A little rant - please bear with me

From time to time, as I hope you'll understand, I have these little rants about... anything, really.

Today, I'm home sick with a little fever and achy muscles. Nothing to fret over - except that this is probably my eleventh sick day this school year. In the past I've had a maximum of maybe five sick days. So what's the difference this year?
One reason is that I've given myself a bit more leniency because it's my senior year. But I'm not cutting, I'm legitimately ill. How, then, did I get so suddenly and frequently ill?
I would like to make the case that stress can be a major factor in getting you sick. (And there's research to prove this!) So if you're under a lot of stress, your immune system is often lest apt to handle any random bacteria that might come your way. A normal person's immune system has no problem fighting off small little bacteria. But a super-stressed out person is going to have more difficulty.
Student are notoriously stressed out, as are Americans in general. We push ourselves to work our hardest every day - and in return we expect relaxing weekends and vacations. Some of us even work hard during those breaks. And, despite our best efforts to kill 99.99% of bacteria with portable goop in a bottle, we still get sick.
I'm sorry, did I lose you there? What I'm trying to say is, working hard - too hard - can make you super sick, even if you think you're taking care of your health. Students especially (and at my school, maybe even more especially) are stressed. We're sleep deprived from all the work we have to do, stressed because of the sleep we didn't get; so we work harder to get more sleep, but end up even more sleep deprived because we worked so hard, then we're even more stressed out and get sick, stress some more because of the work you're missing... do you see the endless cycle here?
(Not to go all philosophical here, but maybe we put too much pressure on working hard)
I don't want to say school makes you sick (even though it is filled with all sorts of nasty germs), but it certainly doesn't help. Some kids take mental health days every now and then. That's not a bad idea; the weekends just aren't enough! And of course, don't make it a habit, if you can help it. Just take a day to get back on your feet so you're not sick.


In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the lovely weather. From inside my house :(
Hey, at least I've got a perfect view of my just-blooming magnolia tree outside

A votre santés, mes amis!
xxo, S

The last supper

Tonight was the ski team's last dinner. I love having a dinner at the end of the season: it's a fun way to get together with my teammates and just hangout without the pressures of competition. It was another sad reminder of everything I'm going to miss next year. But another great reminder of all the amazing memories and friends I've made. Even though I only did the team for four years (and the maximum is six), I'm so glad I did. Everything was just so awesome! I don't know how else to describe it. One last hurrah for ski team!

xxo, S

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out."

(quote by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross)

The rest of that quote was a little less happy, so I cut it off.

Today was probably the most beautiful day of the year - 72 degrees and sunny. AND it's a Friday! Time to break out my sunglasses and flip flops.

I look forward to spring every year, every time of the year. In the middle of summer, I'm looking forward to spring. In the middle of fall and winter, I'm looking forward to spring. It's just my favourite season, hands down. Spring is the beautiful, sunny, sing-songy rebirth of life on earth. All the colours come out and everyone is ecstatic just to be free from cold, grey winter skies. Spring officially starts on Sunday, but I'm beginning my celebration now. So if you're like me and have been blessed with super beautiful weather today, SMILE, happy looks good on you!

xxo, S

Twofer Thursday

Hey, sorry for the double post today. My life is sometimes more interesting than I think.

Anything Goes ended on Saturday with the cast party but we still had to sign posters for each other the way we did for our director, conductor and coreographer. There was no power on Saturday so we ended up not doing it. Instead we extended the fun by signing posters today! I got my last poster ever :( filled with lovely comments from all my fellow thespians.

Shows pictured: top left: Pirates of Penzance (2003), Guys and Dolls Jr. (2004), Fiddler on the Roof Jr. (2006), Little Shop of Horrors (2007), Macbeth (2006). middle left: House of Blue Leaves (2007), Into the Woods (2008), Witness for the Prosecution (2008), Urinetown (2009). bottom left: A Flea in Her Ear (2009), Anything Goes (2010).

When I went home, I read all the comments on all my posters since sixth grade (above). That's eleven posters! I want to get them framed some day. Maybe for a graduation present...

xxo, S

Another day off from school

I'm in the creative writing club at my school and every year we go to this conference at WCC. You get out of school to go and it's a really cool experience

The presnter at the first workshop was an overly verbose Italian guy with chunky rings and even chunkier hands - a real charicature. He kept telling us everything we do wrong when we as students write. I don't think that's what young authors are supposed to hear. What did I learn? I couldn't tell you.

What I got from sitting there for an hour and a half was that I would like to be writing again. Last year I went to the New England Young Writers Conference at Breadloaf and began to get into writing again. I wrote a bunch of scenes on paper - that's all I've ever been able to write - and being in this first workshop reminded me that I'd like to keep writing. Maybe that's what this blog is for....

12:47p
I just read out the little piece I wrote in the second workshop. The presenter, Scott Johnson, said it was one of the best uses of pronouns he'd ever heard used in fiction and that you could really tell the relationships between the characters. I love getting feedback on my work... I love it even better when it's positive feedback :)

xxo, S

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

What's one if the best parts of senior year? SENIOR SKIP DAY! (that's today if you couldn't tell)

10:34a

My friends and I are going into the city to see the parade and revel in some Irish spirit. I'm only 1/8 Irish but that's gotta count for something. At the train station I got my change in 13 gold dollar coins. Leprechaun!!!

2:24p

I'm such a piece now guys... don't judge me :)

Me and my friends sitting under the flagpole by the Central Park Zoo

My hand, decked out in silver Sharpie

6:30p Back in bxv chilling at Starbucks with mes amis. Had a great senior skip day - so beautiful out too!

xxo, S

"Anything Goes"

This past weekend my school put on a production of my favourite show, Anything Goes. As usual for the winter musicals, I helped out with costumes (I act in the fall plays). Two of my best friends also do costumes... We're like a super team. I don't know what the school is gonna do without us next year because it will be the first year in seven years that costumes have have happened without us at the helm. We did, however, train two girls to take over for us. Hopefully they'll be up for the challenge alone next year.

This is also my last high school show! *tear tear* Like I said, I've been at this for seven years and I can't believe it's over! I've met some of my best friends and had some of the funnest times of my life doing theatre at my school. On closing night (Saturday), our director spoke about how meaningful this year's seniors are because we were his first class when he came to teach here. I cried remembering what a great, influential, and important person he has been throughout my school career. Next year is sure to bring new stuff, but I'll always remember where I got my start.

Traditionally, seniors paint their names on the walls backstage and list their graduating year and all the shows they've done. We're going go paint on Sunday I think... It's a little intimidating, knowing that my name is soon gonna be up on those walls, too.

Despite the sentimentality of this show, and the incredibly rigorous schedule Costumes had, it was one of the most impressive shows I've ever been a part of. I'm glad we did it my senior year! Every single person did an amazing job and the end result was simply gorgeous!! Congratulations to the cast, crew, orchestra, and production team of ANYTHING GOES!

xxo, S

Bonjour le monde!

For the past four days, it has rained in my little hometown. Being not yet warm enough for me to enjoy some duck weather, I've been cooped up at home. My best friend always wanted to start a fashion blog and she's talked about it for a year. But I am finally taking the time to make my own blog. It's not going to be about anything in particular, so please don't be disappointed.

I don't have a very interesting life. I'm simply putting my words out there. They might not reach anyone...

...ever.

But here it goes anyway.

xxo, S