9 Creative Ways to Say "I Love You"

Ok, so the title has NOTHING to do with the post. I was searching for a creative way to say "Hey! I found this searching through old documents on my old computer," and "9 creative ways to say 'I love you'" surfaced instead. (Yes, I googeld it). I don't know how familiar any of you are with NPR'S "This I Believe" segment, but I am a 90 year old man, so I love it. My senior AP English teacher (Mrs. Moak--the woman who inspired "Golden Apples") made us write a "This I Believe" essay. She did not require us to submit them (thank goodness, because I would love to REALLY work on one for submission). She also made us read our essays. I can not even begin to expain how intense this was. I went to Kindergarten with the kids I graduated with, so I was very close to 98% of the senior class. Oh, by the way, our class was very Dead Poets Society. Our class grew very close, because Mrs. Moak forced us to dive into literature, apply it to our own lives, and really understand it for what it is. This process challenged us to discover what we believe and stand up for it in addition to challenging us to know when to shut up. But, as MTV "Diaries" exclaimed many times... you may think you know, but you have NO idea. An alarming amount of people mentioned me in their essay. It was so strange to know that my peers looked up to me so much. One classmate of mine wrote about his belief in doing away with the death penalty. His essay told the story of his father being murdered mere hours after he was born, and his father's killer being released the day our essay was due. NONE of us knew this kid's father had been murdered, despite sharing 13 years with him. Apparently no one knew. Crazines. So, this is my crappy "This I Believe" essay. As bad as it is, it was nice running into it.

Jaimee Harris
Mrs. Moak
English IV- 4
28 March 2008
Belief in Vulnerability
I am a songwriter. The past four years of my life have been recorded, shipped, and sold throughout coffee shops in Texas, including an entire album dedicated to the hardest year I have ever fought through. I have been criticized for being too real with my songwriting and have received many e-mails from people who are concerned that I might be making myself too vulnerable to the universe. Yet, original music gives me strength and connects me with people close and far away from me. I believe in music.
My dad bought me a guitar the Christmas right before my sixth birthday. He taught me everything he had learned on his own, and a few pointers he received from Eddie Vedder. My interest in songwriting, however, did not spark until I felt I had something worthy to write about. My dad have been songwriting together ever since. I believe in the power music has to create a unique relationship between a father and a daughter.
Suddenly, everything in my life changed. For two years, my dad constantly suffered from a blood vessel problem in his brain, known as a cluster headache, that at times left him blind, unable to walk, and unable to speak. The seventh doctor we went to was finally able to explain the condition to my family, and also warn us that this disease has an extremely good chance of being passed on to me. Receiving the news at sixteen years old that my brain will eventually turn to mush and I will be a burden on my family within twenty years forced me to open my eyes and take in everything I could. I wrote constantly about pain, love, nature, basically anything I observed. I believe in the power of music, because it helps me cope with trauma.
Music has forced me to invite the entire world into my life, but people all over the world have responded to my songs and invited me into their lives. Along with the handful of critical e-mails I receive, I also receive e-mails from fans from New Zealand, China, Japan, and the Netherlands that encourage me to write more or thank me for what I have written. After I played a show at a coffee shop in Dallas, a biker dressed in all leather, sporting several prison tattoos and a ZZ Top beard came up to in shambles. He told me that his best friend had just passed away and my music helped him to cope with his loss. Troll now copes with music instead of alcohol and plays an open mic night every Monday. I believe in the power music has to connect people who would be otherwise separated. I believe songwriting has the ability to affect not only the giver, but the receiver. I believe songwriting can sustain me financially, but in order to do so, I must believe in what makes me vulnerable.

Memphis by Morning

The trip to KY always allows for lots of time to think. I think I will listen to this song a lot.

"High and Low" -Greg Laswell

I'm going to see some friends from out of state
The very trip that you were supposed to take a while
ago
But it fell through
Like all of you
Like all of you

Thought i'd make the drive but a free plane ride is in
the air
And just like that my fear of it disappeared
Like all of you
Like all of you

And i look high and low for yesterday
High and low for you and i
High and low

Once i can see straight i might move somewhere cold
Seattle or the bay area; to see your ghost
What's left of you
What's left of you

And i look high and low for yesterday
High and low for you and i
High and low

Found a letter from a man i might have met, addressed
to you
And i'll steal the words he ended with:
I miss you
And i do
Miss you
And i do

High and low for yesterday
High and low for you and i
High and low