My English 201 professor made us read a book called Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg it was very campy and a little too granola for me at the time. I was taking 12 credits of text-based classes that each required an average of 1.78 papers per class per week, working 40 hours and traveling an hour by bus to visit my boyfriend. I had no car at the time.

The point is, I didn't want to hear this granola writer telling me to "write anywhere" or "Elktown, MN" I don't even know where Elktown is.

But now. Now I give in to those dangerous thoughts. What if Goldberg was right? What if I'm narcissistic enough to actually give in to my inner monologue and write about the mundane things around me? At least then I could say that all that work this past semester may have been worth it. Goldberg said that you can't be afraid to write. Not every entry is going to be good. This one sure isn't. But if you're afraid to write, because it's boring or you don't have enough time or your hand hurts or you can't find any paper or a pen that's not out of ink (why are all the pens in this house always out of ink?) or you have to pee or! Or! OR! then you'll never be great.

And I intend to be great.

So I can't be afraid. And I'm going to be honest. Brutally honest. If your feelings are hurt, I'm not going to apologize. Honesty often hurts. And my post aren't going to be politically correct. I make that promise to myself NOW. I will however, change the names of those involved for their own safety. And probably my own. For now, I'd like to share a few things I've written in recent months.

Start Fresh.