Hi boys and girls! So, I haven't really updated my blog in a loooooooong time, which means that it's time for a new post! Exciting. Yes, I know. Anyways, I have decided to take on a major summer project. I have decided to write a book. Ah yes, a book. Right now, I don't really know how it will turn out, but what I can say that many of the book's events will be inspired by my life. Even the main character, Kennedy Ford, is a young college student from Washington D.C., just to give you an idea. However, I must stress that although some things will come straight from my experiences, the majority of the book will be fictional. It's up to you to decide what's fiction and what's fact. ;) Here's an excerpt below. I hope you enjoy!

Kennedy Ford Speaks
By: Bina Carroll

For the past few years, I have been trying to figure out the point of living. As soon as things start to look good, they come crashing down again. I mean what is it really that makes me special? What distinguishes me from the next girl? My problem is I don’t know and don’t think that I ever will.

Kennedy Ford. That’s me all right. Kennedy Ford, your typical nineteen year old from Washington, DC. I am the perfect straight A student. Ok. Ok. Correction. I WAS the perfect straight A student until college. Oh college, that hot mess piece of shit. I worked my butt off in high school, trying to get into the top universities. I was a slave to the masses. “Kennedy! Kennedy! Kennedy!” The teachers loved to call on me in every class. Fortunately for them, I always decided to cooperate and answer their questions. Little did they know, all I really wanted to do was tell them to shut the hell up and get a life. Harsh? Well, maybe just a little. But you don’t understand. You just don’t understand. Let me break it down for you.

First, I’ll begin with Mr. Henry B. Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd was the chemistry teacher at Washington Whitmore High School, the hellhole I attended for four years. “Ford!” he would shout. “What’s the thirty-fifth element on the periodic table?” Oh how badly I just wanted to silently stare back at him into the world of stupidity where he belonged, BUT I needed my A. “Bromine.” “Correct!” He would shout even louder. This time letting tiny globs of spit smack me in the face from his ever so frightening mouth. Mr. Lloyd definitely needed to see a dentist. When he spoke, you could see the line of silver metal caps covering his molars. His front teeth were a mysterious rustic yellow. Yuck! Not to mention, his eyes peering back at students from behind those huge round black bifocals. Yikes!

But I have to say. As bad as Mr. Lloyd was, he had nothing on Mrs. Barbara W. McHenry. Boy did Mrs. McHenry use to shuffle around the Whitmore hallways like a little Quasimodo. I used to be afraid of her hunchback. If you walked behind her, you couldn’t even see the back of her head. She looked like a decapitated zombie. Of course, the hump didn’t compare to the grotesque floral patterned dress that she always used to wear. The dress was a pale blue with yellow daffodils floating around the body. Yikes!

“Oh Ms. Ford?! Ms. Ford?!” Ms. McHenry would call in her ear-piercing, nasally voice.
GRRRRRR “Yes, Ms. McHenry?! How can I help you?”

“How can I help you?” Boy, have I had enough of that shit. Thank heavens I’m finally out of Whitmore. But don’t get me wrong. Whitmore High had its moments especially when it came to my hot mess friends and me. Yep. We always used to sit at the back of the room. Just sit. Most times not paying any attention to the crackpot teachers standing before us. Ha, but when we did pay attention….we LOVED to cause trouble.

“Oh Ms. Ford?! Ms. Ford?!”

“Yes, Ms. McHenry?”

“Well, I don’t want to interrupt the conversation between you and Michael because I just know it’s educational, but can you please spare a momentand read Shakespeare’s Sonnet 14 on page 64?”

I had this lady wrapped around my finger.

“Why of course, Ms. McHenry……
Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck;
And yet methinks I have astronomy….”

“Thank you Ms. Ford. That was an excellent reading.”

“Ummm..Ms. McHenry?”

“Yes?”

“Well, Michael and I were just wondering. Why is it that we always have to read
Shakespeare. I mean I like him and all, but isn’t this a WORLD Literature class?
I mean, we just keep reading the SAME works by the SAME three white men.
Shakespeare, Whitman, and Dunn. Where are ethnic authors?”

I know. I know. Oh no I didn’t!
“Umm.. Well… You know Ms. Ford….Umm… I don’t choose the curriculum…..”

Poor Ms. McHenry. Her face became sooooo red. I love to make white people uncomfortable. Oops. LOL

Yep, it was moments like that, that I lived for. While everyone else was finding entertainment out at clubs, parties, etc., I found mine right there in the Whitmore classroom. But don’t worry, I was the typical teenager too. Studying did not consume my life, and weekends consisted of sports, club activities, and of course hanging out with friends.

Anyways, enough about my Whitmore days. I’m in college now. Yep, college. Actually, there’s not much to say about college. You go to class. You hang out with friends. You play stupid games. You sleep. You eat. And then, do it all again the next day.

Ok. I know what you’re thinking. Either I am completely whack, or my school is lame, or I’m hiding something. Well, let me assure you. I am definitely NOT whack. So that leaves two possibilities, but even I don’t know which one is right. And that’s the problem. Recently, I have just been so confused about life. I don’t know what to think. At Whitmore, I had very clear goals. I was going to get good grades, achieve the very best, and then go to college. But now what I want is not so obvious. Every day, I feel myself stretching out for answers. I have a million ideas popping around in my head, and can’t seem to focus on one. This is why I have decided that it’s time to try something completely new. I, Kennedy Ford, with the hopes of finding out who I truly am, am going to start my very first diary.