Tuesday, 8. August 2006, 23:06:14
life
My tendancy towards porcrastination shows again, going more than a month without an update. Well, I can't say that I haven't been lazy, but I should have still taken a couple minutes to make an update.
Mainly, I've given up my lifestyle of slackerness and gotten a job at Radio Shack, which is working out rather well so far. I'm pretty happy that I've found a place where I know what the hell I'm talking about, and get to show of such knowledge. While I'm usually pretty shy around strangers, the fact that we're both talking about stuff I have a keen interest in gives me enthusism. I actually enjoy coming to work everday.
The downside, of course, is much less free time. Whereas last summer, between Cross Country practice, Driver's Ed, and hanging with my friends, I was hardly home, most of this summer has been spentat work, getting ready for it, or sleeping. I have seen my friends a bit, but it's still much less than before, which is more impactful when this is our last summer before college. Most of us will be staying close by, but we still won't be seeing each other every day in between classes. That's life, but it's still upsetting. Especially with Ghia, as we haven't had much time together at all recently. We're supposed to be going on a trip to Boston this weekend, but the issue of transportation is still murky.
Despite working full time, I still had some fun adventures this summer. Namely, an awesome day trip to Sam's uncle's place on Fire Island. I've never been out there, so I made the most of the beaches. The huge waves crashing in from the ocean was tons of fun, but even more amazing was the bay on the north side, which had ultra-warm water, streching out for at least a mile at waist-height. Of course, we walked the whole distance out and back, playing a game of frisbee the whole time.
I momentarily had a car this summer, but of course my luck says that I'm not allowed to simply come across one. It was ours a while ago, then we gave it to our uncle, and now it was given back. Besides noticing an obvious probelm with the shocks vibrating at any speed over 60 MPH, there was some problem with the transmission that resulted in leakage. A new transmission costs more than the car (a '92 Taurus wagon), but it was still fun to drive around in while it lasted. So now, it simply sits in my driveway, awaiting a tow truck.
Well, with less than a month to go before classes began, I'm gonna try and make the most of the rest of this summer. Hopefully, I'll have the mind to make an update before than as well.
Sunday, 25. June 2006, 06:07:33
life, Graduation, School
Well, it finally appears that high school is finally over. Although I felt the ceremony was a little underwhelming, the event itself is not really something I was planning on focusing my attention on. Although Ian's speech, in which the S.A.S. and monkey-trapping instructions were invoked, was enjoyable, as was Caulfield's swipe at Senator Schumer ("I'm sorry about.... and your election"), and t was a pleasant surprise to be awarded the Citizenship Award, which was Bonomi's way of thanking me and Coleen for our dedication, instead of an academic award, and an AATG scholarship, I guess due to the two times I took their test (I didn't perform that well, so I doubt it was for a high score), the ceremony itself was not an inspiring event. While I tried to feel sentimental about how this was a milestone in the lives of over 200 kids, I instead found myself reminiscing about the memories that I had made with this school and its occupants.
No, I won't go into any of the moments here, as there were no out-of-the-ordinary events in my life, simply generic studying and hanging out that you would expect any teen to go through. While I don't feel as if I wasted my time doing nothing, I don't feel like anything I did was truly outstanding or amazing. Sure, I was academically strong, I participated in many different activities (surprisingly including sports), and spent plenty of time with friends, there's nothing that jumps out at me as being particularly noteworthy to people besides those involved. Obviously, there are several things I wish I would have done differently, like not wasting two more years than necessary in chorus, working harder in Math class, or maybe trying a couple more sports, but it's nothing I'm gonna loose sleep over.
Of course, the biggest thing out of all of these would be my missing one, and only one day of high school in ninth grade, thus invalidating me from winning the Perfect Attendance award. I was not simply sick, as I have not been absent from school for such since second grade, but instead compelled to miss school for a "religious retreat" thingy for Confirmation. While at he time I was uneasy about missing school, I couldn't get out of out, as it was made clear repeatedly that attendance to this was absolutely mandatory in order to make Confirmation. I definitely don't feel as if anything worthwhile occurred on this field trip, and a part of this situation owes itself to simple bad luck. Somehow, half of my religion class went on this retreat in eigth grade, which did not count as an absence. I assumed that because it was a religious event my spotless record would remain so, but apparently, because it's not a "religious observance", it counted, despite my required participation. I would have appreciated it if the school wised up and recognized my years of dedication, perseverance, and, dare I say, loyalty, but in the age of "Zero Tolerance", such things as common sense and leniency are things our children will only hear of in fairy tales.
As I said before, the graduation ceremony is not an event of itself. Unlike, say, the Spring Concert, for which preparation would mean nothing if not for it's display, this was more like the series finale of a television show. It serves as a place to look back, remember all of the events that have lead up to now, and use this to form ideas about how what the future may hold. It may be the end of a long and dramatic story, but the story itself is what makes the journey worthwhile. I have to say, that I am proud of what I have written.
Monday, 12. June 2006, 22:40:10
With school unofficially ending last Wednesday, what better way to end it than with having the Senior Prom being that last event of the school year before graduation? In theory, it is pretty awesome, but for me, it was just "eh." While that may have been due to the my limping, as my leg was (and is still) not at 100%, I attribute it to my simply not having the same expectations and attitudes that most of the class seems to have had.
One of the parts I enjoyed the most was, oddly enough, was wearing the tuxedo. I guess its girlie, but I simply have fun getting dressed up for things like this. everyone else looked nice as well, and Ghia's especially looked beautiful, partly because she picked an interesting color. Mine was a rather generic tux, with a silver vest and a striped silver and black ascot, instead of a simple tie, which I though was pretty neat.
Although I was able to walk last week, I only got the stitches out that day, so I decided it would be best to not put it into full action, and only bent the knee when required, such as sitting. It was annoying when I got the stitches out and I was unable to bend my leg, but I knew that would happen due to my muscles atrophying over the past week and a half. I'm almost at full strength now, but back then it impeded my dancing ability a bit.
Speaking of dancing, while I tried to get out on the dance floor as much as possible, I was deterred many times simply by the music choices. Out of the whole four hours, maybe a half-dozen or so songs were nice dancing songs, while the rest were hip-hop crap that one would find on a top-40 station. I blame this on, appropriately enough, our class, as they were given the opportunity to vote for the songs they wanted to be played. Maybe I had the wrong impressions, but I was assuming that the night would have a more mature attitude, and thus play list, then a generic school dance.
Beyond that bit of complaining, I guess the night didn't seem as "magical" as it's always been built up to be. Maybe I didn't approach it with the right attitude, or I haven't been anticipating this one night for my whole high school career, but it seemed, to me, like it was simply a glorified dance. Don't get me wrong, I did have fun, and I definitely enjoyed spending the night with Ghia, but it wasn't some amazing, life-defining experience. It was still a fun way to end the year, and I am glad that I was there.
Friday, 2. June 2006, 02:09:53
life, Injury
So, what does one do when there's only two weeks of school left? Clearly, the smart choice would be to split the front one's knee open. After getting up from the ground and observing the huge gash, besides being surprised that is hardly hurt (adrenaline?), I was only thinking that it was going to really suck waiting for this wound to heal. So far, I've been proven correct.
Besides being obviously restrained from the physical activities I enjoy so much, such as gym, and events, such as today's senior picnic, and simply waling around, the main inconvenience lies in the way I injured my knee. As it was stitched along the front of the knee cap (which was creepily visible), any bending of the leg will rip the stitches, and probably interfere with the healing process. Therefore, I have to spend a week with my leg perfectly straight. The major penalties from this are:
Being unable to use crutches correctly
Normally, when one breaks their leg, they hop on the good foot, and use the crutches to replace the other foot while swinging the broken leg forward. This, however, entails the leg being bent backwards. As mine must remain sticking straight out, there is no clearance for this swinging, so I must endure stepping on it, but simply using the crutches to distribute the weight. As you can imagine, this renders my movement much slower.
Constant irritation
Assumingly due to how my leg immobilizer works, it is difficult to comfortably sit down, even if I were to have unlimited leg room in front. Because of the angle my foot makes with the floor, I have to keep my foot on the heel the whole time, instead of flat on the ground. This strains both my foot and the muscles in my leg, which I am sure are not enjoying being in this position for so long. Likewise, even when standing with my weight on my good leg, the weight of the leg itself causes pain in the back of the knee. Unless I am lying flat on my back, with the leg likewise reclined, it is a constant source of irritation. I guess I am getting used to it, but it is still pretty painful and annoying.
From the doctor's estimate of 7-10 days, it appears that I should be able to get the stitches out by Wednesday (I hope my constant movement hasn't affected this), which is luckily just in time for prom the next day. While I'm pretty apathetic about things (and for all the whining I'm doing here, it's really not that bad), I don't feel like ruining Ghia's night as well.
Saturday, 27. May 2006, 07:15:38
life
Driving home tonight, on empty roads saturated in fog, I began thinking about how much the weather really influences my outlook on things. A miserable day is suddenly ok just because its warm and sunny, or a sense of celebration can be overcome with the doldrums of a sticky, cloudy gray day. When I wake up in the morning, and whether the first thing I see is a horrid dull sky darkened by stormy clouds, or if it is a crystal blue sky illuminated by the newly born sun, determines my attitude for the rest of the day.
Of course, the weather around here lately is absolutely miserable. After a warmer-than-usual winter, May has decided to rapidly cycle between beautiful and ugly skies. Two weeks ago it was a constant rain storm, as if we were in Seattle (seriously, the first time the sun came out, I had to squint my eyes for several minutes because of how unused they were to the bright blue sky), and the next week was truly spring like with sun and a warm, comfortable temperature all day and night long. Now, the past week has decided to take the best of both worlds, deciding to frequently switch between rain ands sunshine.
Today, for example, started off with a nice London fog, which gave away to cloudless skies around noon, and then suddenly began to rain by mid afternoon. While this is most likely related to temperature change, dew point, and other such "facts", it is painfully obvious that this has not happened in years past. Linking this with the warm winter, I ponder: is this a side effect of global warming, or is mother nature simply having a hissy fit?
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