Dear Body

Dear Twenty-One Year Young Body,

            Everyone believes that you are now aging, therefore losing power, energy, and drive. However, I would like to remind you that you are in your prime right now! There are a few things I would like to apologize for that may be slowing you down the past few years.

            Sleep. That wonderful relaxing thing normal people do at night time to rest their bodies. I will let you in on a little secret, it is overrated. I know what you are thinking, it feels so good, right? Do not fool yourself. What feels better, sleeping or skiing? Skiing, that is what I thought, too.

            This brings on my next topic, dopamine. It is addicting. Do you know how dopamine is released? Of course you do. All those euphorically engaging activities I make you do. That would include skiing, soccer, karate, running, biking, wakeboarding, surfing, etc. It is dangerously addicting, and I turned you into a hardcore fanatic, electroshock therapy might not even save you now.

            Contrary to popular opinion though, I do not think it is a bad thing. Why would anyone think it is a bad thing to push limits, to work harder than anyone else? There is always someone out there practicing over and over and over, and I will not rest to let them pull ahead. I am competitive and stubborn, sorry. Honestly though Body, I do not think you would rather me be lazy.

            Alright, I will admit, that sometimes I might push you too hard. Not everyone is perfect. I was too determined and went too far a few times. That phase has passed. Now my dreams are so high in skiing that I am on the hill at least twenty hours a week. That is when you decide to have a sense of humor and pay me back with four stress fractures in both legs, thinking it will stop me. You got the memo real fast that it would not keep me from skiing. I know it is stupid to go against Doc’s orders, but, like I mentioned previously, I am an addict.

            Continuing, trying to give me a wakeup call, you jog my brain around like an earthquake in my head when I fall hucking cliffs or trying new tricks off kickers. Concussions will not stop me either, give up.

            This letter, Body, started out as an apology letter and in doing so I addressed the issues I had in mind. However, if we are being honest with each other, I am not actually sorry for any of it. I have a forever young, full of life, determined mind and soul; that I can guarantee will never change. Do me a favor body, keep up. You will be rewarded.

            Love you Body, you have treated me well despite our few disagreements.

Thank you,

JR

THEY

I had goosebumps. Of course, I always had goosebumps in this small, annoyingly tidy room. Who keeps a room this clean anyway? I couldn’t spot one single ounce of dust anywhere; it is an unearthly domain if you ask me. Not to mention how boldly black and white it is, literally. The walls and floors are white, and all the furniture is black. Oh, I guess there is a hideous, fake, green plant in the corner right next to the leather lazy boy chair, in which that man my mom calls my therapist sits. I refer to him as a monster though. It awes me this thing actually speaks English. What is he saying anyway, I think he just asked me a question. “Uhm . . .” I wait for him to repeat himself like he always does. “Arthur, I asked you exactly what they told you to do, and why did you do it?”

Why did he say it so slow, it’s not like I’m stupid, I just wasn’t paying attention to him before. After explaining what had happened to my mom, my dad, my perfect twin brother, my dog, and the cops already, I was getting tired of repeating myself. I’m just an innocent civilian; can’t a guy get a break? After noticing that the clock hands had strangely barely moved since I arrived ages ago, I rambled through the story for the millionth time. I don’t understand what is so interesting about it.

They told me to strangle the girl. Of course, there wasn’t anything in the room to do it with. Then one of them had pointed out the old, rotting vacuum in the corner. I had glanced at the girl but she was unconscious still, she wasn’t going anywhere. Come here vacuum. I’m not going to push down your red button. I’m going to unplug and unwind your snaky, long, fraying cord. I’m not going to push you back and forth. I’m going to use you.

Then they had told me to hurry in case she woke up. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry! Shut up, I am hurrying. Strangle her, hurry! Okay, okay. I had grabbed a clump of her hair to lift her head and started wrapping the cord around her frail neck with trembling hands. I shouldn’t do this, this is wrong. No! Strangle her! Do it now! They told me over and over. I had sat back, pushed my head between my knees, clutching onto my hair. They were so loud, the sound of a thousand hurricanes. Why are they yelling at me? I had rocked back and forth, warm tears stinging my cheeks. Their voices sent me into a panic, tormenting myself, entombed in my own head. I thought the people outside could have heard the voices.

The girl started to move, her eyes shot open realizing there was a cord entangled around her neck. She had tried to scream, her voice struggled, begging me to let her go. I rocked. My gut lurched and hair stood up on my arms, like the goosebumps I have now at my doctors’ office.

See doc, I don’t know why it happened. I stand up as that irritating sound coming from him vibrates through my soul. Why does my mom insist that I come to this insane man? Who is he to tell me that I am actually the insane one? He does not know what the voices are like, always echoing in my head. He tells me to sit down because my mandatory counseling session is not over yet.

Don’t listen to him, they said. Just leave, you don’t need him. We’ll deal with his sad life soon. A wicked smirk spreads on my face and I walk out of the room, leaving that pathetic man sitting on his leather seat with his mouth wide open. I might get in trouble with mom for leaving. At least I don’t have goosebumps anymore.

AMUSED?

Thump-thump, thump-thump. The car rumbling over the old tracks sounds like my heart, I can feel both. These tracks must be ancient; I could see the rust even before driving over them. Crap, my breaks are squeaking again.

Putting the car in park, I reached over to grab my warm, thick, faded hoody. Oh, it’s in the back seat. I started walking across the lot to the snow-tipped-pine needle-green grass, measuring my steps with stiff-from-driving legs. The group congratulated me with smirks of sarcasm for finally arriving.

Emphasis on the finally.

The line is long, winding, seems to be shivering all together. Thump-thump, thump-thump. Was that another car or my bloody heart again, calm down. It’s cold, even with my hoody and a beanie on, not to mention the worn-out, somewhat holey gloves on my hands.

Goose bumps are rubbing against the inside of my clothes. Why I even bother shaving on cold days beats me. The line starts to creep eerily forward—my legs don’t want to. Come on, I’ll give you a massage later, promise.

They move.

Is that a dead baby bride skeleton hanging on the fence? Why would a baby be getting married, at least make this realistic. Thump, thump, thump, thump.

It was my feet making the noise this time, I climbed clumsily up the steps. The railing was cold against the patches of skin revealed through my old gloves; more goose bumps. Fake spider webs clung desperately to the ceiling and walls, draping too, forcing me to duck. We found four empty bench seats; the leather was cracked. Did I mention the rotting holes in the floor?

The train must be old.

People surround us on their seats, some dressed up. The train inched forward, lights went out, a voice came on the intercom, slow and deep.

It told stories. A lady who killed her sister on these tracks, a witch who turned rotten kids into cats on the other side of the creek, a girl who was trapped in a well we had passed. The train inched to a stop. The characters from the stories boarded. They began to stalk the train cars one by one, people screaming, clinging to each other.

They are too fake for my liking, though I am still rather amused. Halloween is my favorite holiday, after all, no one can have Halloween without bad make up jobs.

Or bad stories.

Thump, thump, thump, thump. We scrambled off the haunted train. I felt my eyebrows scrunching, it was cold. My nerves had been prepared to see things and hear stories that would keep me up all night—fail. Cheesy as it was though, I was highly amused. Thump-thump, thump-thump. That was definitely my car going over those haunted tracks that time.

Silent Mouths

Ever have trouble merging into traffic? Finally, someone nice will let you in. What do you do? Smile, wave, and mouth the words "thank you" to them. Why in the world do we mouth the words? They are not going to hear us say the word. You might as well say them, shout them, sing them. Some people cannot even mouth words correctly, hence, troubling the nice person who decided to let you in. Random thought of the day.

103 ADVENTURES

A month or so ago, I was sitting at work, with my mind going at one-hundred miles an hour. What was I thinking about? Life. Everything. That is when I decided I was not very happy with the way I had been living. Yes, there have undoubtedly been beyond incredible experiences. However, when reflecting back on the whole picture my life had painted so far, it was nothing but a blur of dull colors, with highlighted spots here and there. I want my life picture to be elaborate and full of creativity, adventure, and euphoria. This is where the 103 Adventures to Live comes into play. I decided to make a list of 103 things I absolutely have to do before I die, preferably sooner than later. Over the past month I finalized my list, and now I can start living it. I will not be planning these events out, except for the ones that require it such as traveling over seas. Hopefully I will be able to record pictures or video from each, to make it even more real for those who may read this and think it is impossible. Life is short, go live it. Keep in mind, these are in no order or importance, just what came to my mind.

103 Adventures to Live:

1. Learn a language

2. Do a 540 off a cliff (skiing)

3. Do a dub 9 into a foam pit

4. Get certified in cpr (again)

5. Hang out with Sammy Carlson

6. Write for a ski magazine

7. Sleep at a golf course

8. Live on the streets for at least 1 day/1 night

9. Compete in big mountain comp (skiing)

10. Compete in rail jam (skiing)

11. Feed the homeless

12. Blow bubbles on a populated street

13. Save a life

14. Be funny

15. Start a successful clothing line

16. Tag a train

17. Write a song

18. Write a book

19. Graduate college

20. Backpack europe

21. Become ambidextrous

22. Borrow a street sign to decorate my room

23. Go jogging in swimsuits

24. Do a back tuck successfully

25. Donate blood

26. Help someone spiritually

27. Have a massive food fight

28. Change a life

29. Inspire someone

30. Learn to breakdance

31. Take an art class

32. Heli-ski

33. Ski all continents

34. Go to yankees game

35. Make a ski edit

36. Attend summer ski camp

37. Paint something meaningful

38. Have a fight night (fight club style)

39. Ski Mt. Hood

40. Invent something

41. Teach

42. Take a gymnastics class

43. Get a tattoo (permanent or temp.)

44. Start a dance in public place

45. Bull ride

46. Destroy a TV

47. Help build a house

48. Approach a stranger and kiss him

49. Road trip the USA

50. Give a stranger a $100 bill

51. Scream at the top of my lungs

52. Send a message in a bottle

53. Get a chairlift named after me

54. Pay for someone’s groceries

55. Sleep in haunted house

56. Take a stranger to dinner

57. Spend a day in silence

58. Throw a surprise party

59. Make music video

60. Go dog sledding

61. Have a sacrificial bonfire to the snow lords (burn skis/snowboards)

62. Fall in love

63. Win an award at a ski comp

64. Street preform and make $100

65. Compete in Triathlon

66. Experience zero gravity

67. Go on a dirt biking trip

68. Party with a rockstar

69. Ski all resorts in UT

70. Learn to weld

71. Design ski’s for a ski company

72. Take cooking class

73. Make a marble booby trap

74. Live in an ice cave for a week

75. Prove doubters wrong

76. Road trip the Pacific Coast Highway

77. Ride an elephant

78. Do a Grand Canyon river run trip

79. Learn to skate (skateboard)

80. Learn to BMX

81. Take a trip to Bend, OR

82. Hike Timpanogous Mtn, UT

83. Land a backflip wakeboarding

84. Go to a haunted castle in Europe

85. Walk the Great Wall of China

86. Paraglide/skydive

87. Go paintballing

88. Do a glow in the dark mission

89. Swim to get golf balls at a course

90. Build a quarter pipe (skateboard)

91. Race through Sand dunes on dune buggy

92. Take guitar lessons

93. Build a fort and play video games all day

94. Play miniature golf in public (set up own course)

95. Sew a hoodie

96. Make someone happy

97. Kayak

98. Rockclimb

99. Scubadive

100. Go to a Chicago Blackhawks playoff game (NHL)

101. Do the PC Water Ramps (park city, ut)

102. Ride a bullet bike

103. Do parkour (well)

There is the list. Look for future posts of my 103 Adventures to Live to see how this changes my life, as I know it will.

Cheers.