Sour Seventeen

What I'm Listening to: Photobooth (Death Cab for Cutie) I just had my seventeenth birthday, and along with it a series of unfortunate events. For starters, I woke up to find the power was out in my bathroom--and only my bathroom! Once I figured out that I just could not do my makeup in the bathroom, I got ready with the tiny mirror in my bedroom. Later that day, my mom texted me with the message: "coffee and CT scan at 3:00." The coffee helped matters, but there was no denying the fact that I had to go get a CT scan on my birthday. After that, I tried to connect with a friend via webcam, but her Internet was down. She called me later and jokingly dubbed me Sour Seventeen. Hopefully I'll keep all the sweetness of sixteen with my new age, but you never know. Well, here's a poem I wrote the other day. Tell me what you think! Right of Way It's you, it's me. The rules of the road are so easy to forget. So here we sit at this vacant intersection, Each waiting for the other to make the first move. I stare across the abrasive asphalt into your nervous eyes. No one wants to look like a fool. A car pulls up behind and you're forced to decide. Your shiny red convertible slides across my rearview mirror As I turn towards the heart of town. And I keep checking over my shoulder, Pretending like you might be in my blind spot.

A Driving Disaster

What I'm Listening to: Superman (Five for Fighting) A couple days ago, I got in the car and drove myself and my younger brother to a Superbowl party. Suddenly, I noticed I had missed the main turn and veered off onto a smaller road. To my dismay, a Dead End sign loomed in the distance. "Dang it." I furrowed my brow, but noticed another road to the left. I took that one and the situation repeated itself three or four times, the side roads popping up like weeds whenever a "main" one terminated. When I finally reached the highway, I inhaled deeply and took off, confident my troubles were behind me. Close to our destination, I asked my brother which way I was supposed to turn. "Well, that depends..." he stalled, rotating the map several times. I glanced at him in horror, but he merely shrugged and returned to his futile assessment of the map. After seven or eight tries, I finally found the right house, proceeding to give my brother a death glare and flounce towards the house. As impossible as it might seem, the way back was ten times worse. First of all, the key wouldn't turn in the lock and I nearly went into a panic attack, my theatrical brain persuading me that I would be stuck there for the rest of the night. I was finally able to start the car, though, and I made my way home, which should have been easy compared to the drive there. Wrong. I missed the turn and ended up beginning the drive up the mountains. I first noticed my mistake when I saw the speed limit: 60 miles per hour. That's beyond any speed limit in my city and my concern quickly turned to alarm. Once I was able to turn around and bypass the concrete divider--which was no easy task, by the way--I found the right road easily. Maybe I just needed the modivation of a mountain road all along.