If you read the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (and if you haven't, I really suggest it), then you should definitely read The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. It deals with where our food comes from, and the problems with factory farms and non-sustainable agriculture. Even if the topic doesn't particularly interest you, the writing is superb. Pollan gives his own personal experiences and opinions in a non-preachy manner, and the book ends up being hopeful, and gives me the incentive to start being more conscious of what I eat (this book doesn't say that we shouldn't eat meat, although it does respect the vegetarian option, instead, it suggests that we take a better look at where all our food came from and how it was produced). Anyway, for health, political, animal-rights, environmental reasons, and sheer entertainment value, this book is (in my mind) a must-read.

Here's a variation on the typical love triangle. My best friend, who I also happen to be head over heels for, is straight (although she seems to be a lesbian magnet). A girl I know from orchestra (who I had been thinking was a lesbian) starts to flirt with my friend and ask her out. I am incapable of flirting, so I cannot indicate to said orchestra gal that I like her, and I don't know if she likes me (or even if she knows that I'm a lesbian). My friend nicely lets on that she isn't into girls, but would like to be orchestra gal's friend. I also exchange e-mails with orchestra gal. Now my friend and I are going to orchestra gal's b-day party, and I don't know what is going to happen. Did I mention that the theme of the b-day party is "The 7 Deadly Sins." My friend is incapable of not flirting, I swear she could flirt in her sleep. Flirtation is her natural state, regardless of whether she is around a guy or a gal. This leads to many a broken heart (including my own). I, on the other hand, am not a natural flirt, and none of my friend's gift (or curse) has rubbed off on me. So, odds are nothing will happen. But who knows?

I take flight in the night and delight at the sight of my love!
She will be just for me, I’ll endure just for her
I feel pain, go insane, I will never be tame
It’s passion, not fashion, that brings me to tears
Not a fad, it’s not bad, it won’t change with the years
It’s a flame, just the same, without shame, I reclaim
All the truth that is me, all the good that is she
Together forever we will be we will be we will be

I wrote this for an assignment at school:

Re-Claiming Dork

I am a member of a long-suffering minority. I have known it all my life, but for years I was too ashamed to acknowledge it. I feared that if I revealed this aspect of myself to the world I would be ridiculed by my peers. However, I am finally ready to come out and say… I am a dork! (I bet you didn’t see that one coming). Yes, I admit it. I love to dance the polka. I have spent hours programming specialized sequences into my ‘Age of Empires’ computer game, and have spent slightly less time programming my graphing calculator to display the opening lines from Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. I am obsessed with Monty Python, and have of my own volition memorized the scripts for many of my favorite scenes. The only periodicals I read on a regular basis are ‘Discovery’ and ‘Wired’ magazines. However, this is enough said about myself.
To begin this account I wanted to give you a basic definition of the word dork. However, to my horror and dismay, when I attempted to look it up in the Webster’s Third New International Dictionary it was no where to be found. In this tome of 2662 pages, with countless thousands of words, it went right from dorism (Dorian character, manner, or speech) to dorking (an English breed of large domestic fowls having five toes or the hind toe double), without stopping to devote a meager sentence to the word dork. Nor was it in Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus. So, given this lack of a definition, I shall attempt to write one myself. Dork: N. A person who exhibits uncommon, unusual, and possibly unpopular traits, characteristics, interests, passions, or talents.
Where does one find a dork? Dorks are everywhere, and take on many forms, from the student patiently programming her graphing calculator, to the person quoting entire portions of Monty Python’s The Life of Brian to anyone who cares to listen. Dorks are often made fun of, and called names such as “nerd,

Is it wrong to date someone you aren't really attracted to just because you've never dated before and want to have that experience before you go off to college? Is it possible to become more into someone once you start dating? If you like someone as a friend, and you have a lot in common with them, is is possible to develop a romantic relationship? Is it wrong to date someone to get over someone else?

Well. I tried to have a date. I failed. I had a good time, but it wasn't a date. There was no spark, there was no nothing. I might as well have been hanging out with one of my friends. I didn't flirt, she didn't flirt, we didn't even allude to the fact that we are both lesbians. We chatted, had a good time, saw an ok movie, walked around a bit and... nada. I'm not really that disappointed. It would have been nice if something had happened, but at least it wasn't really akward or anything. So, I'm not going to call it a date, because if that was a date, then I have been on dates with all of my friends. Phoey. Oh well. It was worth a try.

I think I am going on a date, but I'm not sure. I've never been on
a date before, I've never kissed, or done anything. There's this girl
I've known for two years through orchestra, and she found my myspace
page and it turns out she is a lesbian too! I asked her if she wanted
to go see a movie and have lunch, and she said sure. However, I don't
know if it is a date, or if we are just hanging out as friends.
I'm kinda nervous either way. Neither of have dated, and I have no idea
what I am doing. I suck at flirting, so we shall see.
Wish me luck!

I came out as bi a while ago. Recently, though, I've decided to say that I'm a lesbian. I think that technically speaking I am still sort of bi, but I rarely (if ever) find myself attracted to men (only Johnny Depp), so I decided to, at least for the time being, call myself a lesbian. I never gave that much import to labels, they were just sort of handy. However, since I started telling people I am a lesbian, not bi, I have noticed a big difference in the way they treat me (not necesarily in a bad way, just different), and a big difference in the way I act in response. I have become "The Lesbian." I am (I think) the only out lesbian at my school. There are three or four bi girls. I never really realized this before, but it seems like people make a huge destinction between bi and lesbian. It's not that people have been hostile to me. If anything, they have been more supportive. However, one problem I have encountered is that the fact that I am a lesbian seems to come up all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love being a lesbian, and have no problem with people talking to me about it. However, it seems like people are turning it into a character trait for me. I am becoming Sarah the Lesbian. I would much rather just be Sarah. When I came out in the first place, my biggest qualm was that it would become a big deal. I really wanted it to be a non-issue, even though that is really not possible. I was surprised and pleased by how little a splash it made. However, now that I am calling myself a lesbian, people are starting to make it into an issue again, and I am tired of it being so prominent.

I was just thinking, and I realized that if the girl I love (who is straight) suddenly became bi, and she asked me to marry her, I would say yes in a heartbeat. I would give anything to spend the rest of my life with her, and that is scary to me. She loves me too, but as a friend. We are like sisters, only closer. It is strange to feel this strongly about anyone. Before her I never even really had a crush on anyone (I thought I was straight, but didn't really like any boys). All of a sudden there is this depth of emotion that I have never felt before. It is hard for me to believe that it is just a crush, although at times I do feel crushed. I want to find someone else, someone who I like, who likes me, I want to find someone who will make me forget about her, but I don't think that's possible. I'm tired of being single, but the only person I want to date can't possibly date me.

My friend, who I am in love with (yes- it is love, not just a crush), who is straight, and has a boyfriend (sound familiar to anyone?), was flirting with me. She invited me to go see a concert with her and her family, and we flirted the whole time. We were just being silly, and it was fun, but it also hurt. We swapped corny pickup lines, and joked around. After the concert we walked hand in hand back to the car,(note- she does this with most of her friends, so it wasn't anything special for her). I wanted to kiss her, and I wanted to jump off a bridge. I've had a crush on her for over two years, and it won't go away. It won't fade, or leave me. Usually I don't notice it, but on nights like that it just drives me crazy. I love her so much. I would do anything for her, but I can't tell her that, and I can't get over her. I realize that this predicament isn't uncommon, but that doesn't make it any easier, especially when she is flirting with me.

I love my friends. I am so lucky to have them. They are like family to me.
I love how crazy and loving we all are. I just found a bunch of random
pictures of us being silly, and it made me smile. I am going to miss them
so much when we all go to college. I don't know how I'll survive without
them, although I imagine I will find other good friends at college. I just
hope I never lose touch with my friends.

My best friend is having serious issues with stress management. She is
stressing about everything, especcially college applications.
Now, I know that everyone stresses about college applications, but she
is driving herself insane over it. She has always stressed too much about
things, and I am starting to get worried for her. She started crying today,
and it was sort of out of nowhere. She doesn't like having people hug her
or mother her when she is feeling down, so I don't know what I can do. I
want her to know that I am there for her. I also wish I had some advice
to give her on how to manage stress, other than just reminding her to
breathe once in a while. She responds better to advice than to comforting,
so I think that if I did have some good advice to tell her, she might take
it. Anyone have any good advice on how to deal with dangerously high levels
of stress?

Help, Help! My mom has hijacked my college essay! I gave my two essays
to her today so that she could look them over and edit them a bit.
She edited them into oblivion. The resulting frankenstein essay she
created has bits of my essays sewn into sections that she wrote entirely
herself. Anything that I actually wrote was rearranged and edited so
much that it doesn't remotely resemble anything that I would say. She
brought up topics that I hadn't written about at all, and then claimed
they were just little additions that didn't changed the feel of the essay
at all. I told her that I couldn't use her essay, for many reasons, the
least of which being that it wouldn't be honest to send it in as a
representation of my writing, since she essentially wrote it her self.
She told me that she understood what I was saying, and that she wasn't
upset. But she then proceeded to argue with me about it, and question my
reasons for not wanting to use her essay. I ended up having to defend my
position, which I shouldn't have had to do. She should just have accepted
the fact that I wasn't ok with her essay, and left it at that. I didn't
ask her to write it, and I don't want to use it.

I might have a date. Someone asked me out online, and it was someone
who wasn't twice my age, and wasn't a man. In fact, it is a girl who
is my age, and who seems pretty nice. I don't really know much what
she looks like- she only posted one picture of herself. Anyway, she
is really nice (online at least). She asked me out, so we're going to try
to find a place to meet. I'm really excited, because I've never dated
before. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, but I guess I'll just go
with the flow. I don't think she's had much experience either, so at least
we'll both be new at it. I hope things go well, because I really want to
have a girlfriend. I know that it is sort of petty to want a girlfriend
this much, but I do. I just hope we hit it off.

Life is weird and annoying. Here are some of the weird things in my
life...

A 43 year old woman asked me out online (I'm 18). She also happens to
have been the ONLY woman to ask me out, which is damn frusterating, and
really inappropriate.

My friend ignores me a large part of the time, except for the few times
he wants me to go out dancing with him (I'm the only one of his friends
that is old enough to go with him).

My best friend, who is undenyably straight, has kissed more girls than I
have (which wouldn't be hard- I've never been kissed). She then proceeds
to tell me about it later.

Sigh. Ok, I'm done complaining. Sorry