Oooh, hey, I turned 20 a couple days ago. Goodbye teenagerhood!

So there's this book, or rather this series of books, that has a huge following in the lady vampire fans. I'm talking of course about Twilight. Every girl I know who's read it has just praised it completely so I wondered what the big deal was because when I asked what it was about all they could say was, "It's about a girl that falls in love with a vampire... but it's better that that I swear!" So recently my girlfriend Helen lent me Twilight to read so I could see what all the rave was. Now I'm not the most callous guy in the world but I still dunno if it's the same for a guy to read a romance story. So as I read it I'll keep up some of my (likely on the cynical side) observations on here.

Not that I really went anywhere, but now I'm back. So I finished freshman year successfully and now I'm home in Oak Park working at a funeral home in Skokie for some very decent wages. Ask me how that is sometime. I'm now a very decent swing dancer and have been elected to the vice presidency of the IWU Swing Dance Society. As of this moment my parents are both in Africa with Global Health Outreach. Dad, I know you'll read this eventually so happy Fathers' Day. Joel is back at SIU for summer school so I have the entire Smith realm to myself until the end of the month. For those of you who were looking forward to the continued histories of the planet Pluto, I apologize as my time has been a little occupied of late. It seems every time I start this up again I say I'll keep it up but it never seems to work for long enough. So I'll say this: I'll try to still write as often as I can.

The Histories of Pluto
By Jonathan Smith
Formerly Jonathan Sypjionthng of Bjorlevich, Pluto

Part I: The Arrival

No one remembers why humans first came to Pluto, or how they did it, but the simple fact remains that they did arrive. There have been many theories put forward by Plutonian thinkers. Some think it was a machine invented by Leonardo DaVinci; others believe it was a rift in space, much like those C.S. Lewis talks about that are between worlds, but in this case, only between planets. The new Plutonians were able to keep up with the news from Earth because somehow, letters from Earth, and later newspapers and e-mails, would turn up, suspected to have come through the same portal or rift or machine the humans had come through, but such things are irrelevant to the rest of the Plutonian history. When the small group of Scottish, Greek, and Norwegian families arrived, miraculously unaffected by the cold, they were faced with a landscape of canyons and mountains, with the Frozen Ocean nearby. As they explored, they discovered that the planet was not as barren as it first had seemed. At the bottom of the canyons they discovered the native plants and trees of the planet. There were forests with fruit trees and game. They discovered that the earth had an internal warmth so far down in the canyons which, on further investigation yielded the discovery of underground hot springs. Settling into the land was not easy, but a decade later the group of 50 had developed into a flourishing colony of 200. Settlements in 10 A.R. (After Relocation), which is estimated to be around 1530 A.D., consisted of houses, a meeting hall, farms, mills, and a church. Several settlements had sprung up within the first decade due to the variety of choice areas within the first canyon, but no one had yet spread to other canyons as the harmony based in battling hardship together still kept all the families at peace. Even the church had been able to come together in a surprising synthesis of Protestant and Eastern Orthodox faith. This would be the unifying factor for centuries to come as the politics of the planet unfolded into wars and nations and struggles. The Plutonian Orthodox Reformed Church stood uncorrupted. But it wouldn't be long after 10 A.R. that the problems in the society would start.

I'll be so bad at this; it's hard to think of things that I hate. Here's how it goes: List ten things you hate, #1 being the thing you hate the most (10 things NOT 10 people), and then tag someone(or some people) to do it after you.

10. The fact that a bullet proof, shock proof nuclear holocaust proof iPod case doesn't exist. I mean, for the price of these things, you should at least have a way to make sure it doesn't break.
9. When the service staff at a hotel knocks and asks if you want service even when you've put up the "Privacy Please" sign.
8. The squeaky sound Sobe (my car) makes when she's running even after spending $900 getting her fixed up.
7. So many gadgets that require AAA batteries.
6. So many gadgets that require gasp watch batteries
5. When people say they are sorry for wanting to pet my "nice" and "soft" head of hair. I mean, your dog likes getting petted on the head right? And you don't apologize to it.
4. The way people get all silly about crushes even in college. I mean, are we back in 5th grade?
3. Taupe; 'nuff said.
2. The way people just have to touch the blades of my swords when they handle them and get greasy little fingerprints all over the blades. Let me just clarify: FINGER GREASE MAKES SWORD BLADES RUST!!!
1. The way people often try to pigeon-hole the Bible.

Ok, I tag Manuel because he needs to write something.