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.

That little white thing in the distance is Mt. Rainer.
My cell phone doesn't do it justice.

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.

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!!

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.

This is the view from our hotel. U jelly ;)

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.

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>

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.