The past two nights have been kinda late for me. I have been spending some time with a new “friend”. Sunday I met her and some of her friends at the Red Cross to give blood. This giving blood thing is a regular thing for me to do every 8 weeks or so. Because of the size of the group, we only got to talk as we were all leaving. She told me that she just got a DVD player for her birthday, but did not know how to hook it up to her other devices. TV, VCR, Atari game system (old school gaming, how cool is that). I was meeting my family for dinner but I offered to help her hook it all up. After some thought she said yes.
I leave from Longhorn Steak House (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM & HAPPY ANIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!) and head over to the new friend’s house. I call her to tell her I’m on the way. I arrive and see right away that she needs a few cords to hook it all up. A trip to Wal-Mart later and she is hooked up. We discussed going to get a beer because she wanted to see how much it would effect her after giving blood. But we decided to just have a DVD tutorial instead. After watching Shrek, we talked for a while then I noted that it was late so I left. Then last night she called me around 10 after she got off work. We talked for awhile and again I noted that it was late so we called it a night. I am kinda tired today.
Friday, August 22, 2003 This one is for the Nation
There is a new michaelpella, featuring me and Mike at Michaelcosm
Thursday, August 14, 2003 My O K Corral
My family had moved back to Texas just before my 7th grade year of school. I was the new kid in school for the fifth time in my life. Old hat by now. Friends were few and far between, which meant I was a lone wolf. Unfortunately trouble comes in packs.
This kid and his toadies started to pick on me one week, but for no clear reason. At least when I lived in Utah the kids could hate me because I was not Mormon. But what was this guy’s problem? My tactic was to just wait for the bell to ring then walk away (but I had a really bad temper back then), so one day my mouth took up the fight. In a no-holds-bar verbal defense/assault I put down the “bully”, his family and the parachute pants he was wearing. His reply was a challenge/order, to meet him in the church parking lot across the street after school. I worried about this during my first class but then figured that this was just one of those things that would die out by the end of the day.
At my locker getting things together for the walk home. I almost forget my date with trouble when the guy next to me said “so you gonna fight today?” I had never talked to this guy before so I wondered how he knew. I replied, “I guess so.” I walked out to find a small crowd of kids talking and goofing off, this was very typical but then a few pointed at me and said something to there friends. I started to worry again as I walked over to the church parking lot/battle grounds. I had been in fights before but they were never quite like this. This seemed cliché, you know like on TV. The bully asked me “are we gonna fight or are you chickin?”. Again this all seemed more like, a bad after school special. I guess saying bad is redundant.
He puts up his dukes and I mock him at first. Then he hits me, then again. I have lost myself already. In a blind rage (Mike can describe this better than I can) I lunge at the kid and he hits me again as my hands reach his neck. I try to hang on to his neck as he hits me again and again. I now realize that I don’t know how to fight this guy. I have never been in a real fight like this. Finally he breaks free of my strangle hold and knocks me to the ground. He backs away and gets some cheers from the crowd, that I had not even noticed. I get back up.
He faces me and laughs then turns his back to me for just a second, this is when I realize that I should start thinking about this fight. First thought is what is he gonna do now and what do I do about it? I remember that on TV the guy always turns around to look at friends and cheers then spins around for one final blow, so what does the guy receiving the punch do to stop the other guy. He puts his arm up at an angle to block the punch then the tide of the fight turns! At least that’s how it works on TV. I see the “bully” start to spin around and he is about to hit me. I put up my arm to block the punch.
We both pause amazed by the blocked punch, I smile as if I am about to open up a can of whup-ass. He delivers a mighty blow with the other hand and then I am back on the ground. I rise again but this time I walk right by the guy and pickup my bookbag. He stands there with his dukes up ready for me and I just leave.
I walk home the same way everyday, but that day the path was longer than ever. I had been beatin down. I still don’t know why the whole thing started. I called my mom when I got home and then about 20 minutes later my dad got home. He walks up to me and ask me if I’m ok. Then with out missing a beat shows me how to break a person’s nose with one hit. Then he tells me that, that might not be a good move after all, as that might kill someone. I filed that move in my head just the same. We talked for awhile, then finally he said to me “I thought you had been in fights before.” I replied “Those didn’t count they were just Mormons.”
Monday, August 11, 2003
A conversation that was going on behind me as I walked to class
Guy: Sup girl?
Guy: What, you ain’t talkin to me now.
Guy: What?! What?!! What I do?!
Gal: Nothin, I’m not a fake. I don’t like you.
Guy: What I do wrong?
Gal: What you do right?!
Guy: Forget you girl. Shiiiiiiiiit.
Gal: Go on now wit your raggedy self.
Michaelpella featuring Me, James and of course Michael
