I REALLY REALLY WANT...

1. A Massage: I've been sleeping in so many places that weren't designed for it like airplanes, buses, and couches, that my body is getting achey. It's a good thing I won't be riding anymore planes for a few months, and probably only one bus in the near future. But when I stay in the apartment of this one family I'm with in Chicago, I usually sleep on the couch, so it's all starting to pile up on my shoulders and neck. I never really liked massages before, but now I'm craving one.

2. My Basketball Shoes: I didn't pack them, you see. So I've been playing basketball with these running shoes. And while I still win (*ahem*), it hurts my feet so much. All the lateral foot movement and sudden stops and gos are what's killing me. The shoe obviously wasn't designed to support that kind of stress.

3. My Books: I'm running out of reading material here. I had to buy some books at the World Conference to keep me going. And to think I have a pile of books that I wanted to read just sitting back home.

4. A Magical Device that Will Keep My Skin Moisturized: I'm envisioning this to be a bathtub filled with some sort of enchanted moisturizers that you can soak in for around an hour, and your skin will stay healthy for a month. But, since I don't have that yet, I have to put lotion on twice a day because the atmosphere is just so dry. I do it right after a shower as my Mom advised, because while our skin's damp is supposed to be the best time.

5. Better Penmanship: I was reading my journal again; there's so much to go over. I couldn't understand some of the words. What a waste of a possibly great idea or statement. I was also sending some snail mail out at the post office earlier, and I could hardly read the address I wrote down. So I guessed some of the words and numbers, and I hope it goes to the right place.

You know, I don't share this much, but I have a feeling I know when this began. I think my Kinder teacher may have cursed me in this area. I was four years old at Kinder 2, which is kinda early. All throughout the year, my teacher kept telling me that my penmanship was bad, and kept pointing out my classmates' work which was so much better.

Of course, the younger you are, the age gaps make much greater differences. Like a 1 year old can stand, while a 0 year old can't even see, but a hundred years later, the 101 year old isn't any more developed than the 100 year old. So I was 4 and most of my other classmates were 5 so naturally they had nicer writing! When I turned 5 and had a party in school, the teacher was suprised to find out that I was younger than most of the others, and was only turning 5 that March (the end of the school year). So there.

One possibility is that her statements became self-fulfilling and to this day keep my writing bad. Hah! But I'll show her!!!Have you heard of that book that's titled, "You Were Wrong, Mrs. ____ (i forgot the name)"? It's written by a man who turned out to be something good, contrary to what his teacher had told him. I think I'll write a similar book, and I'll title it, "You Were Wrong, Ms. _____." (The name has been removed to protect Ms. Chili's identity.) It will be a beautiful book, proving that she was wrong about my penmanship.

It will be handwritten of course. The first chapter will be in simple writing form tracing printed words on the page. The second chapter will be in print, with all my letters within the blue-red-blue lines. And the last chapter will be in cursive, a beautiful script with all the flows and curves, nice and smooth, but not too flowery, which is girly. The actual content of the book has yet to be decided on, but the point will have been made in the format alone.

But now that I think about it, she was also a pretty good teacher. I remember she was kind and fun. I remember making chains out of strips of art paper that hung from the windows down to the floor. So it's not like she was out to get me. Besides, my writing didn't improve when I turned 5 (or 6, or 7...or 21), so she most likely had nothing to do with it whatsoever. Which is really a relief, because I didn't want mixed images of her in my mind. And at least I don't have to write that book now. It was fun to think about it though, and I'd still like better penmanship.

6. My Tiny Pillows on My Bed: They made such a big difference that I really appreciate now. They could create the perfect angle of elevation, with the necessary surface for any kind of activity. Say I was reading in bed, I'd want my back to be up and straight all the way to my head. So I'd use a big pillow for my back, and usually, the yellow, elliptical Issho-Genki pillow for my head, because it was big enough to provide the necessary support and firm enough to keep it in place. Now, say I was sleeping and my big pillow felt a little too low. I couldn't add another big pillow to the top because then it would be too high. So I use either the Rowdyruff Boys pillow or the Bubbles pillow to put on top of the big one. And of course, my preferences change per day, but those three pillows would fit any need that surfaced. Here, I just gotta make do with what's given me, which is still quite generous, but it's just difficult to adjust, when you already had a working system in place.

7. A Time Machine: I was reading my journal and I was suprised by all the things I did, that today have no impact in my life whatsoever. It was all fun, I'm sure, but I remember being tired a lot too. I'd go back in time and tell me to be more focused and to drop the unnecessary stuff. I believe if you do what God wants you to do right now, then the rest of it will take care of themselves. So I'd go back in time, and drop a whole lot of unnecessary gimiks, events, etc. And I'm sure I would've been more productive.

8. A Nice, Juicy Steak: I'm hungry eh.