told Ed this: “Oh don’t worry about it sonny, it was fate… you see I am meant to give you something.”
Ed was bewildered, “Give me what?!?”
The lady replied with, “ My name is Geraldine, and here you go”
Into Ed’s hands she placed a broken down cardboard box with the words written on it This way in. Ed looked at the box then returned his gaze to where the woman sat and found that she gone.
Ed confused got into his car and drove home very puzzled. Ed went inside his humbly boring home and looked at the box, as he was doing so he heard a voice in his head say, “Well, put the box together at least, you silly man.”
So, Ed being a wise man did what the voice in his head suggested and put the box together. He put it outside on the grass for his cat to play with. As soon as Ed put the box down the cat jumped in and disappeared, Ed a little freaked out dived in the box, head first the this way in of course and found himself in an alternate universe that was beautiful and peaceful and free of gross coffee, and stock investors, and for the record completely free of boredom.