Guest Blogger: Snapshot

Take a look at your life and where you are now. Ask yourself a few questions, but do so by flashing back.

15 Years ago: If you are like me, you are sneaking booze from your parent liquor cabinet. You have long hair and think you have it all figured out. You probably aren't screwing anyone, but it occupies your time to think about who you could screw, and what that would mean to your life. Bill Clinton is probably getting blown by some unknown, but you don't care because politics are a million miles away and something you hear your parents discuss in passing. Your only thoughts are that the friends you have now will be there forever. You know someone who has smoked weed, but you haven't got there yet, but are excited at the chance. You dream of the day you will be free, because only then will you be so sheik.

10 years ago: Are you still drinking the same think you drank then? Probably not, because you were drinking schnapps and thought you had it all figured out. The friends you run around with are going to be your friends forever. You smoke pot on the weekends, because its the thing to do and you are so sheik. Bill Clinton is still getting his dick sucked, but now you care because it occupies the media and you think you should have some idea of what is going on, because you will be voting soon. You are screwing someone, but you will not be screwing them for long, because you are on the move. Life is your oyster, and you crack that sucker in half and have your way with it, because that it what is going on. You drop acid and figure out what life is all about, but forget, because you didn't bother to write it down. You are still smoking the same cigarettes you smoked 5 years ago, but now you have friends that buy them for you because you are oh-so-close to being able to buy them yourself. You get drunk when you can, and nothing else matters, because you are the king of the world. You skip school because you have figured out its a joke, and what can they tell you that you haven't already figured out for yourself anyways?

5 years ago: College is as big a joke as high school, but you found new drugs, made new friends and think to yourself, "The 18 year old me would kick the crap out of the 23 year old me." You take comfort in knowing that you know it all, but you are still occasionally screwing the same person you were 5 years ago, even though you know you are both shadows of what you stood for. Life is your oyster, and your pry it open gently, because you don't want to shatter it. You think of your friends from 10 years ago, and most of them are gone. The ones that are left know you, and know you are only lying to yourself. Your friends of 5 years ago are mostly there, but unfortunately you have tragically lost a couple of them. You would give it all to have 10 minutes with them again, but only in your dreams does it happen. You are still smoking the same crappy pot, but its not enough to get you off. You bury your nose in a pile of whatever pill it is you crushed, because you are so sheik. You have voted and learned that democracy is pretty much a joke, and the popularity contest that you were not interested in 5 years ago has come back to haunt you. You have someone new in your eye and she is the one, or at least a possible one, but you dont concern yourself with that, because the subject at hand is to stay sane. You still smoke the cigarettes you smoke 10 years ago, but now you hide it only from no one, and are glad the world knows you care only enough to know that you shouldn't care.

Today: You are still smoking those god damned cigarettes, because they take you back. You have given up snorting drugs, but still consume them because it takes you back. The person you were thinks about the person you used to screw and questions what you were thinking. The friends you have now really will be with you until the end, but you wonder if they have the same thoughts. Politics is important, because you dont want to loose any more friends unnecessarily. Instead of crappy pot, you smoke kill, and at the same time think, "It didn't used to be like this." You have given up on acid, because the thought of being awake for that many hours wears you out. You occasionally run into old acquaintances and think, "Were we really friends?" To say your life has been a blur would be untruthful, because the important parts ring through loud and clear. The friend(s) you lost haunt you in your dream, and you start to question, "what if". What if is never answered though, so you post this to a blog and hope for the best. Now when you drink, you know your limits, but still go to far, because that is so sheik. Work sucks, but it pays the bills, and thats what its all about. You think 5 years down the road and realize, "It may blow, but those friends will still be there." You pray this isn't your last cigarette or drunken rant.

The point: You tell me...thanks for those who are still there, and lets smoke a bowl of that old crappy pot. For those who aren't, this is for you, with eternal love and hopes that damnation is a thought only for the living.