This week has been crazy

The week has been crazy. Pretty much. From labs to tests to worrying about the SAT, I haven't gotten to bed before 11:00 at all this week, which is pretty bad for me.

*stops writing for like 3 days*

Ok...so...just came back from the Winter Athletics Varsity Awards ceremony. It was quite sweet, except they nearly forgot to call my name. There were about 20-25 kids there for indoor. I just kept on waiting, thinking they would come back to me at the end. Luckily, I got someone's attention, and they realized that I had been called yet. Oh well. Varsity letter=sweet. If I do 2 varsity sports next year (which I am), then I am going to get a special award thingy for getting 7 varsity letters. Cool, cool.

But, yeah. The last few days have been like the rest of the week, in that I've been going to be at about 11:30 every night. But, last night, I actually didn't have a terrible amount of homework, so I tried to go to bed early. But, unfortunately, I failed miserably 'cause I was so used to going to bed late. So, yeah...sitting in bed thinking...

Pretty much..I wondered why I could think that I was thinking about me thinking, or just people's existence overall. I can understand how a human body works, consisting of thousands of cells all working in unison, but I couldn't grasp the idea of the conscious. I mean, how do we know that we exist? We are really just many thousands of little creatures (cells), but are they what create the conscious? How can the existence of something so seamless and intangible as the mind be defined in terms of biology and neuroscience? (in a way, it's actually terrifying to think if we would exist if we did not have the sense of touching, tasting, smell, hearing, or seeing. We would be a prisoner of our own minds, ignorant of the real world.)

But yeah...moving on...If thousands of cells working together can create a creature intelligent enough to think and know of its own existence, then what about the thousands of humans on this world? Do we create some sort of larger being? In a way, today's society does create a living creature, from growing, to having ups and downs to getting sick and getting healthy again. A bit odd to think about.

Ok. Now that I have that out of my system.

I recently found a cartoon thingy (look below) which really struck me in some way.

(http://xkcd.com)

I'm not really sure why I like it so much. Just sort of heartwarming.


But, yeah, I should get off to some bio studying or something like that.

Peace.

Rainy Friday

SsoO.
Psychology it is.

I have been debating over what I am really interested in and what I just find interesting...and have finally decided to ignore my age-old attraction to the ocean and move on to psychology instead. AP psych will be such an awesome class. I will be very angry at my teacher if A) He doesn't recommend me for AP psych of B) He is my teacher for that class next year. Oh, well. Things could be worse.

Along those lines, I have been frustratingly looking for colleges. I am now beginning to feel the stress of looking for colleges, and I'm not liking it at all. Oh, well, I guess that this is what the next two years of my life are going to be like.

I now hate photosynthesis. Dannenberg (my teacher) is frustrating and makes us write so much for our labs. It is so frustrating, and I always have at least one night per term when I need to finish a formal lab and I always stay up until like 1-3 in the morning for those. And so, yeah, last night was the night I needed to finish my (very extended) lab (on photosynthesis). I can't think now. So I apologize if this post is a bunch of incoherent words.

Speaking of staying up late and not being able to think, the feeling that you get the day (or the morning) after, is absolutely amazing. It is almost like I don't really care about what other people think about me, and I am more relaxed and can like talk more. Very odd...this is why I like psychology.

But, yes...running out of things to talk about...

Ok, philosophy time...I was like actually thinking about like the whole idea of winning the lottery and everything the other day. But, seriously, the lottery is absolutely a terrible thing to have. Us rich folk (and I'm generalizing, but most people in the United States are at least average to above average in wealth) are always aiming to be richer. What the lottery is really doing is making the rich richer and not supporting anything but increasing wealth in an already wealthy society. It is sad to say, but if we really want to make the rest of the world a better (and wealthier) place, we will have to become poorer ourselves. And, I don't mean like losing a percent of you income to donations. I mean living and working entirely for the purpose of providing for others. Only in this way will we be able to fix our global problems. Hmm...that actually sounds a lot like communism...

Done with philosophy time. Ok, something really off topic....the other day I found a video linked from a news article involving the worst sports accidents of all time. One video is still playing back in my head, of Clint Malarchuk (a hockey goalie) accidentally getting a skate to his neck by the opposing team. Within 2 seconds, there is a 3 foot pool of blood in front of him. It just makes my stomach churn to think of what was going through his mind right then. Ok, so this is REALLY graphic, so unless you're really comfortable with blood or really want to see this, don't click here to watch the video. You might just want to listen to the commentators first. Just thought I'd share that.

Ok, so time to work on crazy Friday night homework, and looking forward to tomorrow night for something exciting. Hopefully if I have the guts. Hehe, I love making people wonder what I'm talking about.


Peace

random

Ok, so I know it's 10:00 on a Tuesday morning and I should be sleeping, but that's beside the point.

Sooo...nothing really new going on. Vacation is absolutely wonderful, and I am so happy that it's here. Now, the next step is the SUMMER, but I've got a ways to go before I get there. I've got finals, AP's, the SAT's, and all that jazz. In a way, the end of the year is the hardest time.

But, in other news, I am so amazingly happy that I got my junior thesis finally done. I managed to pick the most boring topic that was possible, the start of the United States' Banking System. There were so many other options, which would have actually made my junior thesis ENJOYABLE, but unfortunately, I didn't realize how boring the banking system actually was.

Hmmm...I just clicked on something and I'm not totally sure what it just did...something about freeing up disk space. Hmm.. : /

On Saturday, I went skiing at the most amazing place evar...Mt Sunapee. It wasn't too terribly huge (actually small compared to Stowe), but it was like amazing. It's quite entertaining cause everyone I know who knows how to ski or snowboard is going skiing or snowboarding over vacation. But, hannyways.. I'm going to Killington later this week, which will be sweet.

I've had waay too much time on my hands lately, and I've started to make a picture website thingy. Check it out. But, yeah, I really need to do something more productive...

But, yeah, I should be getting back to my bio lab, which I have yet to start. (btw, my previous bio labs were 4500+ words, whereas the thesis was 3300, and I usually do the bio labs in one night...crazy, crazy)

Peace

a lot of links

Ok, so I really have other things to do right now, but whatevs

I just found a very cool google earth-like website on "Flickr" in which you can search locations and click on photos to see like actual pictures of that location. This really cool map can be found here. Pretty sweet.

Then, this week, Fall Out Boy came out with their (in my opinion) best album yet. (a review of it can be found here. It mixes up the good parts of their old albums, a kind of heavy light rock with a slight mix of emo at times. Overall, the masterful lyrics add meaning to each of the songs...making each one tell a story and create a mood. You can listen to streaming music for their new cd here. Also, I have recently discovered an amazing song..."Love is all I Need" by Kristian Leontiou. It has an amazing piano background...and any song with an amazing piano background is a good song.

Finally (last link, I promise), I found pretty funny title to an article on cnn.com. Quite interesting. People should proofread their article before they submit it to be published...

Recently, I have been wondering about racism and all the other bad "ism's" which are out there. The real root of racism, like it or not, is the idea that people's physical characteristics and culture are different from one another. So, basically, I wonder whether there was racism in ancient times...because everyone was probably the same, if not at least more similar to each other than in today's world. Nobody back then had an efficient way to transport themselves from place to place, therefore minimizing the mix in culture and/or skin color. Once mass migration and the spreading of different religions began to become widespread, diversity in every country grew to be very large. Believe it or not, our expanding world was one of the key factors in supporting racism.

Ok, that's enough philosophical(ish) thinking for today. SO...

recently, I got my hair cut!!! I can finally wake up without having to get a shower to look nice. (Maybe) I shall grow it out again till the summer or beyond. We shall see.

Other than that, nothing much...thesis is making my life like torture. I overreact sometimes.

I went on the ski trip to Stowe last weekend, which was sweet. Many people go on that trip to get high 24/7, and I think I saw some of that, cause 2 kids got sent home for doing pot. And then the other entertaining thing were the three kids who mysteriously disappeared into the woods, and when I asked them later where they had gone, they all laughed and didn't tell me. But, other than that, I love to do high-risk skiing. On one run, I was going down so fast that I had a hard time keeping myself on the ground on one of the steep parts. It was like skydiving with skis. It was sugary sweet.

ohhh...this week. Funny things happened...but, hey! The most effective way to get into somebody's mind about something that you disagree about is by not doing anything. The more you can make them question their actions, the more likely they will start to understand your side of the argument. Then, once they begin questioning their part of the argument, you argue your point and catch them off-guard. If you got that last part, good for you! Sometimes I even have a hard time understanding myself.

So, not much else. It is now time for me to work on my Junior Thesis, my homework, then looking forward to going skating on the Charles River tomorrow!


Peace

PS
Why are we obsessing so much over Anna Nicole Smith's death? A few days ago, a man I knew who was much stronger and had much more personality than the greatest movie stars passed away. Why should the whole world be mourning the death of an actress when the only way my friend could get a suit for his open-casket wake was from a donation by my parents?

This world confuses me sometimes. People view things out of proportion.

speed demon

So, recently.

Had a pretty amazing race at reggie the other day. A pr of 5:17, and it felt pretty fast even though I got lapped right at the finish line. It is quite entertaining because I can tell down to the second how fast my time will be based off of when Seb laps me.

So, I went to the Boston Indoor Games. It was amazing to see how fast professionals go, compared to high school runners. In the 5K indoor womens competition, a Nigerian woman broke the world record in front of my eyes, and got a sub-5 minute mile pace for 3.1 miles for a total of 14:28. It was amazing.

The new iphone is stupid. I won't get into the details, but basically it may be a breakthrough in technology, but technology developed in Asia (not to stereotype here) five years ago still surpasses anything proposed for the near future by Apple. Phones have been developed with everything from broadband internet to a music player to a wireless credit card to a GPS system all with amazing speed and a low price. Apple should master their niche, the music playing industry.

Going skiing at Stowe this weekend. Downhill skiing conquers all. It looks like they have a few glades open, which will be absolutely sweet, as I have been craving glades for a good year and a half, because of the lack of snow last year. I can't wait.

My History teacher is so frustrating. He first gives me a B- on this stupid Junior Thesis outline, which I worked ever so hard on. And, yeah, that is 10% of my second term grade. Also, he graded my stupid essay a 78 even though I answered thoroughly every question he posed. So, I went in at 7:15 in the morning to have a 5-minute conversation with him. He's a phych teacher. He knows I'm angry. So, basically I gave Him a correct answer which He didn't like. Note to self: next time, read the teacher's mind.

Other than that...the exact same thing. Track is awesome. I shall get 508 tomorrow. And beat the other guy. Sweet.

Seeing as I haven't updated in quite a long time, it will most likely be very long until I get around to writing something here.

Till next time
Peace.

ps
for all you dog-lovers out there

In life, we learn. In school, we learn how to learn.

I have just come back from an amazing ski trip to Stowe. As I said, it was pretty much amazing, other than the lack of snow. The picture at left was taken over the summer at Tremblant, and I forgot that I had taken a few pictures which I had planned to put together later as a kind of panoramic picture, so here is my attempt at doing that.


Ok, so I have been meaning to update for a while now, but that's besides the point.

Let's see, in the recent weeks, I have been doing so much. Last week, I went skiing at Stowe (as mentioned above), and that was amazing. There were only twenty or so trails open, but it was still some pretty good skiing. I managed to somehow injure the top of my foot by going off too many jumps, and now whenever I run, I am half limping, half running. I managed to limp my way up and down a ladder of 2-4-6-8, 8-6-4-2 the other day, but my foot felt like it was about to fall off. I shall see how my track workout goes tomorrow.

Other than that, I have been limping through this school week. So stressful, but so amazing. It is kind of a love-hate relationship.

So, I have recently decided to start studying for the SAT's and took a 3-hour practice test today. It was so long, and so frustrating, but I got it done. It was quite entertaining because the essay question was something about people revealing too much information about themselves through the internet.

Other than that...let's see...recently, the iphone came out, which is absolutely sweet. A while ago, I previewed what I thought would be the next ipod, and I was pretty close to getting it right. So, it is a pretty amazing little device which can do pretty much anything a computer can do. Not only a touch-wide screen, but a "multi-touch" screen, which is very high-tech. (photo courtesy of apple.com)

The only thing I can object to is the memory size (4 gb or 8gb), the battery life (6 hours), and the price ($500 or $600). It is an amazing step forward for Apple, and I can't wait to see what they can do to better it.

Other than that, pretty much nothing has happened. Yesterday, I heard some terrible news at school that a kid had been stabbed to death at the high school pretty much next to mine. The teenage murderer (of course, that could be debated), had boasted about his weapon's collection to everyone at the school, yet no one did anything about it. No one took him seriously because he had asperger's syndrome, yet he was just as capable of following through with his threats as any other high-schooler would be. Unfortunately, it ended with one innocent child dead.

Better get some sleep.

Sleep Deprived, but Focused

So, last night I managed to stay up untill 2 or so in the morning finishing my stupid bio lab, then realized I still had the rest of my homework to do. I just basically didn't do any more of it, and went to bed wicked late. So, I thought that the lack of sleep would kill me during the day, but it actually made me more focused. I participated more in a lot of my classes because I was really relaxed and not really worrying about how other people view me. I should stay up late more often.

So, the late night was a result of both me not working on my stuff over vacation, but rather more me staying at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston to see the rest of my track meet. I managed to eek out a pr of 5:18.5. We absolutely bulldozed our competition, beating them 70-11. It was quite entertaining, and I've decided that I have become addicted to cheering. Maybe I could be a coach. Except for my absolute lack of experience and skill. Maybe when I get older.


I saw a video the other day of the record-breaking 3:43 mile run by Hicham El Guerrouj. It is quite an amazing film, and can be found off of youtube here.

Nothing much else to say. It is time for me to get some sleep for a change.

peace.

all [good] things come to an end...

...including winter vacation.

It's amazing how our taste in music can mirror our feelings or ideas. Even if someone wants to keep a secret, their life will be revealed in their taste (or, rather change in taste) of music.

On another note, biking in Boston is really cool. Biked down there with my cousin the other day. Biked out via the Charles, up to Old Ironsides, then up to Bunker Hill Monument (which, by the way is being renevated now), then followed the freedom trail down over the river, took the esplanade side of the river back to the fends, then followed the fends all the way to Jamaica Pond, then you're basically at the Franklin Park Zoo (where we got picked up). That is pretty much the longest bike ride I can handle.

I like to think I can do anything. It's not necessarily a good thing. For example, the other day when I was running, I thought, oh, I can do this, it is just a matter of how hard I push myself. [goes to sleep]
But, yes, to continue along...I was saying that, well at least in running, that depending on how hard you push yourself, you can go as fast as you want or as slow as you want. It's not really true, though, and I had to learn that the hard way by pushing myself too hard and like practically passing out.

On a different note, school is quite frustrating. I have officially 4 major papers and labs due right after vacation, even though the teachers aren't supposed to assign us homework over vacation. It's all good, though.

Now I'm off to do several things, none of which include homework.

Peace.

260 Nigerians killed in oil explosion

This was on page 3 of the Boston Globe this morning. The front page was filled up with "The Death of a President". Then the second page had a picture of the president carrying his dog out of his airplane. Then, you turned the page, and sharing half of the page with a Victoria's Secret ad, you could see this horrifying title.

So, what really is such the big deal with the death of a president? Do we really think the president's life is more valuable than 260 suffering Nigerians? When President Ford died, many memories were aroused in people's heads about their childhoods and what they remembered of him. 260 Nigerians being incinerated by the only thing that would keep them alive have just entered our lives. We have no memories of them. They might as well not be humans. Untill you do this. Now, think of someone you knew who has died. Think about the terrible feeling you had deep inside like someone took them away from you. Now, imagine all of the other people who knew that person and all of their sadness and suffering. Now, think about what would it would be like if 200 individuals passed away. It is unimaginable. We don't care about 260 Nigerians only because we know who President Ford was. But, just remember that a life is a life, and life is the most precious thing we have on this world.

So, overall, the general idea is that with the death of hundreds of Nigerians came no meaning and no connection to the real world, but with the death of president Gerald Ford came the death of millions of memories in millions of Americans.

cool music video

Music Video Code By Urbnmix


How to save a life. Good song. Good video.

Vacation

So, today is the first day of vacation. Absolutely sweet.

As for me, I'm barely doing anything over vacation, other than working on three papers, two of which are 8 or more pages. Also, I have a lab due right after vacation and a million other things. It's amazing how teachers aren't supposed to give homework over the break, but it still somehow happens. That's why I can't wait for college.

I've lately been too bored for my own good. I save every bit of homework for the absolute last minute, then stay up like forever to get it done. In college, you don't have to worry about any of that (well, you actually kind of do), but there is much more freedom in college. I will quote the Dartmouth pamphlet: "We guarantee you that once your kids come out of college, a fully-grown adult will come out". So, basically, I really want to enjoy this time of nice, relaxed high-school, and not hurry to grow up in college.

Had another meet at Reggie this week. Slowly but surely cutting a few seconds off my time. 5:23 this time, and Ben predicts 5:17, so that's what I am going to get next meet. The track team is awesome. I've decided.

It's amazing how quickly the holidays have snuck up. It's like...the beginning of school...thanksgiving....then all the sudden Christmas. It's almost like I have been on cruise control pretty much the whole year. Then, the other day, my friend informed me that we're already halfway through the year. Halfway, and I'm still trying to remember the teacher's names. Pretty pathetic.

Some major skiing must go down next week.

can't wait.

Oh, and another really cool science thing. They caught the first ever live giant squid on camera. It's here.
Pretty darn cool. They have video of it somewhere on the CNN website, too.

---

Sooo...maybe no longer that normal thing that I've been doing?
I shall see. Hopefully.
I love making people wonder what I'm talking about.


peace

Ok, so I was going to update this, but then I decided not to, but then I guess I'm updating it again. So, yes.

Track has been spiffy. The first meet happened yesterday, and you can read all about it in Jon's blog . So, basically, I ran like crazy. I did the mile, but Seb (probably the most talented distance runner on our team) managed to lap me. It was so exciting, though. Ran the first few laps in about 37-40, then went up, then went down to probs 35-30 for my last few. Not that that means anything. So, basically, I ended up going for a 5:32, which isn't that good, but probably actually is for the average person. And so, that was the biggest meet of the year, which we won. The Brookline coach made a few stupid mistakes about placing his very talented distance runners in the wrong events.

But, yeah, I had way too much time this afternoon, and I found a pretty amazingly funny sign from this site.



pretty funny. Except not really.

I've run out of ideas to write down.

Oh, now I remember. Yes, Christmas. I can't wait. Only like a few more weeks. I find it quite entertaining how, when I was younger, I was always looking foreward to the actual day of christmas, but now that I've grown older, I could care less about christmas, but just the break from school is amazing. I really hope to go skiing. No, not really hope, but rather I SHALL GO SKIING. And not kill myself. I have to go skiing. I got new skiis, and hope to break them in during, if not before vacation. It's quite sad how there's a lack of snow, though. And nobody's paying any attention to it, either. The weathermen just say, "Another beautiful day tomorrow". Since when can I wear shorts and short sleeves in December? It can't be good.

I can't manage to find something to do right now. The past few weeks have kind of been a blur. I caught myself thinking in class a few times, thinking, wouldn't it be awesome if I could just fast foreward my life past these stupid boring ruts. I don't even know what I have done differently this past week to make it amazingly boring, but there's something that I'm missing.

But, as long as the wonderful people in my math class (EVERY person in that class is ever-so awesome) are there to keep me entertained, I'll be fine.

the two songs that have made my week- must have done something right and fallen man


peace

Running

"The Hand"

(Background- Avalon, NJ)

Yep, yep, it worked pretty well. At least better than I thought. I took a few pointless pictures of my hand, none of which I ever had any intent on printing out. But, yeah, pretty much when I started this photo, I was thinking...hhmmmm...I think I should find a photo with a lot of open space, so I can put something in there that doesn't belong. And, so it went on to this. Pretty cool. Oh, and the teacher showed his photo major students, and they were all like, woah, that is really cool. Only having finished Photo Minor I, this was a pretty good compliment, so it pretty much made my day.

But, yeah, I ran my second track workout of the season today. Surprising how hard it was, even though it should have been pretty easy. Ah, well. It was the first time which running actually gave me a headache. But, yeah, track has been going fairly well. I'm so out of shape, and am failing miserable at walking up and down stairs due to my sore muscles (or at least I was like that the other day). I'm beginning to get back into shape, though.

But, yeah, about that singer called eminem. I hate him. Absolutely hate his ideas. Arguing for freedom of speech, although the words that he uses are targeting others, and could even in some case be considered a threat. See, the thing is, one has freedom of speech as long as they are not violating other's rights. I think this should be a violation of other's rights.
He's so obnoxious. I hate how everyone likes him for his words. Yet, in a way, I like some of his music. I absolutely hate every aspect of his music in which he uses derogitory terms, or targets people, but he tries to get the people that were disgusted with his words back by saying what a bad situation he is in. In some songs, he seems torn between rapping and spending time with his family. But, you know what? Even these songs are forcing him to spend more time rapping and less time with his family.

I dislike this person very much. He thinks way too much about his life.

So, yes, pretty much totally missed National Hug Day the other day. Oh, well. Not that it matters.

I was thinking about new stuff for the internet. Pretty random, but wouldn't it be awesome if you could back up your whole computer onto the internet and access it from anywhere? I mean, it could work like on-line email. Basically store massive amounts of stuff in an account at some headquarters somewhere, and share it through either some program that is easily downloadable onto every computer, or just share it right through your web browser. Now, that would be pretty cool, and it would have kind of a double-function because it backs up your whole computer in case your computer crashes or something, and in addition, it provides remote access to any file on your computer (I actually thought of this idea because I forgot to email myself this school assignment, and it was just like sooo annoying)

So, basically, that would be a pretty good idea.


And, so, lesson of the day: Each little event in life is like one stroke of a paintbrush. I'm painting my masterpiece.

Thanksgiving and such.

My cousin

This week has been amazingly boring. Well, kind of.

It all started with Thanksgiving, which is always fun. Got to see my cousin (pictured above) and my family and stuff in PA. We went out to a pretty fancy dinner, which was awesome. So, then my extended family being a crowd of 17, we had to stay at a hotel. The last day, I was sick, which kinda was annoying. But the worse part was that I had indoor track "tryouts" on Monday, and I felt so amazingly sick. I decided to run despite, though. So, I did pretty well and have been doing 6 or 7 odd miles for two days in a row.

But, yeah, today I feel absolutely terrible. It's probably the cold weather, but I like couldn't breath while I was running. Good thing it is a short day, and I can just like go home and sleep. But, yeah, I can't wait to see if I can get in the 5:0_, or even break five minutes in the mile. That would be sweet.

In other news, I just figured out an awesome way of printing b+w photos. In the darkroom, you have this thing called an "enlarger" which projects the picture on your negative onto a piece of light-sensitive paper. Usually you do one thing, take it out, put it through the chemicals, then you have a picture. What I think would be pretty cool is make two overlapping pictures (i.e. put one negative in, project it onto the piece of paper, then put another one in and project it onto the same picture) now that would be pretty cool like if you had one object from two perspectives, and you overlapped the object. It would be pretty cool to overlap family members' faces too.

And, now that I ran out of things to say, here's a survey.

200. My middle name is: That's a bit creepy. Why would anyone want to know? I'll give you a hint. It starts with D.
199. I was born on: August 1, 1989
198. I am a: happy person. Yesss...I did this thingy where I was supposed to fill out my name and wrote happy person instead. Quite embarassing.
197. My cell phone company: Verizon. I think?
196. My eye color is: Blue...ish...sometimes green.
195. My shoe size is: 13. Gigantic
194. My ring size is: No idea.
193. My height is: something in the high 5-foot range
192. I am allergic to: dust? pretty much nothing else
191. I was born in: Massachusetts
190. I live in: MA
189. The last book I read: Walden. I hate.
188. My bed is: old? Small.
187. One thing I know for sure about the opposite sex: They outnumber us.
186. I am glad I'm my sex because: No reason. This is the way I am and will be.
185. My favorite Holiday is: It is a tie. Christmas and National Hug day are both right up there.
178. The perfect kiss is: Does it really matter?
177. The last three cd's I bought are: Transatlanticism (Death Cab for Cutie), Continuum (John Mayer), and I guess Louder Now (Taking Back Sunday)
176. Last song that made me cry was: Usually don't cry to any songs.
172. My most treasured possession(s) is(are): My coins?
170. What did you do last night: Went to bed at about 8:30 as I was feeling absolutely terrible.

:::::I Do (YES)/Do Not (NO) Believe In:::::
143. Santa? Sure. No.
142. Love at First Sight? Not really.
141. Luck? not really.
140. Fate? Yes. More than luck at least.
139. God? Yeah. In a way.
138. Aliens? Perhaps
137. Heaven? Yes.
136. Hell? Maybe
135. Ghosts? Yes
134. Horoscopes? Never read them nor liked them. Definetely not.
133. Soulmates? Yes.

:::::Which is Better?:::::
129. Hugs or Kisses? Probs hugs.
128. Drunk or High? N/A
127. Phone or Online: Probably online. I'm such a loser
126. Red heads or Black hair: Black hair
125. Blondes or Brunettes: Probs Blondes. It really depends, though.
122. Coffee or tea: Tea. Most definetely.
121. Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate...yesss to 1/2 lb chocolate bars
120. Night or Day: Night
119. Oranges or Apples: Apples all the time
118. Curly or Straight hair: Straight, but I think I have been slanted due to my "unbearable" hair.

:::::Here's What I Think About:::::
116. Abortion: Pro-choice.
114. Parents: Fortuanetely, I like them...Like em or hate em, you're stuck with them.
110. School: Stressfull. But yet again, a good kind of stressfull.

::::Last time I:::
103.Last time I kissed someone: Idk. A week ago, saying good by to the family members.
102. Last time I hugged someone: Same.
101. Saw someone I haven't seen in a while: Pretty much everyone in track. Awesomeness...

::::MISC::::
89. Who makes you laugh the most: No idea. Probs the people in my Math class. My math class is a joke.
87.One thing I'm mad about right now is: Me being unable to be sick.
86. last movie I saw in the theater was: The Prestige. Good (yet confusing) movie.
82. The thing I don't understand is: Many things. Why we have to be so obsessive about education. Why we are unable to work anything out to everybody's liking. Many things.
81. The one thing I love about the opposite sex is: No idea. Boldness of some people.
80. The most unsatisfactory answer I've ever received: I'd have to go with "yeah".
76. This summer I am: GETTING A JOB. Training for xc. Going to somewhere in Central America.
75. Something I will miss when I leave home is: My house.
74. The thing that I'm looking forward to the most: The Summer of '07.
73. Tomorrow: Mucho school. Two back-to-back frees in the middle of the day in which I will hopefully test my photo experiment.
72. Today: Skipped gym (well, actually my mother called me in sick) and slept in 'till 8. Sweet.
71. Next Week: No idea. Hand in my Junior Thesis (kill me now) notecards. Which I have barely started.
70. Next Spring Break: Hmmm...Not really sure. I hope (which I seriously doubt) I can go back to Arizona (which is, by the way, the best place in the world that I have found so far)
67. People call me: Michael. Mike. Dorfman. D-man. Many, many things.
62. The person who knows the most about me is: Not really sure. Many people.
61. The person that can read me the best is: My sister probably.
59. I have gotten a speeding ticket: Nope. Doesn't mean I haven't speeded, though.
53. The one person who can't hide things from me: Many people. IDK.
51. Right now I am talking to: No one. About to sleep.
48. I have/will get a job: Maybe at the canoe place. Maybe at Crystal lake. I have absolutely no idea, but I know I will get a job somewhere.
47. I have these pets: RASPY. The worlds most boring frog which I have tried to kill multiple times.
45. The worst sound in the world: "There will be two commands". If you run, you would know.
44. The person that makes me cry the most is: I don't cry that often, so I must say N/A.
35. Florida or Hawaii: Hawaii. Most definetely.
33. My favorite piece of clothing is: The clothing I am wearing for three days in a row for my stupid English project. Jeans, sweatshirt. Well, actually, probably my winged sweatshirt.
32. My favorite sport is: Torturing...What? Oh, wait, no, running.
30. Last time I cried: I have absolutely no idea.
27. Last person I got mad at: Many people. I try not to mention names.
26. My worst drinking experience was: N/A
22. The all-time best movie is: The Pianist. Maybe. Little Miss Sunshine maybe. Just say yes to low-budget movies.
21.The all-time best thing in the world is: The feeling you get right after you stop running.
19. The most annoying thing ever is: Not knowing how someone feels.
18.The most annoying person you know is: A few lucky people.
17. I lose all respect for people who: lie. Even though I, unfortuanetely, don't tell the whole truth all the time.
16. The movies I have cried at are: Ok, so the only one (and to clarify, I was like 8) probably Bowling for Columbine.
14. TV show you watching: Simpsons. The Office.
13. Favorite web site: Facebook probs.
12. I want to be: Someone who is remembered.
11. The worst pain I was ever in was: No idea. Physical or mental? For me, it would probably be physical, but I don't have a specific situation.
10. My favorite phrase: "yeah". Not to be hypocritical to question #80.
09. My room has: Many random things in it. Cool stuff.
8. My favorite celebrity is: no idea. Don't have one.
5. My weakness is: Being way too amazingly shy/indecisive.
4. What turns me on is: Uhm, really, who needs to know?
3. Who broke your heart: Probs a few people. Or maybe not. Idk.
2. I filled out 200 questions because: I have way too much time and I HAVE A HALF DAY...yesssss.
1. What do you regret most: Many things. Being indecisive. Not working hard enough in Middle School. Getting less than A's in High School.

see, I'm not the man I used to be lately

Something

You know, my pictures look much better when you're holding the actual thing in your hand. I mean, I used like pretty high-tech stuff for scanning it in, so there isn't really any quality loss, but it's just a lot more satisfying holding the actual thing in your hand than looking at a small version of it on the screen.

Sooo....lately....PA....traveling much...not much else

So, yes, xc=over. Quite sad. I think I already discussed in my last post, though.

Other than that, you know, the norm.

I've been beginning to think about government a lot. You know, we are all on a stupid island like those little kids in The Lord of the Flies. Stupid government. I mean, think about it. Henry David Thoureau wanted to live alone and not become part of any organization or society, yet he was thrown into jail by the town officials for not paying his taxes. Even though he didn't get anything from the government, the government still forced him to give them money.
You can't opt out. What if I said, "I don't want to be part of the United States of America" and "I just want to live on my own". Well, too bad. You can't. You're outvoted. You're outnumbered. And so, you're ostracized and attacked for something you just didn't want to be a part of, just like poor Piggy and Ralph were. So, basically, government is stupid (at times) and doesn't give you any choice.
Of course, an equally strong argument could be made in support of government. This is just one side of the story.

hope y'all enjoyed my new photography.

life

So, basically, I tried to convince my English teacher that the symbolism and metaphors and basically everything metaphorical (which we were most definetely overanalyzing in class) was just a figment of the reader's imagination. I mean, come on, do you really think that the author meant to use symbolism here, put a metaphor in there, and say, ah, what the heck, I'll just throw a few in that the readers will never catch. So, basically, my point is that everything except for the literal in books is up for debate. If the teacher thought something was a symbol, they have absolutely no evidence to back it up in a few cases, and if there is evidence, how do we know it was not fabricated, and just circumstancial fluff that the author put in? Hokay, so if you followed me there, good for you.

But, then there's all this stuff that's been goin on. I ran a crazy race today, adn even thoguh I got like 12 hours of sleep, I still felt really tired. But, still, I ran pretty fast. It was like a race with many, MANY people in it, so like everyone sprinted out like crazy. I went out, and actually almost got a pr in my first mile, 'cause I did indoor last year, and got 5:25, and my first mile of my 5K race today was like 5:37. So, basically, I died after that. But, whatevs, it's all good.

Other than that, I'm looking foreward to a fairly low-key rest of the season, seeing that I'm probably not gonna race any more, 'cause I'm 7th or 8th on the team, and the last race of the season is only the top 6. Ah, well. Running is good, even if you aren't competing.

Yessss...this is an awesome video, and quite sweet music to go along with it.



Now, off to do what Sunday is made for

HOMEWORK

yesssss

rainy days

SO, as I was crawling through my everlasting day today, I had a thought. WHAT IS WITH ALL THE STUPID HOMEWORK??? Or, for that matter, work in general. I mean, school teaches us the same amount, if not less, than we would otherwise be learning by exploring the world. I guess education is important, but it is kinda overtaking the average teenager's life.

Ah, well. Today is gray. Grey if you're in Britain. But, quite dark and dreary in general. The stupid xc league meet today was so annoying, yet so exciting at the same time. We like had to make sure we didn't get washed away by the water or blown away by the wind, and, on top of that, we had to run. Fast. Or at least I was supposed to. But I didn't, and finished like further back than I normally do. 7th (or, rather 8th) out of like 150 isn't too shabby. But I can do better. I've decided that Brookline people are way too fast for their own good.

Yes, other than that and the homework, nothin much goin on. So amazingly happy for the extra hour that I get to sleep tonight (and yesss, an extra hour of homework that I have to do tomorrow).

just saw the movie "hard candy". My parents looked at the title and thought it was porn. psh. I'd rather waste my time on some intellectual movie than be stupid like that. Well, hanyways, it was quite a good (and odd) movie. I really liked it.

anyways, my parents are yelling at me to go to bed

I should probably get to bed...

Sparknotes is my Savior

So, yes. So.....yes.

what is with Junior year??? I am drowning in work and feel like I should be able to get it all done, but noooo...I have to wait for the last minute and stay up till 2 in the freaking morning to finish my lab report. I guess that's just what's gonna happen this year. And, oh wow, an English test A-block tomorrow...shall be death to me.

And, so, yes, the other day, I did a 10 miler for the first time in like a while, and the last like 2 miles were absolutely terrible. I had a horrible stomach ache, and just like ran through it, but it wasn't a good idea. So, yeah, uhm, I'll spare you the details, but something bad happened, so I had to go to the doctors, and they gave me a blood test to test for stuff, but then ended up just like saying running is absolutely terrible for your body sometimes, and this is the way things go. So, yeah, I've gotta take a few days off from running, which would be sweet, but I feel like a total slacker as it is, not doing any real significant run since Saturday. Ah, well. Rest is good.

Hmmmm....archery club, or science team. Tough decision.

uh oh, here I go with the philosophy again....
It's quite sad. In a way, I'm not the kind of person who would walk up to someone and chat with them and impress them. I want to know how they feel about me. So, yes, one of my absolutely horrible strategies to figure out what someone thinks of me is kinda ignoring them, acting like myself (ish) around them, and seeing whether they like who I am or not/how they react. Basically, I want to know how they feel about me, because asking people straight up could be awkward/lead to a forced answer. I know, it's quite a horrible way to live life, but it sometimes works. But generally doesn't. And it pretty much sucks. And I want to change, but I can't. It's all good.

Wow, why is it that teenagers think so much about this stuff when it doesn't really matter now. I mean, nothing now will really change anything in the future.

SO, yes, tomorrow=friday=good. I can't wait for the weekend. No, actually, I can't wait till I'm finished with PSATs Saturday morning. That's gonna be quite annoying.

Maybe I should go to practice tomorrow, to have something to look foreward to (yesss...track workout...only crazy people look foreward to that)

But, till then
SLEEEP

schweet, 50th post

Trip to Maine at the end of Summer

Wow, I have D block free now and am quite bored. So, I am being quite awesome and posting from school. (well, actually, just posting from home becasue the school computers are stupid and don't allow me to do things like this, but anyways, I'm writing it here)

I’ve decided that I hate frees. For the past like two years, I’ve been working like so amazingly hard. I’ve been getting mediocre grades in classes, and have always been scared that I would become one of those kids who like is horrible at school and not going to college etc, etc. Well, not to say I am one of those kids, but 6 frees per week seems very odd. It seems like I am like slacking off and not working hard enough.

*librarian walks by*

So, yes.

People have been quite frustrating in the last week. I really need to just like calm down and like stop being absolutely awkward. Wow, I hate communication. I need to realize that there's a lot more to life than thinking about it. And, wow, speaking of a life, I really need to get one. Now I'm actually trying to.

But, yeah, nothing else uber exciting. Amazing Paddy's Pub race this weekend, which I cannot wait for, even though I'm not supposed to run Sunday 'cause coach thinks it'll tire me out for the big meet Tuesday, but not like I matter in like placing at all. Ah, well. Basically, I can't wait for the weekend.

Sooo...nothin much else. Gotta do a mountainload of homework....sweet

It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

lately nuthin much going on...same old, same old...school+running+homework=my life. Pretty sad. Ok, so now I'm just like wasting time trying to think of something to say. Hmmmmmmmm...

So, yes, my parents came home the other day from "parents night" and were all freaking out about how much work I have (and will have) this school year. Neither of my parents took many AP courses in High School (well, pretty much 'cause they like didn't offer them back then), so they were really surprised when three of my teachers told them that the AP classes I was in were the equivalent to a college course. So, all in all, quite exciting, and they like convinced my to drop Latin. Well, not really convinced, but more liked pushed me over the edge, seeing that I'm not really enjoying it anyways. So, yes, now I have at least one free every day (yesssss), and am going to have like mad time to do my homework.

Hmmm...trying to think of something meaningful...I have recently (re)discovered a few of the best songs ever, hence the title of this post, and am listening to them like non-stop. It's pretty crazy to think that I didn't really listen to music before last year, but now I'm like always carrying my ipod around everywhere. It's quite sad, now that I think about it.

But, yes, it seems to be getting more like fall now, unfortuanetely. It is way to cold. Or, at least, it is much, MUCH colder than Summertime, and I have not yet gotten myself used to the winter temperature yet. So, yeah, running in cold weather is really no fun. I guess the shirtless running season has come to a close.

It's quite odd. The way things have been going on nowadays. Sort of like...I think way too much. I think about things I shouldn't. You see, most people (especially teenagers) are going up and down hills. Lives are torn apart, then stitched back together again. Whatever happens, life will go on, and you gotta get yourself back together again. Not that I would know. Wow, the mistakes I've made which I never will forgive nor forget. But at least I know I made mistakes. That's what the future's for. Life is all about the ups and downs.



But...yeah....uhmmm...I've decided I'm quite awkward in conversation. Other than written ones. With myself. But, yeah, trying to start a conversation with anyone has been very difficult for me the past days. I've had a lot of awkward silences, and have just been coming up blank on what to talk about. SO amazingly awkward. Not that it matters. It's all good.

So, yes, maybe off to bed? An amazing load of homework (including several papers, and tests, due Tuesday). So, pretty much, other than apple-picking with teh family and, of course, running, I'm pretty much goin to do homework for the rest of my life. It's all good (wow, I say that way too often)

off to do...something...
bye

yessssss

SO....not much happening

I opted out of going to Ana's taqueria (aka, the home of the Boys Cross Country) and making a fool of myself today, so I decided to have even more fun falling on my face and gettin scratched up. My legs are so amazingly sore now that I have like killed them by slamming them into a million roots. It's all good, though. When you're running fast, you can't really feel pain.

So, yes, (wow, that's a phrase I use a lot), I have much work that I need to do in shool nowadays. Each teacher (especially my bio and spanish) is like crazy and assigns work like they are the only class we are taking. Ah well, I guess that's what comes with higher level classes.

Goin to New Hampshire for the weekend, to visit the sister and celebrate the parent's 50th birthday. Sweeet...I may even be able to learn how to water-ski.

Ok, so I saw the Al Gore movie on global warming the other day. It had some interesting points, and brought up global warming in like a whole new light. The one thing that sticks in my mind about that movie though, was one reference to the ozone hole. He said that when we realized that we were depleting our ozone, we all worked together and fixed the problem, and now the ozone hole is getting smaller. I think that the idea that global warming can be fixed is a very, very important idea to put into people's minds. If you hand one person an article about how the globe is getting warmer and warmer, and, basically, that we're screwed for what we have done, that person isn't going to want to help the situation; instead they'll just ignore it because the problem is "unfixable". On the other hand, if you give someone an article about new techniques and ways to live more efficiently and cleanly, the person will be more likely to make a change in their life to fix the problem. SO, basically, global warming should be approached as a fixable problem, not a disaster which we created.

Ok, so, global warming=a very odd topic, but whatevs. Studying it in Bio.

Speaking of bio, I have an absolutely enormous test tomorrow on several chapters, so I should probably start studying for that.

This has been quite a sad, short, random post.
it's all good.
bye

time to do something

Very uneventful, very boring, yet very exciting week. Soo much school/homework! I haven't gotten enough sleep at all, seeing that I've been up til like 11 at least pretty much every night this week. But, yeah, I guess that's the cost of being a hard-working student

Cross Country is at its most awesome nowadays…I’m getting better and better at it, which is awesome. I like am like addicted to running. It’s really funny, cause running is like really hard to do, and it like puts you in a lot of pain (if your like pushing yourself super-hard), and I think one of the biggest motivators to run isn’t the running itself, but to say that you went through that much, and went that far of a distance. I don’t know. It’s pretty crazy awesome.

But, yes, in other news, I have decided I’ve gotta ski a lot more this winter. I’m like addicted to skiing as much as running, except, with skiing, the stakes are higher. Good thing I’m in control most of the time. But, yeah, I’m most likely goin to go on one of those overnight weekend trips the school sponsors. Once I realize that summer is over, I might get more excited about winter. I hate fall. A season of remembering past warmth and happiness, yet looking forward to the winter, which you know can never be good as summer. Wow, not makin sense. Whatevs.

Classes are pretty crazy awesome. Bio is like very intense, seeing that (I think) I’m taking the same level bio as my sister who is a frosh in college. But, the only thing is I have five other classes to deal with, instead of two or three. Intense like 20-page-long textbook readings, and late-night work is basically the definition for this class. At least for me it is.

I want to make one of those mural thingies to put up in the school for photo. I’ve already thought it out- some sort of mosaic-type board with cool pictures that make a cool (abstract) picture if you step back. I think I should probably get permission from somebody, or maybe BE IN A PHOTO CLASS to begin with, but whatevs. Ah, well… I probably won’t get around to it.

And, yes, that is basically the boring life of Michael. Went to the zoo with the fam today. Worked on some homework. That’s basically how my life rolls. Should probably be motivated to be a little more, but whatevs. I have mastered the art of talking to people without saying anything (if that makes any sense), but I freakin hate it. As my English teacher from last year (and this year, eww) has said, “language is power”. Too bad I’m pretty much powerless.

Got to stop thinking too much. That’s the first problem I have to solve.

Off to some homework…byebye y’all

I'm never sure what to write here

So, yes, everything this week is going by so fast. Started school on Thursday, quite some stress. And, yeah, xc...prettty cool too.

We have our first meet on Tuesday of next week, which shall be exciting. Varsity and JV are running seperate, so I'm a little nervious that I'll be like dead last on Varsity, even though I've been like in the middle of the pack on the long runs. We shall see, we shall see. I get scared like that sometimes. But, yeah, plus I'm gonna try to make it to some of the girls volleyball home games cause, I mean, it's a tradition now. Other than that, I'll try to make it to a few of the girls (and possibly boys) soccer games, cause someone crazy good at soccer who sits next to me in Math has been on Varsity since like Freshmen year. Plus, I've never made it to any of the Varsity soccer games, so I figure I might as well.

But, yeah, semi-excited for school...I don't know like anyone in my classes, but whatevs, I'll get to know them.

But, yeah, running out of things to say.....don't really feel like thinking a horrible amount, so maybe a survey without being too revealishing?

here it is
(to verify, this is just the official "end of the summer" survey, although I deleted the official title)

3. Kissed anyone? well, not really
4. Been on vacation in a different state? Oh, yeah, Alaska
5. Been on a vacation to a different country?nope
6. Been to the beach? Yep
7. Been to an island? Yes. Up in Maine
8. Been arrested? Uhm, no
9. Smoked? no
10. Snuck out? no
11. Had a sleepover? no
12. Stayed up the whole night? heck yeah, well almost at least
13. Slept in someone elses bed? does a hotel room count?
14. Went pee in a pool? No?
15. Went skinny dipping? nope
16. Been on the computer a lot? when I was home, yes
17. Played video games? not really
18. Listened to an ipod/mp3 player? most definetely
19. Been on over 30 car rides? much more
20. Been grounded? no
21. Been to a party? yes
22. Regret something? Who doesn't?
23. Been dumped? not really
24. Lied? I'm sure
25. Done anything against the law? speeding..if you count that
26. Been camping? I believe so..I remember planning a camping trip, but I don't remember going
27. Got in a fight? depends what you consider a fight
29. Stayed at a hotel? most definetely
30. Talked on the phone all night? nope
31. Went shopping? yep
34. Asked someone out? More or less, no
35. Got in a car with a stranger? no...creepy
36. Lost someone close? not anyone that i personally knew
37. Had someone sleep in your bed? I believe the grandparents..maybe not
38. Been to a movie? yes
40. Slept in? heck yeah
41. Got tanner? I guess
42. Watched TV for more than 5 hours? no...so boring
43. Tried something new? I guess
44. Did homework? Stupid AP classes
45. Learned something new? Every day (wow, that sounds corny)
46. Went surfing? boogey boarding!?
47. Went dancing? not really
48. Been to a concert? nope
49. Quoted a movie? not that I can remember
50. Played with fire? hell yes. I don't burn very well, fortuanetely
51. Made new friends? yep
52. Who is the person/people you were with the most? the family on our many trips

Where have you been the most? Uhm...on my bike...many places
What is your favorite ice cream this summer? As always, cookie dough
What was the best day? maybe having a nearly 20 hour day exploring New York...maybe having 20 hours of sunlight in Alaska
What is your biggest regret so far this summer?Let's not get in to it.
What is your favorite song this summer?How to save a life by The Fray (wow, I'm a piano freak)
What is your favorite movie this summer? No idea
Is this the best summer so far? Like comparing apples to oranges


I don't understand why people like those so much



time to do some homework



on a Friday night

this week

Ok, so I am so freaking tired, but that's the only time I can actually think.

This week is intense. From running to the grandparents coming over to the intense work I had to do studying and pricing thousands of coins...I've been quite buisy.

Went to the MFA today with the grandparents. Very good exhibit there about like Paris and Europe. Twas quite interesting. I've decided that the power in art is not in the looks, it is how we look at it. Just as song lyrics can be so amazing and become a part of your life only becuase you relate them to your life, art is amazing because of the way we look at it. Art is in how we look at it, not how glamorous it is. Wow, not making sense.

So, yes, not much else to say. This week will most likely be just as buisy.

AP classes are frustratingly evil.

I've lately been saying such stupid things. I've been doing things like going on long runs, and I compare the chances of me not being able to finish my run to the chances of something else...for example...whether I'll make Varsity or not. I've become like obsessive with this, though, because I sometimes have the feeling like in the middle of me doing twenty pushups, or me walking down the street that if I do not finish doing that, there is the same chance that I will not be able to make varsity...or get someone's attention. I get stuck in these ruts, and it affects me on the other end too. I end up (seeing that I've successfully finished the runs, and successfully done all the pushups) assuming that if I could do those things, I would be able to easily make varsity. It's quite sad in a way. Puts everything into statistics, and doesn't let you have any control over your life. This sort of forces me not to take action in life...for it sort of shows my belief in that I think everything is decided before it happens. I'm freakin insane. Maybe I just think I am.

Here's to life.

goodnight

screw the pictures

So, yes, the end of the pictures. At least until I get back to school.

So, yeah, life is frustrating.

Enough talk about life. Seems like that's the only thing I can talk about nowadays. I started Cross Country the other day, which is mad crazy awesome. I don't even know how I survived this past week. I didn't even like running before high school. As a matter of fact, I think I still have that negative feeling towards running, but I've learned to deal with it. You see, running in general is kinda like the run that I did the other day. I was like about to collapse for the first mile and a half on an seven mile run, and I pretty much felt like I was going to die, but then was oddly able to run like wicked fast during the second half of the run.

Ah, well...I hate..love...I don't know what I think of running. Whatever I think, I'm most definetely addicted to it.

Soo...with the start of xc means the start of school. I'm going to die this year. But, no, that's not a good way to look at it. As I told someone today right before we went on our 1 and a half mile sprints today, "the worst part about it is dreading it. Actually doing it is pretty easy." So, yes, don't dread school, and you won't have any problems.

And, yeah, I don't really have anything else to sayyy....

goodnight

I'll punch my computer if you don't read this

Again, my grandparents house

not that exciting this time

So, yes, I felt the sudden urge to punch my computer, but I didn't. I don't even know why. Hmmmm....anger control..... Just, like, frustrated with life in general these days. Maybe because I can't change life, I try to see how much damage and change I can make in this world. I don't know. Just a thought.

I've been addicted to this song all week. "How to Save a Life" by The Fray. Amazing lyrics, and, with all songs that top my list, has lyrics that I can connect with my life somehow. Maybe I just think too much.

Quite an uneventful week.

Biked to the Farmer's market today with my sister...twas fun.

(warning, Michael's random thinking coming up)

It's funny. How people have been riding on the wave of people's emotions and needs. That might not make that much sense, and so might this next paragraph, but take, for example, the Pope. Not to single out one person over another, but how can he tie religion and monetary gain so closely together? How does he know what he says he believes? Has he ever seen what happens after we die? What I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't trust anyone to tell us what to believe. Aren't we just as able to make decisions about what to believe as he is? You see, what if Jesus wasn't the son of god, if he was just a person. Just a person trying to better his world. Part of religion is believing that we go somewhere in the afterlife, but he taught us that there are certain things that we must do to get there. It is the perfect formula, even if he had no idea where we go after this life, to better this world. (and, actually, just before his birth, the world was pretty chaotic and violent) Anybody could use this leverage, the leverage that they know more than you do, and make you do something for a different cause than you thought. (After all, look at George Bush. He said he knew for sure there were weapons of Mass destruction in Iraq, in order to get the people's push toward war)

I have no idea what I just said, so if you don't either, then that makes two of us.

Time to go to beeeedddddddd

bye.

ALASKA

so, yeah, that was basically how much fun I had in Alaska (along with showing my horrible photography)

really don't want to post right now

so I won't

Ah, well, long story short, I've had a frustratingly boring (not to mention annoying) night. Been to Alaska and back. Then to Pennslyvania and back. And it all seems like one moment. One moment that I had been waiting for a year in advance. One moment that lasts a summer long. But, now, on to better things. Cross Country. What else do I have to say. Running is mad crazy awesome, but that's barely any of it. It's an awesome bunch of kids, and I can't wait to hang out with them.

But, yes, that is the least of my life right now. I have a frustratingly long Bio paper to write, then I have an immense amount of boring Latin to read, then it's off to Maine for the weekend, then it's off to school. Fun,fun.

If you didn't notice, those last two funs were serious. dead. serious. Happy doesn't quite express my feelings for the termination of this summer. I'm exstatic. The faster time goes, the faster I'll be over with Junior year. I'm hoping to just skid over the surface of Junior year, launching myself into safe territory, Summer (and, of course, Senior year). Then it's off to College for me. (oooohhhh the mysterious college, could be fun, could be evil. Shall we never know till we're there?)

I'm in a really weird mood.

Tata

(I have an obsession with biting pencils)

so, yes, I was planning on posting a while ago, but so freakingly insanely buisy with life. Goin to the Red Sox toonight...which shall be fun. Every game I go to, I either catch a foul ball or am on the megatron, so the games are always exciting.

But, yes, I'm afraid I have posted just for the sake of posting, seeing that I don't have like anything to say.

So, yes,

bye.

back (for the time)

(yet again, my sister)

sweeeet....NY for a week, then the New Jersey coast for like a week. Quite awesome.

So, like, July 4th was absolutely awesome too....I was doing a mission-trip thingy with my church youth group on Staten Island, and we woke up at like 5:30 to go in to the city and get on the Today Show, which was absolutely sweet, since I was like on tv like a million times.

That trip was just insanely awesome in general, though. The last night, there were five of us that pulled an "all-nighter". It was absolutely insane, because the lack of sleep throughout the week added up, and by the end of the night, we all seemed totally drunk, and were talking about totally random things, and like slurring our words (well, only one of us was slurring our words). It was an amazing experience.

Then, I went to New Jersey. I caught a ton of fish, but unfortuanetely, they were too small for us to eat. Boogy boarding and body surfing were really cool, though. Avalon is pretty much one of the richest areas I have ever seen, and they have some quite massive houses with an insane amount of expensive cars and such. Let's see, I saw at least three Bentlys, like five Rolls Royces, and like a million Jaguars. Our Toyota highlander was a little out of place.

And, yes, one may ask, how did I have time for running through all of this. I didn't. And that's why I'm totally screwed. But it's all good.

And so, yes, I am here now, and am pretty much ready to fall asleep after about nine hours of driving. We were (unintentionally) following a storm up the coast while we were driving home, and it was supposedly creating tornadoes. Crossing like a random river in NJ, I saw like a million branches that were ripped off trees, and like three docks that were ripped off and turned upside-down by a tornado. It was pretty freaky.

And so, I shall get some sleep now.

Bye

Ok, don't have time to actually post, but I just found the three most hilarious movies in the world. here they are (watch them in this order, the first one has a different taste than the rest)

http://70.85.12.163/albino_flash02/end(www.albinoblacksheep.com).swf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5TswjQDLf8&eurl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaFm47lsL2g&eurl

okey dokey, time to go



cheers!

My grandparents' house

soo cool

and soo confusing

So I'm off to a youth group trip on Monday. That shall be quite cool...off to Staten Island...pretty coolio. Not totally sure what to expect, since the details are a little fuzzy, but whatever happens, it'll be a good experience.

In other news, I decided to go biking today. When I say biking, I mean BIKING. I spent the whole day biking into Boston, then around Boston, had some lunch, explored, then finally back home. Pretty much about 25 miles in total....COOLIO. My legs were a bit fatigued afterward. I like collapsed on my couch, but then went out to play a little volleyball later. What can I say? I just have endless energy. In any case, I try to never admit that I'm tired (even if I am).

So, yes, my right toe has officially worn through the bottom of my shoe. Very odd happening, seeing that I like just got these shoes, and the left one seems just fine. Hmmmmm....maybe I walk crooked.(?)

Just finished Rent. Such a good movie. Closest I've come to crying in a while (yes, I do [sometimes] cry from movies). It's those movies when you feel like you have some connection to that make them seem so good.

Songs are much coooooler, though. To be able to move somebody through lyrics and notes takes more skills than inveloping someone in the plot of a movie. Now I'm like obsessed with the song "Crazy", by Gnarls Barkley. Such good use of instruments, plus some interesting lyrics.

But, yeah, that pretty much wraps it up here. Such a boring (and amazingly unplanned) week to come. Maybe I can fill it with the things I've always waited to do. We'll see.

bye.

time to post

What is it? It's...something cool.

But, yeah, nothing new here. Just went to my LAST DAY OF SCHOOL. Got all my final scores. Crashed and burned. You know, the norm.

Heading off to go camping in a few days. (wow, actually, like, tomorrow!!!). Shall be interesting. Hope I don't get eaten by a bear.

OH YEAH, and I'm obsessed with this new song by Five for Fighting, called "The Riddle". It's mad crazy awesome, and everyone should get it.

Then it's off to Alaska. Spain would be much more cooler (and hotter), but my parents refuse to go, even though my graduating sister requested it.

Ah well, life is tough sometimes. The only thing that makes it tougher is thinking about it.

I shall be a Junior. Crazy, crazy.

more to come...

back to the pictures

(this one's pretty straight-foreward)


It's finally here. You know, I'll be posting about this for the next three months. It's finally summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still in shock.
I have like...all the time in the world to do....everything (but I'll end up doing nothing)

I went after my last final (yay) to develop some photos, and it turns out I was doing it for like two hours. It was soooo fun. I managed to come up with four prints in those two hours (wow, I'm soooooo sloooowww), but I'm most definetly going to go tomorrow too (even though I'm not even going to be in school at all).

Today, went to the cemetary to give my frog friend in my backyard pond a few friends. I got a few awkward looks from the security guard, but it was all good. Three brand new (huge) tadpoles in my little backyard pond now. Coooooolll...

Then I came home and had the most awkward conversation on the phone...but then I went to Volleyball at the Y and BEASTED. It was crazy awesome (not to mention fun...yes, volleyball [finally] is fun)

listening to "Beautiful Love". Such an amazing song. Cool music video tooo...

Mwahhhh soo annoying... I've been looking foreward to this moment for soooo long, but now I know it'll be gone before I have time to really enjoy it. This Summer hurries to next year. High School hurries to College, 20's hurry to 40's. There's nothing you can do to stop it. When I was about 12, I began thinking, no matter what, we all are going to end up in the same place. Sort of scary, no matter how hard you try, no matter how strong you are, you can't escape that fate. So, why are we so scared of it if we can't avoid it? I guess it's the fear of not knowing what's around the corner. Ah well...

So, that's my philisophic thinking for the day.

I'm pretty tired, but seeing that I don't have school tomorrow, I can SLEEP IN!!!! Sweet. Can't think of anything else to write...so

bye

Sooooo...

It's finally SUMMMMMEEEERRRR

I've been waiting the whole year for this day (even though I still have a history final to take).

But today was such a miserable failure. I hate "scantron" tests, and I think I like failed my chem test. The Latin wasn't that hard, though. The hardest part was sitting through Ms. Carp lecturing/yelling at us. It was all fun, though. So, I think I did pretty well on that.

Today was super-hot. low 80's today, mid-to-high 80's tomorrow, and 90's on Sunday. So freaking seasonal. I love it.

Goin to the beach (hopefully) tomorrow. Then, next thing to look foreward to is goin back to school Thursday to see all my friends again. Then off to Summer it is.



I cant wait.


~Mike

really buisy

I gotta make this short, as I have two really tough finals tomorrow, one of which I haven't started studying for. So, yeah, like the past week has been so stressfull. This week, I've been saying to myself "you did the best you could" a lot. I usually promise myself that I'll do better next time, but I always end up doing worse. So, long story short, I think I didn't do too well on a few of my finals. Actually, I don't think I did great on any of them. I guess it shows my attitude that I've had this year... "I'll do better next time". Soooo....Chem and Latin tomorrow. I've gotta do well on them.

More to come later

...and it was all down-hill from there...

Graduation really sucks. Prom and hummer-limos are wicked awesome.

It evens out.

Ok, so not any pictures this time, but I should be makin some on Thursday, so that'll be gooood...

In other news, I've had an exciting weekend. Ok, so if sister graduating/grandparents coming up isn't enough, I went to the boys, regional semi-final volleyball game on Saturday. We weren't supposed to win this game, since we won like half our games and lost like half our games, and the other team had been like undefeated the whole season... but somehow we managed to pull it off. Wow, just thinking about how angry the other team must have been at themselve makes me laugh. So, now, we're on to regional finals... (another team who is about the same ranking as the one we just beat)... and it shall be exciting, except for the fact that I can't go because it's like 2 hours away and I'm having dinner w/ the grandparents (wow ranting...)

Sooo....that'll be exciting.

I went on a very long run today, the longest since I ended indoor track. Running is so relaxing. Seven mile runs are like wicked easy if you just have a positive attitude. Running just gets me in such a good mood too. Idk, running can be very painful at times, but it's well worth the pain that you have to go through. Words can’t describe it. It’s just so peaceful and fun/relaxing.


I can't wait until the Summmmmmer..... only 2 weeks left.

wow, the moon's out...

bye

and another...
I have to admit, I did use a bit of computer editing/cropping for this one. The picture's a little dark and hard to understand, but it was one that I took at night with a really long exposure on my tripod. It's pretty cool, but a little hard to see. The actual picture (vs. what it looks like scanned in) is a lot cooler than what it looks like. I'm running low on pictures, as this is my last semi-good one that I have developed so far. I've gotta go in and develop some more.

I think I'm stuck in one of those moments when I can't stop thinking every song is describing my life. You know, that warmth that you feel when you can connect a song..or poem...or something when it parallels your life. It's pretty sad, because maybe these songs are making me feel this way. Maybe I listen to these songs so much that I get stuck basing my life around them. I don't know. Whatever.

Can't think of what else to write.....
My day:
6:30-wake up
7:30-off to school
8:30-Finishing and failing (more like acing) a math test
9:30-Forced torture with in-class English paper
10:30-Chemistry class- thinking about how I'm gonna fail the SAT II's tomorrow
11:30-Refuel for the rest of the day (lunch)
12:30-Zoning out in Spanish... "Mike...que significa exito para ti?" *stares*
1:30-Latin...in the INTERNATIONAL CAFE... the best (or at least coldest) place in our school
2:30-5:30...Stupid SAT II prep test w/ my chem teacher
5:30-9:15...worryin...thinkin...beggining a stuuupid movie...then here

wow....not like anyone needed to know that...

but the question remains... “¿que significa éxito para ti?”

bye

I am who *you* want me to be (I try too hard to be that person)

Here's another...

(of a tree)

Ok, so SAT II's on Saturday (I'm gonna die), but then it's all down-hill from there. What will happen will happen, and I can't change that. A wicked small amount of homework this week, but I've been procrastinating soo much. So it all evens out. now gotta go work on my homework.

(btw, the title has been like my life for the past 3 years)
(if anyone can understand it)

Ok, so this one's just frustrating. I thought it would be a good picture, and everyone told me it was going to be a good picture (including the teacher) when they saw the "contact sheet" (aka, little tiny print) of it. But it's just frustrating, and didn't come out the way I wanted it to. Whatevs.

I'm thinking...not much else to say.

Ah well, goodbye (+goodnight) for now

~Mike

Yet again...

I actually just made a print of this one. It's pretty cool, but barely worth it for the like 45 minutes of labor it took me to get it just right. But the product is pretty cool. If you can't tell what it is, it's a few pennys sitting in snow. It took me like way too long to set this one up, too. I think the pennies are still sitting outside on the table on my deck. Wow.

Wayyy too tired. Goin to the beach tomorra... shall be fun... it'll be really warm, too, which will be awesome.

~Mike

and again...

This one was taken a few months ago (right before christmas)

Wow, my pictures come out horribly when you scan them in. It's soooo annoying.

Well, anyways, just decided to post pics. Way too tired/lazy to write much more. Well, maybe just a little more.

It's quite funny how everyone else in the Sophmore class reacts to the graduating Seniors, vs. how I react. Everyone else is sooo mad at them 'cause they get to gooooo....and like have an extra long summer. I'm just sitting quietly in the corner, chuckling to myself, thinking how terrifying it will be for them once they're graduating seniors. I'll laugh when they realize the bulk of their lives isn't in the future, but instead it is now. In a few years there will be no more safety net. No one looking out for you like your parents did. I don't really care what the others think. I admit it. I'm scared of going to college.

~Mike

As promised...

(my sister)

I'm rapidly improving from my sickness that I attained a few days ago. I can actually think now. Had MCAS today. Mad easy. They made it like so the lowest curriculum level had a really good chance at passing, so for me, in curriculum I, it was really easy. Like order of operations easy. Then I had way too much time afterwards. Everyone else brought a book except for me. And, yeah, while killing time, I made up this quote and now am determined to write it on every desk that I sit at.

"The mind is a book worth a million pages"

I'm such a loser. Oh well, at least I'm an intelligent loser.

But, yeah, my stupid chem (SAT II prep) class was so freaking boring. Sat around thinking about how much I'm gonna fail this test. Whatevs. I am only limited by the invisible barriers my mind sets. But still, I'm screwed. "520" was my score on one of the "practice" tests. Whatever. Someone drew a really crazy good picture of Einstein on the board, and that was pretty much the highlight of the last five hours of my life.

Soooo... more MCAS tomorrow...sister graduating in like a few days...summer in like a few weeks...sister goes to college in like a few months...I'm headed off there in a few years.

Wow, how time flies.

~Mike

Ok, it's been a long day. I'm so freaking sick. I can barely talk. Soooo... Volleyball season is coming to a close, and i'm sorta happy, sorta sad, 'cause there's many things I'll miss about volleyball, but there's also the down-side of volleyball.

So, yeah, this year has gone by sooo fast. Yeah, above is one of the pictures that I took in like the beginning of the year, but it seems like i took it like soo recently. I bet you can't guess what the picture is of, though. I've been meaning to post a few of them, so now I have. There shall be more to come, but I'm just too lazy to scan them all in right now.

Soo, in other news, I just finished watching the movie "Ice Harvest". Twas very interesting. It was like one of those movies where you had to pay attention, or else you would get like totally lost. And I didn't pay attention. It was still awesome though.

So, yeah, I've been watching a lot of movies and reading a lot of books recently that have like a ton of little metaphors that only the really close readers catch on to. I love finding all these little things, but sometimes I can't help but think that the author didn't mean to put them there, and I'm just finding random details that just happen to collaborate with each other to create a larger picture. I don't know. It sometimes happens in real life too.

But, yeah... uhm.... my throat is really killing me right now, so I better get some sleep.

I DONT WANT TO BE SICK FOR THE MCAS (like I was last time)

~Mike

what I feel like doing right now

First of all (before I forget) Just wanted to let y'all know, I'm officially on myspace-
http://www.myspace.com/whitefrog898

but, yeah, I've decided the movie "Animal House" is awesome. Saw it the other day, and Kent Dorfman is not a very good representative of me. The movie was so freakin old, though. I hate old movies for some reason.

But, yeah, I've just spent like an hour signing up for myspace, and now I'm one of those losers that like relies on myspace for like all their social interactions. Whatevs, I could have spent that hour doing some of my endless homework, but what's the point if I know I'm going to get the same grade no matter whether I work hard or not.

I'm so freakin dead 'cause I have to read this scripture thing in church tomorrow, and I haven't even gone through it once so far. I'll probably like fall asleep halfway through reading it. Ah well. I'm a good reader.

I'm like half asleep as it is, so I guess I probably should either practice my reading thing or go to sleep...(or do my homework)...

...I hope I make it through this year in one part...

~Mike

Ok, so the last few days (or rather the last week) have been stressful. Sooo much with sports, school, and chem sat 2.

So, yeah, pretty much, I'm headed to JV (as opposed to JV2), and I may be starting. But, yeah, today it really was annoying that the coach told me that I was going to play, but it really turned out that he didn't have room to have me play. So, they didn't have a JV2, so I basically sat on the bench the whole time, waiting nervously for my time to play. But, the coach never put me in, and I ended up wasting my Friday afternoon in some high school in Needham. I know it sounds pretty pathetic to barely be starting on JV, but w/e. Large schools and small teams really suck. And it doesn't help that I'm only mediocre at volleyball. I really would rather do track (or, rather, I'm much better at track).

But, school's been stressfullissssimo too. I've had an unimaginable amount of homework the past week. Been up studying till like 12:30 each night, and right now (at 10:20) my eyelids are already beginning to droop.

And so, goin on the walk for hunger on Sunday. Haven't raised any money or gotten any sponsers so far. Oh well, my parents will give a good 50 dollars, so I don't have to worry about it.

But, yeah. I'm just fine, and beginning to think I'm actually gonna survive this year. wow. Once I finish this year, I'm halfway to college. Once I'm in college, I'm on my own, self-sustaining, self-motivating. I'm really screwed, but I'll get better in 2 years.

Soo... my eyelids are closing now.
Byebye
~Mike

I've been thinking. The truth is I can’t remember her that much anymore. Those summer days at my house, when it was such a treat to have them over here from California. I can even remember the time when we visited them on our welcome back visit once they came back from Japan. The loud noises of a naval port still ring in my ears which my Uncle worked at. The bustling environment never distracting from the fun I was having with my rarely-seen cousins.

Everything I can remember about her seems like foggy movie I can only partially visualize. I can see us lying on the floor, laughing for at least ten minutes straight. We sure did have fun that day. I remember taking turns jumping off her bunk bed, giggling at the grumpy neighbor downstairs yelling at us to be quiet. She was like a silent giant. She wasn’t an adult, and she wasn’t a kid, but she sure was someone to look up to. I remember a day when I could see this teenager clearly. I could remember all the time I spent with her. I remember the day that both my parents came to pick me up from school. That day my parents took me and my sister into the living room after school to talk with us. That day, I learned from my teary-eyed parents that I will have to hold onto those memories tightly. That day, I learned that the fragile life of my beloved cousin had been cut short by a thick tree next to a windy road.
Even the memories that I find most important have slipped away over time.

~Mike