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.

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.

Calvin and Hobbes comic strips, fan art, and Hayley's drawings.

My Portal poster, fan art, and GLaDOS quotes

X-Men poster

Guitar Lessons 6: Minimal Progress

I'm still working on making titles interesting.

So, there is yet to be a callus on my index finger from playing my first barre chord. There is another progressive guitar that I talk to sometimes and he said I wasn't pushing hard enough on the strings. I took advice and pushed my thumb into the neck so I would squeeze my finger harder into the strings. And alas, my finger hurt and this weird muscle in my thumb started getting sore. Well if there's one thing I've learned from guitar playing it's if it hurts, you're doing it right.

It's still a work in progress.

But I brought my guitar to school today so I could show my other guitar playing friend how terrible I am. The conclusion we've reached is that he's more of a finger strumming person and I'm more of a chord and pick person. And I can sing. After my hands stopped shaking I started playing "You Belong With Me" for practicing purposes. My friend was getting much more attention because finger strumming sounds way better than regular strumming even if you suck at both. I started getting more comfortable and sang the chorus to the song. It's not like anyone was watching me in particular so it wasn't as nerve racking. Then the person I knew that was sitting next to me turns and says, "I've never heard you sing before!" Then my guitar playing friend says, "I told you she was good."

Little things like that boost my self confidence. At this rate I'll be able to sing in front of small crowds by the age of..what...twenty?

Progress is minimal, but it's still progress.

On another note my eyes itch from allergies and summer started. Woot. Ok, I'm going back to Basshunter now.

I'm Not Getting One

There's one question I get on a regular basis, almost. No, it's not "Wow, I love that shirt, where did you get it?" or "Do you realize how cool you are?" or anything like that. It's always, "Do you have a FaceBook?" And when I promptly answer no, I am then commanded/begged to get one. The answer is always the same. No. So, let's take a break from our lives and take a moment to find out why Michaela is not opening a FaceBook account.

• I Don't Want One
  This is the most obvious and biggest reason I don't haven't opened a FaceBook account. I don't want one. See, the problem is, is that the person who tells me I should open a FaceBook account is someone I probably wouldn't friend anyway. So I say I don't want one, and then they say, "But you could keep in touch with me." I really don't want to have this conversation with a person because there's no way I can word it without sounding like a jerk. But, to put it simply and bluntly: Just because we were friends in school, doesn't mean I want to know what you're doing after we lose touch. Got it? You think I'm being rude? Wait five years and then try to remember who I am. 80% of the people I am "friends" with now, won't know who I am. All FaceBook does is hinder the letting go process that is supposed to take place after high school. There are the few friends you keep in touch with, but everyone else you're supposed to forget. You shouldn't need to read about what that guy you sat next to in English three years ago is having for breakfast. Simple as that. I don't want to be in the position to tell people I don't care about what they do every second.

• I Have Few People to Keep in Touch With
  Ok, so if you're reading this, you might be a person I would like to keep in touch with after high school, at least for a little while. Or for as long as possible if you're a family member. Here's the thing, I love how FaceBook helps people keep in touch with family they hardly ever see and that sort of thing. It's not like I hate FaceBook, although I have said that in the past. It's the misuse of it (i.e. updating statues way too much, posting things no one cares about, etc.) and all the stupid people on it that I hate. There are family members I have that live far away, and it would be great to keep in touch with them. But since I hardly see them, I don't really have this close bond with them, and don't feel really motivated to know what they're doing every minute. I can always call or write to them, which seems much more affectionate anyway. A family member who only talked to me through FaceBook would never really have a real relationship with me. That, and if someone from high school found me on FaceBook and sends me a request, they might be upset if I didn't accept. Some of these people have my phone number and may explicitly ask me why I won't accept their request. I don't want to have this conversation with them, as discussed above. Why? Because this is my answer: If I did open a FaceBook account, I would only be friends with family members, or people I know. So pretty much, if I've only known you for a school year, and/or never associated with you outside of school, I'm not accepting your friend request. Since very few people use FaceBook for people they really know (apparently, considering how many people have asked me to get one), they might take this as that I don't like them or don't care about them. Whether or not that's true doesn't matter. And if I don't accept these people as friends, me having a FaceBook account would be pointless to them anyway because they only wanted me to get one so they could friend me. So what's the point?

• Teens Have Their Own Stereotype On FaceBook
  This is a pretty small reason, but it's almost a stereotype for teens to open a FaceBook account. And the reputation we have is not good. If a teen tells an adult they have a FaceBook account it's more like "Oh you're one of those teens." But if an adult tells another adult they have a FaceBook account, it's more likely they use it in a professional way (although not always) and so it is more "accepted." I don't really want to be cast as one of those teens. I tried Twitter, and it didn't end well, because I became that stereotype. Even though I'm not thirteen anymore, I still don't want that to happen again.

Conclusion: What? You missed the entire rant and skipped to the conclusion? You ruined the experience. Well, fine, I'll humor you. I'd open a FaceBook account to keep in touch with people I really know, which does not include people I only knew in school. Since the only people that want me to get one are people I know in school, I see no point because I wouldn't friend them anyway.

Questions? Comments? Fine, you can comment on this post if you want and go on and on about how I need a FaceBook account. But you probably won't change my mind. Once I'm set on something, only undying logic can change me. And I see few things logical about me opening a FaceBook account. I have a place for my thoughts. That's what this is.

Ok, if I sent you here because you won't stop asking me about opening a FaceBook account, then I really don't want to have this discussion again. Now that we're on the same page, we can move on.

Right?

Look Squidward, Money!

All I think about at a time like this is Spongebob. How sad is that?

This week I started my first real job. Minus the tax deduction. I still think it counts because it isn't for family or anything. It's for my parents' massage therapist. What I have to do is record financial information in a program called Quickbook...or Quicknote. Something like that. It's pretty simple, I only work a couple times a wekk for about an hour or so, and I get paid eight bucks an hour. And when you're my age without a car, that's a lot. I mean, I feel like I'll start bragging after awhile.

"No please, allow me to pay for your coffee."

On the first real day of the job, I had a pretty good day. Despite the fact people seem to never look for pedestrians anymore. It's really irritating. But, I walked down to this little coffee place that's connected to Snohomish Fitness and ordered an Italian Soda. If you've never had one, they are amazing. So I started talking to the cashier about my job. Hey, cut me some slack, I was bursting with excitement. It's like when you find out you're pregnant and you want to tell everyone you see that you're going to have a baby. Not that I've been pregnant before. I'm starting to regret this analogy. Anyway.

I'm going on about my job and when the cashier hands me my drink she says, "It's on me, congrats on your new job." Double score for that. I mean, first day on my first real job and I don't have to pay for my Italian Soda?? What's next? Raining chocolate?

"Chocolate is falling from the sky! It is getting in my eye! Time for some more chocolate pie! My oh my oh my oh...my...."

After a long week (not really, I started on Tuesday and only worked for five minutes on Thursday) I arrive at my job to get my paycheck. My paycheck. Paycheck. This is all new to me. I didn't think I'd be saying these things until I was at least eighteen. Actually, I thought I was going to get paid in cash, but then she prints a check and signs it.

"This is a real check? That I deposit? And I can spend? What do I do?!"

With the lovely features on the internet I was able to deposit it online.

"That's the total in my checking account? Really? What do I do now?!"

This means I have even more things to ramble on about. I can't ramble on about how much I hate work, but these things are, but are not limited to:

• Things I See Walking to Work
• How Much I HATE it When People Don't Look Before I Cross the Street
• Interesting Coffee Shop Experiences
• How Many Times I Almost Get Hit By a Car
• Paychecks
• How Stupid People Are for Not Looking for Pedestrians
• How Many Hours I Worked That Week
• People That Have to Slam on Their Breaks in the Middle of the Intersection Because They Didn't See Me and How Much I Hate That

And so it goes. You may see a recurring theme here. We all make mistakes, yes. But seriously, watch for people crossing the street.

Because how can I try to sound more important than I am by saying I have a job when you hit me with your car? Now, that would just ruin everyone's weekend.