Exactly a year ago today my friend Emily and I met those British guys I've written about quite a bit before, and because I'm a sack of sentimentality I thought I'd mark the occasion by telling the story of that day. Over the past year, I've had to field the question, "Oh, how'd you meet them?" from many, many people when they find out I met authentic, genuine British people. And frankly, while it is one of my favorite stories, it is also fairly lengthy (at least the way I tell it), so I want to just get it out once and for all. So now, if anyone asks me that question, I can snort in derision, say "You so obviously do NOT read my blog," and walk away in a huff.
The day my school group left for London, we were all sitting in JFK waiting to board the plane, Emily saw me reading Mockingjay and we began a conversation. She brought up that she knew a YouTube gathering was going on in the city the following Saturday, and I invited myself along. From pretty much that point, the two of us were kind of attached at the hip, so much so that people in our program thought we were friends prior to the trip, but that's neither here nor there.
So the following Saturday, our first real free day there, Emily and I met up to head over to the gathering location, near the London Eye. Of course, we were still new to the city, so we took two different bus routes to get there, and that method meant it took us about an hour to get there. A little later, we would figure out the convenience of the Tube, and were able to get to the same location in about ten to fifteen minutes, so that's a tad embarrassing. We arrived at the location, which is called a "park" but is really just an expanse of grass by the Eye, at the right time, but the thing about these gatherings is you don't really know what the people you're meeting look like. Or we didn't, at least. So we spent the next hour wandering around the area, looking for internet-y looking people. There is a stretch of sidewalk by this park that is a common place for street performers and those weird people who pretend to be statues (which I have SO MANY problems with). Because it was Saturday, it was really busy, and while Emily and I were caught up in the homeless magicians, Statues of Liberty, and tourists, I ended up giving ten pounds to an old lady "for the children" aka "for the crack addiction."
After an hour of aimless and unsuccessful wandering, we eventually spotted a group of 15-25 year olds that looked promising. Now, true to form, I was too intimidated to go up to them, because we still didn't know for sure they were the right people, and you can't just go up to strangers and ask, "Hey, are you from the internet?" But that's pretty much exactly what Emily did, adding on a, "Hi! We're American!" for good measure. The next hour was spent avoiding akward silences and bonding with the guys and the occassional other person who would amble over from the other group that had collected there. One of these was a young girl from Ireland who, very loudly, shared with everyone a mark from where a guy had bitten her. About this she said, "Don't worry, though. I bit him too. I kind of have a thing for that."
I was extremely uncomfortable.
After that the whole group decided to move en mass to the the nearby Waterloo train station to grab something to eat. On the way over, Emily and I tried to work out which guy was which (I think for the first few hours I was convinced Greg was Josh) and asked them the in-retrospect possibly stupid question of if this Waterloo was THE Waterloo. After some discussion and a group decision that it wasn't, the five of us left the big group to go to the station's Starbucks because Emily was cold and wanted a hot drink. After realizing the cafe was in an open-air part of the station and hence almost as chilly as outside, we sat and bonded some more anyway. As I went to check that I still had the American money with me just in case, Greg insisted I show it to Josh, who had never been out of the country. As he stared at my country's currency he said, "Wow, it really is green."
Yes, Josh. Yes it is.
We then met back up with the others long enough for everyone to decide to just disperse for the day, and the guys then took us across the street to a pub, mine and Emily's first in England.
zwwzwwwwppwwwzzzzz- that's me fast-forwarding through some embarassing moments you don't need to know about.
We bonded, it was a good time, people broke out smart phones and friended other people on Facebook. After taking another retrospectively-embarassing long time figuring out how to get back to our flats, we finally left.
We then saw them about once a week for the next four months, until we flew back to America. And that makes the comment Ben made on Facebook that first night, that "we should hang out one more time again before you guys leave" slightly hilarious.
Now, we all know I hate emotion, so I'll just say they're cool people and it's possible I miss them and I suppose I don't not love them.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Let It Not Snow, Ever
It's now well into January, and this winter season has only seen one decent snowstorm, and that was back in October. I'm conflicted on how I feel about this, because at my best I tolerate snow. While I appreciate the beauty of a white Christmas, I've had enough white Easters back in Minnesota that I can do with a few holidays remaining snowless. Still, in the spirit of seasonal cheer, I thought I'd share some snow-themed anecdotes, because isn't that just adorable.
-One weekend afternoon during my senior year of high school, my best frie
nd and I were out about town, adventuring, as was usually the case that year. On this particular day, she needed to prepare for and complete a photo shoot she needed to do for her Photography class, using me as a model. Don't be too impressed, I was in jeans and a sweatshirt.
Weirdly enough, I'm actually wearing that same sweatshirt right now. I didn't even plan that.
The spot where she wanted to shoot was at a local park. Now, it had snowed quite a bit the night before, as it does in the Midwest seven months out of the year. While the streets had of course already been cleared by the well-practiced Minnesotan plows, the park's parking lot had not been. I don't know what I was thinking, or if I was just outrageously over-confident, but I thought my little car could manage to drive over the drift by the entrance and just park on the snow, no problem. This was sadly not actually the case.
My car ended up being completely and totally stuck in the snow. To add to the ridiculousness of this situation, my friend and I quickly discovered someone else was in the area taking pictures. He, however, was taking pictures of us. So that was a bit unnerving. After laughing at my stupidity for longer than I'm proud of, I decided to call my friend, who lived close by, to come meet us with a shovel. After no doubt rolling his eyes in a "Why am I not even surprised Sara did this" kind of way, he came and, with the aid of some helpful passers-by dug me out of the snow. Following this, I easily parked in the completely clear parking lot of the church next to the park.
-A few years before that incident, when I was 15, I was just learning to drive. One afternoon, my dad let me drive home from somewhere, presumably somewhere close to our house. My sense of direction didn't really develop until I was driving myself places and so it absolutely needed to if I was going to survive. While this car was not brand new at this point, it was definitely closer to new than not. And on this particular afternoon it was snowing quite fiercely, and the plows had not gotten to all the streets yet. I, quite understandably I think, took the easiest route home (there were about twelve), which involved one quite long, windy, hilly road. Between driving my dad's car and the snow falling heavily, I was close to a heart attack already. Then I reached a rather steep upward length of road, and needed to really step on the gas to make it up. When the road leveled out, I started spinning out. For those of you who don't drive, or only drive in sub-Saharan places where snow doesn't fall, you will never know the intense panic that accompanies driving a sliding car on snow. To my young heart, this was truly the end. While I did my best to not actually die, and recovered quite well, the car did end up partially in a snowbank, a few feet from a tree, to top it all off.
And what was my dad doing while all of this was happening and I was fearing for my life?
The jerk was just sitting in the passenger seat, laughing his head off.
Hilarious.
-Around that same time, my sister was looking for possible colleges that would most help her succeed in the theater business. (HA that was joke. "Succeed in theater." LAWL. As if.) One of the schools she was looking into was in the city of Chicago, and one weekend in the winter my sister, mom, and I took a trip down there so she could see the school and interview for acceptance. While my sister was presenting her portfolio to what I can only assume was a group of people wearing various colors of berets, my mom and I went searching for a Dunkin Donuts we knew was nearby. This was another instance where it had just snowed the night before, and I was not prepared for this. I thought I would be fine trudging through blocks and blocks of snowy Chicago wearing thin socks and thinner canvas shoes. After three streets, I was uncomfortable. After ten streets, I was cold. After fifteen, I was angry with everything. After twenty, I lost the ability to feel, both physically and emotionally. By the time we arrived at the Dunkin Donuts, my feet were soaked as if I had just dunked them in a pool of ice water, and then kept them in there for ten minutes, for some reason. I immediately sat down at a table, and in full view of the other customers, proceeded to take off my shoes and socks and massage my bare feet in public.
Another strong moment for me.
Snow's ok, I guess. But it can also be kind of a dick.
-One weekend afternoon during my senior year of high school, my best frie
nd and I were out about town, adventuring, as was usually the case that year. On this particular day, she needed to prepare for and complete a photo shoot she needed to do for her Photography class, using me as a model. Don't be too impressed, I was in jeans and a sweatshirt.Weirdly enough, I'm actually wearing that same sweatshirt right now. I didn't even plan that.
The spot where she wanted to shoot was at a local park. Now, it had snowed quite a bit the night before, as it does in the Midwest seven months out of the year. While the streets had of course already been cleared by the well-practiced Minnesotan plows, the park's parking lot had not been. I don't know what I was thinking, or if I was just outrageously over-confident, but I thought my little car could manage to drive over the drift by the entrance and just park on the snow, no problem. This was sadly not actually the case.
My car ended up being completely and totally stuck in the snow. To add to the ridiculousness of this situation, my friend and I quickly discovered someone else was in the area taking pictures. He, however, was taking pictures of us. So that was a bit unnerving. After laughing at my stupidity for longer than I'm proud of, I decided to call my friend, who lived close by, to come meet us with a shovel. After no doubt rolling his eyes in a "Why am I not even surprised Sara did this" kind of way, he came and, with the aid of some helpful passers-by dug me out of the snow. Following this, I easily parked in the completely clear parking lot of the church next to the park.
-A few years before that incident, when I was 15, I was just learning to drive. One afternoon, my dad let me drive home from somewhere, presumably somewhere close to our house. My sense of direction didn't really develop until I was driving myself places and so it absolutely needed to if I was going to survive. While this car was not brand new at this point, it was definitely closer to new than not. And on this particular afternoon it was snowing quite fiercely, and the plows had not gotten to all the streets yet. I, quite understandably I think, took the easiest route home (there were about twelve), which involved one quite long, windy, hilly road. Between driving my dad's car and the snow falling heavily, I was close to a heart attack already. Then I reached a rather steep upward length of road, and needed to really step on the gas to make it up. When the road leveled out, I started spinning out. For those of you who don't drive, or only drive in sub-Saharan places where snow doesn't fall, you will never know the intense panic that accompanies driving a sliding car on snow. To my young heart, this was truly the end. While I did my best to not actually die, and recovered quite well, the car did end up partially in a snowbank, a few feet from a tree, to top it all off.
And what was my dad doing while all of this was happening and I was fearing for my life?
The jerk was just sitting in the passenger seat, laughing his head off.
Hilarious.
-Around that same time, my sister was looking for possible colleges that would most help her succeed in the theater business. (HA that was joke. "Succeed in theater." LAWL. As if.) One of the schools she was looking into was in the city of Chicago, and one weekend in the winter my sister, mom, and I took a trip down there so she could see the school and interview for acceptance. While my sister was presenting her portfolio to what I can only assume was a group of people wearing various colors of berets, my mom and I went searching for a Dunkin Donuts we knew was nearby. This was another instance where it had just snowed the night before, and I was not prepared for this. I thought I would be fine trudging through blocks and blocks of snowy Chicago wearing thin socks and thinner canvas shoes. After three streets, I was uncomfortable. After ten streets, I was cold. After fifteen, I was angry with everything. After twenty, I lost the ability to feel, both physically and emotionally. By the time we arrived at the Dunkin Donuts, my feet were soaked as if I had just dunked them in a pool of ice water, and then kept them in there for ten minutes, for some reason. I immediately sat down at a table, and in full view of the other customers, proceeded to take off my shoes and socks and massage my bare feet in public.
Another strong moment for me.
Snow's ok, I guess. But it can also be kind of a dick.
Friday, December 30, 2011
2011 Part 2 (Everything Else)
The other half of 2011 was pretty decent too.
-This summer, I took a break from cashiering then doing nothing to hang out with my friend who came to visit America. This picture was taken in Boston, by the harbor, after being caught in a sudden rainstorm. In my life, instances such as this are normal.
-Later in the summer, my friend Greg also visited America, so a few of us met up and hung out for a bit. Which meant a few of us ended up in onesies. Obviously.
-I absolutely love my suite at school, which is dubbed "The Flat" because my roommates and I all met and lived in London last semester. We had a spread of various soaps available in the bathroom, and it was decorated extensively for Christmas. We had our tree set up in late October, so initially we decorated it for Halloween before switching for Christmas. It was the perfect atmosphere for the "fake Christmas" I celebrated with my friends.
-On my birthday, I went apple picking with my roommates. Along with the apples, we also picked up pumpkins, and I carved my first jack-o-lantern ever a few weeks later.
-This semester, I took a Latin American history course, and have never been so bored in a class in my entire life. The silver lining to this is I drew some truly great Doctor Who and Harry Potter-inspired doodles in my
notebook.
-After going to see my friend from middle school in a hockey game, some of us decided it would be fun to go ice skating. Even though it had been a while since I had skated and my legs were sore the next day, I did not actually fall. So, you know, success.
-In October, we had a massive snowstorm. Pretty much the rest of the entire state went without power for the next week, but on campus we were totally fine, even though the storm did cancel a scavenger hunt I had been planning for a group of us. You win some, you lose some.
-A few weeks ago, one of my roommates had to take the GRE because she is the smartest of all the people, and I drove her to the site with a few friends. Instead of driving there and back and there and back, we stayed down there and adventured. We came across a trail white driving through rural areas looking in vain for stores, then tried to find a waterfall that didn't seem to exist.
Overall, a pretty great year, I'd say.
-This summer, I took a break from cashiering then doing nothing to hang out with my friend who came to visit America. This picture was taken in Boston, by the harbor, after being caught in a sudden rainstorm. In my life, instances such as this are normal.
-Later in the summer, my friend Greg also visited America, so a few of us met up and hung out for a bit. Which meant a few of us ended up in onesies. Obviously.
-I absolutely love my suite at school, which is dubbed "The Flat" because my roommates and I all met and lived in London last semester. We had a spread of various soaps available in the bathroom, and it was decorated extensively for Christmas. We had our tree set up in late October, so initially we decorated it for Halloween before switching for Christmas. It was the perfect atmosphere for the "fake Christmas" I celebrated with my friends.
-On my birthday, I went apple picking with my roommates. Along with the apples, we also picked up pumpkins, and I carved my first jack-o-lantern ever a few weeks later.
-This semester, I took a Latin American history course, and have never been so bored in a class in my entire life. The silver lining to this is I drew some truly great Doctor Who and Harry Potter-inspired doodles in my
notebook.
-After going to see my friend from middle school in a hockey game, some of us decided it would be fun to go ice skating. Even though it had been a while since I had skated and my legs were sore the next day, I did not actually fall. So, you know, success.
-In October, we had a massive snowstorm. Pretty much the rest of the entire state went without power for the next week, but on campus we were totally fine, even though the storm did cancel a scavenger hunt I had been planning for a group of us. You win some, you lose some.
-A few weeks ago, one of my roommates had to take the GRE because she is the smartest of all the people, and I drove her to the site with a few friends. Instead of driving there and back and there and back, we stayed down there and adventured. We came across a trail white driving through rural areas looking in vain for stores, then tried to find a waterfall that didn't seem to exist.
Overall, a pretty great year, I'd say.
2011 Part 1 (London)
I realized yesterday that today is the last day of 2011. I figured I should probably write about the year. It was pretty good. I quickly realized I would need to break the year up into two parts- PARTS PARTY. So here I go reminisce about the first half of the year and London.
-At least once, occasionally multiple times a week (sometimes a day) I ate or hung out in the Wetherspoons chain of pubs. For each meal, I ordered a veggie burger and pint meal, and it was the best thing. Both the food and the company I went there with made each visit fantastic.
Note: the picture to the left is from my last burger there, which incidentally was the worst one I had, because, as you can tell, they burned it. Jerks.
-In the middle of the semester, Emily and I got permission to leave class early to attend a play that Young Adult author Maureen Johnsen tweeted about. I had never read any of her books, but I was still a fan. (I have since read some of her work, and it is exemplary.) As we were sitting in the audience before the show, Emily asked me if I saw her yet, and I said, "Oh she's at the end of our row holy crap... oh she's walking toward us..." and then Maureen Johnsen proceeded to sit down right next to us. Our tickets just happened to be right next to each other. And then we took pictures in awful lighting and thoroughly enjoy the play.
-I was in a great deal of Dailybooth pictures this year, despite not actually having an account on the site myself. At one point I even attended a gathering of Dailybooth users and then felt very out of place.
-This was taken in a tube station, where I spent a quite large amount of time. I'm sitting on the statue of some guy who was an important train engineer or something. I never noticed before, but the guy in the background of this is slightly hilarious. In his defense, I'm sure we looked quite odd.
Ok, this is going to take forever. New plan.
-Belgium, Scotland, France, across England. Having the ability and opportunity to travel so much was an incredible and unique experience I will never forget.
- The European friends I made while living in London made my time there so much more special.
Also, one person is stopping that from being "British friends." Geez, Austria just ruins everything, am I right?
-The friends from my own group and school I made in London are still a huge part of my life. After bonding in the UK, they are still some of the best friends I have ever had.
-At least once, occasionally multiple times a week (sometimes a day) I ate or hung out in the Wetherspoons chain of pubs. For each meal, I ordered a veggie burger and pint meal, and it was the best thing. Both the food and the company I went there with made each visit fantastic.
Note: the picture to the left is from my last burger there, which incidentally was the worst one I had, because, as you can tell, they burned it. Jerks.
-In the middle of the semester, Emily and I got permission to leave class early to attend a play that Young Adult author Maureen Johnsen tweeted about. I had never read any of her books, but I was still a fan. (I have since read some of her work, and it is exemplary.) As we were sitting in the audience before the show, Emily asked me if I saw her yet, and I said, "Oh she's at the end of our row holy crap... oh she's walking toward us..." and then Maureen Johnsen proceeded to sit down right next to us. Our tickets just happened to be right next to each other. And then we took pictures in awful lighting and thoroughly enjoy the play.
-I was in a great deal of Dailybooth pictures this year, despite not actually having an account on the site myself. At one point I even attended a gathering of Dailybooth users and then felt very out of place.
-This was taken in a tube station, where I spent a quite large amount of time. I'm sitting on the statue of some guy who was an important train engineer or something. I never noticed before, but the guy in the background of this is slightly hilarious. In his defense, I'm sure we looked quite odd.
Ok, this is going to take forever. New plan.
-Belgium, Scotland, France, across England. Having the ability and opportunity to travel so much was an incredible and unique experience I will never forget.
- The European friends I made while living in London made my time there so much more special.
Also, one person is stopping that from being "British friends." Geez, Austria just ruins everything, am I right?
-The friends from my own group and school I made in London are still a huge part of my life. After bonding in the UK, they are still some of the best friends I have ever had.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Cool Stuff I Have aka Consumerism is Awesome
So now I'm back home for winter break, and this means, as it has for a while now, continuing to set up my stuff in my room. My family having just moved, (which has actually been the case for about three years now- three houses in three years will do that) I need to assemble and display my things in the best way possible. This task is very important because you see, I have some really cool stuff. For example:
-I have a plush keychain of Winnie the Pooh in a panda costume. If you're thinking to yourself, "Holy shit that's the cutest thing that's ever fricking existed," you're totally right.
-When I toured Italy with my high school band a few years back, I bought a (probably overpriced) little painting of the Duomo on a street in Florence because I thought that was a chic, international thing to do.
-Over this past spring break in France, I bought a replica army cricket in Normandy- these were used by troops during the invasion to tell if they had fellow countrymen nearby. It was only two Euros and probably only took fifty cents to make but I couldn't even care less.
-I collect vintage books. I have old copies of Shakespeare, Thoreau, and others. Oh yeah guys, you're dealing with a real scholar here. But ask me if I've read any of them? SHUT UP.
-My freshman year of college I stole a poster from my dorm hall because it had a picture of Harry Potter on it. It was advertising a really dumb event on campus, and I at least waited until after the event had passed to swipe it from the floor below mine.
-I bought an eraser from the Globe that has the Macbeth quote, "Out damned spot! Out I say!" (GET IT?!?) It was supposed to be for my sister, but whatever. It's now hanging out by my plays. See? Everything has a place.
-I also collect rocks from cool places. I have some from Omaha beach, Versailles, and Hastings and Brighton in England. These are all together in a plastic cup that once held two Euro, 12% white wine from a French convenience store that caused me to almost flash my friends in our hostel room. My friend asked about the tag on my shirt when I was really in no right state to check it.
-Among some frankly slightly creepy looking ceramic cats, I have a crystal dog and matching bone. These all came from my grandparents house, and I have clear memories of being little and told repeatedly to keep away from the dog because it was fragile and God help us all if the bone went missing. In fact, to this day I have never taken the dog out of his clear plastic protective box. Maybe some day.
-I have an entire shelf dedicated to Harry Potter, which includes all 7 books, the Beetle the Bard book, two books of literary analysis, a plastic wand, a postcard from the Wizarding World, my signed movie cover, and a stuffed owl that is not supposed to Hedwig, but totally is Hedwig.
-I am a fan of bulletin boards. In my room, I have two separate ones, both completely full. They contain everything from my lanyard from visiting the BBC, to my prom ticket, to a birthday card from 2010, to a ticket to Lincoln's presidential museum in Illinios, to a pin of the American and German flags I got on my last day of German class.
-By my Twilight books, I have a heart-shaped paper weight that was made in Volterra because... I went through a phase.
-I also collect souveneir shot glasses because I'm THAT person. I have ones from New Hampshire, San Antonio, Cancun, Virginia, and my university. These are most definitely going to be a worthwhile investment and be worth loads of money one day.
-Hanging off my lamp, I have a YouTube drawstring bag that a friend got me at Summer in the City and I haven't used it yet but it sure looks great hanging off my lamp.
One thing that is noticably missing from my room is a view of snow out the window. But that topic will be covered.... NEXT TIME on SARA TYPES WORDS.
-I have a plush keychain of Winnie the Pooh in a panda costume. If you're thinking to yourself, "Holy shit that's the cutest thing that's ever fricking existed," you're totally right.
-When I toured Italy with my high school band a few years back, I bought a (probably overpriced) little painting of the Duomo on a street in Florence because I thought that was a chic, international thing to do.
-Over this past spring break in France, I bought a replica army cricket in Normandy- these were used by troops during the invasion to tell if they had fellow countrymen nearby. It was only two Euros and probably only took fifty cents to make but I couldn't even care less.
-I collect vintage books. I have old copies of Shakespeare, Thoreau, and others. Oh yeah guys, you're dealing with a real scholar here. But ask me if I've read any of them? SHUT UP.
-My freshman year of college I stole a poster from my dorm hall because it had a picture of Harry Potter on it. It was advertising a really dumb event on campus, and I at least waited until after the event had passed to swipe it from the floor below mine.
-I bought an eraser from the Globe that has the Macbeth quote, "Out damned spot! Out I say!" (GET IT?!?) It was supposed to be for my sister, but whatever. It's now hanging out by my plays. See? Everything has a place.
-I also collect rocks from cool places. I have some from Omaha beach, Versailles, and Hastings and Brighton in England. These are all together in a plastic cup that once held two Euro, 12% white wine from a French convenience store that caused me to almost flash my friends in our hostel room. My friend asked about the tag on my shirt when I was really in no right state to check it.
-Among some frankly slightly creepy looking ceramic cats, I have a crystal dog and matching bone. These all came from my grandparents house, and I have clear memories of being little and told repeatedly to keep away from the dog because it was fragile and God help us all if the bone went missing. In fact, to this day I have never taken the dog out of his clear plastic protective box. Maybe some day.
-I have an entire shelf dedicated to Harry Potter, which includes all 7 books, the Beetle the Bard book, two books of literary analysis, a plastic wand, a postcard from the Wizarding World, my signed movie cover, and a stuffed owl that is not supposed to Hedwig, but totally is Hedwig.
-I am a fan of bulletin boards. In my room, I have two separate ones, both completely full. They contain everything from my lanyard from visiting the BBC, to my prom ticket, to a birthday card from 2010, to a ticket to Lincoln's presidential museum in Illinios, to a pin of the American and German flags I got on my last day of German class.
-By my Twilight books, I have a heart-shaped paper weight that was made in Volterra because... I went through a phase.
-I also collect souveneir shot glasses because I'm THAT person. I have ones from New Hampshire, San Antonio, Cancun, Virginia, and my university. These are most definitely going to be a worthwhile investment and be worth loads of money one day.
-Hanging off my lamp, I have a YouTube drawstring bag that a friend got me at Summer in the City and I haven't used it yet but it sure looks great hanging off my lamp.
One thing that is noticably missing from my room is a view of snow out the window. But that topic will be covered.... NEXT TIME on SARA TYPES WORDS.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Twitter Stats
I'm fairly obsessed with Twitter. Since my friend Emily set up an account for me last Winter, I have grown more and more attached. So after 657 tweets, I decided to count the number of tweets I create that share common themes. You know, for fun. Like a normal person.
I'm also not going to comment on how I'm discussing Twitter on Blogspot, and posting it to Facebook. Now if only someone would make a Youtube video about it, that would be the ultimate social media combination. What a boring video that would be, though.
So here are the major themes in my life right now:
"I need sleep" 3
casual conversations with friends from a country across an ocean from myself- 105
casual conversations with friends from the country where I am residing at the time, when I am too tired or lazy to just go get my phone to text them- 129
Referring to my favorite pub or the drink I purchase there- 18
clever responses to other people's tweets- 14
Schoolwork is hard- 12
I'm really weird- 81
Class. GROSS.- 10
Me just being clever or commenting on life in general- 126
EVERYTHING IS AWFUL- 31
I was on ESPN- 2
EVERYTHING IS GREAT- 29
my school makes life and parking difficult- 9
retweeting Tyler Oakley or people saying interesting things in more eloquent ways than I could- 11
Doctor Who is the best thing- 12
Attempting to interact with famous people by @ replying them- 12
London is my first and only true love- 20
I'm seeing famous people today- 2
Harry Potter- 10
when I was trying to make "historical pop songs"a thing- 5
when I referred to myself as a hermit because I was embarrassed about last night's events- 4
Emily took over-3
I'm sure some kind of anthropological study could be done on the reasons and motivations for my compulsion to tweet these things.
I mean, it could be. It won't though.
I'm also not going to comment on how I'm discussing Twitter on Blogspot, and posting it to Facebook. Now if only someone would make a Youtube video about it, that would be the ultimate social media combination. What a boring video that would be, though.
So here are the major themes in my life right now:
"I need sleep" 3
casual conversations with friends from a country across an ocean from myself- 105
casual conversations with friends from the country where I am residing at the time, when I am too tired or lazy to just go get my phone to text them- 129
Referring to my favorite pub or the drink I purchase there- 18
clever responses to other people's tweets- 14
Schoolwork is hard- 12
I'm really weird- 81
Class. GROSS.- 10
Me just being clever or commenting on life in general- 126
EVERYTHING IS AWFUL- 31
I was on ESPN- 2
EVERYTHING IS GREAT- 29
my school makes life and parking difficult- 9
retweeting Tyler Oakley or people saying interesting things in more eloquent ways than I could- 11
Doctor Who is the best thing- 12
Attempting to interact with famous people by @ replying them- 12
London is my first and only true love- 20
I'm seeing famous people today- 2
Harry Potter- 10
when I was trying to make "historical pop songs"a thing- 5
when I referred to myself as a hermit because I was embarrassed about last night's events- 4
Emily took over-3
I'm sure some kind of anthropological study could be done on the reasons and motivations for my compulsion to tweet these things.
I mean, it could be. It won't though.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Open Letter to 13-year-old Me
Dear 13-year-old me,
Let's have a discussion. I might be able to help you traverse these next few years with limited unnecessary humiliation. Please, please, just listen to me.
Here's a few things to keep in mind.
1) take a second and recons
ider every single piece of clothing before putting it on your body and going out in public. Self expression is on
e thing but... come on.
this leads me straight to my next thought...
2) notice how in the picture on the right we're wearing those two watches? Those are both plastic Spongebob watches we got out of cereal boxes. Now, in a year you'll think wearing them both to school every day because "What if one dies? I still wouldn't have to look at the wall clock" is the funniest, most charmingly quirky thing that has every happened. You'll think you're pretty much Zooey Deschanel. Oh, that's some serious anachronism. But you don't know what that word means anyway.
In conclusion, please don't. Or at least not every day.
3) You know your taste in music is flawless, I know your taste in music is flawless. Don't even bother trying to convince other people of this. They won't get it. Oh, that reminds me. There's a thing called an "ipod" coming into the world. Best invention of time and space. Start saving for one now so you won't have to share one with Becky. Everyone realizes the flaws in that plan.
4) TALK. You're funny. The world needs to know it.
5) Do not wear your favorite sweatshirt to the pig farm during Farm Week. The smell will linger for weeks, even after multiple washings. Those piglets are adorable though.
6) In a few years, you'll have to make the decision of whether or not to take Honors Chemistry. We've always been ok in Science but Chemistry is an entirely different animal that was born in the fires of Mordor. See this equation? That make sense to you?
Yeah, me neither. The best part of that class was the drawing I did of two moles ninja-fighting. (Believe me, it's funny and totally relevant.)
7) So you're in Spanish right now, and if I recall correctly, you hate it with a passion usually reserved for dictators and Scooby-Doo reruns. So you want to take World Cultures instead next year, because that will help you decide what language to take in high school. Good theory. The reality, however, is that World Cultures is where slackers go when they are just too lazy for elementary Spanish, and lack the motivation for Band or Choir. Boys will hit you in the face with paper clips.
The teacher's nice though.
8) When you're almost done with high school, PLEASE do not tell your band lesson teacher, who has been nothing but nice to you for four years, that you hate playing the instrument that he loves. Yeah, it's true, but it helps no one to let him know that.
9) Actually, whenever you feel like saying things and you even have an inkling that it might be a bad idea, for the love of GOD, DO NOT say them.
10) I hate to say this, but you're a little boy-crazy. Now, I realize hormones are a thing and all that, but still, calm down. You're about to discover the wonders of male friendship. It's a wonderful thing. Try not to be too distracted by your habit of liking every guy who looks at you without disgust in his eyes. That will stop eventually, I promise.
11) It's not going to be easy. The following eight years will go approximately like this: ok with bits of crappy because people are jerks, then it's a little better, then who are these people? OH THEY'RE THE BEST PEOPLE THAT'S COOL, then sporadic sucking and teenage angst, then wait this is ending? but I love you. This sucks, then it gets crappy for a while but then. THEN. Everything is great. The world is rainbows and daisies and really good history jokes.
Ok not quite. But it's still pretty fantastic most of the time.
Now I think that's something to look forward to, I don't know about you.
P.S. Just to save you the stress and making of many pro/con lists later, let me just tell you: you stay in marching band all three years. And also, you hide in the uniform closet during all-school-awards Junior year. You don't get caught. It's the best.
Let's have a discussion. I might be able to help you traverse these next few years with limited unnecessary humiliation. Please, please, just listen to me.
Here's a few things to keep in mind.
1) take a second and recons
ider every single piece of clothing before putting it on your body and going out in public. Self expression is on
e thing but... come on.this leads me straight to my next thought...
2) notice how in the picture on the right we're wearing those two watches? Those are both plastic Spongebob watches we got out of cereal boxes. Now, in a year you'll think wearing them both to school every day because "What if one dies? I still wouldn't have to look at the wall clock" is the funniest, most charmingly quirky thing that has every happened. You'll think you're pretty much Zooey Deschanel. Oh, that's some serious anachronism. But you don't know what that word means anyway.
In conclusion, please don't. Or at least not every day.
3) You know your taste in music is flawless, I know your taste in music is flawless. Don't even bother trying to convince other people of this. They won't get it. Oh, that reminds me. There's a thing called an "ipod" coming into the world. Best invention of time and space. Start saving for one now so you won't have to share one with Becky. Everyone realizes the flaws in that plan.
4) TALK. You're funny. The world needs to know it.
5) Do not wear your favorite sweatshirt to the pig farm during Farm Week. The smell will linger for weeks, even after multiple washings. Those piglets are adorable though.
6) In a few years, you'll have to make the decision of whether or not to take Honors Chemistry. We've always been ok in Science but Chemistry is an entirely different animal that was born in the fires of Mordor. See this equation? That make sense to you?
Yeah, me neither. The best part of that class was the drawing I did of two moles ninja-fighting. (Believe me, it's funny and totally relevant.)7) So you're in Spanish right now, and if I recall correctly, you hate it with a passion usually reserved for dictators and Scooby-Doo reruns. So you want to take World Cultures instead next year, because that will help you decide what language to take in high school. Good theory. The reality, however, is that World Cultures is where slackers go when they are just too lazy for elementary Spanish, and lack the motivation for Band or Choir. Boys will hit you in the face with paper clips.
The teacher's nice though.
8) When you're almost done with high school, PLEASE do not tell your band lesson teacher, who has been nothing but nice to you for four years, that you hate playing the instrument that he loves. Yeah, it's true, but it helps no one to let him know that.
9) Actually, whenever you feel like saying things and you even have an inkling that it might be a bad idea, for the love of GOD, DO NOT say them.
10) I hate to say this, but you're a little boy-crazy. Now, I realize hormones are a thing and all that, but still, calm down. You're about to discover the wonders of male friendship. It's a wonderful thing. Try not to be too distracted by your habit of liking every guy who looks at you without disgust in his eyes. That will stop eventually, I promise.
11) It's not going to be easy. The following eight years will go approximately like this: ok with bits of crappy because people are jerks, then it's a little better, then who are these people? OH THEY'RE THE BEST PEOPLE THAT'S COOL, then sporadic sucking and teenage angst, then wait this is ending? but I love you. This sucks, then it gets crappy for a while but then. THEN. Everything is great. The world is rainbows and daisies and really good history jokes.
Ok not quite. But it's still pretty fantastic most of the time.
Now I think that's something to look forward to, I don't know about you.
P.S. Just to save you the stress and making of many pro/con lists later, let me just tell you: you stay in marching band all three years. And also, you hide in the uniform closet during all-school-awards Junior year. You don't get caught. It's the best.
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