Well, it's that time again. Spring is here and seasonal amusement parks are beginning to open up all over the country; including Kings Island in Cincinnati. This year marks Kings Island's 35th anniversary. Also celebrating 35 years are the Fairly Odd Coaster, known to long term park attendees as the Beastie, and the Racers. The Vortex, in the Coney Mall, celebrates 20 years this season and Tomb Raider celebrates its 5th season in Rivertown. From the look of things, this is going to be a very good year for the park. Not only is it an anniversary year, it is also the first season sans Paramount since 1992. There are 5 great new shows; including the return of the popular ice show that ran for 7 years in the Festhaus and then 3 more in the Paramount Theater. A 60's show will be featured in the International Showplace and a pop show on the International Street Bandstand. A show for the kids featuring Dora will be in the Nick Theater and a Nickelodeon parade will show will be featured everyday on International Street. For those that prefer the rides; Cedar Fair, the park's new owner, is debuting the Firehawk flying roller coaster. It will be located in the Coney Mall and will open Memorial Day weekend.

To check out more about the park go to the website:

http://www1.cedarfair.com/kingsisland/#actions

Read this article and watch the video before reading the blog entry...

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2496819&page=1

The more I look, the more I find that I am not alone...

I too have trich. I have suffered from it since I was 10 years old and I have let it destroy my dreams, my relationships both socially and romantically, my self-esteem, my life. Because of trich, I was made fun of throughout most of my time in school; baldly, bald eagle, Sinead O'Conner (some guys would just walk by and start singing nothing compares to you), and many other cruel names. I withdrew from most social situations; I felt like I was on the outside of everything, even with my friends. Few people could look past the hair to see me. I never had a boyfriend, I did not go to prom or my junior/senior homecomings, and after many years, I gave up my dreams for the future. There is so much more known now than there was then. I was a freak to everyone around me; and was so ashamed of it that I even lied to some as to why I had no hair. It was suggested once that I wear a wig, but I shot that idea down repeatedly because I feared being taunted more.

I started to wear one when I got my first job. I found that the hair really made a difference in how people perceived me. More people approached me that would not have given me a second look before. While it did help me socially, I still had problems romantically. I turned down many good guys on the fear of what they might think if they found out about my hair. Some that I trusted enough to tell never saw me without the wig. Those who have, tried to help me stop pulling. Many friends came up with other cute nicknames for me; chia pet is my favorite. One friend used to ask me, on days when I was a little more air-headed than usual, if I had my wig on too tight; if I was being extra obnoxious or just over doing the smart ass comments, he would say "I'm gonna snatch you bald!" with a smirk on his face.

I have gotten quite a sense of humor about my hair with those that know. I make fun of girls that stand in the mirror in restrooms and primp and preen themselves if one hair is out of place. I will often say, "please forgive my appearance, I am having a bad hair day...wait, no, life." "At the end of a grueling week of work, I really know how to let my hair down." "You really like my hair? Thank you. You can have it too for just $49.95." "Of course it's MY hair, I paid for it." When I go out without the wig on, I am going out topless. Oh, and my favorite; sometimes I will go for the shock factor when telling someone about my hair. I will simply take the wig off, hand it to someone who knows about it and say "hair, hold this please." And I once just took it off during an overnight camping party at a friend's house and placed it next to a girl who didn't know and then woke her up yelling about some furry animal being in the camper. Her reaction was priceless.

Regardless of how much fun I have with it now though, I still hide it from a majority of the world. I have to know and trust someone first before telling them. I do talk openly with anyone who asks about it seriously; but I have found that few pay enough attention to me to notice that my hair is a wig. I have to laugh when people complement me on my hair. I just wonder if all the guys that give me attention at work because of my looks would still do so if one day I just stopped wearing it. I fear though that I have become a slave to the wig. Not for just my outward appearance; but it keeps me from feeling the need to pull and my head gets cold without it being on.

I am starting something on my myspace page soon. I saw someone had a counter that counts up instead of down, so I am going to get one that counts how many days I have been pull-free. I am currently at zero, but I have hopes that I can do this. I went for two weeks at the beginning of the year before the stress of work and school combined got to me while I tried to focus on difficult homework assignments. Until I can remain actively PF (pull-free), I am keeping my head buzzed so I don't have anything to grab ahold of.

The biggest thing that any trich sufferer needs is support, so I hope to get lots of support from my friends out there as I try to beat this condition once and for all. It can be done; I spoke with someone in a class last quarter that just stopped one day last summer and hasn't pulled since. I will not stop sold turkey, but I will stop. I just need to stay focused, optimistic, happy, and loved and supported by my friends.

Have you ever heard the saying "If you don't like the weather in Ohio, wait a minute?" If they haven't heard it, most every citizen of not only Ohio, but almost every state from the Rockies to the Appalachians understands it's meaning. The weather in the midwest is so erratic that one day you can be outside enjoying a sunny 70 degree afternoon, the next you need your heaviest coat and gloves. Most people just know that's part of living here, but they don't know why.

I recently completed a physical geography class that covered all of this. We learned all about everything from the makeup of the atmosphere to the hydrologic cycle (simply put: the circulation of moisture from the earth to the atmosphere and back in all its forms). Weather became the main focus of the class. I did not realize how much actually sank in until today when I looked up at the sky and did not simply see clouds, but was able to identify most of them and understood the reason for their presence. Then when I thought I saw a rainbow, I began to analyze the elements of the atmosphere that would be making its existence possible.

At that moment, I began to despair. Would I ever be able to look at a rainbow, clouds, watch a thunderstorm, or just gaze at the sky in wonder again? Will I be able to let my imagination run free and see shapes in the clouds as they float by without saying "That's a cirrus cloud, and that one is a cumulus cloud?"

On the evening of our final exam, just days after we had some rain and a drastic temperature shift; one of the girls in my class was saying that when someone she knew commented on the weather change, she said to them "You know, I can explain that..." That's when I recalled standing out on my balcony during the storm and looked for the various types of both clouds and lightning that we learned about.

Learning is supposed to expand your mind, and in this case it has; but is it supposed to do so at the expense of our imagination and wonder? I did enjoy the class very much, and the instructor just as much; but I hope that one day I can look at the goings on in the atmosphere with as much wonder as I had before the class. For now, I just want to say "Thanks Mo, for stealing away our innocence. Hope to take a class of yours again."