You're Still Gonna Die

So you're takin' better care of your body
Becoming more aware of your body.
Responding to your body's needs.
Everything you hear and read about diets,
Nutrition and sleeping position and detoxifying your system,
And buying machines that they advertise to help you exercise.
Herbs to revitalize you if you're traumatized.
Soaps that will sanitize.
Sprays to deordorize.
Liquid to neutralize acids and pesticides.
Free weights to maximize your strength and muscle size.
Shots that will immunize.
Pills to re-energize you.

But remember that for all your pain and gain
Eventually the story ends the same...

You can quite smokin', but you're still gonna die.
Cut out cokin', but you're still gonna die.
Eliminate everything fatty or fried,
And you get real healthy, but you're still gonna die.
Stop drinkin' booze, you're still gonna die.
Stay away from cooze, you're still gonna die.
You can cut out coffee and never get high,
But you're still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.

You're still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
Still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
You can even give aerobics one more try,
But when the music stops playin', you're still gonna die.
Put seat belts in your car, you're still gonna die.
Cut nicotine tar, you're still gonna die.
You can exercise that cellulite off your thigh.
Get slimmer and trimmer, but you're still gonna die.
Stop gettin' a tan, you're still gonna die.
You can search for UFO's up in the sky
They might fly you to Mars where you're still gonna die.

You're still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
Still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
And all the Reeboks and Nikes and Adidas you buy
You can jog up to heaven and you're still gonna die.

Drink ginseng tonics, you're still gonna die.
Try high colonics, you're still gonna die.
You can have yourself frozen and suspended in time,
But when they do thaw you out, you're still gonna die.
You can have safe sex, you're still gonna die.
You can switch to Crest, you're still gonna die.
You can get rid of stress, get a lot of rest,
Get an AIDS test, enroll in EST,
Move out west where it's sunny and dry
And you'll live to be a hundred
But you're still gonna die.

You're still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
Still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
So you'd better have some fun
'Fore you say bye-bye,
'Cause you're still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.

~Shel Silverstein

memoirs of punishment:the ISS diaries

I told my music professor, who was an editor for Rolling Stones magazine and a freelance writer, about my job he said it sounds interesting. Not so much in the day to day, but the details and the "behind the scenes" look at schools and the kids. He told me if I wrote it up he'd proof read it for me. I always said I needed an editor. But wow, to write a book and possibly get recognition for it (or money) just excites me to no end. I wish I had time to write it. But I'll try to eek out a few notes as to what happens and see how far I can get in a year.

thin ice

I'm behind on my studies with less than 3 days to prepare for an exam. I'm pretty sure I'll do ok on the final, but I'd like to be a bit more prepared. I'll know better next semester how to pace myself and not fall behind. Even for doing it "for real" at an honest-to-God 4-year college, I didn't do to bad for my first semester. I got my AA degree at a community college, a crappy one at that. I didn't really put forth any effort to get my degree. So going at it for real is an effort I'm not used to exerting.

Maybe the reason I've never done well is because I never had the need to apply myself. I always just figured my life was meant to be a pointless waste. I never thought about tomorrow. Hell, I always thought I'd be dead by 30. I guess that was wrong, and here I am with nothing to show for my time put in. Most of the aasumptions I had about life and what matters were wrong. I think I got it now.

Life means so much more when it's a shared experience.