The storm has passed.

These past few weeks have been rough and choppy. Scratch that, this past month.

I really do apologize for being gone for so long, I truly despise having to neglect Blogger. It was nearing the end of the second semester though, I was falling behind and as I was saying in the last post, I had way too much on my plate. Since then I have alleviated most of that :). I caught myself up in Physics, gave up my part in Charlie Brown(I'm still helping with the production, but this way I miss rehearsals), dropped Mock Trial Club, and finished my college essay. The bad news: I failed my Math B regents. As did the rest of my class, all 8 of us. You know, New York State can really tick me off. Us and California, we're the only ones who require these tests, and they end up hurting us. Failing this exam means I am automatically out of the Top 10. Even if I re-take it in June and pass with flying colors, my time is up. I have lost my requirement. I am screwed. So yes, thank you NYS, thanks a million. I think my favorite part about the whole thing was my grade, a 64. I wish my teacher would have thrown on a clown suit and some makeup and delivered the news on a unicycle, because a 64 on a regents is nothing short of a joke.

That whole situation left me sort of pessimistic for awhile, that along with the weight of homework, working, and trying to maintain a social life have left me scrambling for time :P. I think I have everything under control at this point though, I am doing a bit of internal re-prioritizing.
Since I blogged last I have . . .

- Flown out to Iowa to see my grandfather(I will elaborate on this)

- Been on February Break and enjoyed it greatly.

-Participated in "Senior Skip Day" :)

- Jammed out in Derek's basement.

- Went bowling.

- Snowboarded twice, I enjoy it. (:

- Decided I might want to learn to play the banjo.

- Had a run-in with the police, but was able to go because I didn't do anything wrong.

- Played Mario Party for Nintendo 64 for the first time with the guys and hurt my hand from getting too into it :P.

- Attended a Lord of the Rings marathon.

- Decided lowfat strawberry smoothies from Panera are a win.

- Contemplated the meaning of life, or atleast what I want from my life.

In the aeroplane over the sea,

Okay, so we didn't fly over the sea. We flew to Minneapolis and switched flights out to Nebraska, from which we drove to Iowa. Still, I love flying in planes, I don't think I would mind being a flight attendant. Take off is my favorite, just feeling the kick of the wheels rising up towards the belly of the plane, no longer being held down the the world. Everything looks so small, it really puts things into perspective. When you're on the ground, everything is so big, you feel like your neighborhood could be the whole world. Another place that puts things into perspective for me is Iowa. Everything just rolls along at a slower pace out there when compared to New York. I'm not even talking the city, just regular upstate NY. The roads are gravel, the houses might as well have their own zipcodes, it's a very spacious, simple place. The sense of community is quite strong though; my grandpa goes to breakfast and lunch every day with the same people. They're all around the same age, older, and they always hassle eachother :). I'm glad to know there are people out there who would notice if he didn't show up for breakfast one morning, friends around to care for him. When I visit I am always reminded of how much I miss my grandma. The older I get, the more apparent it is to me that we were alike in many ways, and would have gotten along so well at this point in time. We always went well together, but as a child you don't see things as in depth as you do with age. It's hard because almost everyone I visit when we travel out there tells me how much they miss her, how they just wish they could pick up the phone and call her like they used to. It's amazing how one lady made such an impact on so many people, I hope to turn out to be something like her. My grandpa is an amazing person himself. He does so well for himself with being on his own, 87 years old, taking care of his own house. He still messes around out in the barn working on tractors(he used to be a big-time collector), and he has put alot on the table as far as my college fund goes. I wish I could spend more time out there hearing his stories and joking back and forth.

February Break has been quite excellent. We started it off with a bang, Senior Skip Day. Of course our whole class would/could not participate, but a good amount of us crammed into a tiny diner in town to eat a cheap breakfast. Somehow mine ended up not being so cheap, but whatever hahah. We took up nearly the entire restaurant. Afterwards we all met at one of our classmate's house and rode trucks and wheelers down to the frozen pond. It's a large pond, mind you, more like a small lake dimension-wise. So we hung out there, drove around doing donuts and drifting hahaha, ate hotdogs, iceskated, played loud music; it was a good country time.
I'm starting to find it saddening that I may not see some of these people after highschool. Later that evening I went to the local ski mountain and hung out with my best friend Amanda, pictured above, and watched her boyfriend play a gig. It was pretty fun, we stayed for fireworks too.

I have decided to quit thinking in terms of plans, but instead allow myself to think theoretically. Forget Plan A, Plan B, there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, give me numberless possibilities. Theories give explanation and a bit of structure while plans just demand too much. Quoted from 'What Sarah Said', "And it came to me then, that every plan, is a tiny prayer to Father Time." It's so true. We can plan, plan, plan, maticulously, but if the timing is not in our favor, it won't even matter. I like the looseness of theories. They give you something to ponder and strive for, without consuming your entire being.
I miss summer. The world just looks so dead. Winter, you'll find your coat neatly hung in the closet, please find your way to the door and leave. The only good thing I got out of you this year was the snowboarding experience. Luckily I was able to borrow almost all of my equipment from friends, all I bought was a $50 jacket, but that was on sale and I needed a new coat anyways. Mountain passes are only $17 on Mondays and Tuesdays, so I only go if it's one of those days, and I have a friend who's a beginner as well to keep me company :). It's a cool feeling, just cruising down the mountain. I definitely could use some improvement, I do a lot of "plowing" it's called, when you go down with your board kind of perpendicular to the mountain, because it's the easiest way. I'm making progress, slowly but surely. I'm antsy for summer though. I keep thinking about what if we went on a roadtrip, how nice it would feel to jump in a lake, the peace of mind knowing I am done with highschool and ready for the next chapter of my life. I'll be eighteen years old, wow. I'm so ready.
I want to apologize again for the lack of blogging.. I feel pretty ashamed that it's been this long.. I guess I wanted to make a really good post if I was going to make everyone wait so long, but then I decided today to just go with it, write what I could. I can pretty confidently say that I'm back for good :). Frequent posts are what I'm aiming for, and I definitely need to play a little catch up on everyone elses' blogs. More time alone is definitely needed. Almost every night of vacation I would find someone to pass the time with, then come home and pass right out. While that's usually fun, I need my time to think, my time for myself. Today was one of those days :). I actually woke up sick, stuffed up, hot, fatigued. So I called in sick to work and spent the whole day in my room. I finished most of my take home test I had neglected all week, did a little cleaning, watched The Sixth Sense for the first time, finished up some college things, watched Flight of the Conchords on dvd :):), "I'm the hiphopapotamus, my lyrics are bottomless ;D." Plus I finally got around to posting this. Oh, I watched a show on 9/11 conspiracy theories and one on taboo death rituals. Apparently there's a exhibit in Germany where they take real dead bodies and transform them into art. They undergo a special process to eliminate the fats, liquids, skin, ect, and pose them doing lifelike things. It's strange, but sort of cool at the same time.


How has everyone been?!? Please, do tell. =)