surveys
i don't take these things quite as often as i used to, but i thought these 2 were cool. gave me stuff to reflect on and write about...
politics
Would you do meth if it was legalized? no. not because of the legal status, but because it is meth. that is some scary ass shit. plus i have tried speed-like drugs and i cannot stand the way they make me feel.
Do you think the world would fail with a female president? no. however, if that president is sarah palin, my answer may be slightly different...
Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already? i think it will be. and yes, i think it absolutely should. i'm a huge advocate for this for all kinds of reasons.
Are you for or against premarital sex? i am for adults making their own decisions. if you want to wait til you are married and your partner is cool with that too, go for it, if you never wanna get married and date 8 people at once and tie each other up in chains, if you're all ok with it, then go for it. just don't force people to do things they do not want to do. and don't say yes to things you aren't comfortable doing for that matter either.
Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized? yes, but i don't think it is the most important thing for the queer community to be spending all our resources on.
Do you think it's wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the country? no. we are all immigrants here except for the natives and we treat them worse than anybody else in this country. we have no right whatsoever to say who can live here
A twelve year old girl has a baby, should she keep it? not really my call. if she is homeless or living in an abusive home, probably not, but even if she were, you never know how stong people can be til they have to be, so i would not make that call.
more under cut ...
Abortion: for or against it? i'm pro choice, but conservative about it. i am definitely not FOR abortion for the most part. i think people need to be more responsible from the beginning, but we still live in a world where contraceptives are considered a sin. that's where the problem as at. we need to take the stigma of sin AWAY from safe sex and we will not have so many people getting abortions in the 1st place. i do not think abortion should be used as contraception. but MOST of the time that is not how abortion is used. it must remain legal. what we need to change is we need to get people to understand the importance of safe sex and contraceptives.
Do you believe in the death penalty? no. it's complicated. i think murder is a crime in which one should be punished by jail and i think that if someone murders someone you love, and you want to murder them for it, that is up to you/you're "right", but you should then also be prepared to go to jail. but i do not think the state/the law should have any right whatsoever to punish someone by death, no matter what they have done.
Do you believe in God? yes, but not a man in the sky god. the god i believe in can be applied to any religion, or no religion. it is everyone and everything. karma, love, souls, nature, the universe etc. whatever works for you is fine too. but i do feel i am connected to everything/connected to god/a child of the universe... yeah, i know, i'm a hippy :P
Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen? i think so, yeah, or even eliminated. you can set certain rules in your home for drug and alcohol use, i don't think the law should have a say in that stuff.
Should the war in Iraq be called off? yes, but i think we need to understand we can't just pull all the troops out right now and bring them all home in week. we are at war. we never should have went to war in the first place but now that we are there, we have to deal with that. people who think it is as simple as saying "it's over" and pulling everyone out immediately don't know a damn thing about war.
Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree? no. i think if someone is dying and in pain and they ask for a doctor to assist them in suicide and they consent to it, then they should have that right. it is humane. i don't believe in giving up just cuz shit is hard or painful, but dying sick patients should have that right.
Do you believe in spanking children? i don't know. i've never hit a kid and i didn't particularly love to get hit as a kid, but spanking a child on the butt is not such a bad thing. beating your children is bad. but letting your child get away with being an evil spoiled brat is actually pretty bad too. spanking does not have to be a beating to get the point across.
Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars? yeah, definitely. i'd donate ALL the money to make a point too.
Who do you think would be a better president Obama or McCain: obama. def.
Do you think Obama will be killed? i hope not. but i assume he is being careful. and probably will have to be for the rest of his life.
Should child predators be forced to wear signs identifying themselves? sure. i think that is reasonable. they should be in jail! why the fuck can a person caught with an ounce of weed have to go to jail for 10 years but there are people on the street who have been arrested 10 times for child rape who are able to walk free? this is why i do not follow man's law. don't tell me i can't do something that is not morally wrong like smoke a plant or walk on someone else's property, as long as you are allowing child rapists to get away with what they do. thanks.
Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers? if people judge me, that is their issue. they are not me.
high school survey
FRESHMAN YEAR:
What school did you go to? Reading Memorial High School
What were your school colors? red and black
Did you ever ditch? i rarely ditched off campus, but i ditched most of my classes. however, i usually spent that time in the library or oddly even in my friend's honor classes because i preferred their classes discussions over my own.... but sometimes i was drinking in the locker room, and sometimes i was home in bed.
Who were your best friends? the pookie heads and the brain, plus brain associates. all in all, a large group of artists. they named me Jymi
What elective classes did you take? i took almost all electives. i convinced the guidance counselor to let me replace social studies, math, spanish and gym with electives. i took art, acting, volunteered with the seem (mentally delayed) students... i forget what else
Did you pass all of your classes? lol. i passed a couple. i think i actually did better than i did in 8th grade, but i did not pass freshman year. the next year i was a froshmore or some weird shit. or i was supposed to be.
How did you get to/from school? i took the bus to school. i took it home sometimes too but i usually bummed rides or walked home after wandering around all day and night.
Did you drink/smoke? i drank a lot. i smoked cigarettes once in a great while and i tried weed the spring of that year.
more under cut
...
Who was your favorite teacher? miss monty. although i didn't have her for a class. she was the teacher who did the literary magazine
Did you go to homecoming? maybe. probably, if it was a dance, i probably went and i was probably a drunken nightmare.
Did you go to prom? not prom. i went to a semi. that was bad enough.
If so, who were your dates? i went with a junior i barely knew. it was awkward. i was dating someone from out of town who i should have brought but i was about to break up with him for someone who may have been at the dance so i ended up bringing someone i barely knew, and i made a mess out of a whole new situation.
Did you play any sports? no.
Were you involved in any clubs? i was in the drama club. i co-directed the school play Scapino and acted in a one act version of Go Ask Alice, i was on the pro-choice committee, the AIDS awareness committee, the coffee house planning committees and was part of Impressions, putting together the school literary magazine and the parody magazine, the Quagmire. we did not have a GSA. but i probably would have been part of that if we had, although i was not "out". i also did drama class on monday nights outside of school and youth group on sunday and tuesday nights.
SOPHMORE YEAR:
Did you go to sporting events? i know i went to football games freshman year. i think i may have gone sophmore year too... although i went to watch the band...
Ever get detention? yes, but i had also figured out i only got given more detention for skipping detention. so i didn't go. but that had it's consequences too. just not what you'd expect.
Did you play sports? no.
Who did you date? 5 alive... and later in the year, when i switched schools, a few other people, but only for like a week each
Did you hang out with mostly guys or girls? mostly guys. i had a few girl friends, but i was at the point where i was saying "fuck you" to my parents who did not want me hanging out with boys. that was sooooo restricting, because i could not relate to most girls and they stressed me out. i had a couple good female friends but 1 of them was a little more than a friendship and 1 i really wanted to be more than friendship.
What was your least favorite class? if i did not like a class, i did not go.
Did you hate anyone? myself, my parents, "the school" aka "the system"
Did you have the same friends as freshman year? for the most part. not the same ones as beginning of freshman year, and by the end of sophmore year i had lost a few others and made a ton more, but kept many of the ones's from in between
Go to any dances? i think i may have gone to the 1st dance. maybe even 2. my last day of RMHS was on halloween that year and beacon did not have dances.
If so, who was your date? we just went to regular dances with friends and met up with people there
JUNIOR YEAR:
Did you wish you could change schools? by junior year i had changed schools and was eternally grateful. jr year was my favorite ever. although i was not technically a jr anymore cuz my school did not have grades.
How did you spend your birthday that year? i had a joint family party with my "twin" cousin which was kind of low key for a 16th birthday. i had 2 friends come, she had like 3 of hers, plus the fam.
Where were all the parties? school was a bit like a party. the only party i think i went to that year was my little sister's party in the basement which didn't start off as a party i don't think, it was a bunch of kids hiding cuz a neighborhood gang was out after them. lol. i might be mixing 2 memories with that, but it was fun. a few of my friends from beacon were there too.
Ever get suspended? not junior year. or senior.
How many boyfriends/girlfriends did you have? 3 maybe? i know i had my last official boyfriend ever though. came out as a lesbian.
Who were they? joe and chris. and rachel. i think that was it
Do any drugs during school? no. i was in AA at this point.
Did you play sports? no, and i was beginning to get fat from the meds and the fact that i did not have to walk everywhere like i had previously.
Did you go to homecoming or prom? there was none
If so, who were your dates? n/a
SENIOR YEAR:
Did you change schools? no
Was it the best year of high school? no. junior year was.
Was it stressful? yes. hospitalized twice, with severe regression into my childhood. for lots of reasons. it was very stressful and all the progress i had made was shit on and i took 3 steps back for every one i had made forward in the year and a half before it. but in totally different ways than before because i was no longer drinking or using drugs.
Did you get in trouble a lot? not really at school. but with my family and my church i did.
Did you keep your same friends all through high school? not all, but a few, for the most part.
Were you involved with any clubs/sports? at school i was on the diversity committee and occasionally helped with yearbook or student body or whatever it was. but my main thing was the diversity group. i was also still taking drama, except on tuesday nights, because i was in an advance class and did youth group on sunday nights. i dropped drama to be on the youth group leadership committee but that lost priority eventually too with the hospitalizations and regressions and stuff.
Did you fail any classes? i missed 1 hour too many for gym and was forced to get a membership to a gym and make up not only all the hours i missed, but all the hours of the class all together, which i am still pretty sure i was made to do just because i was fat. most of the teachers at beacon were awesome, but this guy was a dick to me about my weight. he even gave me a pig calendar for my holiday present.
Where did you take your senior pictures? our teacher reddi took the photos in her office.
What teacher really helped you the most? melanie. especially that year. i would have said brenda, my school therapist too back then but definitely not anymore. pat was great sometimes and other times not so much, and most of the other teachers were pretty awesome too.
Did you play any sports? no. i was too depressed to even walk down the street during lunch most of the time that year.
How did you get to/from school? spedmobile (;
Did you drink/smoke? i think i smoked nat shermans and bidis sometimes, but mostly no. and i was still in AA so i did not drink.
Did you go to homecoming? there was none
Did you go to prom? n/a
If so, who were your dates? n/a
my end of year celebration was pride and youth pride. my jr year was the 1st youth pride boston ever had, and my school, just 2 years before i got there, was the first high school to ever march in the gay pride parade. we made lots of history in that movement actually.
politics
Would you do meth if it was legalized? no. not because of the legal status, but because it is meth. that is some scary ass shit. plus i have tried speed-like drugs and i cannot stand the way they make me feel.
Do you think the world would fail with a female president? no. however, if that president is sarah palin, my answer may be slightly different...
Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already? i think it will be. and yes, i think it absolutely should. i'm a huge advocate for this for all kinds of reasons.
Are you for or against premarital sex? i am for adults making their own decisions. if you want to wait til you are married and your partner is cool with that too, go for it, if you never wanna get married and date 8 people at once and tie each other up in chains, if you're all ok with it, then go for it. just don't force people to do things they do not want to do. and don't say yes to things you aren't comfortable doing for that matter either.
Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized? yes, but i don't think it is the most important thing for the queer community to be spending all our resources on.
Do you think it's wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the country? no. we are all immigrants here except for the natives and we treat them worse than anybody else in this country. we have no right whatsoever to say who can live here
A twelve year old girl has a baby, should she keep it? not really my call. if she is homeless or living in an abusive home, probably not, but even if she were, you never know how stong people can be til they have to be, so i would not make that call.
more under cut ...
Abortion: for or against it? i'm pro choice, but conservative about it. i am definitely not FOR abortion for the most part. i think people need to be more responsible from the beginning, but we still live in a world where contraceptives are considered a sin. that's where the problem as at. we need to take the stigma of sin AWAY from safe sex and we will not have so many people getting abortions in the 1st place. i do not think abortion should be used as contraception. but MOST of the time that is not how abortion is used. it must remain legal. what we need to change is we need to get people to understand the importance of safe sex and contraceptives.
Do you believe in the death penalty? no. it's complicated. i think murder is a crime in which one should be punished by jail and i think that if someone murders someone you love, and you want to murder them for it, that is up to you/you're "right", but you should then also be prepared to go to jail. but i do not think the state/the law should have any right whatsoever to punish someone by death, no matter what they have done.
Do you believe in God? yes, but not a man in the sky god. the god i believe in can be applied to any religion, or no religion. it is everyone and everything. karma, love, souls, nature, the universe etc. whatever works for you is fine too. but i do feel i am connected to everything/connected to god/a child of the universe... yeah, i know, i'm a hippy :P
Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen? i think so, yeah, or even eliminated. you can set certain rules in your home for drug and alcohol use, i don't think the law should have a say in that stuff.
Should the war in Iraq be called off? yes, but i think we need to understand we can't just pull all the troops out right now and bring them all home in week. we are at war. we never should have went to war in the first place but now that we are there, we have to deal with that. people who think it is as simple as saying "it's over" and pulling everyone out immediately don't know a damn thing about war.
Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree? no. i think if someone is dying and in pain and they ask for a doctor to assist them in suicide and they consent to it, then they should have that right. it is humane. i don't believe in giving up just cuz shit is hard or painful, but dying sick patients should have that right.
Do you believe in spanking children? i don't know. i've never hit a kid and i didn't particularly love to get hit as a kid, but spanking a child on the butt is not such a bad thing. beating your children is bad. but letting your child get away with being an evil spoiled brat is actually pretty bad too. spanking does not have to be a beating to get the point across.
Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars? yeah, definitely. i'd donate ALL the money to make a point too.
Who do you think would be a better president Obama or McCain: obama. def.
Do you think Obama will be killed? i hope not. but i assume he is being careful. and probably will have to be for the rest of his life.
Should child predators be forced to wear signs identifying themselves? sure. i think that is reasonable. they should be in jail! why the fuck can a person caught with an ounce of weed have to go to jail for 10 years but there are people on the street who have been arrested 10 times for child rape who are able to walk free? this is why i do not follow man's law. don't tell me i can't do something that is not morally wrong like smoke a plant or walk on someone else's property, as long as you are allowing child rapists to get away with what they do. thanks.
Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers? if people judge me, that is their issue. they are not me.
high school survey
FRESHMAN YEAR:
What school did you go to? Reading Memorial High School
What were your school colors? red and black
Did you ever ditch? i rarely ditched off campus, but i ditched most of my classes. however, i usually spent that time in the library or oddly even in my friend's honor classes because i preferred their classes discussions over my own.... but sometimes i was drinking in the locker room, and sometimes i was home in bed.
Who were your best friends? the pookie heads and the brain, plus brain associates. all in all, a large group of artists. they named me Jymi
What elective classes did you take? i took almost all electives. i convinced the guidance counselor to let me replace social studies, math, spanish and gym with electives. i took art, acting, volunteered with the seem (mentally delayed) students... i forget what else
Did you pass all of your classes? lol. i passed a couple. i think i actually did better than i did in 8th grade, but i did not pass freshman year. the next year i was a froshmore or some weird shit. or i was supposed to be.
How did you get to/from school? i took the bus to school. i took it home sometimes too but i usually bummed rides or walked home after wandering around all day and night.
Did you drink/smoke? i drank a lot. i smoked cigarettes once in a great while and i tried weed the spring of that year.
more under cut
...
Who was your favorite teacher? miss monty. although i didn't have her for a class. she was the teacher who did the literary magazine
Did you go to homecoming? maybe. probably, if it was a dance, i probably went and i was probably a drunken nightmare.
Did you go to prom? not prom. i went to a semi. that was bad enough.
If so, who were your dates? i went with a junior i barely knew. it was awkward. i was dating someone from out of town who i should have brought but i was about to break up with him for someone who may have been at the dance so i ended up bringing someone i barely knew, and i made a mess out of a whole new situation.
Did you play any sports? no.
Were you involved in any clubs? i was in the drama club. i co-directed the school play Scapino and acted in a one act version of Go Ask Alice, i was on the pro-choice committee, the AIDS awareness committee, the coffee house planning committees and was part of Impressions, putting together the school literary magazine and the parody magazine, the Quagmire. we did not have a GSA. but i probably would have been part of that if we had, although i was not "out". i also did drama class on monday nights outside of school and youth group on sunday and tuesday nights.
SOPHMORE YEAR:
Did you go to sporting events? i know i went to football games freshman year. i think i may have gone sophmore year too... although i went to watch the band...
Ever get detention? yes, but i had also figured out i only got given more detention for skipping detention. so i didn't go. but that had it's consequences too. just not what you'd expect.
Did you play sports? no.
Who did you date? 5 alive... and later in the year, when i switched schools, a few other people, but only for like a week each
Did you hang out with mostly guys or girls? mostly guys. i had a few girl friends, but i was at the point where i was saying "fuck you" to my parents who did not want me hanging out with boys. that was sooooo restricting, because i could not relate to most girls and they stressed me out. i had a couple good female friends but 1 of them was a little more than a friendship and 1 i really wanted to be more than friendship.
What was your least favorite class? if i did not like a class, i did not go.
Did you hate anyone? myself, my parents, "the school" aka "the system"
Did you have the same friends as freshman year? for the most part. not the same ones as beginning of freshman year, and by the end of sophmore year i had lost a few others and made a ton more, but kept many of the ones's from in between
Go to any dances? i think i may have gone to the 1st dance. maybe even 2. my last day of RMHS was on halloween that year and beacon did not have dances.
If so, who was your date? we just went to regular dances with friends and met up with people there
JUNIOR YEAR:
Did you wish you could change schools? by junior year i had changed schools and was eternally grateful. jr year was my favorite ever. although i was not technically a jr anymore cuz my school did not have grades.
How did you spend your birthday that year? i had a joint family party with my "twin" cousin which was kind of low key for a 16th birthday. i had 2 friends come, she had like 3 of hers, plus the fam.
Where were all the parties? school was a bit like a party. the only party i think i went to that year was my little sister's party in the basement which didn't start off as a party i don't think, it was a bunch of kids hiding cuz a neighborhood gang was out after them. lol. i might be mixing 2 memories with that, but it was fun. a few of my friends from beacon were there too.
Ever get suspended? not junior year. or senior.
How many boyfriends/girlfriends did you have? 3 maybe? i know i had my last official boyfriend ever though. came out as a lesbian.
Who were they? joe and chris. and rachel. i think that was it
Do any drugs during school? no. i was in AA at this point.
Did you play sports? no, and i was beginning to get fat from the meds and the fact that i did not have to walk everywhere like i had previously.
Did you go to homecoming or prom? there was none
If so, who were your dates? n/a
SENIOR YEAR:
Did you change schools? no
Was it the best year of high school? no. junior year was.
Was it stressful? yes. hospitalized twice, with severe regression into my childhood. for lots of reasons. it was very stressful and all the progress i had made was shit on and i took 3 steps back for every one i had made forward in the year and a half before it. but in totally different ways than before because i was no longer drinking or using drugs.
Did you get in trouble a lot? not really at school. but with my family and my church i did.
Did you keep your same friends all through high school? not all, but a few, for the most part.
Were you involved with any clubs/sports? at school i was on the diversity committee and occasionally helped with yearbook or student body or whatever it was. but my main thing was the diversity group. i was also still taking drama, except on tuesday nights, because i was in an advance class and did youth group on sunday nights. i dropped drama to be on the youth group leadership committee but that lost priority eventually too with the hospitalizations and regressions and stuff.
Did you fail any classes? i missed 1 hour too many for gym and was forced to get a membership to a gym and make up not only all the hours i missed, but all the hours of the class all together, which i am still pretty sure i was made to do just because i was fat. most of the teachers at beacon were awesome, but this guy was a dick to me about my weight. he even gave me a pig calendar for my holiday present.
Where did you take your senior pictures? our teacher reddi took the photos in her office.
What teacher really helped you the most? melanie. especially that year. i would have said brenda, my school therapist too back then but definitely not anymore. pat was great sometimes and other times not so much, and most of the other teachers were pretty awesome too.
Did you play any sports? no. i was too depressed to even walk down the street during lunch most of the time that year.
How did you get to/from school? spedmobile (;
Did you drink/smoke? i think i smoked nat shermans and bidis sometimes, but mostly no. and i was still in AA so i did not drink.
Did you go to homecoming? there was none
Did you go to prom? n/a
If so, who were your dates? n/a
my end of year celebration was pride and youth pride. my jr year was the 1st youth pride boston ever had, and my school, just 2 years before i got there, was the first high school to ever march in the gay pride parade. we made lots of history in that movement actually.