ALL THE COLORS OF THE…HAIR?

The year was 2002 and I was in grade 11. My high school and junior high years had been an unpredictable road, filled with trials and tribulations. I was in a constant struggle with the powers of self-doubt that threatened to engulf my entire world. Many battles were waged behind daunting school walls, but none were as fierce as the ever-growing desire to be cool. Then one day, inspiration hit me.

In my attempt to be accepted and admired, I had made many changes in my life: I switched my clarinet for a set of drums; I replaced my mushroom haircut with a “spikier” one; I started buying jeans instead of sweat pants; and I traded in my Star Wars books for…uh…harder-to-read Star Wars books.

I thought I had tried everything, but still the ladies took no notice of me! I thought I had run out of options when I got an idea…an awful idea…I got a wonderful, awful idea! I would dye my hair! The best way to get girls to notice me was to drastically change my appearance! But not just any careless moderation of the...

Wake Up

I am not a morning person. I do not enjoy rising before the sun to go for a jog, eat a healthy breakfast, or read the newspaper while the rest of the world sleeps. I prefer to hit the snooze button on my alarm as many times as I can…and then once more. My breakfast consists of the granola bar I grab on my way out the door. I get my exercise by running to my car, and I catch up on world events by tuning in to my car radio. Despite my unhealthy morning habits, however, I can always rely on my trusted alarm clock. Or so I thought.

I am currently in a hotel in Malaysia, but I clearly remember the talk my father gave me the night before we left for the airport. Like most international flights, they know you have plenty of time to sleep on the airplane (despite being sandwiched between two extremely large people, having no leg room, and being assaulted by the sound of four crying babies), so they always make the departure time as early as possible. On this particular flight, that time was 6:45 a.m. Since we live...

Into The Light…”

Being trapped in a dark room is a terrifying experience. The sensation of total blackness overwhelms you. You can’t tell which way is up and which is down, where you are going and where you have been, or even what lies just ahead of you. The less we see, the less we have control over. A dark room is filled with uncertainties, and it is not a place we want to find ourselves in.

I remember sharing a room with some of my siblings and cousins on a summer trip years ago. We all piled into a room filled with bunk-beds for the night, but sleep never came to me. When I was a kid, I was always the last one to fall asleep at sleep-overs, and things had changed little since then. I have also found it hard to sleep in foreign surroundings, and such was the case that night. As the sound of snoring started to fill the room, I sat in my bed wide awake. After what seemed like an eternity, I decided I couldn’t take it anymore. I figured I stood a better chance of getting some sleep on the couch in the next room, so I got...

Chariots of Fire…

I hate exercise. On the other hand, I also hate the thought of being 500 pounds, so I occasionally attempt physical activity. I like hockey, tennis, and snowboarding, but the one form of exercise I have never understood is running.

To me, it seems pointless. You leave one destination, only to kill yourself for half an hour and end up right back where you started. There is no motivation to please the adoring fans, only the scenery along the way to distract you from the discomfort you’re in. However, both my brother and sister are excellent runners, so I somehow got roped into trying it a few years ago. To make matters worse, my siblings were determined to make me run in a race by the end of the summer!

When that day came, I was in pathetic running shape. Months of excuses provided me with legs and lungs that would much rather watch Star Wars than run. As I approached the starting line, my father’s words came to my memory: “I’m in such bad shape; I don’t think I could even drive 5 km.” That makes two of...

Three Feet Under…

I remember the first year I started working for the Town of Cochrane for my summer job. They put me on a little John Deere mower and it took me forever to learn. However, after a few weeks I started to get the hang of it; then I started to get cocky. I would pull into the yard and kick up a dust storm as I spun into my parking spot on the gravel road. I would roll up my sleeves, put on my sunglasses and jam to my iPod as I sped around trees and playgrounds, cutting grass like a pro.

One day my supervisor told my crew to go and cut the grass at the cemetery. He warned us to be extra careful because of the soft ground. Apparently the ground had received so much rain that it had become dangerously unstable. I shrugged off the warning, muttering something about being “Master of the Blades” and eagerly jumped on my machine. When we got there, I found the ground a little soft, but nothing a pro couldn’t handle! As I neared the end of the row, I began to think of witty ways I could rub my triumph in my...

The Perfect Gift

Mother’s Day comes every year, and yet I still seem to forget it every time. This, however, has not always been the case. When I was five years old, I was determined that my mom would have the best Mother’s Day ever, and what could be a more perfect gift than breakfast in bed? Since my younger brother and I didn’t want mom to do any work on her special morning, we decided to make her breakfast the night before and leave it beside her bed, just in case she woke up before we did. We toasted and buttered some bread and laid it out on a plate with love. We filled a bowl with Cheerios and tenderly poured in the milk. We garnished the spaces with some fruit, topped it off with a cold glass of orange juice, and proudly brought it to her room. I can imagine the look on my mom’s face when her two sons gave her strict orders not to eat their masterpiece until morning! As the Cheerios swelled to the size of quarters, she was left to brainstorm how she could fool us into thinking she ate and enjoyed our gift by morning....

A Hero is Born

I love superheroes. Last Halloween I dressed up as Batman (unfortunately they never make superhero costumes in adult sizes, so my friends encouraged me never to don my juvenile caped crusader outfit again!). I grew up watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and they even appeared as the theme of my birthday party once or twice. I have often wished I had powers like the X-men or a secret identity like Superman (people still seem to recognize me with my glasses on!). The thought of fighting the forces of evil makes my heart race with excitement, and a couple of years ago, I had a chance to live my dream…

It was a dark night, and a thick fog had settled upon my quiet neighborhood. Some friends had decided to spend the night after playing video games with my brother and me, and we all retired to our beds. However, at 2:00 in the morning the ring of our doorbell awakened us. When I arrived at the door, my brother and friends were already there, but the culprit could not be found. We returned to our beds, only...

Out Of Control!

I hate flying. I have had opportunities to fly overseas several times, and the air travel has always been miserable. At first I thought this resulted from the severe lack of anything to do while in the plane, but I have recently discovered this is not the only reason. The real explanation is that I’m scared. It’s funny, because I participate in much more dangerous activities everyday (such as riding shotgun while my brother drives), but every time a plane hits turbulence I start to panic. I struggle grasping the fact that an unknown pilot is deciding my destiny while thousands of feet in the air!

Several years ago, my family was flying to a warmer destination during the cold Christmas months and I ended up sandwiched between my brother and sister. As I scrambled to get my surroundings somewhat in order, my sister asked if I would help her. Now, to my sister, “carry-on baggage” means “you-can-bring-it-on-if-you-can-lift-it,” and she needed me to make her massive suit case fit under the seat. I began to clear...

Got Milk?

I had two very disturbing experiences the other day. The first happened while I was at band practice. We were up in the loft working on a new song when we were given a very unpleasant surprise. The father of two of the band members gleefully came up the stairs to announce that he had discovered what was wrong with the house heating system, and he had brought the problem with him: a dead bat. Somehow this unfortunate rodent had become trapped in the heating system, frying itself and freezing the house. I wish I could say my brother and I, being the closest to the stairs, handled it like men. However, when the bat was revealed we both (as well as the rest of the band I might add…) freaked out! I never want to see one of those up close again!

My other experience came when I returned home that night. I walked into my apartment and was greeted by the stench that always welcomes me home. For the last week my place has smelled horrible, and I could not figure out why. (I’m sure it has nothing to do with how...

BEATLEMANIA!

I love music. I started learning drums about eight years ago and have been privileged to play in numerous bands during this time. I also enjoy playing guitar and currently play in a rock band called Fading Rebel and love it! My interest in music led me to start reading a book I found in my school’s bookstore called The Gospel According to The Beatles by Steve Turner. It is a fascinating book about the spiritual journey of the Beatles and what part religion played in their lives. As I was reading the other day, I came across a controversial comment John Lennon made during the height of their success, where he claimed the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” Needless to say, that one statement blew up into something much bigger! Radio stations pulled Beatles’ songs out of their rotation, towns held record-burning assemblies, and many religious leaders started preaching against the blasphemous rock group. It was seen as an arrogant quote by someone whose ego had grown to such a degree that he now placed his...