That's right folks. I am a senior. I am finally in my last year of high school. And I can't wait to get it over with. Yeah, yeah. I know what you're saying. Enjoy childhood while it lasts. Don't be too eager to get out into the world and work. College is the biggest decision you'll make. Psh. I've heard it all. And I'm ready to vomit if I hear it all one more time. Let me give you some insight into the mind of a crazy, hectic, exhausted, laughing, stressed Senior.
College? Scholarships? Ah!
I was one of the lucky few. I knew where I wanted to go to school. And I knew I was going to get in. I applied to one college. And was immediately accepted. (How could they say no to my 32 on the ACT right?) But that doesn't mean I wasn't still stressed. Copies of transcripts, writing essays, getting letters of recommendation, making my application flawless... well that was just part of it. Then there's the agonizing wait. Checking the mailbox everyday, just hoping to see your name on an envelope. And then it's there. It's a medium size envelope and skinny. Is that bad? Did they reject me? Opening that letter is one of the scariest moments of my life. And I knew I was gonna get in.
Now that I am in, all I hear is people asking me where I got in, where I've decided to go, why would I choose that college, what am I gonna do? Well, folks. I don't know most of the time, so you might as well not bother asking me. Now, I've moved on to scholarships. Which are also incredibly stressful. I mean, they're gonna pay for education. They're really big.
Friends and Fun
I like having fun. I mean, what teen doesn't? What rational person doesn't? But sometimes it's hard to find that time around school and dance and work. And certainly don't get me started on my job. Unfortunately, this means I'm not going to be around the house much. which can be difficult for parents who have a bad case of Empty Nest Syndrome. But, if you force me to stay home and spend "quality time" with you, I'm just going to want to get out of the house more. Trust me, at the end of the night, after school and work and friends, there's no place I want to be more than Home. And, at the end of the night, I just want to lay down and relax. I don't necessarily want to be down in the kitchen or living room being social. Sometimes, I just want to lay back and watch tv. Don't fret, I will come out of hiding eventually, but you can't force me out. Just give me the space I need and I'll be around.
School. School. School.
Oh sure. Senior year. Should be a cake walk right? Wrong. Teachers claim that they don't care anymore, they just want you to graduate and get out of their hair. And yet, they assign insane papers and projects and tons of homework. At this point, I'm sure all seniors out there are going "Aren't we done yet??" Well, dear seniors, not quite. The first three years of high school seem to fly by in a blur. Senior year seems to take forever but will be gone in a second. We're so close to our futures, and yet we're stuck night after night still doing our spanish and calculus homework. Everyone is pushing, pushing, pushing you to finish, to cross that line. All I can say is... Breathe. May will come soon enough. Parents, enjoy us while you can because soon, we'll be out in the big world, making our own way.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Life as We Never Expect It
Sometimes, life throws us a curve ball. You don't expect it. You don't get time to plan for it. You don't know what to do once it happens. It messes up your plans (oh, is that why I never blog any more?) and drives you, well, insane. But would it be life any other way?
I'm a senior in high school now. I've applied to colleges, I'm working on scholarships, I'm trying to balance school and work and what has become my pathetic social life. It's become a stressful, crazy rollercoaster ride lately. And to my friends, my parents, my boyfriend and everyone else around me who've had to put up with me, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
But I'm not trying to depress you and cast the world into a dark, dreary, 'everything sucks' light. It is true that at time life just plain sucks. But what defines us more than how we handle conflict and challenges? Let me tell you. Nothing. Sometimes, you're gonna make people angry. Sometimes, you're going to disappoint people. You're going to elate and offend, intimidate and inspire. You're going to evoke all sorts of emotion in all sorts of people. And that's not a bad thing. One day you may say to your neighbor, "I like your hair" You thought you were being sweet and sincere. She took an hour trying to get it right, hates it, and thinks you are mocking her. That's not your fault. If things turned out exactly as you intended them every single time life would be an awfully boring place.
What I'm trying to say here is this: Things aren't always gonna turn out as you plan, but you might as well make the best of them. That's luck right there. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason teaches us this. Luck is not finding five dollars in the parking lot or that necklace you lost last week under the dresser. Luck is in opportunities. Luck is having a friend who will come at the drop of the hat to help you in the Concession Stand. Luck is having parents who say go for it all and we'll be right there behind you. Luck is having a boyfriend who loves me unconditionally even when I'm, well, a jerk about things. Luck is in opportunities we seize the minute the appear for we will lose them if we procrastinate but a second. So, in every sense of the word, I am lucky.
We only live once. Why should we waste our time pouting and fretting over what new surprise, what new upset is going to pop up next? If we constantly lived in fear of some crazy accident or incident messing up our carefully laid plans? We'd get nowhere. We'd meet no one. We'd be awfully lonely and unhappy. So, seize life by the horns, take it as it comes and live spontaneously. There's really no other way to do it.
-Spencer
I'm a senior in high school now. I've applied to colleges, I'm working on scholarships, I'm trying to balance school and work and what has become my pathetic social life. It's become a stressful, crazy rollercoaster ride lately. And to my friends, my parents, my boyfriend and everyone else around me who've had to put up with me, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
But I'm not trying to depress you and cast the world into a dark, dreary, 'everything sucks' light. It is true that at time life just plain sucks. But what defines us more than how we handle conflict and challenges? Let me tell you. Nothing. Sometimes, you're gonna make people angry. Sometimes, you're going to disappoint people. You're going to elate and offend, intimidate and inspire. You're going to evoke all sorts of emotion in all sorts of people. And that's not a bad thing. One day you may say to your neighbor, "I like your hair" You thought you were being sweet and sincere. She took an hour trying to get it right, hates it, and thinks you are mocking her. That's not your fault. If things turned out exactly as you intended them every single time life would be an awfully boring place.
What I'm trying to say here is this: Things aren't always gonna turn out as you plan, but you might as well make the best of them. That's luck right there. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason teaches us this. Luck is not finding five dollars in the parking lot or that necklace you lost last week under the dresser. Luck is in opportunities. Luck is having a friend who will come at the drop of the hat to help you in the Concession Stand. Luck is having parents who say go for it all and we'll be right there behind you. Luck is having a boyfriend who loves me unconditionally even when I'm, well, a jerk about things. Luck is in opportunities we seize the minute the appear for we will lose them if we procrastinate but a second. So, in every sense of the word, I am lucky.
We only live once. Why should we waste our time pouting and fretting over what new surprise, what new upset is going to pop up next? If we constantly lived in fear of some crazy accident or incident messing up our carefully laid plans? We'd get nowhere. We'd meet no one. We'd be awfully lonely and unhappy. So, seize life by the horns, take it as it comes and live spontaneously. There's really no other way to do it.
-Spencer
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Mind Your P's and Q's
Well. It's been a little while. Unfortunately this hiatus was not really of my choosing. Being a Junior is incredibly hectic. ACT, scheduling, sports (a lot of sports), refereeing for sports, homework, and a trip to DC. Most of that is all another story for another time except for my experiences in Washington DC.
I am a Midwest girl. I grew up smiling when I passed someone on the street, waving when I passed someone on the road, greeting my neighbors when I saw them, happily offering aid to anyone who needed it, pointing anyone in the right direction, and striking up conversations with random people when we stood in line at the grocery store. These traits, however, do not seem to be appreciated in other parts of the country. In fact, many of my attempts to be friendly while visiting the nation's capital were spurned. I'd smile as I'd pass someone on the street and they'd glare or look at me like I had two heads. I was very discouraged after a day or two of touring the city and finding that our glorious capital wasn't near as friendly as I expected.
This got me wondering. Thousands upon thousands of tourists take a pilgrimage to the birth of liberty only to be treated coldly and sometimes, rudely. What does this say about us? Let me assure you, our whole country is not like this. Though I have limited travel experience outside of the Midwest, I know people can be polite and courteous. You always hear people saying that we need more good in this world, yet if you dropped your keys on the street with an armload of stuff, would they go out of their way to pick them up? I doubt it.
I'm not complaining and going on and on about how society is terrible and we should all just crawl in a hole and die. That is very much not my purpose. My purpose is to bring light to issues such as these so that more people realize what's going on. So, I'm going to challenge you. I want you to be nice. Yup. Nice. There's a novel concept. Haha. Smile. Strike up a conversation with your cashier. Tip your waitress a little extra. Help the person struggling with all their stuff. Just... be nice.
-Spencer
I am a Midwest girl. I grew up smiling when I passed someone on the street, waving when I passed someone on the road, greeting my neighbors when I saw them, happily offering aid to anyone who needed it, pointing anyone in the right direction, and striking up conversations with random people when we stood in line at the grocery store. These traits, however, do not seem to be appreciated in other parts of the country. In fact, many of my attempts to be friendly while visiting the nation's capital were spurned. I'd smile as I'd pass someone on the street and they'd glare or look at me like I had two heads. I was very discouraged after a day or two of touring the city and finding that our glorious capital wasn't near as friendly as I expected.
This got me wondering. Thousands upon thousands of tourists take a pilgrimage to the birth of liberty only to be treated coldly and sometimes, rudely. What does this say about us? Let me assure you, our whole country is not like this. Though I have limited travel experience outside of the Midwest, I know people can be polite and courteous. You always hear people saying that we need more good in this world, yet if you dropped your keys on the street with an armload of stuff, would they go out of their way to pick them up? I doubt it.
I'm not complaining and going on and on about how society is terrible and we should all just crawl in a hole and die. That is very much not my purpose. My purpose is to bring light to issues such as these so that more people realize what's going on. So, I'm going to challenge you. I want you to be nice. Yup. Nice. There's a novel concept. Haha. Smile. Strike up a conversation with your cashier. Tip your waitress a little extra. Help the person struggling with all their stuff. Just... be nice.
-Spencer
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Simple minds, simple pleasures
Raise your hand if you think that any of the following are a detriment to society?: cell phones, texting, video games, online chats, hand held game systems, computer games...any of those? By the way, if you raised your hand, now is the proper moment to feel foolish for raising your hand to an inanimate object ;).
Yeah, we've heard it all before. The teen generation of today will have no social ability when they are older, we'll all be having epileptic seizures by the time we're in our late twenties, we'll all have carpal tunnel when we're all older...all thanks to technology and it's recent developments. Yes, technology - particularly my cell phone and computer - are pivotal components in my life. And yes, I'm a teenage boy and I do play the occasional play station or xbox or even online games. I will whole heartedly support the statement that technology - mostly the aforementioned types - completely dictate the life of the average teen.
Now, for you younger people reading. Have you ever shook your head in embarrassment and shame while looking upon a 50+ year old parent texting you and saying "hey dude. lol," or maybe some of you have have laughed your head off when an adult asks for your help in opening one of those fancy things called a...wait a minute, let me think of the name. A we...web...a website? Yes, I think that's what you kids call them.
Parents, adults...it's your turn to laugh at the teens.
Even I can see how funny it is when a teenager gets a flashback to what life was like a little bit before our time. I've seen young children, somewhere between 10-12 years old, look at a cassette tape and say, "what's that?" Just this morning my 19 year old sister and I got our hands on my mother's old typewriter. Yup, that's right. Woohoo, I officially love typewriters, no lie! I'm not even a little bit ashamed to say that we spent about half an hour having a blast with a typewriter haha. Two young adults, completely mesmerized every single time that little curser thing slid back and forth over the page. How intriguing.
Anyone out there ever play Super Nintendo? Well folks, let me tell you a little bit about your writers, Spencer and I. Both well into our teen years, bordering adulthood, both very technologically based...both in possession of Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems we were recently able to dig out of the farthest, darkest reaches of piles of old junk. One of the most primitive game systems, laughable graphics compared to today's games, yet your two studious, very mature writers spent hours playing Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country, and darn it we were having the time of our lives. I don't care if they're old. Those games are fun!
An what happens to us teens when you take away technology completely? Yeah, some of us may fall apart, even if its for a little bit. It's sad, I know. Keep your eyes peeled, though. We do know how to entertain ourselves. I know a girl, very smart, very deep minded, extremely intellectual, extremely good with computers, and I happen to know for a fact she spends an awful lot of time texting and messing around with her phone. Yet just the other day I watched this girl for at least an hour as she discovered a box of bendy straws, and then proceeded to combine then into one super long straw. Sounds foolish, doesn't it? Well, this 16 year old girl spent almost an hour completely in awe of this amazing invention she created by simply sticking one straw in the end of another. Yes, she was absolutely amazed. Perhaps that is what texting and computer games can do to one's brain. Poor girl.
In the end, we're teenagers. I think that's a pretty good excuse for any of our faults. We're just teenagers, give us some slack. Our heads aren't stuck in the clouds; they're stuck in the pixels and the memory cards and the "lol"s. It's kinda nice, though, kinda fun to have our heads pulled back a step or two once in a while.
No matter what we do, though, in the end the rest of the world still has to deal with us. Good luck, world!
*superman*
Yeah, we've heard it all before. The teen generation of today will have no social ability when they are older, we'll all be having epileptic seizures by the time we're in our late twenties, we'll all have carpal tunnel when we're all older...all thanks to technology and it's recent developments. Yes, technology - particularly my cell phone and computer - are pivotal components in my life. And yes, I'm a teenage boy and I do play the occasional play station or xbox or even online games. I will whole heartedly support the statement that technology - mostly the aforementioned types - completely dictate the life of the average teen.
Now, for you younger people reading. Have you ever shook your head in embarrassment and shame while looking upon a 50+ year old parent texting you and saying "hey dude. lol," or maybe some of you have have laughed your head off when an adult asks for your help in opening one of those fancy things called a...wait a minute, let me think of the name. A we...web...a website? Yes, I think that's what you kids call them.
Parents, adults...it's your turn to laugh at the teens.
Even I can see how funny it is when a teenager gets a flashback to what life was like a little bit before our time. I've seen young children, somewhere between 10-12 years old, look at a cassette tape and say, "what's that?" Just this morning my 19 year old sister and I got our hands on my mother's old typewriter. Yup, that's right. Woohoo, I officially love typewriters, no lie! I'm not even a little bit ashamed to say that we spent about half an hour having a blast with a typewriter haha. Two young adults, completely mesmerized every single time that little curser thing slid back and forth over the page. How intriguing.
Anyone out there ever play Super Nintendo? Well folks, let me tell you a little bit about your writers, Spencer and I. Both well into our teen years, bordering adulthood, both very technologically based...both in possession of Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems we were recently able to dig out of the farthest, darkest reaches of piles of old junk. One of the most primitive game systems, laughable graphics compared to today's games, yet your two studious, very mature writers spent hours playing Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country, and darn it we were having the time of our lives. I don't care if they're old. Those games are fun!
An what happens to us teens when you take away technology completely? Yeah, some of us may fall apart, even if its for a little bit. It's sad, I know. Keep your eyes peeled, though. We do know how to entertain ourselves. I know a girl, very smart, very deep minded, extremely intellectual, extremely good with computers, and I happen to know for a fact she spends an awful lot of time texting and messing around with her phone. Yet just the other day I watched this girl for at least an hour as she discovered a box of bendy straws, and then proceeded to combine then into one super long straw. Sounds foolish, doesn't it? Well, this 16 year old girl spent almost an hour completely in awe of this amazing invention she created by simply sticking one straw in the end of another. Yes, she was absolutely amazed. Perhaps that is what texting and computer games can do to one's brain. Poor girl.
In the end, we're teenagers. I think that's a pretty good excuse for any of our faults. We're just teenagers, give us some slack. Our heads aren't stuck in the clouds; they're stuck in the pixels and the memory cards and the "lol"s. It's kinda nice, though, kinda fun to have our heads pulled back a step or two once in a while.
No matter what we do, though, in the end the rest of the world still has to deal with us. Good luck, world!
*superman*
Monday, February 15, 2010
Deep Breath After Deep Breath
Sometimes we say hurtful things. Sometimes we say things that aren't true. Sometimes we say things just because we know it'll make a point no matter how cruel it is. I'm kinda upset right now. But passionate words lead to passionate points and hopefully a beneficial end result. I'm not going to tell you why I'm upset. Suffice to say there was an altercation earlier. And today, there's not going to be a how-to or an insight into a teen's mind. Today it's going to be more a narrative.
I argue frequently with people. I was brought up the youngest of three children-two older twin brothers who were brilliant and confident. We didn't eat fast food often, we always sit down and eat meals together. Usually, we'd turn on the tv. The Simpsons, Wheel of Fortune, and the world news were the trifecta of shows that we would usually put on. And as the three of us grew older we developed our own opinions on, well, everything. Food, politics, sports, computers games, teachers, you name it. While we all shared genetic material, we were always individuals.
And it was around that same table that I found my voice. I often listened to my brothers argue about politics. But I always could express my own opinion. And it didn't stop there. I learned to speak my mind at school, at events, wherever I felt I needed to stand up for myself. I've learned a lot of things sitting around that yellow-ish table that never quite seemed to have enough room for us all.
A lot of people disagree with how I get things done. A lot of people disagree with my beliefs. A lot of people disagree with personality, my lifestyle, my work ethic, me. But I think they're rather naive in all of this. I think they base their opinions on a rather narrow slice of my life that they've only barely tasted. Sometimes you gotta step back, take another piece and just dig in. We're all guilty of sometimes assuming things or making false accusations. Take a deep breath, it's all gonna be ok.
Think of your son or daughter, friend, sister, brother, aunt, cousin, neighbor, whoever. Do you really know what goes on in their life? Do you really know everything about every situation they've been in? No offense, but I doubt it. And I know I'm guilty too. All we can do is sit down, ask a few questions, talk about some things and hope we can assess the situation better next time.
I suppose I do have one tidbit of advice to share. Don't yell at your teen. We get defensive. We get mad. We get upset. And we get quite hurt by it. You are not just our mother or father or aunt or teacher or whomever. You're our rolemodel. And even if we're too darn stubborn to admit it, we strive to make you proud, hear that praise, know that we've done good. And out of the blue yelling or even yelling we deserve hurts. It kills us to know that we've let you down. It burns to know that we've done something so terrible as to warrant a rather loud verbal reprimand. It knocks us down, it rubs dirt in our face, and it walks away. Ouch. So give us a chance. Let us talk and say what's on our mind. And don't just hear us, listen to us. We're not misbehaving animals; we don't need to be yelled at. We wanna be talked to. Like an equal. Are you listening?
--Spencer
PS: My forensics piece is called The Dating Game by Kelly Meadows.
I argue frequently with people. I was brought up the youngest of three children-two older twin brothers who were brilliant and confident. We didn't eat fast food often, we always sit down and eat meals together. Usually, we'd turn on the tv. The Simpsons, Wheel of Fortune, and the world news were the trifecta of shows that we would usually put on. And as the three of us grew older we developed our own opinions on, well, everything. Food, politics, sports, computers games, teachers, you name it. While we all shared genetic material, we were always individuals.
And it was around that same table that I found my voice. I often listened to my brothers argue about politics. But I always could express my own opinion. And it didn't stop there. I learned to speak my mind at school, at events, wherever I felt I needed to stand up for myself. I've learned a lot of things sitting around that yellow-ish table that never quite seemed to have enough room for us all.
A lot of people disagree with how I get things done. A lot of people disagree with my beliefs. A lot of people disagree with personality, my lifestyle, my work ethic, me. But I think they're rather naive in all of this. I think they base their opinions on a rather narrow slice of my life that they've only barely tasted. Sometimes you gotta step back, take another piece and just dig in. We're all guilty of sometimes assuming things or making false accusations. Take a deep breath, it's all gonna be ok.
Think of your son or daughter, friend, sister, brother, aunt, cousin, neighbor, whoever. Do you really know what goes on in their life? Do you really know everything about every situation they've been in? No offense, but I doubt it. And I know I'm guilty too. All we can do is sit down, ask a few questions, talk about some things and hope we can assess the situation better next time.
I suppose I do have one tidbit of advice to share. Don't yell at your teen. We get defensive. We get mad. We get upset. And we get quite hurt by it. You are not just our mother or father or aunt or teacher or whomever. You're our rolemodel. And even if we're too darn stubborn to admit it, we strive to make you proud, hear that praise, know that we've done good. And out of the blue yelling or even yelling we deserve hurts. It kills us to know that we've let you down. It burns to know that we've done something so terrible as to warrant a rather loud verbal reprimand. It knocks us down, it rubs dirt in our face, and it walks away. Ouch. So give us a chance. Let us talk and say what's on our mind. And don't just hear us, listen to us. We're not misbehaving animals; we don't need to be yelled at. We wanna be talked to. Like an equal. Are you listening?
--Spencer
PS: My forensics piece is called The Dating Game by Kelly Meadows.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Just to give you an idea...
So, folks, you've probably noticed that posts by Spencer and myself have become a bit more spaced out in the last few months, a bit fewer and further between. hey, we try, ok? Not to make excuses, but we both lead extremely busy lives as a high school Junior and Senior. And yeah, of course there are those of you out there thinking "Jeesh, you're kids. how busy could you possibly be that you cant it down at write for a few minutes?" You want to know how busy I am? Alright. I thought I'd turn this post into a bit of a project. For the past week i recorded everything I had to do each day so you folks could see just what I'm talking about.
MONDAY - Woken up at 7:30 by my mom for school. Fun fun. Somewhere between my 90 minue classes I had to find time to begin editing a video for a class project. Caught a lucky break and got to leave school 45 minutes early for a very important college interveiw (went well!), ate a quick, cheap fast-food dinner before having a rare 3 hours to spend with my girl :).
I finally got home at 10 pm, at which point I began research on Heinrich Himmler (not a nice guy) for yet another project. I finally collapsed from exhaustion around 12:30.
TUESDAY - Woke up at 7:15 (early for me) and spent 30 minutes looking for my english novel. In school, had to - once again - spend my one, tiny, pathetic 20 minute break editing that video, after which I took 2 hour-long tests and watched Supernanny. yay for stupid classes. Had a physically exhausting practice for 2.5 hours, spent another hour working on the video, and then went into the school concession stand to help out furing the varsity basketball game. Home at 9:15. From there I worked on submissions to literary agencies for 2 hours and did a bit more research on mr. Himmler. Turns out in one weeks time I get to give a 15 minute speech on this guy. Finally fell asleep watching TV at 2:30. Hm, missing anything? Oh yeah. Dinner = quick sandwich at 9:30. Mmm, mmm, good.
WEDNESDAY - What a day. Woke up at 7:30 and could hardly open my eye. Lucky me, all my contact solution is at another house. 10 minute drive to the other house, and then 20 minutes back and forth to grab the key I forgot in the first place. I go about my day with one contact in (harder than it sounds, folks. I have a vision correct of about -8. For those of you who dont know, thats baaaaaaad!). Got to school 15 minutes late.
School went relatively smoothly. 2.5 hour practice, after which I locked myself in a classroom for 3 hours of video editing. At school until 9. Dinner 9eaten alone0 was left over lasagna at 9:30 during an episode of AFV (watched alone). Then - surprise - back to assembling a presentation for my 15 minute speech. Around 2 I fell asleep whil taking notes.
THURSDAY - Woke up (roughly 7:30) with spiral indents on my face from the notebook zi fell asleep on. Thank God I actually made it school on time. Sadly, I spent both my short break and my lunch period editing my video, had to leave school for one class period to finish up other random bits of work, and then back to another 2.5 hour practice. Another 3 hours of editing, one short hour at la casa de mi novia (girlfriend), home by 10. Dinner was...non existant. half a snadwich at about 7, the other half at 10:30 witha bag of doritos and a powerade. Got in another 30 minutes of research and finally began writing out a speech outline. I'm quite behind schedule but...hell, when am i ever on schedule?! Fell asleep while working (again), woke up about midnight, ate some fruit snacks, and fell back asleep.
FRIDAY - Woke up a little ahead of schedule and actually made it to school early for once. Day went by rather smoothly. Spent 10 minutes of my lunch period and finally finished that video. Woohoo. Practice was quick. 2 hours, rather than 2.5. The next 4 hours, though, were spent in the concession stand again for the basketball game. Another spare hour to relax finally. Between waking up at 7 and getting home at midnight, I ate a whopping one slice of store bought frozen pizza and a pack of mambas. Joy. At 12:30 I had a bowl of pasta alone in the dark while rying to motivate myself to get to work on my speech. never happened. Fell asleep at the computer around 1:30.
SATURDAY - Muahaha! All thos days I missed out on eating dinner...well, I made up for them today. I got up at 7:30 (yes, 7:30 on a saturday) for breakfast witha friend. Ihop = yum! Bought a new jacket (my girlfriend thinks mine is pathetic). Around noon I met a friend at subway and ate a 6 inch. At 12:30 I wnt back to town to return my new jacket thanks to a very large rip in the sleeve. While there, I ate lunch ate Arbys. Haha I just hit up all the best restaurants in one day. I stopped at the bank quick and got home at right about 3. Had just enough time to shower before friends started showing up. For the next few hours myself and a few friends made utter fools of ourselves strapped to snowboards, after which we stopped (about 9:30 pm) for a late dinner. Ihop again! Just when it looked like I was going to have a totally trouble free day. my friend's car key snaps clean in half in his car door. So, about 11 oclock at night, at least an hour from home, we had to sit in the cold and wait for help. I got home around 12:45 and was alseep within 5 minutes. Didnt even bother taking off my jacket.
SUNDAY - Up around 9 oclock and realized my room loocked like it had just been hit by a hurricane. Guess i should clean it, huh?
Went in to work at noon and stood basically in one spot for the next 6 long, boring hours. After work I stopped by to see that girlfriend of mine again to see if she could fix my computer. Stupid computers with stupid viruses. Ate some spaghettios for dinner and went home by 10. Worked on my speech for about 2 hours. All in all, pretty slow, down paced day. That, my friends, is rare.
Now, did you notice how long that was? It s because Im just that busy. heck, I spent almost 60 hours just in the school building this week. Who wants to do that?! I'd really rather not! Not once throughout the whole week did I have an actual meal. So...yeah, I'm just taking life as it comes to me, and at the moment its just been coming kinda fast paced.
I know there are those of you out there who know what tghis feels like, and those of you out there just waiting for a time when you can feel like you'd rather rip out your eyes and play ping pong with them than work for another minute. Yeah, just wait. when that time does come, though, all I can say is...good luck
cheers
*superman*
MONDAY - Woken up at 7:30 by my mom for school. Fun fun. Somewhere between my 90 minue classes I had to find time to begin editing a video for a class project. Caught a lucky break and got to leave school 45 minutes early for a very important college interveiw (went well!), ate a quick, cheap fast-food dinner before having a rare 3 hours to spend with my girl :).
I finally got home at 10 pm, at which point I began research on Heinrich Himmler (not a nice guy) for yet another project. I finally collapsed from exhaustion around 12:30.
TUESDAY - Woke up at 7:15 (early for me) and spent 30 minutes looking for my english novel. In school, had to - once again - spend my one, tiny, pathetic 20 minute break editing that video, after which I took 2 hour-long tests and watched Supernanny. yay for stupid classes. Had a physically exhausting practice for 2.5 hours, spent another hour working on the video, and then went into the school concession stand to help out furing the varsity basketball game. Home at 9:15. From there I worked on submissions to literary agencies for 2 hours and did a bit more research on mr. Himmler. Turns out in one weeks time I get to give a 15 minute speech on this guy. Finally fell asleep watching TV at 2:30. Hm, missing anything? Oh yeah. Dinner = quick sandwich at 9:30. Mmm, mmm, good.
WEDNESDAY - What a day. Woke up at 7:30 and could hardly open my eye. Lucky me, all my contact solution is at another house. 10 minute drive to the other house, and then 20 minutes back and forth to grab the key I forgot in the first place. I go about my day with one contact in (harder than it sounds, folks. I have a vision correct of about -8. For those of you who dont know, thats baaaaaaad!). Got to school 15 minutes late.
School went relatively smoothly. 2.5 hour practice, after which I locked myself in a classroom for 3 hours of video editing. At school until 9. Dinner 9eaten alone0 was left over lasagna at 9:30 during an episode of AFV (watched alone). Then - surprise - back to assembling a presentation for my 15 minute speech. Around 2 I fell asleep whil taking notes.
THURSDAY - Woke up (roughly 7:30) with spiral indents on my face from the notebook zi fell asleep on. Thank God I actually made it school on time. Sadly, I spent both my short break and my lunch period editing my video, had to leave school for one class period to finish up other random bits of work, and then back to another 2.5 hour practice. Another 3 hours of editing, one short hour at la casa de mi novia (girlfriend), home by 10. Dinner was...non existant. half a snadwich at about 7, the other half at 10:30 witha bag of doritos and a powerade. Got in another 30 minutes of research and finally began writing out a speech outline. I'm quite behind schedule but...hell, when am i ever on schedule?! Fell asleep while working (again), woke up about midnight, ate some fruit snacks, and fell back asleep.
FRIDAY - Woke up a little ahead of schedule and actually made it to school early for once. Day went by rather smoothly. Spent 10 minutes of my lunch period and finally finished that video. Woohoo. Practice was quick. 2 hours, rather than 2.5. The next 4 hours, though, were spent in the concession stand again for the basketball game. Another spare hour to relax finally. Between waking up at 7 and getting home at midnight, I ate a whopping one slice of store bought frozen pizza and a pack of mambas. Joy. At 12:30 I had a bowl of pasta alone in the dark while rying to motivate myself to get to work on my speech. never happened. Fell asleep at the computer around 1:30.
SATURDAY - Muahaha! All thos days I missed out on eating dinner...well, I made up for them today. I got up at 7:30 (yes, 7:30 on a saturday) for breakfast witha friend. Ihop = yum! Bought a new jacket (my girlfriend thinks mine is pathetic). Around noon I met a friend at subway and ate a 6 inch. At 12:30 I wnt back to town to return my new jacket thanks to a very large rip in the sleeve. While there, I ate lunch ate Arbys. Haha I just hit up all the best restaurants in one day. I stopped at the bank quick and got home at right about 3. Had just enough time to shower before friends started showing up. For the next few hours myself and a few friends made utter fools of ourselves strapped to snowboards, after which we stopped (about 9:30 pm) for a late dinner. Ihop again! Just when it looked like I was going to have a totally trouble free day. my friend's car key snaps clean in half in his car door. So, about 11 oclock at night, at least an hour from home, we had to sit in the cold and wait for help. I got home around 12:45 and was alseep within 5 minutes. Didnt even bother taking off my jacket.
SUNDAY - Up around 9 oclock and realized my room loocked like it had just been hit by a hurricane. Guess i should clean it, huh?
Went in to work at noon and stood basically in one spot for the next 6 long, boring hours. After work I stopped by to see that girlfriend of mine again to see if she could fix my computer. Stupid computers with stupid viruses. Ate some spaghettios for dinner and went home by 10. Worked on my speech for about 2 hours. All in all, pretty slow, down paced day. That, my friends, is rare.
Now, did you notice how long that was? It s because Im just that busy. heck, I spent almost 60 hours just in the school building this week. Who wants to do that?! I'd really rather not! Not once throughout the whole week did I have an actual meal. So...yeah, I'm just taking life as it comes to me, and at the moment its just been coming kinda fast paced.
I know there are those of you out there who know what tghis feels like, and those of you out there just waiting for a time when you can feel like you'd rather rip out your eyes and play ping pong with them than work for another minute. Yeah, just wait. when that time does come, though, all I can say is...good luck
cheers
*superman*
Monday, January 11, 2010
Children and Tweenies: Tiny Skirts, Low Shirts, and Other Things I Don't Want to See
That's right folks. Today's topic is aimed not at parents of teenagers but towards parents of children or that awkward stage of tweenies. More specifically, today's topic deals with the clothing issues of today's youth and where parents need to draw the line.
I am going to be quite blunt. Your eleven year old daughter is undeveloped, a child, wearing little to no clothing, wearing more make up than I do, and, quite frankly, slutty. That's right. Slutty. I don't care if showing-so-much-skin-it-almost-breaks-the-rules is the latest trend, I don't wanna see it. People wonder why kids start having sex at an earlier and earlier age. Well, it's 'cause they dress like they're easy and lustin' for some. Your child, is exactly that. There is no reason for her to be dressing like that. Even in highschool. You want her to meet a guy who will like her for her. First, dressed like that, she's gonna meet a boy who just wants to get it on. Secondly, she's in elementary or middle school. She shouldn't be dating anyways.
I understand that it can be hard to find proper clothing with all those suggestive styles out there. But if you give up and let your twelve year old buy that five inch skirt, you're just not trying hard enough. Thrift stores and consignment shops offer some amazing deals. I happen to love them. Because you don't want to spend an extra thirty minutes shopping is no excuse to let your daughter outside looking like she belongs on a street corner. And I just don't understand the low cuts shirts these companies make for these girls. It's not like they can fill them out anyways. Why not keep their, well, flat chest nice and covered like it belongs.
And let's think about the season. It is currently 24 degrees Farenheit where I live. 8 degrees below freezing. What in your mind said it would be ok to let your tweenie out in a tight tank-top and a tiny lil skirt? 'Cause it's darn cold, folks. What if her bus breaks down? What if your car breaks down? What if she goes outside for recess? Frozen daughter that's what.
Onto make-up. While playing with your make-up and getting it all over our faces may have been cute when we were four, wearing a pound of make up on a daily basis when you're in middle school is just ridiculous. I wear a little bit of cover up beneath my eyes because I often have dark circles there and eyeliner. And that's it. Everyday, while waiting for class to start, I see these ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen year olds wearing more make up than me and my friends wear to prom combined! Where are these kids getting the money to spend on all this make up. And who's letting them? They have no acne as they haven't hit puberty. They have no serious flaws. They shouldn't be trying to make boys like them. So, you can understand why I'm a tad confused about all this.
When did all this change? Why must these little girls flaunt what they don't got and cover what they do? When I was a little girl, I was wearing baggy t-shirts, hand me down jeans, and the most outrageous bows in my hair. When did this change to too tight tops, way too short skirts, and pounds of make up? Parents I'm asking you, no I'm begging you, wipe off your child's face and put some real clothes on them. You don't want them to end up on street corners, so don't let them look like they belong there. You are the ultimate say in all of this. Someday, they will thank you for it.
-Spencer
I am going to be quite blunt. Your eleven year old daughter is undeveloped, a child, wearing little to no clothing, wearing more make up than I do, and, quite frankly, slutty. That's right. Slutty. I don't care if showing-so-much-skin-it-almost-breaks-the-rules is the latest trend, I don't wanna see it. People wonder why kids start having sex at an earlier and earlier age. Well, it's 'cause they dress like they're easy and lustin' for some. Your child, is exactly that. There is no reason for her to be dressing like that. Even in highschool. You want her to meet a guy who will like her for her. First, dressed like that, she's gonna meet a boy who just wants to get it on. Secondly, she's in elementary or middle school. She shouldn't be dating anyways.
I understand that it can be hard to find proper clothing with all those suggestive styles out there. But if you give up and let your twelve year old buy that five inch skirt, you're just not trying hard enough. Thrift stores and consignment shops offer some amazing deals. I happen to love them. Because you don't want to spend an extra thirty minutes shopping is no excuse to let your daughter outside looking like she belongs on a street corner. And I just don't understand the low cuts shirts these companies make for these girls. It's not like they can fill them out anyways. Why not keep their, well, flat chest nice and covered like it belongs.
And let's think about the season. It is currently 24 degrees Farenheit where I live. 8 degrees below freezing. What in your mind said it would be ok to let your tweenie out in a tight tank-top and a tiny lil skirt? 'Cause it's darn cold, folks. What if her bus breaks down? What if your car breaks down? What if she goes outside for recess? Frozen daughter that's what.
Onto make-up. While playing with your make-up and getting it all over our faces may have been cute when we were four, wearing a pound of make up on a daily basis when you're in middle school is just ridiculous. I wear a little bit of cover up beneath my eyes because I often have dark circles there and eyeliner. And that's it. Everyday, while waiting for class to start, I see these ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen year olds wearing more make up than me and my friends wear to prom combined! Where are these kids getting the money to spend on all this make up. And who's letting them? They have no acne as they haven't hit puberty. They have no serious flaws. They shouldn't be trying to make boys like them. So, you can understand why I'm a tad confused about all this.
When did all this change? Why must these little girls flaunt what they don't got and cover what they do? When I was a little girl, I was wearing baggy t-shirts, hand me down jeans, and the most outrageous bows in my hair. When did this change to too tight tops, way too short skirts, and pounds of make up? Parents I'm asking you, no I'm begging you, wipe off your child's face and put some real clothes on them. You don't want them to end up on street corners, so don't let them look like they belong there. You are the ultimate say in all of this. Someday, they will thank you for it.
-Spencer
Saturday, January 2, 2010
You can call this one whatever you'd like :)
Oofda, it's been a while, folks. You still remember who I am, right? Yeah, Ive been busy with quite a few things in the last month, and sadly, writing has gotten pushed to the side...well, in a sense.
Ive been putting an awful lot of work into a particular project of mine in the past month, and its becoming quite stressing and time consuming. One thing you may not have known about me - I'm a writer. Yes, obviously I write for this blog...but literally, I'm a writer. I'm in the midst of taking steps to have my first novel published (cross your fingers for me).
So, a little under three years ago I sat down at my computer and just started typing. For basically a whole summer I just sat at that desk, type type type, and about a year and one rewrite later I had myself a manuscript. Now, I do a lot of reading and I had seen so many times authors talk about the long process of writing a book and all the bajillions of rewrites they've had to do and yadda yadda, and I - 15 years old - was sitting there thinking, "What the heck are these fools talking about? It can't be that hard to be a world renowned author - if these pansies coudl do it so can I."...Well, I sent it out to a publisher. And then another, and another, and a few literary agents here and there. And then a few more. I quickly found out how the life of a writer erally goes. The few replies I got were all very generic, "You are just not right for us," and none were positive. The one positive reply I have gotten turned out to be a very poor reputative agency I should never have submited to in the first place.
Well, I got the idea after a while and began my rewrites, and then had friends, parents, teachers edit my work for me...and the story goes on from there. The point is, when i was 15 it was so, so obvious to me that being a rich, famous author was the only thing i was going to do with my loief. years later now, I'm hardly optimistic in that area. Having my work published is now a dream, rather than an inevitable truth. Making a living on writing seems like a miracle that almost cannot happen. Yet, I have absolutely no intention of doing anything else. I may very much be shooting myself in the foot for my entire life, and I am not ignorant of the fact that I'm probably looking at a very bland life, pending a best seller - keep those fingers crossed :) - but thats a far cry from certain, or even likely...
....but what about the upside? Well, here it is. I'd be doing what I love to do moe than almost anything else. Now, if i have to stick with a career for the rest of my life, why not try to make it with something that I would be more than happy to do every day, something that would make me happy to do? It's not the safest road, but it would be my road. Now, I know current economic situations might be teaching us to play it safe, go for a job where there are opportunities and high paying salaries. Folks, listen to me. If your willing to be a little risky, I encourage you to ask yourself what you would really love to do with your life. Remember when you were a kid and you had that dream job? Why not go for it? I'm telling you, this is the one time you get to live your life. There are no do-overs. Why not make the best of it while you got it?
I'm definitely not saying you should throw your entire lief away on some super unrealistic fantasy, of course. I'm just saying, sometimes it pays off to be a little risky. You might not have the security and nice, expensive house in the suburbs, but you'll be happy with what you're doing. An hell, maybe you'll get luck and have both :).
So, whatever you choose to do, the best of luck to you! I know I'll certainly be in need of some.
*superman*
Ive been putting an awful lot of work into a particular project of mine in the past month, and its becoming quite stressing and time consuming. One thing you may not have known about me - I'm a writer. Yes, obviously I write for this blog...but literally, I'm a writer. I'm in the midst of taking steps to have my first novel published (cross your fingers for me).
So, a little under three years ago I sat down at my computer and just started typing. For basically a whole summer I just sat at that desk, type type type, and about a year and one rewrite later I had myself a manuscript. Now, I do a lot of reading and I had seen so many times authors talk about the long process of writing a book and all the bajillions of rewrites they've had to do and yadda yadda, and I - 15 years old - was sitting there thinking, "What the heck are these fools talking about? It can't be that hard to be a world renowned author - if these pansies coudl do it so can I."...Well, I sent it out to a publisher. And then another, and another, and a few literary agents here and there. And then a few more. I quickly found out how the life of a writer erally goes. The few replies I got were all very generic, "You are just not right for us," and none were positive. The one positive reply I have gotten turned out to be a very poor reputative agency I should never have submited to in the first place.
Well, I got the idea after a while and began my rewrites, and then had friends, parents, teachers edit my work for me...and the story goes on from there. The point is, when i was 15 it was so, so obvious to me that being a rich, famous author was the only thing i was going to do with my loief. years later now, I'm hardly optimistic in that area. Having my work published is now a dream, rather than an inevitable truth. Making a living on writing seems like a miracle that almost cannot happen. Yet, I have absolutely no intention of doing anything else. I may very much be shooting myself in the foot for my entire life, and I am not ignorant of the fact that I'm probably looking at a very bland life, pending a best seller - keep those fingers crossed :) - but thats a far cry from certain, or even likely...
....but what about the upside? Well, here it is. I'd be doing what I love to do moe than almost anything else. Now, if i have to stick with a career for the rest of my life, why not try to make it with something that I would be more than happy to do every day, something that would make me happy to do? It's not the safest road, but it would be my road. Now, I know current economic situations might be teaching us to play it safe, go for a job where there are opportunities and high paying salaries. Folks, listen to me. If your willing to be a little risky, I encourage you to ask yourself what you would really love to do with your life. Remember when you were a kid and you had that dream job? Why not go for it? I'm telling you, this is the one time you get to live your life. There are no do-overs. Why not make the best of it while you got it?
I'm definitely not saying you should throw your entire lief away on some super unrealistic fantasy, of course. I'm just saying, sometimes it pays off to be a little risky. You might not have the security and nice, expensive house in the suburbs, but you'll be happy with what you're doing. An hell, maybe you'll get luck and have both :).
So, whatever you choose to do, the best of luck to you! I know I'll certainly be in need of some.
*superman*
Friday, January 1, 2010
A New Year's Resolution
December was not a great month for me. As you might have noticed, I blogged a grand total of zero times. December was a month filled with long nights in the concession stand, hours of time after school, a bajillion assignments to finish, shopping to get done, people to see, places to go, and a million more things on my to-do list. So it goes, unfortunately. But now, it's January 1st and time to start a whole new year. A year that's bound to filled with new frustrations, elations, and all the times in between. It's also time for New Year's Resolutions.
I'll be honest. I have already messed up my resolution. And I say that with a smile on my face. I have decided to take on a project that will last me 365 days. Or thereabouts. I want to take a picture everyday around the same time from a particular spot on my road. The view is simply gorgeous. I plan on then stringing all of these picture together in some animation program. "But why?" You ask. Simple. 'Cause I want to. Now, I know it's the first day of the new year and I shoulda started my resolution out strong. Well, I didn't go take the picture. Can you blame me? Up until 5 in the morning with the most beautiful amazingest friends a girl can have, wake up a little before ten, have to clean up after it all, just kinda want to lay in bed for a while.
"So then, why are you smiling about this? You messed up and it hasn't even been 24 hours!" Well, that one isn't quite as easy to explain. I've run into my fair share of difficulties since school started. Things have been more than just hectic and crazy and mentally exhausting. But through it all, I've found everything is better if you just take a deep breath and keep smiling. And that's become my other New Year's Resolution. To smile no matter what challenges I face. I know I will surely fail that one. It's quite impossible to smile all the time. But the part that matters is that I try. And if I try, I know that things will still seem better even if I only smile for a little while before I have an utter break down.
A new motto has come into my life. "Our true color is happy." You might think it sounds a little cheesy. But it will always remind me that no matter how upset I get, with all those special people around me, loving me, supporting me, I'll always be happy underneath it all. I just gotta dig deep to find it sometimes. But I know there's someone out there who will always be able to find it for me. ;)
If there's one thing I would like to say to the very few readers of this blog, it's to make smiling your resolution this year. Who cares if you cheat on your diet or don't learn that new language. What really matters, is that you're happy. So, my challenge to you, is to be happy even when things suck. Things will get better. The sun will shine again and the rain clouds will blow away. You just gotta stick it out and keep smiling.
--Spencer
I'll be honest. I have already messed up my resolution. And I say that with a smile on my face. I have decided to take on a project that will last me 365 days. Or thereabouts. I want to take a picture everyday around the same time from a particular spot on my road. The view is simply gorgeous. I plan on then stringing all of these picture together in some animation program. "But why?" You ask. Simple. 'Cause I want to. Now, I know it's the first day of the new year and I shoulda started my resolution out strong. Well, I didn't go take the picture. Can you blame me? Up until 5 in the morning with the most beautiful amazingest friends a girl can have, wake up a little before ten, have to clean up after it all, just kinda want to lay in bed for a while.
"So then, why are you smiling about this? You messed up and it hasn't even been 24 hours!" Well, that one isn't quite as easy to explain. I've run into my fair share of difficulties since school started. Things have been more than just hectic and crazy and mentally exhausting. But through it all, I've found everything is better if you just take a deep breath and keep smiling. And that's become my other New Year's Resolution. To smile no matter what challenges I face. I know I will surely fail that one. It's quite impossible to smile all the time. But the part that matters is that I try. And if I try, I know that things will still seem better even if I only smile for a little while before I have an utter break down.
A new motto has come into my life. "Our true color is happy." You might think it sounds a little cheesy. But it will always remind me that no matter how upset I get, with all those special people around me, loving me, supporting me, I'll always be happy underneath it all. I just gotta dig deep to find it sometimes. But I know there's someone out there who will always be able to find it for me. ;)
If there's one thing I would like to say to the very few readers of this blog, it's to make smiling your resolution this year. Who cares if you cheat on your diet or don't learn that new language. What really matters, is that you're happy. So, my challenge to you, is to be happy even when things suck. Things will get better. The sun will shine again and the rain clouds will blow away. You just gotta stick it out and keep smiling.
--Spencer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)