> I started to play favorites a little in my room, hurt a couple of my girls' feelings, felt like an awful counselor, and stayed up until Way Too Late the second night talking it out.
>

You handled it the right way, then. To the extent that a camp counselor or chaperone is a role model, it's always good for kids to have role models that demonstrate how to discuss problems and come to a resolution that way. It shows them how to be mature.

> I'm reconsidering a lot of my political beliefs. I've come to the conclusion that I'm NOT really a democrat, because there's a lot of stuff I don't agree with, especially morally. Heck, there are a lot of non-moral things I don't agree with Republicans on. On the other hand, there's a bunch of stuff I don't agree with Republicans on, either, so I'm not a Republican.
>

I'm registered as an independent, myself. I don't really know what to do about politics; I've never been *really* happy with any candidate I've ever voted for.

> A lot of the opinions I thought I firmly believed in actually mostly came rom my super-political friends. Maybe I'm just going through a disenchanted teenage stage.... but I've come to the conclusion that NO party that takes a definite line - be it Republican, Democrat, Green, Socialist, or Libertarian, has the right answers. Everyone's trying to solve the symptoms - but they're not trying to fix the actual disease. I think I'm in for a depressing rest of my life if I can't align myself with ANY political party at all.
>

After growing disgusted with politics in general, I fell into the bad habit of uninvolvement. I think that it's right to focus my attention on reform through the institution of the church rather than that of government, but that doesn't mean I ought to wash my hands of politics entirely. But it's always such a disappointing business that I don't have much heart for it.

> I'm still working on getting over OneStaple. The difficulty of said endeavor varies widely, based on, well, lots of stuff. I figure I really will... eventually. The fact that we still talk constantly doesn't help anything.
>

I don't know what has happened, but *sigh*. It's true, you really will, eventually, but it will be painful. I have great hope that you'll come out just fine in the long run, that you're the kind of woman who grows rather than diminishes through bad experiences. And God your Father will take care of you in the meanwhile.

> We recently discovered that my brother (no, not the one at college - the one who's lived with us off and on, mostly on, since he was 12 and isn't actually related to us) has been stealing from us. My mom's been missing money from her wallet, and we recently discovered that a stash of money, which we all know where to find, is entirely gone. Thinking about it, it's not hard to guess where or why or how he picked up those sorts of habits - he hasn't had the best of backgrounds. It's still really hard to find out that someone you trusted and thought of as family isn't trustworthy. It's really just the latest in a long series of small betrayals of my idealism when it comes to Alonzo... hearing his cursing get more and more frequent. Discovering a porn site open when he let me on the computer right after him. Finding a box of condoms in his room. My parents are probably going to kick him back out. Again. I think that's the best course of action, when it comes down to it. Anyway, he hasn't been here since we discovered this (he disappears for days at a time) so we don't know what his defense will be.
>

Mom was badly disillusioned by a young man that she and my stepfather had tried to help for a long time. Again and again he kept showing promise, appearing to resolve to change his life, and then taking advantage of their generosity. She felt like a gullible rube by the time the guy left for good. But who knows? Maybe what they did for him will come to mean something later in his life. Maybe the same will be true for your brother, but in any case I'm sorry to hear about it.

> I've been considering sending some of my poetry to magazines and that sort of thing. I am, however, pretty much convinced, somewhere deep down inside, that my stuff isn't really all that good and no one will take any - plus, sending stuff out would be a lot of trouble. I don't really have that much actually publishing-worthy stuff, anyway. I don't want people telling me "Oh, your poems ARE good." But if anyone knows any journals or magazines that a 16-year-old might get some stuff in, let me know.
>

I don't know of any leads for magazines that you might try, sorry. I also don't know how seriously you aspire to be published, but whether your work goes to print or not, it has impacted the folks around here. I tend to write for myself (when I write at all), and the satisfaction of reading my stuff myself and sharing it with a few friends is enough for me. I wouldn't discourage you from submitting your poetry to publications, but until you *are* published, hopefully the pleasure of sharing your work with us Rinkydinks will be enough to tide you over, in a sense. :-)

> I found out all of 30 seconds ago that I have a new cousin. My aunt and uncle tried just about everything and couldn't get have their own children - so they're having an open adoption, and the baby was born today. Her name is Kayleigh Constance Jantz. Isn't that great? They live in California, though.... we'll see how soon I can get out there to meet her!
>

Congratulations! What's an open adoption?

> [snip] ... they'll discover that a very large group of Christians has TONS of fun!
>

Uh-HUH, you KNOW it! Makes me want to be back in youth group, myself. Except that then I'd still be dealing with pining after that girl in youth group, and that was bad. Except that we were all friends and had a lot of fun, too. Except that a lot of stuff wasn't perfect. Except that we were serious about God, so it didn't matter so much. Etc., etc.....

Iss "sound familiar?" achar