PAST SELF: THIS IS FOR YOU.

SUP SELF.

I'm assuming that you're probably 15 or 16 years old upon receiving this letter, which is good, because I have MUCH TO DISCUSS WITH YOU YOU HILARIOUS, HILARIOUS CHILD.

So I've been reading the HSJNTs recently just to look back on the old days (the present). You have a lot of them now. You might be proud of being on the v3 or the v4 at this point, but dude… keep writing them things, because they will provide your future self with much entertainment later on. xD

Now before we get too mushy here, I just want to say that you are a huge beast. Not even kidding. You're extremely cool, and all of those douchebags in Forsy's class and the morons who like to put their feet up under your desk in various classes and people who don't see how amazing you are are just a bunch of nogmosters that you shouldn't even concern yourself with. After high school, you will literally never see any of them again (as far as I know, anyway. I'm [you're] only 20 right now so who knows.). Also, you pretty much whoop everyone's ass in college, so if you feel like you're at the bottom of the food chain right now, you just wait. It gets SO much better.

Alright, I have some advice for you. Before you go all Doc Brown on me and say "I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE FUTUREEEEE", just hear me out. I won't give away any juicy details. You'll have to find those out for yourself. xD

Anyway advice:

TRY NOT TO RELY SO MUCH ON MEN YOU FOOL. These losers will come and go. I know mom has probably told you that a billion times (if you're even communicating with her as of now) but it's true. A lot of the guys you're going to meet are not all that great, even though you might see them and like DIE from TOO MUCH HOT IN THE EYES HELP BURNING DESIRES UAGH. But yeah dude, don't worry too much about love or being "complete" when it comes to being with another person, as any relationship you're going to get into for a long while is pretty much just a testing ground. Don't get me wrong, a lot of parts of those relationships will be really awesome and fun and will make you happy, but don't get your hopes up about marriage or anything far-off, as you'll just be disappointed. Believe me, I learned that the hard way.

ACADEMICS, BRO. Actually, never mind. Keep doing what you're doing. xD Your hours on RPGs and making crap in Photoshop are actually much more important than paying attention in Ricketts's class. Not even kidding. So keep doing that. Get as good at it as you can before you graduate. Also, believe it or not, you are going to love Dr. Nygaard before you leave Marshall. She might seem like a huge bitch, but she's one of the few teachers who thinks you're amazing, so do your best in her classes, because she's a good person to try to impress. Also, all of the bullshit Marshall is throwing at you about SAT and ACT scores and filling out those stupid yellow sheets… do not even worry about it. In fact, just screw the whole thing. You don't need to do any of that crap, as it won't matter for getting into the college I'm in right now. They don't care about that stuff. Also also, Profe, as you might already know, had been fighting off some kind of cancer for a year. I think it was while you were (are) in 10th grade. Anyway, when she comes back (which she will) talk to her and try to learn everything you can from her (you will have spanish 3 with her junior year so take advantage of that time).

Make the most of every single day you have at home with Dad and Grace. Nothing terrible happens or anything, but when you go off to college you're gonna miss home terribly, so get as much out of it as you can. I recommend spending a lot more time outside on the trail or just walking around the neighborhood with Benita or whatever. Enjoy home while you have it. After you leave, you're not going to be back for a while. On a side note, if things go as planned, autumn of 2010 will be really awesome for you. Even if things get hard and you feel like you want to give up, just remember that there are better things on the horizon. Fall of 2010 is going to be a really liberating few months for you, and you need to be in Duluth for it. It's a very very important part of your growth as a person, and the lessons you will learn during that time will help you for years to come.

GET. YOUR. DRIVER'S. LICENSE. I don't care if it's a lot of work. I don't care if it takes time out of whatever else you're doing. Take 50 tests if you have to. It will save your life in the coming years. If you can, own a car before senior year. It will really really REALLY make your life easier. Also, DO NOT let Dad give you that shitty van. Don't. Demand a used car from someone else, or demand a new car altogether. Do not settle for that hunk of trash. It causes lots of problems later on.

Also, get all of your cavities filled because you're going to have a tooth infection or gum infection or whatever the hell this is if you don't. -is suffering from this right now and it is your fault- Go to the doctor while you're at it, because you're bound to have some other problems. You should just suck it up when it comes to pain tolerance, actually. -knows you will not do this because doctor = too scary and shots = lol good luck-

I don't think I have anything else to say really. I have been trying to finish writing this for two days (yes two days) and I just don't know what else I can say to you. You know what you're doing, even though it doesn't feel like it. You're much more talented and intelligent than you give yourself credit for. Remember that your friends in high school aren't going to be important in a few years (even though a few years may seem a lifetime away right now), and that the vast majority of the friends who you spent the most time with are going to go off in crazy directions. Also remember that if people choose not to be around you or you start to drift from someone that you don't always have to chase after them and try to make things right. A lot of times (actually most of the time) people are meant to meet, spend an amount of time together, and then part ways. The only real exception is family. I know you have a big problem with this. You want to keep everything the same in your life and any change, especially if it requires effort on your part, is intolerable and you will do everything you can to make sure it doesn't happen. Well let it happen for a change. You're going to be hit with a lot of things in your life that will hurt you and bother you and make you want to sit in a room and obsess. Try not to do that. The best way to remedy obsession is to fill your mind with something else. Keep that in mind, I guess.

JUST LIKE US TO DO, RIGHT? Say "I don't think I have anything else to say" and write a giant paragraph. xD I'm gonna end this now, but just remember that you're on the road to really great things, and that you have a lot to look forward to. Get out of your own way (Mr. Gramke will tell you this a lot) and just be generally more open to life and you'll find that a lot of things you think are really hard and far away are actually easy and kind of exciting.

Good luck, bro! xD

- Future Self, actually saying hi back for once.