I'm pretty proud of myself for coming to terms with graduation before it actually happens. Some time ago, although I don't know say when exactly, I realized that most people I talk to at school now I'm not going to care about after I graduate. Some of my schoolmates get it. People change and friends come and go. That's how life is. Others think that since I'm not going to miss them three years from now then I don't care about them at all.
Seriously?
If you know me at all, you'll know I love people. More than one person should, I think. It's gotten me in trouble more than once. So it's obvious that the last day of school is going to be sad. There's an assembly where the seniors watch a slideshow and it's all very sweet. I'm looking forward to it. But I'm realistic. There's only one person I can think of that I'll probably keep it touch with for a while after graduation. Probably. Everyone else will drift, acquire new interests, and high school will only be a distant memory. That's normal. Realistic.
Am I going to miss my friends? Of course! But not for very long. Maybe a year or two. I'm thinking that some might keep in touch for a while, and then slowly forget. I used to to be that person that attempted to keep in touch, but I'm don't do that anymore because 98% of the time it's not mutual and I'm just being annoying. If they text me randomly, then I'll text them randomly too. But if it's only one or the other, the contact is few and far between. And by that I mean we see each other at the supermarket fifteen years from now.
Obviously I'll remember some people better than others. Memories will last a lot longer than just a couple years. But they'll only be memories. It's sad that so many of my schoolmates haven't come to terms that most of their friends in high school won't last after graduation. Close friends sometimes do, but even that's only probable. People change a lot from the ages of eighteen to twenty-five.
I brought this up with one of my friends a month ago, and he implied that I was acting as if we weren't friends and that I didn't care. This irritated me, but I couldn't explain it this extensively within the few seconds I had to think of a response. So I pretty much blurted out the first paragraph of this blog in a less coherent manner. The conversation ended awkwardly and I felt guilty for bringing it up. Then I realized that the end of the year is going to be a lot sadder than it needs to be. And every day I leave school in the month of June, I'm probably going to feel depressed. All my friends are going to go on about how much they'll miss me and I will go on about how I'll miss them. And I'll be sad because all the guys I hang out with won't be as emotional and I'll question whether they really ever cared. I know that's pathetic and stupid, but it's one of my girl-minded tendencies that I hate. I have brought it up before.
Anyway, the end of the semester is coming up and I'm already nervous about that. Only once of my classes is changing. It happens to be Modern Fiction, the best class to end my day. Why? The people, of course. I always laugh in that class. Every. Single. Day. Even on the day of the stabbing I laughed. I didn't want to because I felt horrible beyond words that entire week, but I did anyway. The teacher hates all of us, but that's the fun of it. Ok, not all of the fun. When she gets mad, she gets really mad. I'm sorry we're so terrible to you Ms. Short.
The point is that the class is awesome, and I'm really going to miss it. Another reason is that I have friends in that class that I wouldn't talk to if we didn't have Modern Fiction together. They're going to go away. I'll miss them terribly because I grown to care way too much about them over the past three months. But I'll get over it.
Just like how I'll get over high school. Physically and emotionally. I really wish people would see that, but I don't blame them. My first blog post about senior year was me freaking out about how I'm not going to be able to handle this. But I'll be fine. We'll all be fine.
This'll be a good year.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
OMG I'm FULL of Smartzzzz!
I'm pretty sure we all have that friend that is smarter than us. No? Just me? Well ok then.
Anyway, I have a lot of friends who are smarter than me, and I've realized that intelligence falls into two personality traits: show-off or ignorance (whether it be known to them or not).
The show-off personality is that guy that you know that's incredibly smart, but he (or she) has to remind you every five seconds how smart they are. They are completely aware of their intelligence, and they enjoy every minute of it. Spouting off random facts is second nature. When I meet these people, I usually humor them. I'm drawn to people smarter than me. But after listening to them talk for ten minutes, I feel remarkably stupid. There are rare cases when they actually explain what they're talking about, so then I feel less stupid. That tends to help a little bit.
Unfortunately, there's always that show-off who question why you don't know about whatever they're blathering about.
"It was in the news. Don't you watch the news?!"
"Yes..."
"Well...you must watch the stupid news. The news I watch is FULL of IMPORTANT information that YOU should know. Is there something WRONG with you?"
"Apparently."
"Well, anyway...where was I?"
"If I shoot you, would it be considered self-defense?"
Yeah, that type of show-off. Those people drive me crazy. Fortunately, I haven't met very many. If I have, I usually end the conversation as quickly as possible before they start ranting. Because ranting is my thing.
Then there's those lovely ignorant people who don't realize they're smart. I know they are a lot of smart people who know they're smart, but they still fall in the ignorance category because they act ignorant a lot. I know it's a stretch, but this is me we're talking about. If you don't remind me you're smart all the time, then you're ignorant. Let's humor the unintelligent girl and move on, ok? These people will spout off information that relates to the subject or something random that is actually interesting. Despite this, I usually end up feeling stupid around those people, even if they're also really good at explaining things.
<Side-note>Is it weird that I love certain people's talking voices? Like, they could be explaining something that's going completely over my head, but if they're talking then it's all ok. I feel odd for being drawn to certain types of voices. It's not accents, it's voices. Intelligence higher than mine is optional.</Side-note>
I know a lot of people that fall into my ignorant category. So you could say that I feel stupid a lot. Especially at Sno-Isle. I'm supposed to be (one of) the tech-y girl(s) that pwns all the boys with her amazing knowledge of computers. HA! Yeah, right. The only thing that impresses the boys at my school is my chocolate-chip cookies. Oh, they like my niceness and sarcasm, but that doesn't matter as much because girls like those characteristics as well.
I remind myself quite often that I'm still learning and that I know more about computers than a lot of people my age. But when you surround yourself with people smarter than you unintentionally, those reminders disintegrate and you're stuck making cookies. And correcting spelling. Those boys cannot spell.
I still feel mildly stupid around them. A lot. But don't tell them I said anything because I'm afraid they'll take pity and I really don't want that.
"That's right Michaela! That's where the power supply is! You are so good with computers! Isn't she?"
"Yes she is! She is very smart!"
"...You guys read my blog didn't you?"
"...Yes..."
So, in conclusion, I am good at making cookies, and spelling. How invigorating.
And to think I have a blog to feel better about myself. Oh well. I always have common sense to fall back on. Don't even get me started on the lack of that in teenagers.
It's Been A Good Run
Our family is taking a break from Arabic. We're going back to a close-by English Kingdom Hall now. It's just been getting to expensive. Taking a forty minute drive three times a week was too much. But it's been a good four years.
Our last meeting in our previous hall was on Tuesday. We didn't make a big announcement or anything, we just went around and told our friends. News spread quickly. It wasn't announced from the platform and there was no party by request. It's better that way. Everyone said they would miss us, and the feeling was very mutual. In the car on the drive to the meeting, I was actually excited to be going back to English. But as soon as my dad said our last meeting was that night, that changed. I still believe this is the best decision, as do our friends and the rest of the family. My excitement, though, turned to sadness. I didn't cry, but there was a tightness in my chest the whole meeting. I was eager to spread the news, but at the same time I didn't want to. I just wanted to hug all my friends without them knowing I wasn't coming back for awhile and let them know how well they were doing. Then vanish.
That, of course, didn't happen. I only told three people directly, I was approached by most everyone else in the group. I think there's a couple people that weren't told because they weren't at the meeting that night or they left too early. Hopefully those people got the goodbye email my dad sent out. I'm sure they'll figure it out. Any people missing from the Arabic group is noticed.
Anyway, it was an interesting goodbye. It was sad, but it was also full of smiles. People understood why we were taking a break from Arabic. I'm trying really hard not to say "leaving" because we aren't leaving at all. If we can afford to go to the conventions in the summer, then we will. We'll definitely visit. And we could come back, we just don't know. Finally, we had to walk out the door. I walked extra slow, trying to take it all in. We were at that hall for a year, and it was an amazing year. The door closed. We left the parking lot. And that was that.
Taking Arabic was so good for us. We've met friends that we'll forever have. We've expanded our ministry. We were able to travel more as a family. Those accomplishments will never be regretted. It's amazing how learning this language has changed all of us. I've been slowly (very slowly) maturing around adults who care enough to tell me when to shut up, and when I've said the wrong thing. There's too many people that are my age who literally have no one to guide them through life. I know that my parents are excellent at guiding me, but you can never have too many role models, right? Hopefully when I visit, they'll be able to see the "Adult Me." Because, let's face it, everyone's seen enough of "Teen Me."
Our first English meeting was today. My two closest friends are there, and it was glorious knowing that I'll see them on a regular basis once again. Also, there's girls my age in this hall, which will be nice considering I spend a lot of time with guys at school. I mean, sometimes I just want to talk about hair. It was a happy new beginning.
Learning Arabic was the best decision our family has ever made. It's just time to move on for now. The group will never leave our hearts or minds, and we will keep in touch. We love them after all.
May Jehovah continue to bless them.
Our last meeting in our previous hall was on Tuesday. We didn't make a big announcement or anything, we just went around and told our friends. News spread quickly. It wasn't announced from the platform and there was no party by request. It's better that way. Everyone said they would miss us, and the feeling was very mutual. In the car on the drive to the meeting, I was actually excited to be going back to English. But as soon as my dad said our last meeting was that night, that changed. I still believe this is the best decision, as do our friends and the rest of the family. My excitement, though, turned to sadness. I didn't cry, but there was a tightness in my chest the whole meeting. I was eager to spread the news, but at the same time I didn't want to. I just wanted to hug all my friends without them knowing I wasn't coming back for awhile and let them know how well they were doing. Then vanish.
That, of course, didn't happen. I only told three people directly, I was approached by most everyone else in the group. I think there's a couple people that weren't told because they weren't at the meeting that night or they left too early. Hopefully those people got the goodbye email my dad sent out. I'm sure they'll figure it out. Any people missing from the Arabic group is noticed.
Anyway, it was an interesting goodbye. It was sad, but it was also full of smiles. People understood why we were taking a break from Arabic. I'm trying really hard not to say "leaving" because we aren't leaving at all. If we can afford to go to the conventions in the summer, then we will. We'll definitely visit. And we could come back, we just don't know. Finally, we had to walk out the door. I walked extra slow, trying to take it all in. We were at that hall for a year, and it was an amazing year. The door closed. We left the parking lot. And that was that.
Taking Arabic was so good for us. We've met friends that we'll forever have. We've expanded our ministry. We were able to travel more as a family. Those accomplishments will never be regretted. It's amazing how learning this language has changed all of us. I've been slowly (very slowly) maturing around adults who care enough to tell me when to shut up, and when I've said the wrong thing. There's too many people that are my age who literally have no one to guide them through life. I know that my parents are excellent at guiding me, but you can never have too many role models, right? Hopefully when I visit, they'll be able to see the "Adult Me." Because, let's face it, everyone's seen enough of "Teen Me."
Our first English meeting was today. My two closest friends are there, and it was glorious knowing that I'll see them on a regular basis once again. Also, there's girls my age in this hall, which will be nice considering I spend a lot of time with guys at school. I mean, sometimes I just want to talk about hair. It was a happy new beginning.
Learning Arabic was the best decision our family has ever made. It's just time to move on for now. The group will never leave our hearts or minds, and we will keep in touch. We love them after all.
May Jehovah continue to bless them.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Rain, rain, don't go away!
Since I am a person who just brought groceries in the house from the pouring rain, I have every right to say I love the rain.
So very much.
Thus brings us to the "rain" post. Rain is just one of those things that you can't describe unless you've been in it. It's not just a form of precipitation. It's an experience.
Water adds drama/romance to everything. Why are all fight/make out scenes in the rain? When you think about it, fighting and kissing are opposite actions. You can't do one while thinking about the other. Could you imagine?
"All right. Time to fight Daredevil. Hmm...maybe we should kiss later..."
Was the Kingpin thinking that? I don't think so. If he was...well...let's move on.
Rain is depressing sometimes. A lot of the time in movies, it's raining during the funeral scenes. It represents sadness for the most part. Water droplets make everything look dramatic. Then again, that's why people kiss in it.
I suppose rain is the movie's natural irony. Kissing in the rain seems silly, but almost every girl I know dreams of doing just that. Yeah right. Girls, the movies are fake, you know that right? It seems like a cute idea, then you do it and you're freezing because you've been in the rain too long. Then your hair gets frizzy and you can't see if you have glasses. If it's cold enough your nose will start running. Also, no relationship should be based on the girl's fantasies. Or the boy's for that matter. But I digress. If you're reading this, though, you should be used to that.
As I was saying, I think having happy occurrences in the rain is supposed to be ironic. It's like the movie is saying, "See? Rain doesn't have to make things so sad after all!" I love how rain looks (I could watch the rain fall for a long time) but what's even better is how it feels.
When I was outside just now, I had my Sno-Isle sweatshirt on because it was warm and had a hood. I love the rain, but not the cold. I flipped the hood up, stepped outside, and immediately took my hood down. The feel of rain is the best experience. Besides, if I had my hood on, I couldn't hear it well enough.
There's too many people I know that despise the rain. This one girl I knew last year would remind me how much she hated the rain, every time it rained. In Washington, it's a common occurrence. But that didn't stop us from having a puddle-splashing fight. By the end, we were soaked and laughing our heads off. She literally had to wring her socks out. I think I was wearing my boots that day, so my socks were dry.
Speaking of boots, rain means I get to wear my boots! My jean cuffs get soaked but who cares? I have cute shoes on!
Most people I know that hate the rain don't like it because of the wetness aspect. They don't like the feeling of their hair getting wetter every time a droplet falls on their head. I don't see what the problem is. That's my favorite part.
Watch this gorgeous girl lip-syncing in the "rain." You'll understand the quotation marks if you watch it. I'm not giving anything away. I will say that it is not a scare video. I hate those. I've watched this four times already in the last hour. I love it.
So very much.
Thus brings us to the "rain" post. Rain is just one of those things that you can't describe unless you've been in it. It's not just a form of precipitation. It's an experience.
"All right. Time to fight Daredevil. Hmm...maybe we should kiss later..."
Rain is depressing sometimes. A lot of the time in movies, it's raining during the funeral scenes. It represents sadness for the most part. Water droplets make everything look dramatic. Then again, that's why people kiss in it.
I suppose rain is the movie's natural irony. Kissing in the rain seems silly, but almost every girl I know dreams of doing just that. Yeah right. Girls, the movies are fake, you know that right? It seems like a cute idea, then you do it and you're freezing because you've been in the rain too long. Then your hair gets frizzy and you can't see if you have glasses. If it's cold enough your nose will start running. Also, no relationship should be based on the girl's fantasies. Or the boy's for that matter. But I digress. If you're reading this, though, you should be used to that.
As I was saying, I think having happy occurrences in the rain is supposed to be ironic. It's like the movie is saying, "See? Rain doesn't have to make things so sad after all!" I love how rain looks (I could watch the rain fall for a long time) but what's even better is how it feels.
When I was outside just now, I had my Sno-Isle sweatshirt on because it was warm and had a hood. I love the rain, but not the cold. I flipped the hood up, stepped outside, and immediately took my hood down. The feel of rain is the best experience. Besides, if I had my hood on, I couldn't hear it well enough.
 | |
| Ok, these are dewdrops on my mom's rose. But the principle is the same! |
Speaking of boots, rain means I get to wear my boots! My jean cuffs get soaked but who cares? I have cute shoes on!
Most people I know that hate the rain don't like it because of the wetness aspect. They don't like the feeling of their hair getting wetter every time a droplet falls on their head. I don't see what the problem is. That's my favorite part.
Watch this gorgeous girl lip-syncing in the "rain." You'll understand the quotation marks if you watch it. I'm not giving anything away. I will say that it is not a scare video. I hate those. I've watched this four times already in the last hour. I love it.
But I've said too much already. Talking about rain tends to ruin the experience.
Enjoy the rain! You better not stay inside!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Senior Year: First Month-ish
All right, I admit. The only reason I've been blogging for three days in a row is because I'm sick and have nothing else to do. Surprisingly, TV does get boring after awhile. But here is an update on school so far (stuff I didn't mention on my other post).
First of all, I got an A- on my summer assignment!! Woot! I am so proud of myself because I worked really hard on it. I love AP Lit so much. It's my favorite class this year. Sorry, Sno-Isle. It's been a good run, but constantly working in groups is not really my thing. We can still be friends though, right? Sno-Isle?
Oh well. Today I learned that our project in Sno-Isle is due Monday, which is a huge relief. My group didn't make much progress today. In all honesty though, it's not like I'm the shining beacon of responsibility and I always get things done. Today would have been a slack-off day, especially since Snohomish leaves early. An hour early to be exact. The important thing is that we finish, and I'm fairly certain we will. Come on, though, it's only the second project of the year, I'm sure we'll get better. No, my teacher (Tory) is not the type to force us to stay in one group all year, I choose to stay with them. Why? Well, it's definitely not their work ethic. Haha. I stay with them because I would get bored rather quickly if all we did was work. When I get a real job, sarcasm will probably be scarce, so I'm savoring it while I can. If you ask them why they're staying in the group, though, I honestly have no idea what they'll say. It's not because of me, I know that. Actually, if any one of us left the group, none of us would stop them. I mean, they're a bunch of guys and that means it's all logic and no emotion. I might miss them if they leave the group, but I'm the emotion. Just ask, they'll tell you. So I think it's the whole group that makes everyone stick together. Wow, that sounds incredibly cheesy, but what other reason is there? None of them are reading this (probably) and they aren't about to stop me randomly and say "Let me tell you all the things that make this group so amazing and why we haven't abandoned you." That's my job. I constantly tell them how great they're doing. Or how not so great they're doing. I don't know why, because it's not like it helps them any. But as team leader I'd feel weird if I was "that team leader" who constantly told everyone how bad they were doing and that all the work they did wasn't good enough. But I also don't want to be "that team leader" who literally sits there silently without giving any instruction. Wait...I've actually done that. But that was because of my cold and I was incredibly exhausted. I know, I know, I'm making excuses, but I seriously don't want to do that again. I've discovered that if I'm not working, they don't progress as well, just because it is a group effort after all.
The nice thing about working with guys in this age group is that none of them start bugging me about not working unless they're teasing me. Trust me, I've heard some girls (including me) get really mad about that one person on their group who didn't do anything. Heck, I've ranted about this group to my friends. But after working with them for a little bit, I realized that none of them actually want to fail. None of them actually like seeing me flip out on them either (which I have done three or four times. Not recently though). There have been people who enjoy seeing me flip out. If these guys were like that, I would dislike them all. Me being mad is amusing (because it's so unlike me), but they aren't trying to make me mad, which I appreciate. It's not just any group after all. It's my group.
Ok, now I'm sounding to much like a mom (that happens quite often, no joke) so I'm going try not to think about the last day of senior year when it hits me I'll never see them again. I'm dreading that day. I'm not going to cry, that's a fact. First of all, I've never cried at school before (except in 4th grade when I had a really bad ear infection). Secondly, a lot of my friends are guys, and not only do none of them want to see me get emotional, but they aren't going to be emotional. Nothing. Zilch. I'm starting to see why so many romantic relationships don't work out in high school because girls don't realize that just because guys don't act as happy as the girl does in the relationship, it doesn't mean the guy doesn't care. Boys and girls are different. But I have girlish tendencies too. Somewhere in the back of my head are my emotions telling me that if a guy friend doesn't scream "I'll miss you!" on the brink of tears directly to me, then maybe he doesn't actually care. Of course that isn't true. But those are consistent thoughts that go through my head on the last day of school. "Are they going to miss me at all?" And if they say they'll miss me, that never works because they have to be all emotional about, like we're dating or something. Realistically, if one of them did do that to me, it'd be weird and awkward and I'd question our relationship throughout the year (we were just friends, right?).
Sometimes I hate being a girl that loves people so much. It takes me longer to get over things. So I'll have to force myself to not keep in contact with any of my friends (except Hayley and a couple exceptions) because if I don't the "drifting apart" will take too long, which always makes it worse. It's high school. You're supposed to make friends you'll never see again. But imagine if we were launched into a workplace right away and had never had a close friend before. We would either make the wrong ones because we don't know what we like, or isolate ourselves and be lonely the rest of our lives. I'm pathetic, I know. I've already started planning out what I want to say in other people's yearbooks. It's the first month of school.
"And here on the left, you'll see First Street, the home of our popular antique shops and shows. Wait...what's that? Oh, it's Michaela being nostalgic again. GO HOME!"
"But...but I don't want to! I'll never see them again!"
"You graduated twenty years ago! Get off the street corner! You look ridiculous."
"I want to go back! Let me go back!"
"Oh no. Quick! Someone grab the time machine before she gets to it first!"
See, it's funny because we don't have tour guides in Snohomish. The town is much too small and boring. But I still love this town, and this state for that matter. What can I say, I'm a sucker for rain. But I'll blog about rain later. That post will be much shorter, I promise.
Wait..I just realized this was supposed to be about school. I get on the topic of Sno-Isle and it all goes haywire. Great.
"Hello. My name is Michaela...and I am nostalgic..."
"Hi Michaela..."
I should consider joining NA (Nostalgics Anonymous). There's quite a confusion because NA already stands for Not Applicable. Not many people know about it.
Anyway, I need to leave before I become a hot nostalgic mess and this blog post becomes really long.
Oh wait...
First of all, I got an A- on my summer assignment!! Woot! I am so proud of myself because I worked really hard on it. I love AP Lit so much. It's my favorite class this year. Sorry, Sno-Isle. It's been a good run, but constantly working in groups is not really my thing. We can still be friends though, right? Sno-Isle?
Oh well. Today I learned that our project in Sno-Isle is due Monday, which is a huge relief. My group didn't make much progress today. In all honesty though, it's not like I'm the shining beacon of responsibility and I always get things done. Today would have been a slack-off day, especially since Snohomish leaves early. An hour early to be exact. The important thing is that we finish, and I'm fairly certain we will. Come on, though, it's only the second project of the year, I'm sure we'll get better. No, my teacher (Tory) is not the type to force us to stay in one group all year, I choose to stay with them. Why? Well, it's definitely not their work ethic. Haha. I stay with them because I would get bored rather quickly if all we did was work. When I get a real job, sarcasm will probably be scarce, so I'm savoring it while I can. If you ask them why they're staying in the group, though, I honestly have no idea what they'll say. It's not because of me, I know that. Actually, if any one of us left the group, none of us would stop them. I mean, they're a bunch of guys and that means it's all logic and no emotion. I might miss them if they leave the group, but I'm the emotion. Just ask, they'll tell you. So I think it's the whole group that makes everyone stick together. Wow, that sounds incredibly cheesy, but what other reason is there? None of them are reading this (probably) and they aren't about to stop me randomly and say "Let me tell you all the things that make this group so amazing and why we haven't abandoned you." That's my job. I constantly tell them how great they're doing. Or how not so great they're doing. I don't know why, because it's not like it helps them any. But as team leader I'd feel weird if I was "that team leader" who constantly told everyone how bad they were doing and that all the work they did wasn't good enough. But I also don't want to be "that team leader" who literally sits there silently without giving any instruction. Wait...I've actually done that. But that was because of my cold and I was incredibly exhausted. I know, I know, I'm making excuses, but I seriously don't want to do that again. I've discovered that if I'm not working, they don't progress as well, just because it is a group effort after all.
The nice thing about working with guys in this age group is that none of them start bugging me about not working unless they're teasing me. Trust me, I've heard some girls (including me) get really mad about that one person on their group who didn't do anything. Heck, I've ranted about this group to my friends. But after working with them for a little bit, I realized that none of them actually want to fail. None of them actually like seeing me flip out on them either (which I have done three or four times. Not recently though). There have been people who enjoy seeing me flip out. If these guys were like that, I would dislike them all. Me being mad is amusing (because it's so unlike me), but they aren't trying to make me mad, which I appreciate. It's not just any group after all. It's my group.
Ok, now I'm sounding to much like a mom (that happens quite often, no joke) so I'm going try not to think about the last day of senior year when it hits me I'll never see them again. I'm dreading that day. I'm not going to cry, that's a fact. First of all, I've never cried at school before (except in 4th grade when I had a really bad ear infection). Secondly, a lot of my friends are guys, and not only do none of them want to see me get emotional, but they aren't going to be emotional. Nothing. Zilch. I'm starting to see why so many romantic relationships don't work out in high school because girls don't realize that just because guys don't act as happy as the girl does in the relationship, it doesn't mean the guy doesn't care. Boys and girls are different. But I have girlish tendencies too. Somewhere in the back of my head are my emotions telling me that if a guy friend doesn't scream "I'll miss you!" on the brink of tears directly to me, then maybe he doesn't actually care. Of course that isn't true. But those are consistent thoughts that go through my head on the last day of school. "Are they going to miss me at all?" And if they say they'll miss me, that never works because they have to be all emotional about, like we're dating or something. Realistically, if one of them did do that to me, it'd be weird and awkward and I'd question our relationship throughout the year (we were just friends, right?).
Sometimes I hate being a girl that loves people so much. It takes me longer to get over things. So I'll have to force myself to not keep in contact with any of my friends (except Hayley and a couple exceptions) because if I don't the "drifting apart" will take too long, which always makes it worse. It's high school. You're supposed to make friends you'll never see again. But imagine if we were launched into a workplace right away and had never had a close friend before. We would either make the wrong ones because we don't know what we like, or isolate ourselves and be lonely the rest of our lives. I'm pathetic, I know. I've already started planning out what I want to say in other people's yearbooks. It's the first month of school.
"And here on the left, you'll see First Street, the home of our popular antique shops and shows. Wait...what's that? Oh, it's Michaela being nostalgic again. GO HOME!"
"But...but I don't want to! I'll never see them again!"
"You graduated twenty years ago! Get off the street corner! You look ridiculous."
"I want to go back! Let me go back!"
"Oh no. Quick! Someone grab the time machine before she gets to it first!"
See, it's funny because we don't have tour guides in Snohomish. The town is much too small and boring. But I still love this town, and this state for that matter. What can I say, I'm a sucker for rain. But I'll blog about rain later. That post will be much shorter, I promise.
Wait..I just realized this was supposed to be about school. I get on the topic of Sno-Isle and it all goes haywire. Great.
"Hello. My name is Michaela...and I am nostalgic..."
"Hi Michaela..."
I should consider joining NA (Nostalgics Anonymous). There's quite a confusion because NA already stands for Not Applicable. Not many people know about it.
Anyway, I need to leave before I become a hot nostalgic mess and this blog post becomes really long.
Oh wait...
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sick Boredom
Being sick is never fun, but the thing that kills me most is all the free time. I've decided not to go to school or work tomorrow, so I have the entire day to do whatever. But, because I'm sick with this cold, everything is tedious and/or painful.
Messing around on my phone for a long time is fun for awhile, but the light makes my sinus headache worse, and I put it down. Then I may decide to sleep. Sleep only works if I'm "throw-up" sick though. Then you're sick enough to be exhausted all day. I would know. I got that virus in June and did nothing but sleep (and get up maybe once or twice) all day. I actually didn't even sleep on my bed. Getting up to go to bed was too much work.
Colds are different. After awhile my body says, "Hey, you're not tired! Get out of bed!" But as soon as I stand up I get a really bad head rush. Since my head hurts I want to sleep, but my body is stubborn. So what am I supposed to do for 18 hours? Last time I got a cold I texted all day, but I don't really text a lot anymore. I am this year, though, because there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Sno-Isle projects. I will text a little to see if my group is actually working. And our project is due tomorrow and we have a lot to do. So I need to check in on my group mates to see if they did anything. Besides, if we get a good grade on the project, I'm buying them all donuts. Or make cookies. Whichever they want. Why? Because I'm team leader! That's what we do!
Anyway, I hate the days where you literally have nothing to do because the things you would normally be able to do is too hard. Wow, I sound so lazy.
Fortunately, tomorrow's Friday. So now I'll have all weekend to recover. Also, I'm missing a quiz tomorrow. Did I plan this on purpose? Hmm?? Mwahahaha!
No, I actually did not. It just happened to be that way. However, in the back of my head I thought "I really don't want to do a quiz in this condition."
I realized that after I pushed myself through school that no one would really want to sit around me in this condition. I wouldn't. My friends jokingly leaned away from me last period, but I thought about it and decided it would be best to take a day off.
Commencing boredom!
If you have suggestions, please let me know. I'll be checking comments quite often tomorrow because I probably won't be leaving my laptop for more than a few minutes.
Tomorrow would be a good time to continue reading Frankenstein. It's quite difficult to follow, but I get the idea. I'm on Chapter four, and the name "Frankenstein" was finally revealed as being the name of the current narrator (I say "current" because technically there's two narrators, but anyway...). And it was mentioned in passing! I think I'm finally getting to the more interesting parts. It was revealed that Frankenstein knew the "secret" to animation (no, not cartoon animation. Like, bringing people to life and stuff.). But he'll never tell what it is. Ooohhhh.
Ok, bedtime. Then boredom. Yay.
Messing around on my phone for a long time is fun for awhile, but the light makes my sinus headache worse, and I put it down. Then I may decide to sleep. Sleep only works if I'm "throw-up" sick though. Then you're sick enough to be exhausted all day. I would know. I got that virus in June and did nothing but sleep (and get up maybe once or twice) all day. I actually didn't even sleep on my bed. Getting up to go to bed was too much work.
Colds are different. After awhile my body says, "Hey, you're not tired! Get out of bed!" But as soon as I stand up I get a really bad head rush. Since my head hurts I want to sleep, but my body is stubborn. So what am I supposed to do for 18 hours? Last time I got a cold I texted all day, but I don't really text a lot anymore. I am this year, though, because there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Sno-Isle projects. I will text a little to see if my group is actually working. And our project is due tomorrow and we have a lot to do. So I need to check in on my group mates to see if they did anything. Besides, if we get a good grade on the project, I'm buying them all donuts. Or make cookies. Whichever they want. Why? Because I'm team leader! That's what we do!
Anyway, I hate the days where you literally have nothing to do because the things you would normally be able to do is too hard. Wow, I sound so lazy.
Fortunately, tomorrow's Friday. So now I'll have all weekend to recover. Also, I'm missing a quiz tomorrow. Did I plan this on purpose? Hmm?? Mwahahaha!
No, I actually did not. It just happened to be that way. However, in the back of my head I thought "I really don't want to do a quiz in this condition."
I realized that after I pushed myself through school that no one would really want to sit around me in this condition. I wouldn't. My friends jokingly leaned away from me last period, but I thought about it and decided it would be best to take a day off.
Commencing boredom!
If you have suggestions, please let me know. I'll be checking comments quite often tomorrow because I probably won't be leaving my laptop for more than a few minutes.
Tomorrow would be a good time to continue reading Frankenstein. It's quite difficult to follow, but I get the idea. I'm on Chapter four, and the name "Frankenstein" was finally revealed as being the name of the current narrator (I say "current" because technically there's two narrators, but anyway...). And it was mentioned in passing! I think I'm finally getting to the more interesting parts. It was revealed that Frankenstein knew the "secret" to animation (no, not cartoon animation. Like, bringing people to life and stuff.). But he'll never tell what it is. Ooohhhh.
Ok, bedtime. Then boredom. Yay.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Guitar Lessons: Progress Has Been Made!
My guitar and I have a complicated relationship. Sometimes I give it all the attention it needs, sometimes I leave it alone for weeks at a time. Sounds like some relationships at my high school. Speaking of school, since school started, I need something to relax every once in awhile. Don't worry, I'm getting my homework done. But I've come crawling back to my guitar. Fortunately, it accepted me back willingly. My calluses are coming back.
Oh, and I learned how to strum upward. What's that? That's right. An accomplishment. No, it's not a very big one, but I think it's pretty awesome I can play "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz all by myself because of this newly acquired skill. And the song that I wrote a little while ago called "Beautiful Girl" sounds a lot better when I strum upwards. Wait...did I tell you I wrote a song (of course I did. Right here.)? I've written two, but one was for my friend because she needed one to put in her story. She'll probably post it at some point. She's Rugphan's Fiction. The other song I wrote, though, actually has some meaning to how I was feeling at time. I'll have to record it sometime and post it.
But alas, I still know no barre chords. I'm so disappointed because this song called "Rhythm of Love" is an amazing, and it's really easy to play. As long as you can play chord B7. B7 is a barre chord. A relatively easy one, but a barre chord nonetheless. Curse you barre chords!
I don't really share my "accomplishments" to my fellow guitar players at school, because they're way ahead of me. One of them is learning similar songs that I'm learning, and he's encouraging. But when I told him I can strum up now, he laughed as he pictured me simply strumming downward. It's not like he hurt my feelings, but I realized he didn't share my enthusiasm. The other guy already knows guitar really well, but he plays metal. He's shocked whenever I tell him I don't know a band he's really familiar with. We clearly didn't learn guitar for the same reasons. I never want to play metal. I mean, if I have the capability at some point, that's fine. But I'd rather write beautiful music that can warm people's hearts or make them cry. Now that I think about it, he took the "guy" approach to music and I took the "girl" approach. Yes, I know I'm generalizing. You don't have to remind me. I know there are girls who play metal songs, and guys that write songs like "I'm Yours."
Anyway, I'm sticking to sharing my accomplishments with my blog. Because half the people who read this don't play guitar. So I sound like a genius. The same thing happens when I speak Arabic to people. I don't know that much, but I'm better than them, so I'm awesome at it. It's all relative. I'm happy with people being impressed by my writing, Arabic, and niceness. Guitar is optional. I'm already good at other stuff, so this is just for fun. Professionalism is not what I'm aiming for. My future career will hopefully involve computers. See? That will be another thing I want to be good at and can impress people with. Why bother with guitar when I'm good at so many other things? I'm just kidding. If I have kids, I'm writing their lullabies.
On another note, school is going well. I've never laughed so much at school. Sno-Isle is always funny when I'm not stressed. AP Lit always makes me laugh. It's hilarious because my teacher will tell a joke and start laughing. Then we're laughing because of the joke and because of his laugh. His laugh is the best bit. The jokes you wouldn't really get unless you've read Crime and Punishment. So, if you have, you can contact me and I'll let you in on some of my classes jokes. And modern fiction is funny because of the people I sit next to. They make me laugh constantly, even if I don't want to. They're just the kind of people who always make me laugh without trying at all. If I tried to explain those jokes, you wouldn't laugh. Trust me. The jokes we tell are usually only funny for a day. Except for "Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-apple juice!" See, it's funny because the song goes "Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol!" Get it? I told you that you wouldn't laugh.
To conclude, I have my first cold of the year. So yay for that. This is the first cold I've had with glasses. Sinus pressure in your nose + Glasses resting on your nose = not good. My head throbs when I stand up, but whatever. This is probably my cold's worse day. I'm only wearing my glasses at school. There's no real reason to wear them at home. When I think about it, if I take my glasses off for whatever reason at home, I don't usually put them back on. They're a nuisance. It's so much work to pick them up, put them on, all that stuff. What am I, active? Yeah right!
That is all for today. I'm going to back to grabbing tissues, complaining, and listening to my music collection. When I don't listen to my "favorites" playlist, me listening to music usually goes like this.
"Oh! Coldplay!" *listens* "Ok, no more ColdPlay." *skip skip skip skip* "Come on! Where's Basshunter!" *skip skip skip skip skip* "There he is!" *listens* "Ok, no more Basshunter." *skip skip skip skip*
Does anybody else skip a lot of songs when they're listening to music? Or do I have to delete a lot of songs?
So long for now. Stay healthy! Colds are no fun.
Oh, and I learned how to strum upward. What's that? That's right. An accomplishment. No, it's not a very big one, but I think it's pretty awesome I can play "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz all by myself because of this newly acquired skill. And the song that I wrote a little while ago called "Beautiful Girl" sounds a lot better when I strum upwards. Wait...did I tell you I wrote a song (of course I did. Right here.)? I've written two, but one was for my friend because she needed one to put in her story. She'll probably post it at some point. She's Rugphan's Fiction. The other song I wrote, though, actually has some meaning to how I was feeling at time. I'll have to record it sometime and post it.
But alas, I still know no barre chords. I'm so disappointed because this song called "Rhythm of Love" is an amazing, and it's really easy to play. As long as you can play chord B7. B7 is a barre chord. A relatively easy one, but a barre chord nonetheless. Curse you barre chords!
I don't really share my "accomplishments" to my fellow guitar players at school, because they're way ahead of me. One of them is learning similar songs that I'm learning, and he's encouraging. But when I told him I can strum up now, he laughed as he pictured me simply strumming downward. It's not like he hurt my feelings, but I realized he didn't share my enthusiasm. The other guy already knows guitar really well, but he plays metal. He's shocked whenever I tell him I don't know a band he's really familiar with. We clearly didn't learn guitar for the same reasons. I never want to play metal. I mean, if I have the capability at some point, that's fine. But I'd rather write beautiful music that can warm people's hearts or make them cry. Now that I think about it, he took the "guy" approach to music and I took the "girl" approach. Yes, I know I'm generalizing. You don't have to remind me. I know there are girls who play metal songs, and guys that write songs like "I'm Yours."
Anyway, I'm sticking to sharing my accomplishments with my blog. Because half the people who read this don't play guitar. So I sound like a genius. The same thing happens when I speak Arabic to people. I don't know that much, but I'm better than them, so I'm awesome at it. It's all relative. I'm happy with people being impressed by my writing, Arabic, and niceness. Guitar is optional. I'm already good at other stuff, so this is just for fun. Professionalism is not what I'm aiming for. My future career will hopefully involve computers. See? That will be another thing I want to be good at and can impress people with. Why bother with guitar when I'm good at so many other things? I'm just kidding. If I have kids, I'm writing their lullabies.
On another note, school is going well. I've never laughed so much at school. Sno-Isle is always funny when I'm not stressed. AP Lit always makes me laugh. It's hilarious because my teacher will tell a joke and start laughing. Then we're laughing because of the joke and because of his laugh. His laugh is the best bit. The jokes you wouldn't really get unless you've read Crime and Punishment. So, if you have, you can contact me and I'll let you in on some of my classes jokes. And modern fiction is funny because of the people I sit next to. They make me laugh constantly, even if I don't want to. They're just the kind of people who always make me laugh without trying at all. If I tried to explain those jokes, you wouldn't laugh. Trust me. The jokes we tell are usually only funny for a day. Except for "Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-apple juice!" See, it's funny because the song goes "Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol!" Get it? I told you that you wouldn't laugh.
To conclude, I have my first cold of the year. So yay for that. This is the first cold I've had with glasses. Sinus pressure in your nose + Glasses resting on your nose = not good. My head throbs when I stand up, but whatever. This is probably my cold's worse day. I'm only wearing my glasses at school. There's no real reason to wear them at home. When I think about it, if I take my glasses off for whatever reason at home, I don't usually put them back on. They're a nuisance. It's so much work to pick them up, put them on, all that stuff. What am I, active? Yeah right!
That is all for today. I'm going to back to grabbing tissues, complaining, and listening to my music collection. When I don't listen to my "favorites" playlist, me listening to music usually goes like this.
"Oh! Coldplay!" *listens* "Ok, no more ColdPlay." *skip skip skip skip* "Come on! Where's Basshunter!" *skip skip skip skip skip* "There he is!" *listens* "Ok, no more Basshunter." *skip skip skip skip*
Does anybody else skip a lot of songs when they're listening to music? Or do I have to delete a lot of songs?
So long for now. Stay healthy! Colds are no fun.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
What's the Deal With Eyes?
If someone compliments my eyes (which hardly happens), what exactly are they complimenting? The color, the emotion it brings them, the emotion it projects?
What makes eyes emotional anyway? I have never understood that. I am not a very good analyzer of eyes, but with that being said, I still see some emotion in them. Where does that come from? Is it in the eyes or our own mind.
Someone I know has very unique eyes, and it's not because of their color. One minute, his eyes are friendly and the next they are extremely off-putting and creepy. How does he do that?! But he is a unique person on his own. He's the type of guy that you never really know is serious or not if he tells you something really weird. You hope he's kidding, but you don't know for sure. Actually, that isn't very unique because a lot of boys in my high school are like that.
Eyes are a strange phenomena. They do wonderful things like help us see. But they also do interesting things like lie. In my opinion, eyes are the most devious part of the body. There are some eyes I've come across that are rather enjoyable to look at. Sometimes it's because of their color, but other times it's because they look so inviting. It's all very strange. I don't know how people can make their eyes look friendly when they're lying to you. They hold so much emotion behind them, and I can't comprehend how someone puts on fake eye-emotion. Most of us have acted happy when we're not, but how do you make your eyes look happy when you're not?
Clearly, I have no idea what I'm talking about because I keep asking so many questions. What do you think about eyes? Do you think about eyes? If not, I apologize for being so strange.
I'm going to go back to looking up people on FaceBook that graduated last year. Of course, I can't go to their wall, but I can see what their interests are. I've only found a couple, and I can't think of very many. This is not going well.
Oh, and school is well (but stressful) and my knee (I scraped it last week) is healing. And I haven't been playing guitar as much because I've been too busy. Thanks for asking.
What makes eyes emotional anyway? I have never understood that. I am not a very good analyzer of eyes, but with that being said, I still see some emotion in them. Where does that come from? Is it in the eyes or our own mind.
Someone I know has very unique eyes, and it's not because of their color. One minute, his eyes are friendly and the next they are extremely off-putting and creepy. How does he do that?! But he is a unique person on his own. He's the type of guy that you never really know is serious or not if he tells you something really weird. You hope he's kidding, but you don't know for sure. Actually, that isn't very unique because a lot of boys in my high school are like that.
Eyes are a strange phenomena. They do wonderful things like help us see. But they also do interesting things like lie. In my opinion, eyes are the most devious part of the body. There are some eyes I've come across that are rather enjoyable to look at. Sometimes it's because of their color, but other times it's because they look so inviting. It's all very strange. I don't know how people can make their eyes look friendly when they're lying to you. They hold so much emotion behind them, and I can't comprehend how someone puts on fake eye-emotion. Most of us have acted happy when we're not, but how do you make your eyes look happy when you're not?
Clearly, I have no idea what I'm talking about because I keep asking so many questions. What do you think about eyes? Do you think about eyes? If not, I apologize for being so strange.
I'm going to go back to looking up people on FaceBook that graduated last year. Of course, I can't go to their wall, but I can see what their interests are. I've only found a couple, and I can't think of very many. This is not going well.
Oh, and school is well (but stressful) and my knee (I scraped it last week) is healing. And I haven't been playing guitar as much because I've been too busy. Thanks for asking.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Senior Year: First day
No, I'm not going to do a day by day analysis of senior year. But I think that one day I might want to look back on this and wonder what I did on the first day of senior year. So here it goes.
First of all, I strained my throat before I even got on the bus to go to Sno-Isle. I had coffee that morning, which doesn't affect me as much as it used to, but with all the excitement added to the caffeine, I was really hyper. The morning was full of hugs and story-telling. I don't think there's a single person I said hi to that I didn't hug. I was screaming so many people's names, I was so excited. Another reason I was happy was because I had switched buses. My old bus changed routes, so now I ride a much less crowded bus. There's someone I know too, so I found someone to sit next to.
Unfortunately, my Sno-Isle bus driver changed. I liked my old one, and I really wanted to know how her summer was. But that's ok. Anyway, everyone piled onto the first bus, which was crammed and really hot due to all the body heat. One of the people who make sure everyone gets to Sno-Isle told us that the second bus was on its way. Me and several other people I knew got off and all sat together on the second bus.
The bus ride was more nostalgic than anything. The conversation was mostly video-game related, and since I only play Portal 2 (and I haven't in a long time because I've been so busy) I was uninterested. I did talk a little bit though. It's unlike a caffeinated me to be quiet for two seconds.
Then we reached Sno-Isle. Ahh, Sno-Isle. My old classroom was transferred into the DigiPen class, and the DigiPen classroom was turned into the math support room. I thought it would be saddening, but it wasn't really. I have some regrets about taking Computer and Web Programming. I have nothing against the people in my class who might be reading this (all three of you), but I didn't learn anything in that class at all. It was all pointless field trips and talking about nothing. If I hadn't taken Sno-Isle at all, I probably would have learned more. Anyway, that's a whole other rant that I shouldn't get into while my former Sno-Isle classmates are reading.
One benefit of taking CWP, I guess, was the fact that I already knew someone in the class from last year. Well, I knew three in total, but the other two people were from my school, so of course I'd know them. So I sat next to the former classmate, who immediately began helping everyone. If someone turns around and asks aloud, "How do you do this?" then he will usually jump on it. Unless he's listening to music. Or talking to someone he likes better.
CSN (Computer Servers/Networking) sounds like it will be very beneficial. We took a pre-test to see how much we know. I failed miserably (35%), which is good, because I want to learn all that terminology. I'm really looking forward to it. I was the only girl in the class, but there's supposed to be two more. I hope so. Even though I enjoy talking with guys, I occasionally desire some estrogen. Sometimes I want to talk about my hair, or someone's cute outfit. I'm hoping the girls aren't complete nerds who don't care about anything girly. I'd miss talking about that eventually.
By lunchtime my throat was dry and strained, and I was really hot. My friends ate outside but everyone was kinda uncomfortable from the heat. But I discovered something. I make good pumpkin cheesecake. The two people (and me) that tried it really liked it. I wanted to share it with more people, but I think it will be hard to transfer. I'm thinking I'll made it and bring a few slices worth, and then give it to some friends. So that was a success. Now I want to open a bake shop. Ha, ha. Yeah right. Computers before cookies. And writing before w-...um...what's a dessert that starts with W? Whipped cream? Ok, writing before whipping. Wait...that doesn't sound like a reference to baking.
Let's move on. Government was fine. My teacher is one that most kids don't like, but if you get on his good side, then you'll be fine. I'm not so sure about me. This is a political class (the one I didn't want). I'm politically neutral. This might cause problems with assignments later. But I'll just bring it to his attention ASAP and hopefully I won't fail.
AP Literature and Composition was really funny, mostly because of the Alpacas in the hallway. That's right, alpacas. Don't ask. Animal science needed them for some reason. The entire hallway of E building (the newest extension to D building) smelled like a barn. The two fluffy Alpacas were literally five feet or so from my English classroom. My teacher had the door open, and when he started introducing himself, one of them would go "Mehhh." It was hilarious. The funniest part was that they kept making that noise every time my teacher finished his sentence. The Alpacas were like punctuation.
Modern Fiction was the only class with my friend Hayley (see other blog posts for references to her), but she decided to switch out after today. We read books with adult content, and she didn't feel comfortable reading a book with a child rape in it. That's ok though. I'll see her in the mornings (if her bus isn't late like it was today) and at Friday lunch. And I'll call her all the time.
And then came the assembly. The "Class of 2012" in uncovered (literally) and all the seniors scream their hearts out. That was fun too. But I still did not do the dance the cheerleaders did. But the guys in the first three rows of our section took care of that. I should have filmed it, but my phone had gum on it (don't ask about that either). Then there was the unnecessary school spirit stuff. And the principal told everyone to vote so our class wins the "Most School Spirit" award. Yeah..I'm not doing that. I will gladly scream because I am proud to be a senior. But I will not act like my school is better than everyone elses, because it isn't. That's my least favorite thing about school.
Anyway, overall I had a really good day and I'm glad to be back in school. I probably won't be saying that for long, but as of right now, I don't care.
SENIORS FTW!
First of all, I strained my throat before I even got on the bus to go to Sno-Isle. I had coffee that morning, which doesn't affect me as much as it used to, but with all the excitement added to the caffeine, I was really hyper. The morning was full of hugs and story-telling. I don't think there's a single person I said hi to that I didn't hug. I was screaming so many people's names, I was so excited. Another reason I was happy was because I had switched buses. My old bus changed routes, so now I ride a much less crowded bus. There's someone I know too, so I found someone to sit next to.
Unfortunately, my Sno-Isle bus driver changed. I liked my old one, and I really wanted to know how her summer was. But that's ok. Anyway, everyone piled onto the first bus, which was crammed and really hot due to all the body heat. One of the people who make sure everyone gets to Sno-Isle told us that the second bus was on its way. Me and several other people I knew got off and all sat together on the second bus.
The bus ride was more nostalgic than anything. The conversation was mostly video-game related, and since I only play Portal 2 (and I haven't in a long time because I've been so busy) I was uninterested. I did talk a little bit though. It's unlike a caffeinated me to be quiet for two seconds.
Then we reached Sno-Isle. Ahh, Sno-Isle. My old classroom was transferred into the DigiPen class, and the DigiPen classroom was turned into the math support room. I thought it would be saddening, but it wasn't really. I have some regrets about taking Computer and Web Programming. I have nothing against the people in my class who might be reading this (all three of you), but I didn't learn anything in that class at all. It was all pointless field trips and talking about nothing. If I hadn't taken Sno-Isle at all, I probably would have learned more. Anyway, that's a whole other rant that I shouldn't get into while my former Sno-Isle classmates are reading.
One benefit of taking CWP, I guess, was the fact that I already knew someone in the class from last year. Well, I knew three in total, but the other two people were from my school, so of course I'd know them. So I sat next to the former classmate, who immediately began helping everyone. If someone turns around and asks aloud, "How do you do this?" then he will usually jump on it. Unless he's listening to music. Or talking to someone he likes better.
CSN (Computer Servers/Networking) sounds like it will be very beneficial. We took a pre-test to see how much we know. I failed miserably (35%), which is good, because I want to learn all that terminology. I'm really looking forward to it. I was the only girl in the class, but there's supposed to be two more. I hope so. Even though I enjoy talking with guys, I occasionally desire some estrogen. Sometimes I want to talk about my hair, or someone's cute outfit. I'm hoping the girls aren't complete nerds who don't care about anything girly. I'd miss talking about that eventually.
By lunchtime my throat was dry and strained, and I was really hot. My friends ate outside but everyone was kinda uncomfortable from the heat. But I discovered something. I make good pumpkin cheesecake. The two people (and me) that tried it really liked it. I wanted to share it with more people, but I think it will be hard to transfer. I'm thinking I'll made it and bring a few slices worth, and then give it to some friends. So that was a success. Now I want to open a bake shop. Ha, ha. Yeah right. Computers before cookies. And writing before w-...um...what's a dessert that starts with W? Whipped cream? Ok, writing before whipping. Wait...that doesn't sound like a reference to baking.
Let's move on. Government was fine. My teacher is one that most kids don't like, but if you get on his good side, then you'll be fine. I'm not so sure about me. This is a political class (the one I didn't want). I'm politically neutral. This might cause problems with assignments later. But I'll just bring it to his attention ASAP and hopefully I won't fail.
AP Literature and Composition was really funny, mostly because of the Alpacas in the hallway. That's right, alpacas. Don't ask. Animal science needed them for some reason. The entire hallway of E building (the newest extension to D building) smelled like a barn. The two fluffy Alpacas were literally five feet or so from my English classroom. My teacher had the door open, and when he started introducing himself, one of them would go "Mehhh." It was hilarious. The funniest part was that they kept making that noise every time my teacher finished his sentence. The Alpacas were like punctuation.
Modern Fiction was the only class with my friend Hayley (see other blog posts for references to her), but she decided to switch out after today. We read books with adult content, and she didn't feel comfortable reading a book with a child rape in it. That's ok though. I'll see her in the mornings (if her bus isn't late like it was today) and at Friday lunch. And I'll call her all the time.
And then came the assembly. The "Class of 2012" in uncovered (literally) and all the seniors scream their hearts out. That was fun too. But I still did not do the dance the cheerleaders did. But the guys in the first three rows of our section took care of that. I should have filmed it, but my phone had gum on it (don't ask about that either). Then there was the unnecessary school spirit stuff. And the principal told everyone to vote so our class wins the "Most School Spirit" award. Yeah..I'm not doing that. I will gladly scream because I am proud to be a senior. But I will not act like my school is better than everyone elses, because it isn't. That's my least favorite thing about school.
Anyway, overall I had a really good day and I'm glad to be back in school. I probably won't be saying that for long, but as of right now, I don't care.
SENIORS FTW!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Could someone please stop time? I'd like to get off.
As people ask me what grade I'm going to be in next year, I consistently tell them I'm going to be a senior. Then it just suddenly hit me that I'm going to be a senior.
Excuse me? Wasn't I just entering middle school a week ago? Wasn't I a 13-year-old who thought everything revolved around her and that she was so awesome just yesterday? Wait, wait. Slow down!! I'm in the prime in life! Adults constantly tell me to savor it because it won't last forever, and I tried. But I failed. Mostly because I thought "savoring" meant to spend endless hours on YouTube and not do homework until the morning it was due.
How am I supposed to savor life when time passes so quickly?
We've all heard this story. Every time we hear it, we might think "Yeah, you're right. I'm going to live life to the fullest and be all I can be! I'm going to learn an instrument, a foriegn language, and make more friends!" But then, of course, we have other things to think about. Everyone, even the guy with no arms and legs who gives speeches at schools, takes life for granted. No matter how often we're told not to, it's impossible to constantly think about every blessing we have. If we did that, we'd never get anything done.
So, what can we do? I say, take time to "count your blessings" every once in awhile. It's good to think about how good we have it. Try not to think about how people who are starving think we have it worse off because they talk to their families every day and appreciate life more. Try not to think about how no matter how good you are at something, there's always someone better than you. Try not to..ok, maybe this isn't the best thing to do.
Maybe we should focus on making good memories instead. Because everyone smiles sometimes, no matter the circumstances. Even emos smile, or did smile, at one point. Just, um, try not to get Alzheimer's Disease and forget it all. Wait..ok...this isn't working.
Never mind, forget it. No matter what I say, you'll complain. You'll complain a lot. You know what? I will too. I feel like it's my responsibility to complain, especially being a woman and all. This won't make time move any slower, but it's better than crying over how good I have it.
So let's do it! Let's all complain our hearts out and procrastinate like there's always a tomorrow! Time will thank us! Maybe.
Excuse me? Wasn't I just entering middle school a week ago? Wasn't I a 13-year-old who thought everything revolved around her and that she was so awesome just yesterday? Wait, wait. Slow down!! I'm in the prime in life! Adults constantly tell me to savor it because it won't last forever, and I tried. But I failed. Mostly because I thought "savoring" meant to spend endless hours on YouTube and not do homework until the morning it was due.
How am I supposed to savor life when time passes so quickly?
We've all heard this story. Every time we hear it, we might think "Yeah, you're right. I'm going to live life to the fullest and be all I can be! I'm going to learn an instrument, a foriegn language, and make more friends!" But then, of course, we have other things to think about. Everyone, even the guy with no arms and legs who gives speeches at schools, takes life for granted. No matter how often we're told not to, it's impossible to constantly think about every blessing we have. If we did that, we'd never get anything done.
So, what can we do? I say, take time to "count your blessings" every once in awhile. It's good to think about how good we have it. Try not to think about how people who are starving think we have it worse off because they talk to their families every day and appreciate life more. Try not to think about how no matter how good you are at something, there's always someone better than you. Try not to..ok, maybe this isn't the best thing to do.
Maybe we should focus on making good memories instead. Because everyone smiles sometimes, no matter the circumstances. Even emos smile, or did smile, at one point. Just, um, try not to get Alzheimer's Disease and forget it all. Wait..ok...this isn't working.
Never mind, forget it. No matter what I say, you'll complain. You'll complain a lot. You know what? I will too. I feel like it's my responsibility to complain, especially being a woman and all. This won't make time move any slower, but it's better than crying over how good I have it.
So let's do it! Let's all complain our hearts out and procrastinate like there's always a tomorrow! Time will thank us! Maybe.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Road Trip: California - Everything Else
This summer has been incredibly busy this year. I'm just going to mush everything into one blog. I know, I know, you're clearly disappointed since you care so much about the trip I've taken. The following isn't in order because I've lost track on what stuff I saw on the drive down and drive back. And some days we didn't do any sightseeing, which no one wants to read about.
The ocean was breathtaking, as always. It's my new desktop background. I saw elk for the first time, and let me tell you, they're huge! I mean, I wasn't even that close to them, but they were huge! They were just standing around while people took pictures of them. Not only were the animals fascinating, but the people were as well. The "clicks" are cameras, just in case you didn't know.
"Honey, look! The elk just moved his left hoof!" *click* *click*
"Oh, that one's walking!!" *click* *click* *click*
"Dear God! The two elk are WALKING TOWARD EACH OTHER!" *clickclick* *clickclickclick* *click*
Just think, those reactions are when the elk don't have babies.
Anyway, the elk were nice. We also went to the Trees of Mystery. It's rather hard to explain without sounding boring. It's big trees on this long trail. Talking about it to others, they just look at you like "That's it? No explosions or hot chicks? Count me out!" But trees have never been more extraordinary. Let me tell you, if you ever want to feel insignificant, walk around some redwoods. That should do it for you.
Ocean World was fun as always. They have this little show with a seal. This time is was their newest seal, Cora. Cora is also the name of a baby I know of. Interesting. Now every time I see Baby Cora, I wonder why she doesn't have a ball on her nose.
I recorded a video of the whole thing, but I realized that day that my phone's video recorder has terrible sound quality. So, you won't see it. After seeing the show, however, I started to question whether Charlie was actually a sea lion. He looks more like Cora. Not Baby Cora, because that'd just be silly.
The last place we stopped at before reaching the convention was the Mystery Spot. Basically, it's one big optical illusion. Complete with a tilted house. It was interesting to say the least. It would have been cooler if everyone hadn't been really out of it. Or at least I was. I was still recovering from watching two elk walk toward each other.
Finally, we reached the convention. We mostly go there for the association, because we can't understand hardly anything. It was reassuring to know that most people were in the same boat as you. If someone said a joke during one of the talks, I heard about ten people laugh. And I think half of them were faking.
But we did break an attendance record for Friday!
It's nice to see Arabic groups forming so quickly and growing so rapidly. Want to hear some Arabic? This is during the "half and half" talk. A member of the Governing Body came to give the last talk of every day. What you hear first is English, and then the translator says it in Arabic. Don't ask me what they're talking about, I don't know the context at all.
I recorded some of the baptism too. But it didn't turn out very well, so I'll leave it out. One of the people getting baptized was a converted Muslim, and they didn't want any pictures or videos taken of him because he could be seriously hurt or killed if Muslims from his country found out. I thought it was cool that they took that into consideration.
On they way home we went to Universal Studios. I won't explain what's there if you've never been, but I will write about the Stalker Frankenstein's Monster.
So, no one in a costume that walks around is allowed to touch you. But Frankenstein's Monster would walk around like a zombie and act like he would grab you, but then "miss." He would walk up behind group of people, and then when someone would say "Turn around!" he would walk the other direction like nothing happened. It was so funny.
One day while we were eating lunch, we were near the room where the people would change costumes. It was really a room, more like a wooden fence around a small space. Someone tall enough could just peak his eyes over and see all the tables. Frakenstein's Monster took advantage of that. We were eating when I look up and see him staring at me. Well, not at me, really, but at us. I started laughing because it was so funny to look up and see this black pair of fake eyes staring at you. I look down to get my camera(phone) and when I look up, he's gone. In that room, all you have to do is step to the side and you're out of sight. Eventually, my whole family had seen him, because after a couple minutes he would come back and stare. We tried multiple times to get a picture, but he'd always disappear as soon as we get the camera out. It was the funniest thing!
Oh, I also got a caricature of me done. It's a little odd looking. But I guess that's the point.
On the way home, we saw a gorgeous mountain whose name I forget, and get the car washed. Yay for road trips!
And to think, I saw two elk walk toward each other.
 |
| This is a Sea Lion |
"Honey, look! The elk just moved his left hoof!" *click* *click*
"Oh, that one's walking!!" *click* *click* *click*
"Dear God! The two elk are WALKING TOWARD EACH OTHER!" *clickclick* *clickclickclick* *click*
Just think, those reactions are when the elk don't have babies.
Ocean World was fun as always. They have this little show with a seal. This time is was their newest seal, Cora. Cora is also the name of a baby I know of. Interesting. Now every time I see Baby Cora, I wonder why she doesn't have a ball on her nose.
I recorded a video of the whole thing, but I realized that day that my phone's video recorder has terrible sound quality. So, you won't see it. After seeing the show, however, I started to question whether Charlie was actually a sea lion. He looks more like Cora. Not Baby Cora, because that'd just be silly. The last place we stopped at before reaching the convention was the Mystery Spot. Basically, it's one big optical illusion. Complete with a tilted house. It was interesting to say the least. It would have been cooler if everyone hadn't been really out of it. Or at least I was. I was still recovering from watching two elk walk toward each other.
 |
| Arabic drama |
But we did break an attendance record for Friday!
It's nice to see Arabic groups forming so quickly and growing so rapidly. Want to hear some Arabic? This is during the "half and half" talk. A member of the Governing Body came to give the last talk of every day. What you hear first is English, and then the translator says it in Arabic. Don't ask me what they're talking about, I don't know the context at all.
On they way home we went to Universal Studios. I won't explain what's there if you've never been, but I will write about the Stalker Frankenstein's Monster.
So, no one in a costume that walks around is allowed to touch you. But Frankenstein's Monster would walk around like a zombie and act like he would grab you, but then "miss." He would walk up behind group of people, and then when someone would say "Turn around!" he would walk the other direction like nothing happened. It was so funny.
 |
| Mystery Spot tilting house |
One day while we were eating lunch, we were near the room where the people would change costumes. It was really a room, more like a wooden fence around a small space. Someone tall enough could just peak his eyes over and see all the tables. Frakenstein's Monster took advantage of that. We were eating when I look up and see him staring at me. Well, not at me, really, but at us. I started laughing because it was so funny to look up and see this black pair of fake eyes staring at you. I look down to get my camera(phone) and when I look up, he's gone. In that room, all you have to do is step to the side and you're out of sight. Eventually, my whole family had seen him, because after a couple minutes he would come back and stare. We tried multiple times to get a picture, but he'd always disappear as soon as we get the camera out. It was the funniest thing!
Oh, I also got a caricature of me done. It's a little odd looking. But I guess that's the point.
On the way home, we saw a gorgeous mountain whose name I forget, and get the car washed. Yay for road trips!
And to think, I saw two elk walk toward each other.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Road Trip: California - Day 2
Did I say tomorrow? Here's the thing. When we reached a hotel, I entered the SS stage of exhaustion (Sleepy and Stupid) as you could tell from my previous post in which I said a lobster was 8200 years old. He was not. He was 80 to 100 years old. I have changed it, but really, what was I thinking?
Anyway, I'm going to do the day by day breakdown as planned because there's too much for one blog post. I'd lose you. If I haven't already.
Day two was Newport, Oregon to Crescent City, California. This was mostly sightseeing. First thing to note about Newport is that there is a lot of fishing going on. I am not a fisher, so the smell of fish and ocean makes me want to gag. So the first step out of the car was pretty brutal for me. We got tickets to see three things: Ripley's Believe it Or Not Museum, Wax Works Museum, and Undersea Gardens. All were cool, and pretty dark so not many pictures.
Undersea Gardens isn't all that interesting. And it's hard to capture fish in the dark.
Next, though, we went to the Sea Lion Caves in Florence, Oregon. Totally awesome. And I mean awesome as in I was practically in awe. It was miraculous! All these sea lions in their completely natural habitat. The cave was there naturally and people just built an elevator and little fence-thing so we could see the sea lions without slipping on the rocks or charging toward the Sea Lions, attempting to kill them all.
Another cool thing about the Sea Lion Caves is that I saw my first whale. A whale. Now, I don't want to hear it from those people who see whales every day. Just let me gush. It wasn't even up close. We were up really high, walking to the elevator. Beside us was a majestic, vast ocean view. Then my mom, a fan of whales, looks out and sees a gush of air spew out of the ocean. She says, "Is that a whale??" And it was. True, all we could see was the spouting, and it never breached or anything like that, but it was breathtaking nonetheless. Keep your bragging to yourself. If you're reading this, I've probably heard it before anyway.
After the elevator ride, there were two things I noticed. One, it's almost chilly when you're this for underground. And two, sea lions are not a pleasant thing to smell. I'm not even sure what I was expecting to smell. Cool, brisk air I suppose. But no, I smelled sea lion manure. And a lot of it. But after that initial "yuck" the next thing that overtook me was the sound. Sea lions are quite loud. Not so loud that you can't hear yourself think, but loud enough. They were chatting, bickering, shouting, all that good stuff. Reminded me of high school. Only, not as smelly. But only slightly.
Here's what it sounded like:
That was pretty much all that happened that day. Oh, but while we strolled through the gift shop of the Ripley's Believe it Or Not/Wax Works gift shop, we stumbled upon Charlie (left). Charlie is a very cute stuffed sea lion. I'm sure he would have loved to sea his family members, but we had to leave him in the car. At least, I think he's a sea lion. That's what the tag said. But after visiting Ocean World (next post) I'm not positive. But let's just call him a sea lion and spare his feelings. Oh, and that's a Swedish Fish in his mouth. No, he did not come with it. Naming him Charlie was actually my brother, Finn's, idea. I don't normally name my many stuffed animals (anymore) but Finn looked at him and said, "He looks like a Charlie." And so he be named Charlie. Later I found out Finn actually named him Charlie after Charlie the Unicorn. Nice.
 | |
| At the wax museum, there was a figure on Johnny Depp. Apparently people love touching his face. So control yourself...Anna. ;) |
Day two was Newport, Oregon to Crescent City, California. This was mostly sightseeing. First thing to note about Newport is that there is a lot of fishing going on. I am not a fisher, so the smell of fish and ocean makes me want to gag. So the first step out of the car was pretty brutal for me. We got tickets to see three things: Ripley's Believe it Or Not Museum, Wax Works Museum, and Undersea Gardens. All were cool, and pretty dark so not many pictures.
Undersea Gardens isn't all that interesting. And it's hard to capture fish in the dark.
Next, though, we went to the Sea Lion Caves in Florence, Oregon. Totally awesome. And I mean awesome as in I was practically in awe. It was miraculous! All these sea lions in their completely natural habitat. The cave was there naturally and people just built an elevator and little fence-thing so we could see the sea lions without slipping on the rocks or charging toward the Sea Lions, attempting to kill them all.
 |
| Double-Eyed Guy. Sounds like a superhero...or a tongue twister. |
After the elevator ride, there were two things I noticed. One, it's almost chilly when you're this for underground. And two, sea lions are not a pleasant thing to smell. I'm not even sure what I was expecting to smell. Cool, brisk air I suppose. But no, I smelled sea lion manure. And a lot of it. But after that initial "yuck" the next thing that overtook me was the sound. Sea lions are quite loud. Not so loud that you can't hear yourself think, but loud enough. They were chatting, bickering, shouting, all that good stuff. Reminded me of high school. Only, not as smelly. But only slightly.
Here's what it sounded like:
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Road Trip: California - Day 1
One day of driving accomplished. We are settling in a hotel in Newport right now, listening to the ocean. But let me start from the beginning.
Ok, we were all up at 4:30 AM, left around 5:30 AM, ate breakfast at McDonald's and went on our way. The road trip has begun!
The funny thing is, is that road trips always result in me looking at the world differently for a short time. I always forget what Washington really looks like. I always forget about the pretty parts. Here are a few pictures of the drive before we reached Oregon.
Then we reached the part of Washington that no one likes to talk about. The clear cut parts. The land that used to be beautiful, but was torn down to build more houses for people. All stumps and saplings. It's sad to look at really. I mean, sure the loggers plant new trees. But they aren't going to wait fifty years for the tree to get as tall as the original one was.
As we drove past all those cleared areas, I started to wonder how many animals were there originally, and where they are now. Probably roaming through people's yards, looking for a decent garbage can. Then everyone freaks out and shoots the animal, not understanding why it was there in the first place. Car conversations revolved around that for awhile.
But then we reached Oregon and forgot about all that.
Since it was nice out, Seaside was very touristy. We stopped at Pig N' Pancake for some food, and then went to this little aquarium that was nearby. Seal pups were born just last month. And they filled my heart with adorableness.There was this gate around them and they wouldn't stop moving, so pictures were difficult, but I snapped a few. I'm not sure if it's pictures of the babies or not, but it's cute nonetheless.
The rest of the aquarium was interesting.
More driving, and driving. This mostly consisted of passenger-sleeping and/or music listening. My music of choice was Basshunter (obviously), The White Stripes, Sara Bareilles, and then one song each from various other artists. This went one for a couple more hours. We got out occasionally to stretch and whatnot, but this part of the journey consisted mostly of space-out time.
Then we got to the ocean! I always forget how gorgeous the ocean is. Always.
Now, we're all just resting in Newport. That's all for today. Everyone's kinda zonked out right now. Although it'd be nice to go swimming, I don't want to be falling asleep in the pool. I think I'll just crash for now.
More tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Ok, we were all up at 4:30 AM, left around 5:30 AM, ate breakfast at McDonald's and went on our way. The road trip has begun!
The funny thing is, is that road trips always result in me looking at the world differently for a short time. I always forget what Washington really looks like. I always forget about the pretty parts. Here are a few pictures of the drive before we reached Oregon.
 | |||||||
| That little white thing in the distance is Mt. Rainer. My cell phone doesn't do it justice. |
As we drove past all those cleared areas, I started to wonder how many animals were there originally, and where they are now. Probably roaming through people's yards, looking for a decent garbage can. Then everyone freaks out and shoots the animal, not understanding why it was there in the first place. Car conversations revolved around that for awhile.
But then we reached Oregon and forgot about all that.
 | ||
| At the border! |
 |
| Seaside (kinda looks like 1st street, doesn't it? For my Snohomishians.) |
Since it was nice out, Seaside was very touristy. We stopped at Pig N' Pancake for some food, and then went to this little aquarium that was nearby. Seal pups were born just last month. And they filled my heart with adorableness.There was this gate around them and they wouldn't stop moving, so pictures were difficult, but I snapped a few. I'm not sure if it's pictures of the babies or not, but it's cute nonetheless.
The rest of the aquarium was interesting.
 |
| Wolf eel: The most depressed sea creature |
 |
| "Mommy, I found a star fish!" |
 |
| "Maybe if I remain perfectly still...they won't see me...." |
 |
| This is (was) Victor the Lobster. Someone tried to kidnap him, and when they tried to catch the guy he dropped Victor and left. Victor died later. He was about 80 to 100 years old!! |
Then we got to the ocean! I always forget how gorgeous the ocean is. Always.
 |
| This is the view from our hotel. U jelly ;) |
More tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Things I'll Never Get: Why Communication is Such a Problem
<disclaimer>I'm not trying to give really sound advice here. There is a reason this is titled "Things I'll Never Get" and not "What You All Should Do." This is a rant, mixed with common sense, opinions, and probably illogicality and flaws. If you base your parenting or teenager-ing around this post, then you are not allowed to sue me. So there.
Oh, and no this did not all come from my head. The following comes from several years of advice from people and other sources and watching relationships fall apart.</disclaimer>
<preface> This post could easily turn into another post about romantic relationships, which will only leave me tense and irritated with life. I'm going to try and keep romance out of this as much as possible, because writing is supposed to help me release feelings, not create new ones. </preface>
To me, unless logic comes in to prove me wrong again, the biggest problem with any kind of relationship is communication. Lack thereof always ends badly. Which is probably why distance causes problems so often. Phone calls is not the kind of communication I'm talking about. It's face-to-face. And although I am a huge fan of technology, this is one of the biggest downsides to it. Talking to people face-to-face is the most difficult and inconvenient way of communicating. So as soon as there is a barrier of any kind, people bounce on it. I mean, why would you go through all the trouble to get in the car, waste all that gas, and see your friend when you could just text them? The same reason you use a remote instead of getting up to change the channel manually. Convenience. And when you use optimum convenience to try and maintain a relationship with someone, things can turn sour easily.
Next to romance, I believe that the relationships that lack the most communication are between parent and child. While romantic relationships simply end when they don't work out (physically anyway), you can't "break up" with your parent, so the relationship with them becomes worse and worse to the point where the child doesn't consider that person they live with their parent anymore. Besides their failed romances, the thing I hate teens talking about is how "horrible" their parents are. That is a generalization, I know. There are some parents who really are terrible people, but teenage offspring often talk about actual bad parents in a different way. That is, they don't. Not usually anyway. Real problems remain hidden most of the time. The people that I've met that have bad parents will hardly ever bring them up until I talk to them for a long time about things totally unrelated.
<additional information>There are those teens that as soon as you talk to them they'll say stuff like, "You know, I'm, like, totally abused by my parents, like, all the time." Then you find out the "abuse" they're discussing is how their parents got angry and yelled at them once or they took away their cell phone last week. I'm not talking about those teens.
Or those teens that, once you get them talking, go on and on about how horribly their parents treat them and how depressed they are because of it. Then you find out they aren't depressed at all and just want sympathy and that they really didn't consider you a friend in the first place. I'm not talking about those teens either.
The teens (or any person at all, really) I'm talking about are the ones that seem perfectly content. All the time. Not super-duper happy to the point where you're suspicious, but just content. Then suddenly you find out that their parents are alcoholics and this teen has to care for their four siblings all the time, leaving them emotionally drained. Or something like that. That was not an example of someone I know or anything, although I have met people that as soon as I start asking about their family, or their struggles with parents, they immediately put up a wall of "I don't want to talk about it" and/or "I don't want to worry you." Then when I try and ease it out of them somehow, I get very little information. It's their right not to talk about it and I don't want to get too pushy. But those experiences have led me to the conclusion that when people have actual problems with parents, a lot of times, they don't want to talk about it, and if they do, they talk to the wrong people about them (i.e. someone their age who can't do anything). Those people I cannot help, and it bothers me when they view me as someone who can, and then get offended when I bring up professional help like therapy or something. But to the rest of people who rant about their parents who aren't actually bad people at all I can give sound advice to.</additional information>
Let me just get this out here right now. I wholeheartedly believe this, but just so someone doesn't smash me down, I need to word this properly. In my own experiences, I have found that good communication is the key to every type of relationship. Period. If you think you are doing well in the relationship, talking about it can enforce that. If not, talking about it can help fix the problem. In romance's case, if you think the relationship isn't going to work out, talking about it will give a greater chance of both parties to end on good terms.
Now, I mention good communication because, technically, arguing counts as a form of communication. Especially if you're going to break up with someone, never raise your voice when having a serious talk. There is a greater chance of this not happening if you avoid the Deadly Phrases like "You always" or "You never" in a negative way. Blame is never good. The last thing you want the person to think is that the relationship is falling apart because of something they did (even if you think it's true). Why? Because they may think they can completely change (which normally they can't) and fix everything. Even when it's between a parent and a child, you can't expect complete change (especially from the parent). Think about it: The parent definitely isn't going to change, and by the time the child reaches eighteen or so, they probably aren't either because their personality is pretty much set. Both parties can try and get the other to change, but they probably won't get far. But, not all hope is lost.
Before you go and bash me, saying that you were a brat and you had a complete turnaround or something like that, let me make something clear. To me, there is a difference between changing and improving. Change is simply an alter or modify, while improve is to bring about a more desirable condition. This is what makes all the difference, and where communication comes in. I don't think having a conversation with your child about changing will have as much as an effect on the child's mind as a conversation about improvement will. This does not mean, however, to walk up to your kid and say "I want improvement" and walk away. Remember: Good communication is the key to every type of relationship. This means to be specific and at the same time avoid the Deadly Phrases. I have found this gets your child (or parent) in the right mindset.
Of course, there is one more vital ingredient in order for this to work out. That is maturity. If the parent has a mature conversation about the improvement needed from the child to go on with life in the best manner possible, and the child gets up and leaves in a huff, that isn't going to bring about the wanted results for either party. If the child does find a problem in the said needed improvements, they need to communicate that with their parents in a mature manner. If not, this will only lead to bad communication: arguing. In turn, the parents need to take what the child said into consideration and respond in a likewise mature manner. Then both parties can negotiate, compromise and settle the issue on good terms.
<the point of the blog post>The thing I don't get is why more people don't do this in platonic, romantic, and parental relationships. People shouldn't be as terrified by the words, "We need to talk." I can't say communication is incredibly easy for me and you should be learning from my example. Because texting someone to say I was offended by something they said (which I have done multiple times, sadly) is much easier than talking to them about it face-to-face. So all of the previous words I typed I need to keep in mind as well.</the point of the blog post>
<conclusion>So, really, this isn't one of those "Things I'll Never Get" that doesn't apply to me at all. Let's face it, everyone gets shy. This wasn't supposed to be a rant about "people with no common sense." It applies to everyone, at least some of the time.
It's always the most important things that are the hardest to accomplish. Like, communication and respect. And healthiness. But, the reason I type all these coherent and incoherent sentences was to put this in your mind at least for a little while. Even if you don't do anything about it.
That's what this is here for. </conclusion>
Oh, and no this did not all come from my head. The following comes from several years of advice from people and other sources and watching relationships fall apart.</disclaimer>
<preface> This post could easily turn into another post about romantic relationships, which will only leave me tense and irritated with life. I'm going to try and keep romance out of this as much as possible, because writing is supposed to help me release feelings, not create new ones. </preface>
To me, unless logic comes in to prove me wrong again, the biggest problem with any kind of relationship is communication. Lack thereof always ends badly. Which is probably why distance causes problems so often. Phone calls is not the kind of communication I'm talking about. It's face-to-face. And although I am a huge fan of technology, this is one of the biggest downsides to it. Talking to people face-to-face is the most difficult and inconvenient way of communicating. So as soon as there is a barrier of any kind, people bounce on it. I mean, why would you go through all the trouble to get in the car, waste all that gas, and see your friend when you could just text them? The same reason you use a remote instead of getting up to change the channel manually. Convenience. And when you use optimum convenience to try and maintain a relationship with someone, things can turn sour easily.
Next to romance, I believe that the relationships that lack the most communication are between parent and child. While romantic relationships simply end when they don't work out (physically anyway), you can't "break up" with your parent, so the relationship with them becomes worse and worse to the point where the child doesn't consider that person they live with their parent anymore. Besides their failed romances, the thing I hate teens talking about is how "horrible" their parents are. That is a generalization, I know. There are some parents who really are terrible people, but teenage offspring often talk about actual bad parents in a different way. That is, they don't. Not usually anyway. Real problems remain hidden most of the time. The people that I've met that have bad parents will hardly ever bring them up until I talk to them for a long time about things totally unrelated.
<additional information>There are those teens that as soon as you talk to them they'll say stuff like, "You know, I'm, like, totally abused by my parents, like, all the time." Then you find out the "abuse" they're discussing is how their parents got angry and yelled at them once or they took away their cell phone last week. I'm not talking about those teens.
Or those teens that, once you get them talking, go on and on about how horribly their parents treat them and how depressed they are because of it. Then you find out they aren't depressed at all and just want sympathy and that they really didn't consider you a friend in the first place. I'm not talking about those teens either.
The teens (or any person at all, really) I'm talking about are the ones that seem perfectly content. All the time. Not super-duper happy to the point where you're suspicious, but just content. Then suddenly you find out that their parents are alcoholics and this teen has to care for their four siblings all the time, leaving them emotionally drained. Or something like that. That was not an example of someone I know or anything, although I have met people that as soon as I start asking about their family, or their struggles with parents, they immediately put up a wall of "I don't want to talk about it" and/or "I don't want to worry you." Then when I try and ease it out of them somehow, I get very little information. It's their right not to talk about it and I don't want to get too pushy. But those experiences have led me to the conclusion that when people have actual problems with parents, a lot of times, they don't want to talk about it, and if they do, they talk to the wrong people about them (i.e. someone their age who can't do anything). Those people I cannot help, and it bothers me when they view me as someone who can, and then get offended when I bring up professional help like therapy or something. But to the rest of people who rant about their parents who aren't actually bad people at all I can give sound advice to.</additional information>
Let me just get this out here right now. I wholeheartedly believe this, but just so someone doesn't smash me down, I need to word this properly. In my own experiences, I have found that good communication is the key to every type of relationship. Period. If you think you are doing well in the relationship, talking about it can enforce that. If not, talking about it can help fix the problem. In romance's case, if you think the relationship isn't going to work out, talking about it will give a greater chance of both parties to end on good terms.
Now, I mention good communication because, technically, arguing counts as a form of communication. Especially if you're going to break up with someone, never raise your voice when having a serious talk. There is a greater chance of this not happening if you avoid the Deadly Phrases like "You always" or "You never" in a negative way. Blame is never good. The last thing you want the person to think is that the relationship is falling apart because of something they did (even if you think it's true). Why? Because they may think they can completely change (which normally they can't) and fix everything. Even when it's between a parent and a child, you can't expect complete change (especially from the parent). Think about it: The parent definitely isn't going to change, and by the time the child reaches eighteen or so, they probably aren't either because their personality is pretty much set. Both parties can try and get the other to change, but they probably won't get far. But, not all hope is lost.
Before you go and bash me, saying that you were a brat and you had a complete turnaround or something like that, let me make something clear. To me, there is a difference between changing and improving. Change is simply an alter or modify, while improve is to bring about a more desirable condition. This is what makes all the difference, and where communication comes in. I don't think having a conversation with your child about changing will have as much as an effect on the child's mind as a conversation about improvement will. This does not mean, however, to walk up to your kid and say "I want improvement" and walk away. Remember: Good communication is the key to every type of relationship. This means to be specific and at the same time avoid the Deadly Phrases. I have found this gets your child (or parent) in the right mindset.
Of course, there is one more vital ingredient in order for this to work out. That is maturity. If the parent has a mature conversation about the improvement needed from the child to go on with life in the best manner possible, and the child gets up and leaves in a huff, that isn't going to bring about the wanted results for either party. If the child does find a problem in the said needed improvements, they need to communicate that with their parents in a mature manner. If not, this will only lead to bad communication: arguing. In turn, the parents need to take what the child said into consideration and respond in a likewise mature manner. Then both parties can negotiate, compromise and settle the issue on good terms.
<the point of the blog post>The thing I don't get is why more people don't do this in platonic, romantic, and parental relationships. People shouldn't be as terrified by the words, "We need to talk." I can't say communication is incredibly easy for me and you should be learning from my example. Because texting someone to say I was offended by something they said (which I have done multiple times, sadly) is much easier than talking to them about it face-to-face. So all of the previous words I typed I need to keep in mind as well.</the point of the blog post>
<conclusion>So, really, this isn't one of those "Things I'll Never Get" that doesn't apply to me at all. Let's face it, everyone gets shy. This wasn't supposed to be a rant about "people with no common sense." It applies to everyone, at least some of the time.
It's always the most important things that are the hardest to accomplish. Like, communication and respect. And healthiness. But, the reason I type all these coherent and incoherent sentences was to put this in your mind at least for a little while. Even if you don't do anything about it.
That's what this is here for. </conclusion>
Monday, June 27, 2011
Summer Boredom
You can't spell "summer" without "umm..." (you're saying "umm" because you're bored and are trying to decide what to do. Get it? Aren't I clever? -_-)
I suppose this is how life is. Either looking forward to what's in front of you or wishing you had what's behind you, and not enjoying what you already have. Take summer for instance. It's the subject that crosses the conversations of teens all over the school all throughout the school year (that, and relationships). Summer always seems just out of reach. It's especially hard after exams are over and there's really no reason to go in school in the first place. But now that it's here, I keep getting told from friends via phone (if they're cool like that) and text message (if they're stereotypical like that) that they're bored out of their mind. Even for seniors that seems to be the case. Although I love when my senior friends visited my school after graduation, they were really only there because they had nothing better to do.
School is something that is constantly dissed by kids (yes, that includes teens). But when it isn't there, you realize how much you needed it to keep a routine in your life. Extra free time means extra wasted time. I actually have summer plans this year. I'm going to California to go to an Arabic convention with my family. Quite soon actually. I'm taking an AP class next year so I actually have homework this summer, so I'll be doing that. Eventually. I also plan on practicing guitar more, and finishing some incomplete stories. Posting blog posts, maybe. But when I'm not doing those things, all I really end up doing is sitting in my room with my laptop on listening to Bassunter songs on loop for hours. School is stressful and time consuming, but as long as you a good time and stress manger (which I am not) you can make school quite effective.
Adults tell me to enjoy summer because you can only wish for it when you have a job (yes, I have a job, but it's not really a regular one). When I do decide to reach adulthood, I'm sure I'll look back on these times and wish for the sweet taste of summer vacation once again. I'll be wishing I had what's behind me. But in reality, if I did have summer vacation, I'm sure a lot of it would be wasted. When summer rolls around, it's almost treated like a second New Years. Everyone makes mental plans and goals ("resolutions" if you will), but rarely ever accomplishes those things. On the first day of school when I ask people how their summer went, most of them will probably say "good," and when I ask what they did, they'll probably say "nothing" with a big smile on their face. And I guess that's good for them. Another summer wasted. It's interesting how so many kids will sit around and not do anything interesting and consider a "good" summer.
So here's what summer boils down to: Two months of boredom, wishing there was something to do, followed by ten months of boredom, wishing summer would come back.
Let's just say, if summer was a relationship, it'd be an extremely unstable one that all the other seasons are jealous of. Sure, summer is really hot, but only fun and wild sometimes. Sometimes summer lingers on too long, and when you want summer to stay, she never does. And yet, everyone talks about her like she's the new season on the calender. But under the looks, it's all wasted dates and lost love.
I suppose this is how life is. Either looking forward to what's in front of you or wishing you had what's behind you, and not enjoying what you already have. Take summer for instance. It's the subject that crosses the conversations of teens all over the school all throughout the school year (that, and relationships). Summer always seems just out of reach. It's especially hard after exams are over and there's really no reason to go in school in the first place. But now that it's here, I keep getting told from friends via phone (if they're cool like that) and text message (if they're stereotypical like that) that they're bored out of their mind. Even for seniors that seems to be the case. Although I love when my senior friends visited my school after graduation, they were really only there because they had nothing better to do.
School is something that is constantly dissed by kids (yes, that includes teens). But when it isn't there, you realize how much you needed it to keep a routine in your life. Extra free time means extra wasted time. I actually have summer plans this year. I'm going to California to go to an Arabic convention with my family. Quite soon actually. I'm taking an AP class next year so I actually have homework this summer, so I'll be doing that. Eventually. I also plan on practicing guitar more, and finishing some incomplete stories. Posting blog posts, maybe. But when I'm not doing those things, all I really end up doing is sitting in my room with my laptop on listening to Bassunter songs on loop for hours. School is stressful and time consuming, but as long as you a good time and stress manger (which I am not) you can make school quite effective.
Adults tell me to enjoy summer because you can only wish for it when you have a job (yes, I have a job, but it's not really a regular one). When I do decide to reach adulthood, I'm sure I'll look back on these times and wish for the sweet taste of summer vacation once again. I'll be wishing I had what's behind me. But in reality, if I did have summer vacation, I'm sure a lot of it would be wasted. When summer rolls around, it's almost treated like a second New Years. Everyone makes mental plans and goals ("resolutions" if you will), but rarely ever accomplishes those things. On the first day of school when I ask people how their summer went, most of them will probably say "good," and when I ask what they did, they'll probably say "nothing" with a big smile on their face. And I guess that's good for them. Another summer wasted. It's interesting how so many kids will sit around and not do anything interesting and consider a "good" summer.
So here's what summer boils down to: Two months of boredom, wishing there was something to do, followed by ten months of boredom, wishing summer would come back.
Let's just say, if summer was a relationship, it'd be an extremely unstable one that all the other seasons are jealous of. Sure, summer is really hot, but only fun and wild sometimes. Sometimes summer lingers on too long, and when you want summer to stay, she never does. And yet, everyone talks about her like she's the new season on the calender. But under the looks, it's all wasted dates and lost love.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Let's Redecorate!
Before Sno-Isle ended, my instructor, Karen, was getting rid of all her posters. I was thrilled when I laid eyes on a Portal poster. After I put it on my wall, I realized my room was in need of an "update." Posters of kittens still splattered the wall and my name was on my wall six times, all on different posters. My friend Hayley was coming over and we were originally planning on watching Disney movies as part of our summer Disney movie marathon, but I told her to drop that and redecorate the walls of my room instead. She was all for it.
You can never have too much Portal stuff in your room, so I decided to dedicate one wall for Portal memorabilia. Hayley suggested I use the wall behind my bed so I didn't have to stare at GLaDOS while I was trying to sleep. I wholeheartedly agreed. The wall next to my bed would be my cartoon wall. Right now it's mostly Calvin and Hobbes (the best comic ever), but over time I'll add some more cartoonish things. Hayley also drew a picture just for my wall, with characters from a fanfiction we're writing. She drew Tommy and Chuckie from Rugrats, Danny from Danny Phantom (a cartoon she's obsessed with), and two characters of my own from a book I'm (still) working on.
I was looking for something to put on the empty space when my dad told me I could have this X-Men poster I bought for him years ago. He couldn't put it anywhere.
So, after a couple hours work, here are the main results. I say "main" because my room doesn't have only three walls, but the others aren't that interesting.
You can never have too much Portal stuff in your room, so I decided to dedicate one wall for Portal memorabilia. Hayley suggested I use the wall behind my bed so I didn't have to stare at GLaDOS while I was trying to sleep. I wholeheartedly agreed. The wall next to my bed would be my cartoon wall. Right now it's mostly Calvin and Hobbes (the best comic ever), but over time I'll add some more cartoonish things. Hayley also drew a picture just for my wall, with characters from a fanfiction we're writing. She drew Tommy and Chuckie from Rugrats, Danny from Danny Phantom (a cartoon she's obsessed with), and two characters of my own from a book I'm (still) working on.
I was looking for something to put on the empty space when my dad told me I could have this X-Men poster I bought for him years ago. He couldn't put it anywhere.
So, after a couple hours work, here are the main results. I say "main" because my room doesn't have only three walls, but the others aren't that interesting.
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| Calvin and Hobbes comic strips, fan art, and Hayley's drawings. |
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| My Portal poster, fan art, and GLaDOS quotes |
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| X-Men poster |
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