Provolone Cheese

HELLO!

It is now WEDNESDAY, or Rednoseday if you remember that particular joke.



I just watched this. I love Hank. Things like this remind me of the vastness of life, and how very limited we are within our own world. Space and science are fascinating, even though I will never be a scientist. It's just another one of those things that makes me think about things.

My mind is, unfortunately, too filled with other, seemingly insignificant things at the moment. I don't have the time to reflect on life and people and stuff.

ALSO I am leaving tomorrow for Wilmington. Expect an early-morning blog post, and then you'll see pre-scheduled posts for the rest of the weekend :)

I hope that everybody reading this had a good day, and found somebody or something in their life to appreciate.

A demain!
-Aly

The person I appreciate today: Colin, for sitting with me in Fred and talking about random things for a very long time, and for understanding that sometimes hugs just need to be long and silent.

Sour Cream & Onion

HELLO!

I don't have time to write;
Loads of homework still
Nothing new to do, of course.

I am working on Pre-Cal,
Math is not my strength...
Almost lost my book today.

Memorization of maps
Oh, the advanced class
Yet I am still enjoying.

In Shakespeare's Tempest, Act One
I understand well
More so than the others can.

English took me by surprise
A quotations test
Namely Shelley's Frankenstein.

Cross-country workout on time
My two mile repeats
My best day for quite some time.

Soon I will be done with all
These college papers
It is quite a stressful fall.

A demain!
-Aly

P.S. Once again stealing Yasmina's way of doing this; it's pretty fast xD

Waffles

HELLO!

Okay, so today was a "college day", but I don't have much to say about that.

I was feeling nostalgic today, thanks to "Forever Together" by Ministry of Magic. It made me think of 7th grade.

Remember those friends from when you were younger? The ones you promised to stay friends with forever? When is the last time that you talked to them? Was it the same? What has changed?

I love friendships where you can go for long periods of time without much contact with your friend, but then when you see each other again or have a chance to talk, everything seems as though it's still the same. You fall back into the friendship so easily, slipping into the same roles as always, though perhaps a little bit different than before. Though when I think about it, it seems odd that this is possible. I love it, though.

I think I need to attempt to get back into contact with a few old friends, for the heck of it. I can MAKE time. That's what facebook is for, isn't it? ;)

ANYWAY. Now to actually do the things I was supposed to do today, besides bake things (WAFFLES! Brownies!) and goof off on the internet. My room is really not the ideal place to accomplish anything serious.
-Aly

P.S. Happy Labor Day, though I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of it is. I don't mind the day off, though. It's nice.

Honey Barbecue Chips

HELLO!

So, today was fun.
Food, friends, and the cinemas
Contemplated life.

Whoo :)
-Aly

P.S. Inspired by Yasmina. You should go read her post of haikus.

Everything Bagel

HELLO!

The trend of this Blogging-Every-Day thing seems to be breakfast foods, but not consistently. That's okay though, because I love breakfast.

Today was good, but filled with all those Boring Things. My long run this morning was AMAZING, though. The weather was perfect, I felt good, and the time on my own gave me a chance to get my thoughts in order again.

Other than that, I've been spending the day with college and scholarship applications, and the subsequent pile of paperwork that I am forced to for all of it. It's really difficult to try to look at the things I've done and accomplished when I can't think of anything in particular. BUT I am nearly done. Somuchdue, so soon.

I was going to write something more interesting, but I have to go work on more of the same stuff, and homework. So, I'll attempt to be more enthusiastic tomorrow. We'll see.

*** EDIT!
I just finished an essay for my sociology class, so I'd like to share some of that with you. This blog keeps getting more and more sociology related, but I can't help it. I honestly love talking about it, and I hope that it interests some of you, too. Part of the reason, I'm sure, is that my experience with different cultures has made me incredibly curious about the way that impacts people. I like to think about the differences between here and France in that perspective. I'll build up to that post, though, because I will have a lot to say! :) ***

The use of a sociological perspective means that we examine individual lives within the greater context of the society in which that particular person lives. We can see the way that society impacts the life of that person. Looking at life itself from that point of view can make it seem as though our lives are completely governed by all the external influences that surround us in our daily life. It can be easily argued that sociology “pigeon-holes” people into specific roles that are dictated by their society, but that is not the point of a sociological perspective. The idea is that we can better understand the influences on the development of our character based on the typical behaviors of members in our society and the expectations placed on us.

Sociology gives us a view of our lives through the eyes of society, and a clearer view of what shapes us as an individual. The influences of society may help define our lives, but in the end, it is ourselves that make the decisions leading us. Society cannot make decisions for you, but only shape the person you are more likely to become. The individual remains one unto themselves, an entity that is part of society but at the same time separate. Sociology leads us only so far as to see what surrounds us, enabling or discouraging our progress as individuals, but it does not dictate that we must act in a certain way.

A demain!
-Aly

Lemon Poppyseed Muffin

Hellooooo!

I only have 13 or so minutes to blog, since I haven't really been home since around 10:28 this morning.

What a busy day.

Shakespeare stuff is beginning with the Tempest, we had an in-class essay in English (I write really quickly :o ), pre-cal was... surprisingly easy except for when the teacher tricks us, and I looove AP US History (aka "APUSH"). Only one class of business law next week!

Running was good. The turnout was disappointing. It's always the same group of girls and I love them, but sometimes it's really sad how little the majority of the team cares for this sport. It's hard work, but REALLY?! Target?! However, I did enjoy all the time I had to talk to Kathleen, and then we forced a boy from our rival school to join our abs circle and asked him loads of questions because we were trying to weird him out. He dealt with it pretty well, much better than our own boys could, I'm sure.

Then there was Cold Stone with Molly, getting ready for the game, Parta/Spaghetti, then hanging out with people that I was SO GLAD to see again. After, we spent an hour and some just talking to Colin.

So, good day. Exhaustion of course and I have to get up less-early-than-normal tomorrow, yet it is still unwanted. ONE MORE LONG RUN AFTER TOMORROW, so I guess that's something.

A demain!
-Aly

Garlic Potatoes

HELLO!

Today was long, thanks to the fact that I am RIDICULOUSLY exhausted.

I have NEWS today!
1. I have to start wearing my retainers again, which kind of sucks, and I have to get a new bottom retainer (which sucks and is pricey), BUT the orthodontist is fairly certain my teeth will be able to return to nearly-as-good-as-post-braces! Which is good. And means I won't have to get braces again, which is great :)
2. My guidance counselor is AMAZING, and is making my life so much easier. Since Molly and I have decided to think of one person every day that we appreciate in our lives... today, the person whose presence in my life I appreciate is my guidance counselor. (I spend wayyy too much time at the Guidance Office. Seriously. I have so many Big Important Things to deal with that I feel like I live at Guidance this year.)
3. ... Well, I don't have a third thing that is new.

ANYWAY. Today was exhausting and long, but surprisingly good. I've been done with homework for a while! Tomorrow is Friday, and us seniors are leading a non-official practice. Fun run, whoooo! Though it will be hot and humid and gross, spending time with the other three senior girls is awesome. They're all such great people :)

OOH! I REMEMBER WHAT THE THIRD THING WAS!
I'll be taking the SAT again. Not exciting test, but HOPEFULLY I will get a better score. Lots of thanks to Yasmina for the study materials... :)

Labor day weekend = college friends coming home = JOY! <3

A demain!
-Aly

Watermelon

HELLO AGAIN.

I'm kind of getting used to this whole blogging-every-day thing. Sometimes it's boring, and I do really enjoy writing posts like the one from last night. That's the kind of thing I love to talk about, and I will happily run off on a tangent about such things. However, today's post will be less philosophical, but it won't be another this-was-my-day posts, either.

Confronted with the sudden reminder of all the Big Important Things and the Future that I have to confront (the problem, fight, and win), has given me a wake up call about what I need to do. In some ways, it's motivational, but in other ways, it's just a reminder, like all the other reminders, of how MUCH that I have LEFT to do and accomplish, and how little time.

Beyond that, it is like it's a race, between all of these seniors. Competing for the places and the prestige of certain colleges, for scholarships and honor and awards. The winner walks away with the pride of accomplishment, and certainly they deserve it, but when I look at yourself in the face of people who are so brilliant, I can't help but think that I am not quite up to par. Part of me asks why should I try for this prestige scholarship or that one, because I'm clearly not extraordinary enough for that. As if I don't deserve it. If it is a question of believing that you are the right person for a certain thing or not, I don't feel very confident. Why CAN'T I be? The other part of me is fearless. There is NO REASON not to at least try. It doesn't hurt. It can't hurt, but the matter of believing myself capable is where it becomes a problem.

Though it was easy for me to think that I was able to handle France and so many other things, I know that I still don't fully believe in myself. It's aggravating, because so much of me WANTS to think more of myself than I do. The thing is, I cannot help but compare myself to people that I see as much greater than myself in more than just academics. I am not jealous; I think that they are great and wonderful people that will change the world. I just have trouble seeing myself as one of them.

In this race for the best, I want to be in the running. I want to be up there, but before I can be on the starting line, I have to come to terms with what I am capable of anyway, and where I stand. How far can I run?

(In a way, this is also a metaphor for my cross-country season, which is proving to be emotionally nerve-wracking. It should be November.)

A demain, encore!
-Aly