As I Start Anew Part 1

My name is Michael Parker, I am a freshman at the Georgia Institute of Technology and I will be dispersing my thoughts about a few things through this web page: current world affairs, music, politics, my life and lessons as a new student going through the trials and tribulations of this leap from home to college, scientific or technological breakthroughs and the morals that supports or tears them apart, and other commonly interesting topics. I will not steal material and will not let quotes, videos, pictures, etc. go without proper dues. I'm a musical artist, and have written my own pieces and would be in turn very unhappy if someone were to attempt to steal these pieces; so, first rule I follow: the Golden Rule. So that's the basics of where I will be going with this blog, which while was started because of educational demands, will probably become something that I continue to update for a long time.
I'm 18, and relatively newly so, being only two months older than 18 years. I remember thinking that I knew a lot, at the age of 13 I was convinced I was a genius by my own definition, but was struggling with the difficulties a young teenager faces with his own identity. I was as insecure as anyone could be, with my own appearance, the way I dressed, even the way I played the drums in the band. My insecurities created my self imposed genius status, but as I discovered who I was as a person I began to lose confidence in myself as a genius which ironically found myself becoming a guy who had friends. I would choose friends over self imposed massive intelligence any day. So in extreme summary, my middle school years sucked, but in all honesty I think they were three of my most important years to date. They were the years that began to take me from the 5th grade child I once was, to the 9th grade man I was starting to become.
But let's go back further, just so everyone knows where I, as well as my ideals, are coming from because it is without doubt that someone will find my opinions difficult to apprehend or even plainly offensive. This is fine, I don't blame anyone for thinking differently than I think, but I do ask that they state and support their opinions so that I might have a chance to adopt their opinions as my own or refute them with my own ideological support.
Thus begins the story of the beginning of my life, which takes place in Texas and on which night my grandma swears on seeing a lightning strike loop in the sky and go back to the cloud from which it began. This being true or false doesn't matter at all, I love my grandmother and the status of the statement's validity can not hurt nor harm anyone therefore it's true. Well what happened after that night really doesn't matter until I got my dog when I was two. I chose Bonnie, a border collie, from your classic dogs in a barn setting in Utah which is where I lived between the ages of 1 and 4 years old. My last year of living in Utah found my sister being born, which of course drastically changed my life. (for the better) So like I said, between the ages of 1 and 4 I lived in Utah, then Catherine was born after I had just turned 5 and we moved to Mississippi where my mother grew up and my grandparents resided. Our first year in Mississippi found my sister and I fatherless. No, he's not a bad father, he's in fact an incredible father; however the military sometimes forces you to do things you don't necessarily want to do, but for the greater good of the the United States of America, nothing can really be held against the military can it? Sad as it is, I actually remember asking someone if they were my father, obviously they weren't and my mom was thoroughly embarrassed. Other than my dad leaving for a year, I remember a few other key moments in my Mississippi history, most of them painful. I broke my arm losing a flirting push contest off of a trampoline with a girl 5 years older than myself, I had half my face burned to the 3rd degree when I was stupid and ran through a kitchen, and I had pieces of my thumb sliced off when I was trying to look manly working on a car. On the non-painful side of my memories I can remember shrimping, fishing, being babysat by my grandmother, and my first piano lesson when I was 6, something that didn't end for 11 years. I still play as often as possible and love every second of it.