Dear friends,

Have you ever been hurt by a friend, relative, family member or total stranger here in Olympia and kept the pain to yourself and bottled it up?

Please join us activists for the Discussion Event for A New Chapter of the "Keep It Real" Anthology. Even if you can't join us simply send in your stories or photos to my email address.

I am creating a non-fiction anthology which is a collection of stories of people who live in Olympia (Tumwater or Lacey) about people who 'unbottle the stories of pain caused by others'

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There will be 10 sections of the antholohy, and each of ten chapters, will have an OPTIONAL 15 minute 'Keep It Real' deadline and Anthology Discussion Event (Location TBA) seen below:

#1. Stories of Friends who treat you like crap in Olympia - September 19th, 2007. 6pm The deadline and discussion event for other chapters will happen once a week, same time.

#2. Stories of Family who treat you like crap in Olympia
September 26th, 2007. 6pm

#3. Stories of Strangers who treat you like crap in Olympia
October 3rd, 2007. 6pm

#4. Photos of Friends who treat you like crap in Olympia
October 10th, 2007. 6pm

#5. Photos of Family who treat you like crap in Olympia
October 17th, 2007. 6pm

#6. Photos of Strangers who treat you like crap in Olympia
October 24th, 2007. 6pm

#7. Stories of organizations and businesses who treat you like crap in Olympia
October 31th, 2007. 6pm

#8. Stories or photos of people, groups, business or places who treated you like crap on Holloween.
Nov 7th, 2007. 6pm

#9. Stories of schools (any grade level from preschool-through University) who treat you like crap in Olympia
Nov 14th, 2007. 6pm

#10. Stories of local newspapers who ignore your suffering and/or treat you, your people and your community like crap in Olympia. Stories and photo of Anyone, anywhere else who treats you like crap.
Nov 21th, 2007. 6pm

There are only five guideliness:

#1. The stories must be 100% true and can be as long or as short as you lik and it is OK to use a 'made up' name.

#2. The stories must contain a few descripions of events or places in Olympia

#3. The stories must be at least involve someone or something who you still love. If you can't even say you love one person or one thing in your story (you must use the word "love"), then your story is probably too mean for this anthology, Sorry. We, as activists who care bout creating a better world, are just trying to unbottle some pain so we don't go crazy. We're not trying to spread hatred.

#4. All stories and photos will be made public domain as soon as I receive them and published as an anthology and sent all of the world. People can publish them infinitely nywhere, anytime they like.

#5. You do not have to attend the "Keep It Real Deadline Discussion Event" to participate. Just Email all photos and stories to:

thekeepitrealkid (atsymbol) gmail.com

Anonymous names are OK.

Thank you!

I love ya all!

-TheKeepItRealKid

p.s.

This anthology was inspired by the letter which I wrote to my friend today which is found below:

Dear ___________,

I sent you the other email this morning. It is now about 4:04pm. I'm going to share the below incident with you, because I want you to know the things you do to me, just aren't you....so you can see I realize its part of my personality as well.

A friend contacted me about 11pm last night. I intentionally didn't contact her because I have known her to do some rude stuff in the past. Last night, she said she wanted to go to a picnic or something outside. I asked her if she wanted to go to the Co-Op celebration downtown and she said sure we can do both.

So she came to my house around 2pm, when we planned to meet, and we went to the Co-Op celebration. There was a lot of great food there and we sat and ate and were having a nice time and she even initiated a convo about how the co-op thing was much better than she thought it would be. Suddenly, she got a call on her cell phone from a very good friend of hers. Turns out her friend was at the Co-Op celebration too. SO her friend walk over after the call. Then her friend looks at me wierd, not in a totally happy type of way. That type of thing happens often, especially here in the Northwest....where I get along with one friend...but not their friends..so I get cut out. Then my friend says to me "So I think I'm gonna head out now" around 3:30pm and leaves with her friend. I could tell it was said in a way in which I was not invited. Less than 2 hours after we planned to go on a picnic and enjoy the Co-Op celebration my friend ditches me, or "cuts me out."

So I don't want you to think the things you do to me... are just you. I think there is some kind of over-friendly aspect of my current personality that causes certain people who 'cut me out' or 'contact me..then ditch me' to be attracted to me. The friendly, hugging, often happy person I am now... is not the way I always have been. Hugging lots and lots of folks only started about 6 years ago. I like that aspect of my personality, and I'm happier with it, but I've discovered many times that it seems to 'almost empower' people to treat me ruthlessly. Someone contacts me, then ditches me less than 2 hours later to hang with their other friend, is something I call ruthless. And its wierd because I can't help but notice that before when I didn't hug people so much, when I wasn't as friendly, the type of people who would 'contact me and ditch me', wouldn't contact me as often. That left more room for more real friends. I think its perhaps because I would tell people how I felt much more bluntly. I think I used to "keep it real" like that with people much more often in the past, and I do believe that I have decided that I'm going to go back to doing that.

Personally, I can't help but wonder if thats going to destroy our friendship or familyship, because I think in the future whenever you treat me ruthlessly I'm just going to tell you immediately...right in front of people. I think I used to keep the pain inside and wait until 'a more civilized time' to talk to you privately about it, but keeping it inside until later only causes me more suffering. Its kinda' funny, I wonder if its this type of new thinking of mine that causes lots of very old people to be so grumpy! [lol] Thats OK, because some grumpy old people are so cool, and so real. Here in the Northwest there is a 'veneer of kindness' that people seem to use when they are doing ruthless things... its almost a socially accepted and civilized method of being ruthless, but its still just ruthless. I like the aspect of keeping it real, because I actually have been getting my self emotionally hurt by some of the ruthless things that people do to me since I have not been bluntly telling people about their ruthlessness.

I don't know how its going to effect our friendship..or familyship is going to weather through it... I suspect it might cause it to end.. but...in the interest of keeping it real...I must admit that I'm willing to take that risk! *lol*

Knowing you, has been wonderful. I'm sure destiny will make itself known, and either way, spending time with you has been one of the best parts of my life!

Yes, I Love you too!

& thekeepitrealkid....rides again!

p.s.

Moments like these I do love life! [lol]