'The Banana Hoose': By: Courtney Ella Hrabik

-The Book-

'The Banana Hoose' by Courtney Ella Hrabik is about The Banana Hoose sorority at the University of Dasani during the 85-86 school year.  This year the sorority is being led by Beth and Colleen.  The book follows the Alpha-Upsilon-Beta Tau pledge class during all their pledge tasks, parties, and adventures.  But if Abby and Mary have their way this could by The Bananas last hurra at the University of Dasani.

-The Review-

This is an adult book.  I am in college and their were still times when I thought the language and situations were a bit much for me.  Once I got passed the foul language, drinking, and drugs and I concentrated on just the story I really enjoyed it.  I loved the characters and the bond they had.  I also loved the quotes that were before select sections.  They were humerous and a nice seg way into the section.  My favorite character by far was Karen. We get to see her go on a very special journey.  That everyone should enjoy.  Just like Courtney Ella said at the end of the book that must people aren't like the Bananas that we were like Karen with a little bit of Banana in us.  It is very different from 'One Year' but still a very funny story and well writen. 

I would reccomend this book for women ages 18-21 to 40.  I think this is a must read if you were in a sorority yourself.

Reading Focus Group 'The Banana Hoose'

In The Cave Entertainment is looking for readers for a focus group for Courtney Ella Hrabik's new book 'The Banana Hoose'.  In The Cave is looking for men and women age 18-40 to read several sections of the book and give feed back.  You can go to their site www.inthecaveentertainment.blogspot.com to get more information and their email address.

First 'One Year' Reading

Courtney Ella opted to post a Youtube video of her first reading of 'One Year'.  You can find it on her publishers YouTube channel 'Inthecaveenter' or use this quick link: http://youtu.be/WUfKwGMfxu8. 

'One Year' for Sale!

Everyone can now buy Courtney Ella Hrabik's book 'One Year' at https://www.createspace.com/3468798.  Everyone needs to buy this book this weekend and read it!

Business and Service vs. Family Dollar

I spent four days working at a local family dollar as in sight in to the lives of people working under the poverty line and people who were under the impression they were saving money be cause they were shopping in a place with 'Dollar' in the name.

The first thing I learned. It does not take much to get this job. Best I could tell I got the job be cause I was over the age of eight teen and produce clean pee.

The second thing I learned. It is so easy to get the job that for the most part you are surrounded by idiots. The manager of the store where I worked at was totally over his head. Their was no tours, their was no training of any kind. The store was just a mess. There is absolutely no organization what so ever. My second day there, a girl came in late claiming she did not know she was supposed to work. At first I thought, yeah right. By the end of the week I thought, their is actually a good chance he did not tell her she was supposed to work. When you are behind schedule it is best to just have some crew stay late one or two nights and get caught up. It is not wise to throw a new hire in to the wolves. I honestly think districts needs to intervene and make some changes.

The third thing I learned was that the assisant manager Tonia should be running the place be cause she has her head on her shoulders. She is organized, patient, and an educator.

The fourth thing I learned was that when you are supposed to do three things at once nothing gets done.

The fifth thing I learned was that it is not good use of time to have the manager perform every return.

The sixth thing I learned was that Family Dollar attracts meth heads be cause they do not monitor the selling of their medicine. Which I am pretty sure is illegal.

The seventh thing I learned is that Family Dollar is not the cheapest place in town to buy stuff. Razors and shampoo are cheaper at walgreens for instance. School and office supplies are cheaper at CVS. All most every thing is cheaper at Kroger. All three are in the area of the store I worked at.

The eighth thing and must important I learned was that you all ways have to treat people with respect. Just be cause they pay with change or food stamps does not mean you can treat them less then human. They deserve the same service as you get anyy where else. Their should all ways be some one at the counter to help people. They should not have to ring a bell for service like they are not your top priority. If they would just hire a third shift, like all most every other store, they could re stock at night and during the day focus on the customer. This store could make so much more money if they would incorporate brail. There is a school for the blind two blocks a way and hundreds of blind people live with in walking distance. I estimate it would cost them 500-1,000 dollars to do this but it would really set them a part in the neighbor hood. They get a ton of elderly people, who have trouble seeing, perhaps having bigger signs, lettering, and ads would help their business as well. If they would just look at the people who came in as people and looked to meet their needs they would make so much more money.

I took this job as an observation of people. What I learned in my four days there that it has to be all a bout the people. I think I will look back on my time there and thank God I can write so I never, ever have to work there again.

Stupid Girl

Did not your mother ever tell you
Under age drinking
A lone with a guy
In a dark alley
No shoes, no cell, no brains
Life is too short to be so stupid
Stupid girl
A nother dumb blonde
Flooding our air waves
Posters over town
If you do not have common sense
You should just stay at home
Stupid girl

Dorm Daze: 8/16 Dinner

August 16 Dinner

Dear JoJo,

What a day we had. Martha was keeping Steph busy by annoying the rest of us with near constant up dates about their dinner plans.

Here is some of the nearly one hundred post its that were found on my door:

9:17 am – There was talk of a dinner tonight, are you still in? RSVP to Martha and Steph in room 103.

9:21 am – We have yet to here from you please let us know. P.S. this is Martha and Steph in room 103.

9:27 am – Just letting you know we will be in our room all day so any time you want to stop on by is okay with us. 103.

9:33 am – Going to go to breakfast by back in thirty minutes. 103.

10:27 am – You have a large collections of post its on your door, you might want to clean them up. 103.

11: 19 am – We are making a post it run be back soon. 103.

12:13 pm – We will be meeting in the lobby at 5:45 pm for dinner. 103.

12:14 pm – We RSVP’d for you as Haley said it was okay.

1:38 pm - We are going to lunch be back in a half hour. 103.

3:19 pm – We will be having a dinner planning meeting in the lobby at 3:30. 103.

4:26 pm – We appreciated every one’s participation in the planning meeting. See all of you at 5:45 for dinner at D- Lair. 103.

4:51 pm – We have moved up the dinner time to 5:30.

5:10 pm – We see you have not gotten a round to cleaning up your door so we did. Here is a white board. 103.

At 5:30 all of the first floor Keller hall meet in the lobby for dinner.

“I can not believe those two are late.” Haley said.

“May be they made a nother post it run.” Chels said.

“How long do you think we have to wait for them?” Roma asked.

“We can not leave with out them that is for sure.” Haley said.

“But is will be so much peace full with out them” Pear said.

“Steph is not that bad” Natalie said.

“No, we are talking a bout Gina and Hannah.” Zena said.

“Oh” I said.

“I say if Martha and Steph get here first we lie and leave them.” Rosie said.

“Yes” Megan and Sarah said.

“Gina come on you hog we are going to be late.” Hannah said as they left their room.

“I am coming God” Gina said.

“Look” Hannah said.

“It is the girls” Gina said.

“I know that you moron, we are late.” Hannah said.

“May be they are all early.” Gina said.

“I swear to God Gina” Hannah said.

“Oh good you are all here.” Martha said as they walked over to them.

“Sorry guys” Steph said.

“Yes we are so sorry we are late but their was a problem at the printers with the name cards.” Martha said.

“Name Cards?” Annie asked.

“Yes” Steph said. “Martha thought it would be best to wear name tags to help every one get to know each other.”

“We all so went to D Lair and put place cards at every one’s seat.” Martha said. “I thought it best to mix us up to get to know every one.”

We all started to leave when our RA, Catlin, emerged from her room for the first time since we moved in.

“Where are all of you going?” Catlin asked.

“Dinner” Martha said.

“All of you?” Catlin asked.

“Yes” Martha said.

“No funny business” Catlin said and went back in to her room.

“Weird” Haley said.

“No funny business” Catlin said quickly popping out.

We walked to D Lair for dinner. Martha and Steph had all ready put the tables to gether so we could all sit to gether. There were name tags at each seat. No body was seating next to people they knew. No athletes were seating next to each other. No sorority girls next to each other. No room mates next to each other, with the exception of Gina and Hannah. I guess Martha thought she could make them friends. I was sitting be tween Emily and Zena. They had all ready ordered for us be cause as we sat down they were bringing it out to us. All most all of us got burgers. Pear, who is a vegetarian got a salad. Chels had grill chicken be cause she needed the protein for weight training the next day. Haley got the breaded chicken sand witch.

“How can you eat that?” Chels asked.

“I have found that my body needs a certain amount of fat and cholesterol to function.” Haley said.

“So how is the room mate?” Audrey asked.

“Is not here yet” I said.

“You wasted your whole day waiting for her for nothing.” Megan said.

“Oh I know” I said. “But she did text me that she should be here tonight.”

“What do you know a bout her?” Megan asked.

“Not much” I said. “She has texted me twice. Once to say we are roomies but did not give a name and the other a couple of weeks later telling me what to bring.”

“Weird” Zena said.

“Yeah” I said. “So where are you girls from?”

“Well I am from Nashville, Tennessee.” Emily said. “I went to Father Ryan High School there.”

“What sorority are you in?” Zena asked.

“That would be Alpha Delta Pi.” Emily said.

Just as I was a bout to ask her how she liked it Gina and Hannah were going at it.

“You did take a sip of my drink.” Hannah yelled.

“No I did not” Gina yelled.

“Yes you did I have been putting my drink there the whole time.” Hannah yelled.

“May be you did not this time.” Gina said.

“You and that freakin ‘May be’ bull shit.” Hannah said.

“It is not bull shit, it is an alternate explanation.” Gina yelled.

“We are going to need to go boxes.” Martha yelled.

We got our food and ran. We finished it up and the brownies that they made for us at ‘Not So Good’ Barn Field. When it was dark out we headed back to the dorm. In the lounge was a woman.

“DD?” the woman asked.

“Yes” I said.

“Hi I am from the housing office I am afraid that your original room mate will not be joining us this year.” She said.

“Okay” I said.

“May be we could all take a moment of silence for her.” The woman said.

We all just looked a round awkwardly.

“We are very sorry a bout this but we will assign you a new one.” The woman said.

“Oh okay” I said.

She hugged me and left.

“Weird” we said and headed to our rooms.

DD

Clueless to the Spirit (1970)

Clueless to the Spirit

1970

On the last day of eighth grade Lauren Myers received a sweat shirt of the school she would be attending in the fall. She said good bye to her acquaintances she had made at her last school. When she got home from school she and her parents pilled into their car and hit the road. They followed the moving van to their new home.

It was chili when they arrived and Lauren had to put on the only thing not in a box on and that was the sweat shirt her parents had given her. It didn’t take long for their new neighbors to show up and start welcoming them.

“We have been here for like a second.” Lauren said to her parents when she noticed them running over.

“They are just trying to be nice.” Her dad said.

“I like it.” Her mom said.

It wasn’t long before they realized not all the people running over were technically neighbors. Some did not actually live in the neighborhood at all. All of them brought something. Most were food related. Others were not. One woman brought the worst kind, her daughter.

“I am so happy to see this neighborhood filling up.” Mrs. Hollings said. “Is that your daughter?”

“Yes, this is Lauren.” Mrs. Myers said.

“What grade will she be in?” Mrs. Hollings asked.

“She will be a freshman in high school.” Mrs. Myers said.

“Get out of town, my daughter too!” Mrs. Hollings said. “Mary come here.”

Mary ran over to where the two ladies had been talking.

“Lauren I want you to meet someone.” Her mom said.

Lauren reluctantly walked over.

“This is Lauren” Mrs. Myers said.

“Mary- Sacred Heart! I am going there too!” Mary said.

“Really” Lauren said.

“Yes! I can’t wait for school to start. It is going to be the best four years of our lives.” Mary said.

“Well we will let you guys get settled but we will have to get these girls together over the summer. After all they are both going to be Valkyries soon.” Mrs. Hollings said and the two headed home.

“Thank God that is over with.” Lauren said.


“Hey, she seemed nice.” Her mother said.

Things had died down for a week or two. Lauren’s family had become a regular fixture in the neighborhood. One cool night after dinner Lauren’s dad took her out for ice cream.

“Look its Sacred Heart!” Mary yelled and ran over to them.

“Oh good” Lauren said under her breathe. “And she brought friends.”

“This is my new neighbor.” Mary said to her friends. “She is a member of the class of ’74. I am so sorry, what’s your name again?”

“Lauren” Lauren said.

“This is Elizabeth and Theresa. I am Mary in case you forgot too.” Mary said point to them and her.

“Hello” Elizabeth and Theresa said.

“Hi” Lauren said.

“You girls getting ice cream too?” Mr. Myers asked.

“Yeah, every Wednesday” Mary said.

“Why don’t you girls join us?” Mr. Myers asked.

“Sure” Mary said.

“Where did you move here from?” Elizabeth asked.

“Indianapolis” Lauren said.

“Why did you guys move here?” Theresa asked.

“Dad got a better job.” Lauren said.

“Congrats” Theresa said looking at Mr. Myers.

“Thanks” Mr. Myers said.

“What are your plans for the summer?” Mary asked.

“Summer camp and visiting grand parents” Lauren said.

“Sounds like fun.” Mary said.

“Yeah” Lauren said.

The four girls ate their ice cream and talked about meaningless things. When they were done Lauren and her dad got into their car to go home.

“So glad that is over.” Lauren said.

“They seem so nice. Wouldn’t it be nice to already know people on the first day of school?” Lauren’s dad asked.

“No” Lauren said.

Two days later Lauren left for summer camp. When she returned a couple of weeks later she was grocery shopping with her mom when they ran into Mary and her mother.

“Settling in?” Mrs. Hollings asked.


“Yes, thank you.” Mrs. Myers said.

“Can you believe the summer is half over?” Mrs. Hollings asked.

“Oh I know. We went uniform shopping today.” Mrs. Myers said.

“We are going next week. I can’t believe they are already getting their navy skirts.” Mrs. Hollings said.

“Do you know what classes or teachers you have yet?” Mary asked.

“I got the envelop while I was at camp but haven’t really looked at it yet.” Lauren said.

“Wouldn’t it be so cool if we had some classes together?” Mary asked.

“Yeah” Lauren said.

The Myers and the Hollings chit-chatted for a few more minutes and went their separate ways.

“Its like she is stalking me.” Lauren said.

“Would it kill you to try to be nice and have fun here?” Lauren’s mom asked.

“Yes” Lauren said.

Lauren spent the rest of the summer with her grandparents and cousins.

The first day of school came. Lauren was walking through the third floor freshmen hall. She was realizing that most of these girls went to grade school together and already had a group of friends. Lauren found her locker and started putting her books in.

“Lauren Myers!” Mary shouted. “Please tell me your team room is 210 also.”

“Yeah” Lauren said.

“Awesome. We are so sitting together.” Mary said.

“Ok” Lauren said.

“Do you already have lunch plans?” Mary asked as they walked into the classroom.

“Nope” Lauren said.

“You have to sit with me, Elizabeth, and Theresa.” Mary said and they sat down.

“Ok” Lauren said.

Yes Lauren had a real group of friends to sit with every day at lunch.

Final Ecology

I feel it is something that needs to be addressed. We have created a real mess for our selves and we need to look towards the future.

I learned about Ness’s deep ecology and shallow ecology and many other’s take on them. To day I am purposing a new ecology called Final Ecology. Final Ecology looks at the world as a whole and not just our individual place in it. It is impossible to think that cars, energy, factories, etc will be wiped out completely. The human race and technology will all ways have to move foreword. Final Ecology has a hundred year initial time line.

The first twenty five years will be used to address humans. Final Ecology looks at the human race in three levels. Final Ecology will work on a checks and balance system. Each ‘family unit’ will be given energy/waste credits. Your credits will be based on how much you do to help the environment. It would all so have a commerce element where you can buy and sell your credits. Final Ecology takes in to account all of the out liars and variables. It balances every thing out. There will all ways be those who do not care. They will all ways drive there Hummer’s, leave all there lights on, and be overly waste full. It is okay be cause there are groups of people that live off the grid. Examples of this are the Amish, indigenous tribes, and the deep ecologist. Then there is the majority of people where it is okay to still drive your mini van, have your air conditioning, and watch your television if you recycle, compost, and buy ‘Kentucky Proud’. This level of Final Ecology only works if the energy sources come from re-usable sources like wind and solar. There would all so have to be a gas, food, and people quota for each family unit.

The next twenty five years will focus on animals. Ensuring that they have the food and environment needed to survive. Final Ecology would have a data base of all the animals on the planet. It will be used to track their population and the other populations in the eco system.

The last fifty years of the initial plan deals with nature. Nature gets the most amount of time be cause that is where the majority of the damage is. You might be asking if it is the worse why is it the last to be addressed and the answer is it is going to take humans a while to change. I thought the best way to condition them was over time beginning with the easiest one that directly affects them. The effort will begin with the oceans be cause of the amount of animals that live there and that all life depends on water. Then we will move to replanting forests.

After the initial hundred years their will be other stages to wean us off gas and coal completely. There are other stages to keep up species numbers and farming and recycling initiatives. Making sure that every thing is in check with people, animals, and nature. Over time there will not be a need for the checks and balance system be cause people would be conditioned to do good.

Writer of the Month for April!

Everyone at Platnium Writers wants to congratulate Courtney Ella Hrabik on being the writer of the month! We hope to read more of your beautiful works that earned him this title.

Sacred Heart Academy: Meeting The Shadows (Present Day)

"That is how it happened?" Erin asked.

"Yeah" Anna said.

Their is a time honored tradition for eigth grade girls in Loisville, Kentucky called Shadowing. This is when they get to spend the day at one of all girl high schools to see if they would like to go there. They 'shadow' a current student there to get the feel of what its like to go to school there.

Today is a big shadow day at Sacred Heart Academy. The shadows and their host are currently in the second floor foyer sitting in the big velvet chairs. They are telling stories and asking questions.

"I do not believe you." Erin said.

"Then go around thinking what ever you want about how Sacred Heart got its name." Anna said. "Every one is going to think you are crazy though because they all know the truth."

"St. Angela Merici said Assumption was stupid?" Erin asked.

"Yeah I thought you guys were suppossed to be un-bias and supportive of the other schools?" Claire asked

"Just the name." Anna said.

"Same thing" Erin said.

"Shove it" Anna said.

"You have to be nice to me." Erin said. "I might go some where else."

"Oh please your older sister goes here and all of our cousins go here, we got you." Anna said. "These days are really for non-legacies and big fish. For instance the big fish right now is Sandy, she has sisters at both."

"I am not a legacy." Katie said.

"I think many of us are not" Liz said.

"May be we could get a hands on how many of you do not have ties to the school at all." Anna said.

"So you can focus on them?" Erin asked.

"Were you not listening?" Anna asked.

"You are not getting off on the right foot." Katie said.

"Ok Anna thank you for telling us that amusing story to help us kill time." Megan said.

"Your welcome" Anna said.

"For those of you that do not have 'ties' to the school do you have any questions?" Megan asked.

"Can you fit in if you are not a legacy?" Rachel asked.

"I got this one Anna." Megan said. "Yes of course. Here at SHA we are anti-clicky and anti-judging. We are all friends here."

"Do we have time for another story, I really liked it." Sarah asked.

"A-A-A, I got this one Megan." Anna said. "Of course."

Dorm Daze: 8/16 (Morning)

Dear JoJo,

The first floor girls of Keller Hall woke up at 6 am due to a loud thug then an argument coming from Gina and Hannah's room.

"You can not kick me out of my own bed!" yelled Hannah.

"But if we push the beds together I would get a king bed." Gina said.

"But what about me?" Hannah asked.

"We could get you a nice blow up bed." Gina said.

"No!" Hannah yelled.

"What if their was some sort of rotation?" Gina asked.

"Where would we put it?" Hannah asked.

Gina must have looked around.

"Are the desk needed?" Gina asked.

"Yes desk are needed, this is college." Hannah said.

At this point all of us non-sorority/sport girls except Hannah and Gina were now seating in the hallway outside their room. Martha had brought bags of cereal and cups of juice or water.

"Any one want to bet on how many mornings this semester we are going to wake up to this?" Haley asked.

"I will take some of that action." Megan said.

"Yeah me too" Sarah said.

"Yes, getting off on the right foot." Haley said.

"I got ten bucks this last all the way to Hallo Ween." Megan said.

"Me too" Sarah said.

"Wait a minute, are not their desks in the Libarary, do we need desks here and there?" Gina asked.

"I am not going to walk all the way to the Libarary to write things and study." Hannah said.

"What if we got some sort of hard object that we can place on our laps while we work in bed, but can easily store when we are not" Gina asked.

"You know how ridiculous you sound with that crap!" Hannah yelled.

"They have been on the desk issue for all most five minutes. Ten says this goes all the way to Thanks Giving." Haley said.

"Your on" Megan and Sarah said.

All three shoke on it.

"All I know is that those two girls are perhaps the most vile girls I have ever met." Pear said.

"Pear this is so out of Character for you." Martha said.

"So deep" Zena said and they pounded fist.

"I got those inscence from my aunt Flo as a graduation gift." Pear said.

All of us in the hall way started laughing.

"What? They meant a lot to me." Pear said.

"No you actually have an aunt Flo?" Haley asked.

"Yeah" Pear said.

We were all rolling around laughing when the floor door opened. The laughter quickly stopped when four girls walked in. All four had rainbow flip floops, victoria secret undies, oxford shirts, sunglasses, and nothing else. Oh and a couple of them also had these beer hats on. It looked like they cut a circle out of card board box or maybe a frozen pizza card board insert and glued a beer bottle on top and put some ribbion on it and started wearing it. These were the sorority girls.

"What are all these girls doing here?" One asked, looking rather embarrassed.

"Yeah its like way early." another one said.

"I can explain this." Haley said. "First thing is first, my name is Haley."

She extended her hand to shake and meet them.

"Roma" the first one said and shoke her hand.

Roma had almost a complete buzz hair cut except for her long bangs in the front. Based on her hair she is one that speaks her mind.

"Audrey" said the way early one.

Audrey has stick straight blonde hair. You could tell she was a dits. Me and Audrey were going to be good friends I hope. She was Haley's roommate in room 101.

"Rosie" the third one said reluctantly.

Rosie was the only African American on the floor. She had the most beautiful chocolate color skin I had ever seen. She lived with Roma in room 107.

"Emily" said the last, most embarrassed of all the girls.

Emily had brown hair. You could tell this was the first time she had ever had any fun. When she realized we had caught her she saw the Pope's head on everyone of our bodies and now felt extremely guilty.

We then went around and said our names.

"Hey" the four sorority girls said.

"So what are you guys doing out here?" Roma asked again.

"Oh yes" Haley said. "You see Gina and Hannah, the girls that live in this room."

"Hannah is the American and Gina is the Asian." Martha said.

"Yes, they do not get along at all. They woke us up about an hour ago when Gina pushed Hannah out of bed. They have been fighting since. Well we all ready up and we could hear them so we started to listen in." Haley said.

"And Pear has an aunt Flo." Zena said.

"That sounds like fun. If I did not have a pounding headache I would so join in." Audrey said.

"Yeah I better lay down." Roma said.

All four went off to their rooms. By this point Hannah and Gina heard the commotion going on in the hall way and opened the door.

"Hey" Megan and Sarah said.

"Okay party is over." Haley said.

"Whats going on?" Gina asked.

"We were just meeting the sorority girls." Megan said.

"We missed the first walk of shame, damn it Gina!" Hannah said.

Just then the Althetes opened the door and walked in.

"Its okay theirs more, oh a costime party." Gina said.

"Its not the same, Brandi Chastian awesome." Hannah said pointing to the one in soccer shorts and a sports bra like shirt.

"Its weird they all went as sports stars." Gina said.

"No they are the Althetes." Haley said.

Yet again we all went around saying our names.

"Chels" Brandi Chastian said.

Chels had shoulder length sandy brown/dirty blonde hair. I guess it depends on how you look at it. She is on the soccer team. She is Emily's roommate in room 105.

"Natalie" said one.

Natalie had bleach blonde hair mixed with black hair, I could not tell if it was mishap from partying, like she fell alsleep with her shoes on, or if she wanted that. She was on the swim team.

"Annie" The last one said.

Annie had short reddish-brown hair. She lived with Natalie. Annie was on the track team.

"I better stretch, cool down, and shower." Chels said and went to her room.

"Yeah we better go too. I would hate to waste that great run." Natalie said.

"Nice meeting all of you. Can't wait till we can all hang out." Annie said.

The two walked off to their room 106.

Steph was now on her cell phone talking to her parents. Obviously Gina and Hannah's fighting, the sorority coming back with beer hats on, and the althetes walking in wearing bras had been too much for poor steph.

"You guys have to come get me. Its terrible here." Steph said crying into the phone.

"Its going to be okay." Martha said putting her arm around Steph and they atarted walking to their room. Martha turned around back at us and said, "I am going to go calm her down but we all have to do something later."

"Dinner?" Haley asked.

We all shock our heads yes.

"Awesome, see you girls later." Haley said and went back to her room.

"Yeah we need to finish putting our pictures up." Megan said.

Just like that we all dispersed to our own rooms. We needed the time to settle in to our new living situations. We needed time to get ready for the big dinner. I needed to get ready for my roomie to arrive. That is what happened this morning at Keller Hall as I know it to happen.

Sincerely,

DD

Sacred Heart Academy: On Holy Ground (1876)

In 1858 a group of nuns from Germany from the Ursula sisters journeyed to Louisville, Kentucky to start a boarding for young ladies. In 1876 the nuns had purchased land and was going to build their school that was to open the following year. Before they bagan construction the nuns gathered in the middle of the grounds to bless the land. The head nun, Sister Angela Merici and an aide named Sister Margret stood in the middle of a semi- circle to perform this ritual.

"On this holy ground-" Sister Angela Merici said.

"If I may correct you sister?" Sister Margret said.

"What is it Sister Margret?" Sister Angela Merici asked.

"This ground is technically not Holy yet un till you splash the Holy Water on it." Sister Margret said.

"Thank you for that correction. On-" Sister Angela Merici said.

"Your Welcome" Sister Margret said.

"On this ground which I am about to make Holy I will build a school to do your work as as the founder of my order, Saint Ursula. Please watch over the building and the girls who attend St. Ursula Academy." Sister Angela Merici said.

"That is going to be the name of your school?" Sister Margret asked.

"I thought so. Is it not a good way to pay homage to her?" Sister Angela Merici asked.

"It is, but 'lets go SUA lets go' does not sound the best." Sister Margret said.

"You do not think so?" Sister Angela Merici asked.

"No" Sister Margret said.

"What about Angela Merici Academy?" Sister Angela Merici asked.

"AMA does have a better sound but do you want to go down in history as the nun who named a school after herself?" Sister Margret asked.

"No that would be no good at all." Sister Angela Merici said.

"What about Mercy Academy?" Sister Katrina asked.

"The sister of Mercy already use that name." Sister Margret said.

"What about Assumption?" Sister Grendel asked.

"No, that is no good." Sister Angela Merici said.

"I agree, Assumption Academy shortens to AA. No cheers with AA is going to rally a crowd." Sister Margret said.

"That could also be almost anything." Sister Katrina said.

"Yes like Apatow Apple" Sister Angela Merici said.

"Perhaps the name should reflect our core values of Reverence, Service, Community, and Leadership." Sister Rebekka said.

"So RSCL Academy?" Sister Angela Merici asked.

"Maybe SUA does not sound so bad." Sister Margret said.

"Wait, the Holy Spirit has sent me the name of the school, Sacred Heart. The symbol Ursula has chosen as our symbol." Sister Angela Merici said.

"Oy" Sister Rebekka said.

"Yes the Holy Spirit is very strong here." Sister Margret said.

"I know, this is the perfect name for the school." Sister Angela Merici said.

"And SHA rolls off the tongue so nicely." Sister Margret said.

"Really?" Sister Angela Merici asked.

"Oh yes" all the nuns said.

"On this ground which I am about to make Holy with the water you made Holy, I will build a school to do your work as well as the founder of my order, Saint Ursula. Please watch over the building and the girls who attend Sacred Heart Academy." Sister Angela Merici said.

Dorm Daze: 8/15

Dear JoJo,

Yes after nearly two months of you sitting in my closet and one car ride to college I have decided to get some use of you. So at the age of eighteen as I embark on a new chapter of my Life I am starting my first diary. Dear God I hope this is a good decision does not come back to bite me in the butt. I thought today was a good day to embark on this diary adventure because today was the day I moved into my freshman dorm. I now call Keller Hall home. I am a freshman at the Universiyu of Dasani. I have no idea what I am going to major in yet. I was a little hesitant of moving so far from home but based on what I have seen today it is going to be a very exciting year.

I live in room 102. The room right next door to the Hall Director. Lucky me.

Haley was the second to arrive after me.

"Dad you need to lift with your legs." Haley said.

Haley is a freshman as well. She is an in-state student. Her hometown is only two hours away from campus. She has dirty blonde hair and green eyes. She seems very out going.

"Hal I am doing the best I can. It would be a lot easier if you didn't insist on bringing such a big tv we would not be having this fight." her dad yelled.

"Dad how can I enjoy Grey's Anatomy on a twenty inch?" Haley said.

Haley lives in 101. It is the first one on the left. Haley was the lucky person to get the room directly across from the hall director.

Next to make her presence known was Gina. She was of Oriental decent, what kind I can not be sure right now because it is rude to ask when you first meet a person. I do know she is from Florida and that she has a boyfriend. She told me that five times in the three minutes we talked.

"Mom it does not look good there lets try it on the other wall." Gina said to her mom.

"You can not do that honey that is your roommates wall." her mom said.

"I have a roommate?" Gina yelled.

"Yes honey this is college everyone has a roommate." her mom said.

We were gonna have some problems with her I could tell.

Gina lived in room 110, the last room on the left. She had the privillage of living across the hall from the RA.

Then came the twins. They are not really twins but they look and act the same. From what I can tell they have been best friends since kindergarten. Right off the bat they were my favorites because they were quiet moving in because they had already planned out their room over the summer. Their names are Sarah and Megan. They moved into room 104.

Then came Hannah, Gina's roommate. Hannah had long dark hair and she wears glasses.

"What are you doing in my room?" Hannah asked.

"Your room, my room!" Gina said.

"Gina we have been over this its both of yours. You must be Hannah." Gina's mom said.

"Yeah, get out of my room." Hannah said.

"Honey we spent like five hours explaining this to you, you are sharing this room." Hannah's mom said.

"Where is the rest of it?" Hannah asked.

"This is it honey its a dorm room." Hannah's mom said.

Yes this was going to be a long year for all of us.

In the midst of all the yelling came Pear. I am 88 percent positive that is not her real name. She is beyond a hippie chick. She has wavy almost white hair. She wears only hemp clothes and only eats food that has died naturally. She meditates and listens to records and has a tank of slugs. She moved into 108.

She tried to interven between Hannah and Gina but one of them broke her inscents. Neither one will officially take credit for the incident but it had to be one of them.

Then came Steph. Steph has a brown bob. She has severe separation anxiety. She was crying and clamping on to her parents legs.

"Do not leave me here alone!" Steph yelled and cried. "I do not know anyone here and what happens if my allergies act up and what if no one here likes me and what if my classes are too hard for me."

"You will be fine honey." her dad said trying to escape from her.

"We live five minutes away, you will be fine." her mom said.

Thanks to her roommate Martha, Steph's parents were able to escape .

Martha has red hair and freckles almost every where. Martha will definitely be the mother on the floor. She brought cook books and cleaning supplies and a first aif kit. She reads 'Better Home and Gardens' and watches HGTv. When I first met her I met my mom at 18, it was pretty surreal.

Martha and Steph live in room 103.

The last girl to arrive was Zena. Yet again pretty sure not her real name. She lives with Pear in room 108. She is a gothic/vampire. She has black hair, lips, finger and toe nails. She too has taken advantage of the privilage every student has to bring a ten gallon tank into the dorm. She has some sort of black snake in there named 'pinky'. As long as she does not try to eat Pear's slugs I am sure they will be fine.

The rest of the seven girls moved in five days ago for Sorority rush or athletic training and I have not met them, based on how they have chosen to decerate their doors they should be a real hoot.

My roommate has yet to show up. Perhaps she will tomorrow. Thats everything that happened on move in day at Keller hall as I know it to have happened.

Sincerely,

DD

Dorm Daze: Moving In Day

I now crissen you --- JoJo!

One, Two, Three

One little gene
POP, POP, POP
Comfort I will never know
Two little bees
BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ
Soon I will only have
The music in my head
Three little words
I LOVE YOU
Pierces through my body
Each and every day

What Happened?

What Happened?
What happened she had the nerve to ask
I will tell you what happened
It was hard and I didn't care
Perhaps you shouldn't either
What happened?
What happened she had the nerve to ask
I will tell you what happened
You need to wake up and see the world
Perhaps you are just that arrogant
What happened?
What happened she had the nerve to ask
You need a new audience or get a new writer
Perhaps one day you will wonder
What happened to you

Kelly

Somewhere there is a girl named Kelly
She is sitting by the phone
Last night she wrote her number
On a dollar bill and gave it to a guy
Today he came into pizza hut
And put that dollar in my tip jar
Not sure whether it was
An accident or on purpose
Pretty sure Kelly is not
Getting that call
Poor, poor Kelly

The Seed

The day you left I was given a seed
The seed was ordinary as any other
It was black with white vertical lines
It was a black walnut seed
It sat on my desk for weeks
I didn't know what to do without you
You were my north star, my compass
One day while cleaning my room
I came across it again
So I put it in the ground like I did you
It is growing into quite the tree
It looks over us just like you
So its like you never left at all

Remembering

I drove past it again today
The constant reminder you are no longer here
Two pieces of wood haunts me
Nothing will ever be the same
No matter what I do I can't avoid it
Its always their mocking me and that night
Of the decisions we made
How stupid we were to think we were invincible
What I would do to take it all back
Or at least switch places with you
Never again will I make the same mistake twice
I drive past it again and again
The constant reminder of the friends I no longer have
Three crosses on Cherokke Road