Photos from a lovely long weekend

I got a new phone last Saturday and I have been loving the camera. Here are some pictures I've taken.

Hmmm, in hindsight, these pictures aren't particularly patriotic or have remotely anything to do with Memorial Day. Oh well.

xxo, S

glee was an ok show to watch for the first time. just trying my luck w/ different shows now that lost is over... cant wait 'til burn notice

The last day of LOST

Tonight at 7pm EST, the world television phenomenon that is LOST will conclude itself in a two-hour series finale event.

To relieve some of the stress of the end of this wonderful TV show, I went for a walk...

Qu'elles fleurissent!

xxo, S

Prom

Last night was prom night - not the super frightening horror movie, but my actual prom.

My school has a lot of traditions, one being Promenade. Promenade takes place on the front lawn of the school. All students have to show up with their parents because that is where we sign in and also where the buses leave from (to prevent substance abuse, my school orders buses to transport students between the school and the prom location; :( limos are not allowed). This is when everyone takes their pictures - teachers, parents, underclassmen, extended families. Everyone shows up to take pictures and, somehow, the universe (almost) always manages to provide excellent weather for picture-taking. My friends and I all looked really gorgeous and downright stunning, if I do say so myself.

Promenade (note the buses - I'm not kidding)

After Promenade, we all loaded up onto the buses to go to the Rye Town Hilton for dinner and dancing. It was a lot more fun than most other school-sponsored functions. The DJ even played good music for once!

Last year I missed my prom because I went to Breadloaf (they were on the same weekend). And I'm soooo glad I had that experience, but I'm also really glad I got to go to prom this year. There was no pressure, mostly because there are only two weeks left of classes for seniors, so it was just an outright P A R T Y !

And the party of the end of high school has just begun...
xxo, S

P.S.: there is a difference between prom and Promenade, I hope I made that clear-ish.

Things I want to do (but might not actually do)

This is a list I started today:

-go to Africa, Oceania, Asia, South America and Europe... basically everywhere
-skydive
-get another ear piercing
-learn to snowboard
-make $1 million
-learn another language
-plan the Summer Olympic Games
-paint a house
-own a moped/scooter/motorcycle
-sail again
-get published in something
- be like, "where is my llama milk?!"
-volunteer at a hospital
-win the Amazing Race
-go to every state and their highest points
-have a postcard collection
-stay out all night
-protest for something I care about
-donate my body to science
-cook through a whole cookbook
-see my brothers graduate college (read: actually be there)
-sleep the whole day, even if I get sick
-never stop being best friends with Purple
-get a tattoo
-design a house (preferably my own house)
-dye my hair another colour

Humanitarian remark of the day

This is my new shirt and I will love it forever and ever.

After weeks of searching, I finally found the guy who sells these shirts in the West Village at the Ye Olde Village Fair. Saturday, on a classic May day, hundreds of people filled the streets of "THE BEST street fair in the city, with bands all day and tables and chairs set up so you can hear the band and eat or have coffee, wine or beer."

here are some other slogans I will put on a t-shirt someday

note: I did not make these up

other note: if you thought I made these up, I appreciate your acknowledgement of my creativity, but maybe you should get out more and read some hippie newsletters.

MAKE LOVE

NOT WAR

SAVE WATER

SHOWER TOGETHER

DROP ACID

NOT BOMBS

Maybe my future t-shirt making business will put me through college.

xxo, S

Why May is the best month

As everyone knows, the summer solstice is June 21st (if you didn't know this, well, now you know. I'm glad I could inform you). The days will get progressively longer until this day, so contrary to what you would expect, summer days get shorter and winter days get longer. This means that all the days in May also get longer because they lead up to June.

May is not yet the heat of summer, however. Therefore, these longer days are more easily enjoyed: you can still go for a walk at 7 in the evening, play baseball until 8, or (if you're into waking up really early), watch the sunrise at 5 in the morning. You can do all this without angry July humidity or severe August heat. The sun still shine, you just don't sweat as much.

Also, school isn't over yet either (even though we all wish it was!), so activities in May give you an exciting after-school life. The killer about May, though, is that students are always preparing for final exams and still (unfortunately) have homework to do. School's evil plot ruins a perfect month yet again!

But not this year.

This year, being a senior, I have no final exams to take. I have very little homework to do.
I have a lot of time on my hands.
So what shall I do?
I shall go out and enjoy the best month of the year - MAY!

xxo, S

Sayonara, CollegeBoard!

I finished my last AP exam today!!!! That means I will never. ever. ever. EVER! have to take another AP exam or deal with the giant monster that is CollegeBoard.

that is absolutely incorrect.

ah, there we go.

To all those freshmen, sophomores and juniors who have yet to experience the superior angst which CollegeBoard can impose upon you: so long, suckers!

xxo, S

Countdown to freedom

Today was full of accomplishments. Not only did I wake up at 7a (very early for me), but I managed to take a shower, get dressed, walk to school, and grab coffee all by 7.35 - just in time for the 8a AP English literature exam. My exam went well, I think. But, I won't really know until mid-July when they mail out the scores.

When I got home, I went shopping for prom shoes... and got a bonus - some super cute sandals, too :) I can't wait 'til my dress arrives!

Only one exam left and I have pretty much total freedom! After next Tuesday, it's Purple's birthday on Friday, then prom the next week. Just a few weeks until graduation - forty four days, actually!!!

Where you can find me...

xxo, S

Hysteria: looking back on my school years

Everyone considers my hometown to be a very safe place to live. There's a cute little town with cute little houses and a cute little school. Except today, that school had a two hour-long fire drill because there was a gas leak scare.

For two hours, students stood outside the school building, wondering A: what was going on and B: when would we be allowed back inside because C: lunch was in about twenty minutes and we are hungry teenagers!

This isn't the first time we've had such hysteria. In sixth grade, there was a bomb scare because someone found a doodle in the boys' bathroom... from eighteen years ago. In 2007, the entire school flooded after forty eight hours of nonstop rain and the school was closed for two weeks.

"The Flood" of 2007

During those two hours, my friends and I sweated (and tanned) in the hot, cinqo de Mayo sun. We didn't have out lunch money because we had left all of our belongings inside when we left for the "fire drill." In the end, we borrowed some from a mom (that reminds me, I've gotta pay her back!) and grabbed some bagels. It wasn't the worst day to have a two-hour break from school. In fact, the weather was so beautiful, who wouldn't want to be  outside?
It could have been raining, and then we would have been pretty seriously screwed.

So I guess my town isn't perfect. But who's really perfect anyway?

xxo, S

A promise is a promise

My overly-wonderful drama teacher and director, Mr. August*, promised the costume ladies (me and my two friends Katherine and Purple) that someday he would take us to see the costume room at NYU (because he used to work there). We were first promised this in seventh grade. Five years later, and we finally made it to NYU's theatre department... except they were under construction and the costume room was unavailable for visitation purposes :( Instead, we got a lovely tour of the theatre department - and experienced a fire drill along the way.

In the end, it was a great way to spend a Friday (we had no school last Friday), especially in such beautiful weather. South of Union Square is such a cute place! Although, I could never pick a "favourite" part of New York. Katherine and I picked up some noodles and cute buttons in Union Square when we were done at NYU. I'm working on covering my trusty canvas bag with buttons; so far I have twenty three, including a storm trooper, "what would Buddha do?" and Andy Warhol's face.

xxo, S

*all names have been changed to protect the privacy of those described.

Some past & future stuff

One down, two to go.
(Those are AP exams I'm talking about.)

Today was French - and I could not be more glad that it's over! After nearly four hours of painstakingly filling in little bubbles, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief that my seven years' study of the French language might be worth something in the end.
We started the day a few hours before the exam at another student's house with some petit déjeuner - um, breakfast - which was actually quite a delicious way to start an otherwise drab day. Not only did I have to sit through an exhausting exam, but torrential rain was blowing around all day.
Yuck.

But that's all over now! And all I've left is English literature this Thursday and environmental science next Tuesday. The best part about AP exams is that, at my school at least, once you've taken the exam for your AP class, you don't have to go to that class for the rest of the AP exam period (May 3-14 this year). Those are some excellently placed bonus frees I'm getting :)

So I used this afternoon to relax, like I haven't been able to do in about a week. I plopped down on my bed with a lime popsicle and let my fan attempt to cool me in 85 degrees (plus humidity!). By dinnertime, the sky had cleared up and it was sunny again. When I went outside, it smelled like the middle of summer.

For some reason, that smell reminded me of a time when I wondered if everyone - all grown-ups, all settled-down-people, all suburban adults - once had a wild youth in which they traveled around, having the adventure of their life. A time when they went to Thailand just for fun, or Germany to see what it's like. When they rode camels and elephants because they could. Does everyone have a past like that?
And do they all come to rest in a dull bubble town?

xxo, S