Tom's Journal
Hey everybody! welcome, once again, to my sporadically updated journal! Also, this is really just news from the past month or 2, so other stuff has been going on I just won't bore you with it.

Tom's Artistic Updates
I have not been doing really any visual artwork lately at all--I know that I always say that, but usually I have something that I'm drawing, or a painting I'm doing in the Art Room, or something I'm sculpting, but seriously, nothing doing right now. It's not for lack of ideas...well I guess I haven't sat down to try and think of an idea in quite a while. I have a plan to do several contour drawings in the future for my art teachers, most likely of other people and myself in some sort of project--stay tuned if you're interested, as I may need more victims...I mean subjects. yes, that second one.

Tom's Writing Updates
Alright, here's where the real action is! I've been writing quite proficiently lately both in terms of poetry (which I would really appreciate if people looked at in my gallery and gave some feedback) but also on my Naruto fanfic, which is now up to chapter 10 including an original character sheet--the whole story can be viewed at [link] under my penname "Sideshowtom" (it's not working right now--I have the link in past journals or I can send it to you if you like. I would really love more people to read it though, as more exposure means more improvement.)
As a final note on my writing, what with the new year upon us, I have decided to take a huge undertaking. as I'll be going to college soon and therefore will start working on getting writing of mine published in a great realm, I'd like to get even more stuff written and reviewed--but how to do that? And so, I set myself what is to be called "The 2008 Shinogami Challenge." Under penalty of...stoning, I swear that I will write something worthwhile (aka not craptastic,) every single day of 2008, starting today with something I'll post later. Everything will come as it is, whether I've had time to get it read by others or even read it myself, and it could be anything from the chapters to a novel, to a poem, to a short story, so long as it is ORIGINAL stuff by moi, Shinogami, aka Nailor. So, wish me luck, and I hope you all get the chance to read at least some of it!

Tom's Work update
In terms of work, I am just about to finish up my Christmas Vacation which, while not necessarily completely so, has been relaxing. I am going back to school on Thursday January 3rd because I have to work practice for the Girls' Varsity Hockey team, which I'm managing, and then I have classes on Friday and Saturday with church on Sunday and most likely homework after that. I have all my college applications, essays and supplements done, they just need to be checked by my college counselor and my English teacher and sent it, which'll most likely be at the beginning of next week God-willing. That'll be a lot off my back and then it's just waiting for acceptances. Other than that, I'll most likely be keeping my grades about where they are (which is about a 3.2 for the semester which, while not as good as last year, is nothing to sneeze at with my schedule this year) and doing all my extra-curriculars. I plan to take it a bit easier than usual though, which should afford me more time for other pursuits.

Tom's Life update
As for my life, things are going surprisingly well right now. School is going well, I'm having a lot more fun with my friends than usual, and my family, while not great, is becoming more bearable. I'm worried about my brother right now because he's doing very poorly in his junior year of college at Colby-Sawyer and I think might get kicked out if he doesn't talk his way out of it. This break has been pretty much just sleeping and hanging out at home, though I went into the city for a day with my close friend Kate, talked to my best friend Adam a bit and cleared some shit up, hung out with my best friend Brett () last night for New years eve which was a blast, and had a semi-sort of-I'm not sure Date type thing with my friend Claire last thursday, which ended with a quick kiss and "I'm just really still into this other guy...but I really care about you and I like hanging out with you." so, while not a complete loss (I had a really fun time and it was good to see her) I'm feeling a little rejected, but I'll life. At least she knows how I feel now and I'm sure she'll come around eventually, or at the very least we'll stay friends. As for any other girls, Dee and I...well I'm not going to say because it's her business but we are never going to date, though we're still best friends, which I can live with. My other...well I dunno if I'd say "friend" at the moment cause she's pretty pissed at me, Vikki (), but nevertheless, I haven't talked to her since thanksgiving break, and I suppose I'm just gonna give her the straight-up, no holds barred, "here's how I feel" speech along with the whole "I hope we can be friends" thing, though I dunno how I'll be doing that yet. I suppose a letter and a CD could work, but I dunno. We'll see.
As for Christmas and my Birthday, I got Scrubs Seasons 1+2 (awesome,) Simpsons Seasons 9+10, at least a dozen books, a Providence shirt, my own personalized Guiness drinking glass with a real nice collared shirt of the same brand, and finally Seinfeld Seasons 1-9, since my brother got the whole series in a boxed set, he gave me all the dvds he already had. I just need to find them in our house/his dorm room now.

Tom's Rant of the week...
haha Rant of the Week, more like the Rant of half-year. anyway, this time I'm going to rant about...poetry.
Now poetry is something that I have countless friends of mine come and say, "Nailor, I can't write good poetry at all, can you help me please?"
But what constitutes good poetry? While there are definitely poets out there that appeal to everyone or that everyone should be able to get something out of (Emily Dickinson, Dante, Zork) there are still others that some people (myself included) really enjoy but that are more difficult to understand (TS Eliot, EE Cummings, Paul Muldoon)(the latter of whom I don't understand completely.) There are people out there who claim new poets are awful but having heard Zork (whose real name I forget) perform, he writes fantastic stuff. Other friends of mine always complain about not understanding poetry--but these two things, writing and understanding, go hand in hand when discussing poetry. To me, poetry is more about heart and soul than any other type of writing--though some beg to differ, punctuation, spelling, even real-word existence hold no bearing, and the true subject of a poem can be hidden deep behind walls of literary device, never revealing itself. A poem can be a riddle, or it can be obvious--the words chosen, their rhythm, the way they sound in our ear, become increasingly important, as does imagery and ideas. But, as an author, I can say that I don't have one clear-cut way my poems HAVE to be interpreted--I have the ideas that I had while writing, and I have the images/ideas I would like to convey to my reader. But in the end, the poetry is up to them, and it is only mine in that I created it. A poem, like a child, grows and changes as others read it, and it picks up and clues them in to parts of their own individual personalities while (hopefully) reflecting some of the authors. While poetry as a form is very different from literature, many of it's missions are the same, though the execution differs greatly. Anyone can be a "great" poet, for "greatness" is defined only by one's self. Next time someone says they can't write or understand poetry, tell them to stop thinking about it so much and merely open up their minds, hearts, and souls. That's what I try to do at least.

Tom's Journal

Tom's Artistic Updates
Well once again...little to no art. It's not that I'm lazy it's just that...wait yeah it's that I'm lazy. I mean if I was a digital artist I could blame it on my computer not working for so long but in reality it's just that I haven't picked up any one of my half dozen sketchbooks in about 5 months. Perhaps it's just that inspiration hasn't struck at all. Perhaps it's that I'm both lazy and afraid that I'm nowhere near good enough to produce anything anyone will want to see. Probably more of those latter two.
On the plus side I've found several artists willing to do requests of my Akatsuki members-I just need to find the crappy drawings I have of them and get my profiles off my old computer so I can give them to them AND post them in some form of entry when said requests get done (and I am very thankful to those that are doing them!)

Tom's Writing Updates
I could blame the lack of writing on both my computer not working for so long AND my hatred of handwriting AND the huge amount of work I had leading up to finals but then again why make excuses? I really have been writing but it's all been odds and ends that really aren't worth posting at all--however I will be posting a few things by the end of this week when I polish a few of them up...and write a few more that are kicking around in my head. The lack of a word processor on my new computer makes it rather hard to get anything done

Tom's Work update
My l-guarding job has yet to start so my job right now is working towards passing my 2nd drivers test and continuing to work out, while writing and keeping in touch with my friends. Also on the list is unpacking the contents of my room at school into my room at home and preparing to go off to Cape Cod Sea Camps, whereat I'll be an Assistant Counselor and actually be living in the unit with the kids and such...scary thought. I'm more than a little apprehensive about it but I'm just taking deep breaths and trying to remember everything I've learned...which is next to nothing. A lot of the time it seems interacting with little kids on a daily basis is just gut reaction and hoping that they like/respect you enough to listen. Hopefully I don't die (crosses fingers).

Tom's Life update
So...I'm done with school! Very excited about that, but rather bored at home. My best friend Brett () is away on vacation so no hanging out with him, and my other good friend James () is still in school--suffice to say we still have plans for later this week but that's not for a few days so...yeah boredom. I am also planning to hang out with my friend Claire () at some point this weekend, which should be fun and then as for my friend Vikki ()...I don't really know. I don't know if we are at all close at the moment half of which is her overreacting when I say certain things and me enjoying pushing her buttons. Suffice to say whatever type of "well we won't date but we'll hook up" relationship is very much over for several reasons...several of which I won't mention since she might actually read this--heaven forbid. Other than that I've just been reading a lot, hanging around the house with my brother Mark, working out and playing around with my new computer. Other than that...yeah. I did see "Ocean's 13" which was pretty good in my opinion--more of a "hey I'd rent that on a boring weekend" than a "GOD! I have to buy that!" now Pirates 3 and Spiderman 3? Both of the latter category.
Oh...I guess some people will probably want to hear about Prom. Well, I went with Dee and at first was WAY overthinking everything. Like, started off great, nice pictures, laughing and smiling and plenty of compliments and then I just started thinking way too much "don't screw it up--you gotta make a move" that it DID screw me up. In the end it was still fun but I wish I had bucked up and realized it was better to be friends at that particular moment. We had some very nice slow dances (including one to "I Swear" alone on the dance floor after pretty much everyone had left. Very clutch) and it was nice to hold hands on the way back...and the kiss on the cheek at the end of the night on my part was apparently 'the right thing to do'. of course the next day we were back into our "hey let's order chinese food in our pajamas and watch some random TV" but we're definitely still best friends which is OK for me right now.

Tom's Rant of the week...
Hmmm...what to rant about. How about...hmm
Got it.
Alright why are there all these unwritten laws about women that you can NEVER EVER break? Like for example-you can never tell a girl she is getting kinda fat...no matter how nice you are about it. Take my friend for instance, who shall remain nameless. She is no longer physically attractive to even me, a guy who LIKES his girls chubby, and she is endangering her health with the complete LACK of excersize. Now I realize that she does have medical problems but she can walk for God's sake..I mean c'mon walk a few miles a day and eat healthier. Even I eat a salad a day when I can--a big salad with loads of grilled chicken and tomatoes, carrots, croutons, a bit of dressing, cucumbers all that delicious goodness. And you don't need to weigh like 110 lbs, no one is asking for that. Just lose some weight for your health and for the rest of us--c'mon.
Or how it's virtually impossible to ask if someone may just be a homosexual WITHOUT it being awkward--no matter how good of a relationship I have with another nameless person I can think of no way to do this. And it's not like she's telling me.
Thanks folks--sorry that was a bit short.

Tom's Journal

Tom's Artistic Updates
Art update...little to none. Right now we aren't really having good enough weather to merit some solid photography (though I may have a few random shots to put up) and since I just got injured (see below) I've been busy rehabbing, giving me even less time to try and do any art. I've been doing a number of random sketches lately, mostly of original Akatsuki characters for my still-going Naruto fanfic (again see below). In other news I am looking for artists willing to do a GOOD job of drawing some of these characters so I can have solid pictures of them. send me a note anyone who is interested and we'll palaver.
Tom's Writing Updates
My fanfic is going slowly but surely-I just finished some minor editing on the first four chapters and hope to have those reposted along with the 5th by...Sunday or Monday. In other writing news I've done at least a few pieces of poetry in the past few days so I may post more of those. Speaking of poetry I am going to a poetry reading next tuesday with my school! We are going to the local Barnes and Noble bookstore to read to each other and some students/audience members from other private and public schools in the area. My English Teacher chose my Thanatopsis poem, my "Language of Love" poem and my "Swimming on Ice" poem. I know I haven't posted the latter two but I plan to (hopefully) in the near future. If you have any suggestions for a different poem I should read please tell me! I plan to ask numerous other people on their opinions for this as well.
Tom's Work update
Well I now have an official job for the beginning and latter part of this summer-lifeguarding at the YMCA, most likely from early-late morning while my dad is there so I'll have time to do things in the afternoon with people. School work is...quite a load right now! I've really got to step it up in latin if I hope to get a somewhat decent grade for the quarter and my other classes are giving no leeway! I think I'll be pretty much staying right up where I am right now in terms of grades which is good, though I also have a huge history paper to work through in the next week and a half as well as my first track meet next week.So wish me luck!
Tom's Life update
My track season has been going fairly well thusfar-I am currently running mid-long distance and one of my coaches Ms.Nahom is leaning towards either the more cross country esque event for me or the 800 (about half a mile). I really won't know what to do until I get out on the track more often which won't happen till tomorrow at the earliest as I hurt my TCI band (or some combination of three letters. The muscles run from above my pelvis down my hip and quad area so I need to keep stretching and icing that. I wish I could have just gotten out there and seen how it felt today but of course it had to rain. Not that I don't love the rain but it's a hassle and a half waiting! In other news Tom got a date to prom! (allows for clapping, then gapes at silence) ANYWAY! I'm going with my best friend Dee who I've mentioned before and we are planning to have one of the best times of our lives (though the St.Patty's day rangers game will be hard to top). As for her...well I've reached the decision that I am much better with being best friends with her than continuing to try and convince her she likes me romantically and that's good for me I think-I mean I hate getting hung up on stuff and it has made things much more comfortable between us. Most of these revelations came about because on saturday night our school had a dance and she danced with me (grinding for those of you who don't assume). and she is a VERY good dancer...I am not. but I got into it and had an amazing time with her. Than on the way back to her dorm, someone mentioned in passing that she had been drinking and I was sorta like "well whatever, doesn't affect me." Or at least that's what I thought-till she wrapped her arm around my waist, pulled mine around her shoulder and started talking about how much she loves me. Than she kissed me on the lips (rather chastely but still...that's never happened before). That's most of the explanation for my most recent poem "I did not care" We talked about it on Monday night as she came to see me in the library (family stuff...I won't get into it for her privacy) because I wanted to make sure that she knew it had happened and other people didn't make up rumors or anything. she said she was really sorry and that she really did love me-but didn't want to ruin it with a relationship. Specifically "I want to keep up this amazing friendship alive for the rest of my life. I mean that."
so I'm in a pretty damn good mood!
Tom's Rant of the week...
There will be no dress up for today's rant. It comes right form experiences today. And that rant is...equality for women! Now women's rights activists and feminists alike, put away your eunuch making machines and you're soap boxes alike, this will be brief and to the point;
you can't ask me for me to give you equal pay, equal rights to own property, and ask the government to look at you in the exact same way as me and THEN complain if I don't hold doors for you, or say that you are completely allowed to hit me but I cannot hit you or else it's a hate crime. You also cannot say that if you say something a man says offends you it is automatically "sexual offender!" but if you say something "hey suck it up. every guy wants a girl all over his dick". STOP WITH THE DOUBLE STANDARD! I am going to treat you exactly like I treat any guy friend of mine if you want me to-of course if I like you I will try to romance you as well but seriously. I'm gonna treat you the same if that's what you want. if you don't want that, than tell me and I'll take my voting rights and job rights back while you head home to make me a sandwich.
Thank you

..About You...
Nickname: Nailor, Nay-Nay, Tom-kun, Nailor-kun, the list goes on

Sex: Male

Eye Color: Chocolate brown

Hair Color: Dark brown

Height: 5'11 (poss. 6 ft, not too sure

Favorite Color: Green

Screen Name: tnailor89

Your Car: Dad's Acura MDX or Mom's Mercedes Benz Station Wagon

Your Hometown: New Canaan, CT

Your Present Town: New Milford, CT (Boarding school)

Your Grade: Junior

Your Style: pretty casual with a dash of preppy

...Favorites...

Band: Red Hot Chili Peppers

Movie: Caddyshack

TV show: Naruto or the Simpsons

Song: Growing up by Bruce springsteen

Color: green (again)

Cigarette: No smoking section

Pastime: Writing and reading

...Have You Ever...

Sat on your rooftop: Yup

Kissed someone in the rain: Of course

Danced in a public place: Yes

Smiled for no reason: haha yea

Laughed so hard you cried: I think so...

Peed your pants after age 8: nope

Written a song: yes

Sang to someone for no reason: of course

Performed on a stage: Yea

Talked to someone you don't know: Yay verily

Made out in a theater: Yup

Gone roller skating since 8th grade: Yes


Been in love: Of course

A near death experience: Nope not really...well I guess blood transfusions as a child

Sang in front of a large audience: Yes

...Can You...

Write with both hands: Ambidextrous, yes

Whistle: Yes

Blow a bubble: A little one

Roll your tongue: yup

Cross your eyes: Think so...

Touch your tongue to your nose: Yes-one of my favorite random talents

Dance: Sort of?

Speak a different language: A bit of this and that

Impersonate someone: Who can't?

Cook anything: Yup

...Are you...

Fighter: If need be

Smoker: Nope

Drinker: On occasion, nothing heavy

Stalker: Haven't been for a while

Lover: Of course

War: Sometimes it has to happen

Heartbreaker: I try not to be but..sometimes it just is out of my control

In love: Yes

Bossy: Yes, sometimes

Friendly: I like to think so

...More...

What is your current mood? Tired, excited

Does your crush like you back? As a very close friend yes

What makes you happy? My friends, reading, writing, art, comedians...lots of things I guess

Elaborate on your default photo: A blind contour of me overlapped with a second blind contour of me and then colored with a set spectrum on the color wheel. Done for an advanced drawing project and currently being framed by my mother...one of my favorite pieces

Name one thing you do a lot: Talk

Name someone with the same b-day as you: The guy who played Darth Vader

Are you comfortable with your height: Very

...Finish The Line...

If I were a ... bird: Blue jay I think

I wish: that the girl I love wanted to date me

So many people don't know: That I really enjoy sports

I am: Calm

My heart is: full?

Pet Peeves: I suppose just people who won't give someone else a chance, and opening your mouth before you think of what you're going to say (which I tend to do a lot)

Tom's Journal

Tom's Artistic Updates
Since I'm not taking an art class this semester and since Spring Sports just began I have little to no art to post at the moment...this will probably remain the trend for quite a while especially because I need to start doing extra work on college and the like along with choosing courses for next year which will either include AP Art or at the very least Ceramics and Art History....provided I can cram those in between taking a science (damn college counselor) and Irish History, along with AP English VI, English Independent study AND some math class and a language class (possibly german or some new Latin class)
so I apologize for that everyone but at least my writing won't be suffering, what with the extra english class I'm taking that is all writing stories and poetry

Tom's Writing Updates
As I mentioned above, my newest english class is all writing stories and poetry, and though I haven't much liked any of it so far I may have some things to post after my march vacation, as we are meant to keep a creative journal all vacation and write something at least once a day. As for my naruto fanfic, I finally have the first 2 chapters done after a hiatus due to work and my 3rd chapter is about 500 words done. I'm really getting into the plot now and I like all the characters I've made and/or gotten from other people (with permission of course), and those were the two biggest problems I had with my former naruto fanfic. I should have those chapters ready to post tomorrow depending on what time I get up, as I wanted to post at least 3 to start with...if I get up early enough to finish the third then I'll post them all, if not I'll get at least the first 2 out by 12 on here and on my fanfiction.net account (sideshowtom)

Tom's Work update
As for school/real work...too much of the former not enough of the latter! In all seriousness I may or may not be working as a lifeguard at the New Canaan YMCA for a few weeks at the beginning of the summer in order to make some quick cash, along with possibly doing a bit of construction work at Cherry Street in NC (which is being rebuilt) which would be nice. School work you ask? well let's put it this way: for AP Latin I have to reread about 500 or so lines of Latin and pick out 10 vocab words from each 50 lines, then reread a book of the Aeneid in english and take copious notes on it...then be ready for a test on all that when I get back. And as for english? I have to reread the Great Gatsby and another "great american novel". the dumb thing about it? my teacher said he would email me a list of books to choose from (as I already read Gatsby a while ago) and he still hasn't. he also hasn't answered my email about whether reading Catch 22 is alright to fulfill that requirement...so yea. As for other classes? going surprisingly well-finally found my TI-83 calculator which should come in handy in math class-I've been scrambling to borrow people's before quizzes and tests the past few months. My grades went down a little bit (3.45 to a 3.42) but that was mainly because of my theology grade and my AP Latin grade so if I work on those I'll be good. As for extracurriculars? they are all going surprisingly well, though my co-news editor on the Tabard (school paper) continues to not do shit so...I'm stuck doing everything. And her name STILL comes before mine on isssues!
I'm also starting the college process so I'll be looking at a couple places over the break including Syracuse and Providence, two of my top choices. I'll keep everyone posted!
Tom's Life update
My life...well...there's a lot going on there! My first season of managing Girl's Varsity Hockey at my school recently ended and it was great fun! I'm now onto my track season which is fun as I get to see my good friend Steve Frayne quite a bit more. downside? new coach means Tom might have to actually RUN instead of just throwing javelin and discus...yea. I now need to run over break to get my mile time down but it is surprisingly enjoyable coupled with my usual workout. As you read above my grades went down a little but I'm not too worried about it-my parents weren't mad so why worry. My friends are doing pretty well-I've sort of drifted away from a couple people at school because of lack o' communication and switching dorms and such but I'm not too bummed-I kept good contact with the people I really like so it's all good. Speaking of old friends-I got to see my friend Claire two days ago for the first time since 8th grade which was pretty aweome. She said I reminded her of "Dane Cook" and that I looked handsome so I guess I've changed quite a bit since I made this DA page haven't I? As for other things...last night I went to the Providence College Big East Game (College Basketball) last night..we lost to West Virginia which sucked but it was fun. I'm going into more games tonight with mi patre..no idea who's playing though. Then on March 17th I'm going with my brother, one of his friends, and my close friend Dee to a Ranger's game in New york. and in case you haven't realized that's st. patrick's day which should be amazing.
Oh I haven't mentioned Dee? well then here you go: she's this amazing girl that I care very deeply for. and she knows that. and while she thinks I'm amazing and caring she really wants to play hockey in college at a good school so she has to work on that and school work. Am I angry? yes and a little sad too. but am I gonna ruin our friendship because of it? no of course not! I mean you never know what could happen...
oh..and I'm seeing one of my ex's on friday but I'm sure most of you could care less about that right? XD

Tom's Rant of the week...
Hmm...what to rant about this week...uh.
I really can't think of anything. Perhaps it's because it's before 9 in the morning and I have not worked out or showered or eaten yet. I guess if I come up with anything (or if anyone has a suggestion) then let me know and I'll edit my journal. Sorry!