>My brother is at college now. I miss him. He was honestly my best friend, and we've gotten e-mails from him and stuff, but I still miss him.

You have a different perspective on this than I did. I was the oldest of three, the first to go off to college, and I went the farthest away (Ohio to Florida). My oldest sister stayed at home and went to a community college. My youngest sister is in college now, in Chicago, but her first year wasn't until I had already been married and out of the house for a year. I'm also probably not as close to my sisters as you seem to be with your brother. Probably since I was the one who was away having all those new experiences and making new friends, I didn't miss my family too badly, even though I did get homesick sometimes.

>I'm taking Photography. There are some pictures I've wanted to take for 2 years with black and white film, and now i get to. I'm excited.

I was required to take one semester of Photography in college as part of my major. I enjoyed it so much that I took the second semester my senior year as an elective. The second year was a lot more fun and interesting because our class was considered the yearbook photography staff. Our class only met once a week, and every week we were given a roll of film and an assignment. The assignment was usually an event somewhere on campus, although sometimes it was just to take a bunch of candid shots. The most interesting assignment I received was to shoot a women's collegian (my school's watered down version of a sorority) meeting. I really enjoyed that class, and even got two or three of my photos into the yearbook.

>I should have gotten a purple squishy cow when I was at Williams. It would make life that much better.

The only purple cow I've ever heard of is some sort of ice cream confection, but "squishy" just doesn't sound like something I'd want to eat.

>I can't wait to get my braces off. I've had them for 5 years and i hate them but my teeth are almost straight and I'll get them off in just a couple months. So I'm excited.

Ooh, braces. I had braces for six years, I think. I finally got them off when I was in my late teens. I think I got them off when I was 15; may have been 16. Here's some advice: make sure the orthodontist removes ALL the cement when he takes them off. At my last trip to the dentist (this is ten YEARS after I had my braces off) he found some cement from my braces still stuck to the back of one of my molars. I never even realized that's what it was; I had gotten so used to the feeling of it there.

I think I wore my retainer less than a year before it broke. I never got a new one. My teeth are still straight. Hurray!

>There might be something very wrong with me. Every now and then, I get this weird pressure in the right side of my chest and it gets all tingly and sometimes it spreads down my arm and it's really weird. So I finally remembered to tell my parents (because it happened when they were around) and now I'm going to the doctor's on Monday and I'll probably get sent for special tests. It's kinda scary.

I'll pray for you too. Having to go for tests is always scary, because until they come back, you don't know what you are facing. It's probably worse not knowing what is wrong with you, whether it turns out to be nothing or not.

>Guys make no sense. But I've said that before.

If that's true and not just a stereotype, then you won't be able to understand a word of this post...

Gri"I need a new set of speakers for my stereotype...the old ones are busted"shny