You want me to start from the top?...
to start a musical academy in Salt Lake and I'll teach high school in the daytime, leave at 1:00, and teach at the music school after that until 5:30. Or something along those lines. That way, I'll get a decent schedule, be able to do both things that I want to do (teach and music), plus have all summer off. It's a grand plan, at least until the music school folds and I get fired from teaching due to unorthodox teaching methods.
Lots of people who talk to me used to ask why I seem so bitter, angry and dpressed. I didn't really think of myself that way, until New Year's Eve, 31 December 1998. That was when I realized that I had contemplated suicide a lot of times, took a negative spin on everything, and brought everyone down around me. So I stepped back from my friends and my family for about a week to try and figure myself out. I did it, and realized that I liked myself as a person a lot more when I was optimistic and happy, not all dark and conservative. Plus that sucked for everyone that had to be around me. I definitely think that I am a better person for having evaluated myself and made some decisions about who I wanted to be. Now when I get all depressed, I can try to vent it out instead of turning it over and over inside myself, plotting some spree of rage or something.
If I can give any tips to anyone on getting along with me, here they are: Be polite. Respect my opinion, but don't necessarily agree with it. Try and look at the upside of things. Look at every situation from every possible angle, even it you don't agree with all of them. Don't swear too much. Hate conformity. Don't ever, ever talk trash about Mormons or my music. Don't talk trash about my friends. Try to always be expanding yourself and those around you. Respect yourself: have morals, keep them, keep yourself mentally awake and physically strong. I know this sounds like a list of boy scout laws, but it's more fun to be around people who look up than those who look down.
But above all, BE YOURSELF.
Well let's see...my name's James Peterson. I was born on January 17, 1983. I'm 6'1", I have brown hair and brown eyes, I weigh 165 pounds. I guess you could say I dress like "skater," but I dress like a mountain biker. The thing is, the styles are so similar it's hard to make a distinction. It's basically the same as a skater, only with more shorts, (obviously) more clothes with bike company logos on them, and shaggier hair. Most of us aren't what girls describe as "hot" because our style is wacky (think Fox shirts with Gramici pants), and none of us particularly care about how we look. It's better that way I think. I hate it when people put too much time into appearances. Don't get me wrong; I am all too aware that most people base their opinion on you the instant they see you and it's hard to change their mind about you when they think you act how you look. That sucks.
Anyway...if you haven't looked through the rest of the site yet, then here's some of my interests: Mountain Biking, Motocross, Skiing, Snowboarding, Snowmobiles and snowmobile racing, photography. I also spend a lot of time eating, sleeping, thinking, reading, and trying to make myself into a better person, morally, physically, and mentally. I see myself as a good LDS kid. I'm in pretty good shape, I'm not a bad-looking guy, I keep myself well-groomed, I don't have any piercings/tattoos, and my hair is usually in it's natural state. Right now I'm in typical James dress: cargo shorts, raglan shirt, Fossil "dress" watch, choker necklace, Etnies shoes, and and wife beater (boxers, of course, pair with the wife beater to complete the underwear ensemble). I'm a pretty polite guy (I think), I don't swear anymore, I'm pretty sociable and try to be easy to get along with. And, while I don't listen enough, I try to help my friends out by doing whatever I can when they're in trouble.
As far as my friends go, I think I can list most of my close ones without missing any of them: Nathan Ratcliffe, Preston Dryer, Brandon Kitterman, Tim Davis, Nicholas Sullivan, Michael Collard, Hunter Rose, Michael Cox, John Vickers, Ian James, Stuart Maxfield, Michael Owen, Dan Fenn, Peter Reiter, John Christiansen, and Peter Lelis are the guys I do stuff with most often. There's a bunch of other guys at school that I talk with and hang out with at lunch or whatever. As far as girls go: Lindsay Hansen, Tami Hsiao, Lizzie Owens, Allison Enslin, Jamie Maak, Dana Gilson, Emma Katchetorian(?), Sara Skorney, Liz Mackey, Cynthia Barlow, Liz Thackary, Margaret Bennett, Amy Jacobs, Brittney Nielsen, Amy Evans, and Bronwen Fleming are more or less the only girls I see outside of school.
Speaking of girls, if ANYONE can tell me why I'm so worried about meeting girls I don't know and how to correct this behavior, please e-mail me and tell me. I've got some weird behavior patterns around girls. I can never act natural around them unless they're one of my closest friends. It really bugs me that I get so worried about it. I mean, even if it's not a girl that I would ever consider asking out, I still get this weird feeling of dread whenever I meet a new girl. Pretty lame.
The biggest problem that I'm having with my life right now is that I don't know what I'm going to do after age 22. I know that I'm going to finish high school, go to my freshman year of college, and then go on a mission for the LDS church. I've thought about going into education, but I want to keep living in Utah. I know a lot of people don't like it here but I do. The only thing is, teachers in Utah get paid jack. So I either need to marry some girl with millions of dollars or else drop my incessant need for material things. The other problems with education are A) I don't know what I want to teach, except for music and B) music teacher don't even make $20,000 a year cuz most of them aren't full time. But Brandon Kitterman figured it out. He's going
