Uncle Don sent me this picture of Cousin Thomas who lives in New York State. Cousin Thomas is a lawyer and Grandpa Jem's first cousin. He is also the son of Great Uncle Marek Buckheister, who is Great-Grandpa Fredric's brother. I am still trying to get everyone straight so that I can finally make a complete family tree by the end of this ancestor project. Cousin Thomas Buckheister was a basketball player in college and went on to law school at Ohio State University in the early 1960's. Uncle Don said that he was a really good basketball player, but broke his left leg in his last season and that kept him from playing in the NBA. The last time Uncle Don talked to Cousin Thomas was when he called to wish him a happy 70th birthday last year. I wrote back asking Uncle Don for his number so that I could find out more about him.

School is still keeping me busier than ever and I found a lot of interesting information about the Mayans yesterday at the library. Early Mayans developed one of the first complex calenders that was astronomy-based and they developed a hieroglyphic writing system. As many as 350,000 Mayans still live in present-day mexico, mostly on the Yucatan peninsula which surprised me because I thought they were all gone like other civilizations. I guess Mrs. Butcher telling me to look for a Mayan ancestor may not be as hard as I first thought. I wrote Donna asking for help with this part and she hasn't written back yet.
Gretchen gave me good news (sort of) when she told me this week that she is staying for the rest of this semester, which ends in April, but that her Mom wants to move after that. I felt glad that she was staying, but kind of sad that she might eventually leave for good. The news made me feel more sad than anything I guess, but she said that I shouldn't be too sad because her Mom might change her mind about leaving because "she always changes her mind" Gretchen said. Gretchen then put her hand on my arm to make me feel better and I did feel better. I also felt something else that I didn't expect and I can't really explain it. Her touching me made me feel scared, but really close to her like I wanted to touch her too. I was confused and when I looked up and into her eyes, i could see that she was really confused and maybe a little scared too. She then quickly moved her arm away and she turned red and seemed embarrassed. She got up fast and said that she had to go because her Mom was going out and she had to watch her little brother and she was already late. I felt like talking about this with Dad but I didn't know how to say it so I didn't. I will email Cousin Bruce and tell him to read todays post and hopefully after he reads this line he will help me understand what happened.

The newspaper has been keeping me busy for the past week and we are looking into getting it online soon which is giving Mr. Grady an "ulcer". Nothing ever seems to go right on the computer these days and we are lucky to even get on the internet. Mr. Grady says it is because we live away from the big cities and that the school needs faster modems. I guess it will have to do for now.
Earlier this week George Davison got suspended for the fourth time and he now has to work from home for the rest of the semester or he may go to another school. It is the first student to get the stay-at-home punishment this year and he probably wishes he didn't pull David Coogan's pants down at lunch yesterday. Poor David was so embarrassed that he dropped his tray of food and then forgot it was on the ground (I guess) and then slipped in it and fell right into Rebecca Simmons lap. Everybody was laughing hysterically except Gretchen's friend Beth who tried to help him, but unfortunately she also became part of the mess on the floor and in Rebecca's lap. Grandpa said that it sounded like an episode of the "keystone Cops", which I guess was an old sitcom or something. I asked if it was like the show "Cops" and he just snorted and said "only if you shot the show in England". I gave up any chance of understanding and just nodded my head. So, the good thing to come out of poor David and Rebecca's very bad day is that George won't be bothering me anymore at school and it is just a matter of time before he is not allowed at church anymore either, which is probably what he is aiming for.
I talked on the phone over the weekend with Aunt Cindy's sister Donna and she said that she would help me with my project on the Mayan People of Early Mexico (which is its title) and Ms. Ramsey, who is now Mrs. Butcher since she was married during the winter break, said it was ok as long as I do the research and that I should try to find someone who can trace their roots back to Mayan people and interview them. "What about Jorge?" I said. Jorge works at the movie theater in Bakersfield and he and I have become good friends since I go there as often as Dad will drive me. "That's fine if he knows that he has Mayan ancestors", Mrs. Butcher said.
I now have way too much work to do and it seems like I don't have time to write about anything but dead people or relatives who are still alive. Mr. Grady suggested that I try setting aside time right after school to just "free-write" where I just write anything that comes to mind even if it doesn't make sense. "Thats great!" i said and he then said that I don't even have to worry about punctuation. He also says that it may take a while to learn how to just "let it flow", but that I should keep doing it no matter what. So, I started already when I got home and maybe I'll try it now for my blog. Here goes nothing...
i wore my socks inside out and they smell bad even though they look better and i want to keep typing fast but i cant type as fast as i write so maybe this is better for writing in my journal except tha i don't worry about grammar and spelling any,more which is fun and i am trying not to look at the screen while i type and my mom is calling me because it is time to feed the dogs and other animals and i told her that i am busy andf she is coiming down the hall so i better stop even though i can't and wish i could go onb all night lkike this ....ok Mom, sorry.

I started back at school today and it was really great to see everyone, especially Gretchen who I only saw once during vacation because she went to New Mexico and Colorado to see family. She told me that her Mom is thinking about moving back to New Mexico because she hates her job here and can't find anything better. I was very upset when I heard this and asked Gretchen what she thought and she seemed to upset to think (or talk) about moving again. She told me a couple of months ago that she wishes she could stay in one place for just one whole school year, but that her Mom is a 'wanderer' who gets bored of places very quickly. I told my Mom this and she looked sad for me, but she said "maybe Gretchen's Mom will come to her senses". "I hope so", I said. Anyways, it kind of ruined my first day back to school, but Gretchen and I talked during lunch and she made me feel a little better, but mostly she was a little surprised that I cared so much and I think it actually made her feel good too. We shared an ice cream bar (our favorite thing to do) and I told her about Minnesota and my family there. She told me about New Mexico and seeing old friends who missed her and want her to move back, which made me unhappy again, so we stopped talking and just finished the ice cream. "Sometimes it is ok not to talk", as Grandpa likes to say (which is strange for an actor).
Dad tried to get my mind off of things when I got home by giving me a picture of him from a magazine advertisement he did in the 1990's. It made me laugh a bit because Dad was skinnier then and seemed a lot younger. "It is amazing what a camera can do" said Dad and I told him that it is a good place to start for my ancestor project this semester; That and Grandpa Jessie and Mom's family. He said that it took all day to shoot this one picture because they kept making him change his shirt and hat because no one could agree about what color he should wear or whether he should wear a long-sleeve shirt or a short sleeve shirt. They even tried using different backgrounds and when Dad received the magazine in the mail it turned out to be black and white. "It figures" Dad said, "They waste more time and money bickering about color and they end up not using any". Dad still does modeling work and occasionally does "voice-overs", but now he has gotten more into working with community groups that help protect the land from "greedy people". Dad says that his "community work", as he calls it, has hurt his ability to get "commercial" work because business people are starting to realize that Dad is speaking out against some businesses and it makes him less of a "rugged cowboy that just stomps on everything". I didn't really understand this, but I guess it seems like two different things to help the community and also to help sell pants and boots, but I don't know why he can't do both. "It is a little tricky", Dad said, "but you'll understand someday". I hate it when people say that because it is not enough for me or perhaps I was still upset because of what Gretchen told me, but I kind of snapped "Just try to explain it better!" i said. Dad gave me a look like he was going to send me to my room, but stopped and said "Let me explain it so you'll understand better", which surprised me. He said that the people who pay him to sell tires or western clothes hire him because he is the son of a famous cowboy movie star and that "rural" people will buy the products not because they are "good quality at a good price", but because a famous cowboy or son of a famous cowboy uses them. "I understand that part" I said. Then he said that "cowboys aren't supposed to care about the environment or anything for that matter...except maybe pickup trucks and the flag". This sounded really strange to me because "cowboys are always outside" I said. Dad just shook his head and said "I know son, but things in the world don't always make sense". That seemed like the best way to explain my whole day in general. At least we are having cheeseburgers for dinner.
"Rural" means "in, relating to, or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town" and its only use listed is "the rural backdrop was filmed in Georgia".

Happy New Year! Mom and I made it back from Minnesota last night and it is good to be home. It was also good to see Grandpa at the airport with Dad, which means his back is better or at least good enough to ride in a car for an hour and a half. Minnesota was fun and it wasn't too cold, but there was enough snow to go sledding with my cousins at Uncle Ronnies house. We spent new years eve at Aunt Gloria's house with all of the family including Grandma Sylvia who had a hard time staying up till midnight. Mom says that she usually goes to bed by 8:30 so it was tough for her. My cousin Katie kept tapping Grandma on the knee to keep her awake until finally Aunt Cindy yelled at her to stop. We then drank cider at midnight because it looked like champagne, but the adults were drinking real champagne and seemed really happy to be together, even Mom and Aunt Cindy seemed to get along ok.

I talked for a little while with Aunt Cindy's younger sister Donna who had flown in from San Francisco and who is not married because she is "too busy" studying cultural anthropology at the University near San Francisco (which I forgot the name of) to meet anyone. I asked her what "cultural anthropology" was and understood it as a study of humans and their customs, but decided to look it up anyways. It is "the comparative study of human societies and cultures and their development" and there was no use listed in the book, so you will just have to make one up. She particularly enjoys studying people of early Mexico and what things they liked and believed in. Donna lent me a small book about early people called Mayans that were very religious and performed many ceremonies and sacrificed animals and sometimes people for the gods that they believed in. This was confusing for me because I always thought there was just one God, but Donna said that some religions believe in many gods. I am excited about reading the book she gave me and hopefully can earn credit for reading it at school, which starts next week. Donna was very smart and also funny and I hope that after I read the book that I can talk about Mayans with her sometime since she doesn't live to far away. She said that it is her last year of graduation school and that she has been in school for almost 20 years if you count kindergarten through 12th grade and I asked her if she ever gets sick of it and she said "no" that she really enjoys learning new things about people and history. She said that learning history helps us to avoid making the same mistakes today, especially when it comes to "conflict" between countries or groups of people. I said that I had heard that before, but not sure where, "probably in history class" she said, and I said "probably, but I am not sure". She then said that many people in power forget what history teaches us and that is why we always have war. "I wonder if cousin Mat would agree" I thought. So, I have something to tell my history teacher at school and she will probably tell me to do a project on Mayans for the semester and maybe I can talk Donna into helping me with it. That wouldn't be too bad.