Quotes

• This is what I am. I have periods of enormous self-destructive depression, where I go completely off my trolley and lose all sight of reality and reason.” ~ Siobhan Fahey
• “We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” ~ Martin Luther King
• “We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” ~ Oswald Chambers
• There is no limit to what you can do or where you can go, if you don’t mind who gets the credit.
• He who will not listen to reason is a bigot, he who cannot is a fool, he who dares not is a slave.

The Thread (Impulse, by Ellen Hopkins

Wish you could turn off the questions, turn off the voices, turn off all sound.

Yearn to close out the ugliness, close out the filthiness, close out all light.

Long to cast away yesterday, cast away memory, cast away all jeopardy.

Pray you could somehow stop the uncertainty, somehow stop the loathing, somehow stop the pain.

Act on your impulse, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put the gun to your chest.

From I Don’t Remember (Impulse, by Ellen Hopkins)

It’s a curious place, the Land of Blood Loss and Anesthesia, floating through it like swimming in sand. Taxing.

After a while, you think you should reach for the shimmering surface. You can’t hold your breath, and even if you could,

it’s dark and deep and bitter cold, where nightmares and truth collide, and you wonder if death could unfold fear so real. Palpable.

So you grope your way up into the light, to find you can’t move, with your arms strapped tight and overflowing tubes.

And everything hits you like a train at full speed. Voices. Strange faces. A witches’ stewpot of smells. Pain. Most of all,

pain.

from Breakfast is Lousy (Impulse, by Ellen Hopkins)

Breakfast is lousy, but even if it were perfect, I couldn’t taste a thing.

I’m neither up nor down today, just cruising in shades of gray — a cold, colorless place, something like being dead, I guess.

Maybe I am dead and just don’t know it yet.

Aaand, from my friends and peers:

• “Brandon, stop trying to think. You’re failing.” ~ Derek
• “Haha, I’m stickin’ it to God! I’m not wearing socks!” ~ Brian D.
• “We’re gonna sit here because I fell, and this is where I landed.” ~ Jessa
• “Yeah, that’s some missions trip… We’ll preach to cows.” ~Ryan
• “What’s it going to do, chew a carrot in my ear? Thank you – I appreciate our bunny relationship.” ~ Brittany J.
• “Psycho on a bike! Oh, wait… That’s just Ryan.” ~ Corinne
• “Who’s gettin’ crunk?” ~ Jesse
• “So, you bleached your albino hamster? You could’ve come up with a better plan…” ~ Doug
• “My dog likes gettin’ it on with other dogs.” ~ Brent
• “Awkward whitey tighties!” ~ Katie A.
• “Is that the one with like, the praying cow and the mooing mantis or whatever, where you try and balance on a stick or something?” ~ Ryan
• “It’s not a baby — I just ate a watermelon.” ~ Chris B.
• “You guys have heard ‘birds of a feather flock together’? Well, pigs of the same stench do the same thing.” ~ Pastor Hodge
• “I usually wear a men’s size 12. I don’t know what that translates to in women’s size. I don’t look good in heels — I just don’t have the calves for it.” ~ Frank
• “He asked me why the James Bond thing keeps going. And I thought about it for a few minutes, and then I said, ’sex.’ That’s th answer to any question. Try it sometime.” ~ Mr. Poague
• “That hair is not permanent. It comes off.” ~ Eric R.
• “It’s always for the pee, Lauren… Always for th pee. Never for Katie.” ~ Katie A.
• “… she’s going to bludgeon me to death with a plastic bottle…” ~ Eric
• “I feel like I just ate an evergreen tree…” ~ Brian L.
• “We tried asking him not to breathe, but that didn’t work too well…” ~ Rebeka
• “You stupid horse, you deserved an accidental punch in the face!” ~ Corinne
• “Your hair is nice. It ha th consistency of… a lamb.” ~ Katie A.
• “Oh, I’m dependent on oxygen, how awful…” ~ Brian D.
• “She’s playing with her food. She must be trying to start a food fight. Except you don’t have any food to throw back… So it’s more like a food assassination.” ~ Eric R.
• “There’s a frickin’ TIDAL WAVE! What are you doing?!” ~ Corinne
• “Oh, and feel free to just push a cyclist out of the way. They bounce right back. *pause* I’m kidding. Totally kidding. Just want to make that clear. Don’t push ‘em — but if you do, come tell me about it, I want to see.” ~ Ryan
• “That’s a sexy car that just got TOWED!” ~Corinne
• “Hey! How did you get this in my pants?!” ~ Derek
• “Read my lips: Do not disturb. Too busy being cool.” ~ Timi
• “You’re nuttier than squirrel turds.” ~Frank
• “It was a mumu, if I’m not mistaken.” ~ Doug
• “See, I think in a few years, I’ll be considered retro. I’ll be kinda cool.” ~ Jesse
• “Great googly moogly…” ~ Mr. Poague

Bunmi: Bye, Nate!

Nate: Bye, peeps!

Eric: Hey, I am not a small marshmallow covered in colored sugar!

Nate: I bet you wish you were.

Eric: No, not really. They blow up in the microwave.

Bunmi: I love these glove things, my fingers can still function.

Eric: Yeah, and they make you look pretty thug.

Cole: That car’s trunk isn’t closed all the way.

Ryan: … there’s some junk in the trunk.