Back from the dead! (Or so it would seem)
For some reason, this blog has fallen by the wayside in recent times. I don't think I've posted anything since February. Hm. I could say that I've been busy, which I have, but that's kind of a cop out. I think I've just been lazy.
Anyway, so one of my good friends Michael and I (There's a link to his blog at the top of the homepage actually.) went to the Woodland Park Zoo this last weekend. It was pretty awesome. A good time to be had by all. Aside from the depressing fact that we were never actually able to find that free-roaming peacock (It was hiding out on top of the gift store. That's right. The top. The ROOF.), it was good. But it also made me realize how paranoid I am.
Michael and I spent a large majority of the time talking about how easy it would to be for the animals to escape. And how terrifying it would be if that happened. Honestly, all I could think about was Planet of the Apes. As we were passing through the OPEN orangutan exhibit, I kept waiting for Caesar to swing down and rally the animals together.
Then one of the orangutans would point to me and Michael and go, "There! Get them first! They were the ones making fun of me for eating Romaine!"
Romaine lettuce seemed to be a staple for most of the animals at the zoo actually. We had a few chuckles about that. And about the absolutely adorable sounds that porcupines make. But I digress.
Maybe Michael and I are just slightly on the crazy side, but sometimes you just wonder... Especially when you go to the tiger exhibit, see that there's no tiger, and then hear the man standing next to you say: "Didja hear about a few years ago when one of the animals got loose?"
Yeah. I'll meet you guys in the bunker.
3/18/12
Abrupt Conversation Stop Signs
So you know what's awkward? When you're telling a story to someone and they turn away from you right in the middle of your sentence to say something to someone else.
It's kind of like if you were driving down the highway at 70 mph and then all of a sudden a stop sign appeared. Both experiences may give you extreme whiplash and road rage.
Not only is it the slightest bit rude, even if the person didn't intend it to be, it's kind of hard to recover from. You're just left standing there blinking with your mouth open: "So then I told the guy- Oh, or you could talk to someone else. I'm not telling a story or anything, THAT'S COOL."
Then, usually, the person just turns back to you and expects you to continue with your story. Now, in protest of this ridiculous rudeness, I've been telling myself to just not finish the story. After all, it would serve them right! ... But. Unfortunately, I always really want to tell the story, so I have to finish it. I find myself mentally banging my head against the wall for it later, but I have to finish the story.
Curse my need to have complete thoughts!
It's kind of like if you were driving down the highway at 70 mph and then all of a sudden a stop sign appeared. Both experiences may give you extreme whiplash and road rage.
Not only is it the slightest bit rude, even if the person didn't intend it to be, it's kind of hard to recover from. You're just left standing there blinking with your mouth open: "So then I told the guy- Oh, or you could talk to someone else. I'm not telling a story or anything, THAT'S COOL."
Then, usually, the person just turns back to you and expects you to continue with your story. Now, in protest of this ridiculous rudeness, I've been telling myself to just not finish the story. After all, it would serve them right! ... But. Unfortunately, I always really want to tell the story, so I have to finish it. I find myself mentally banging my head against the wall for it later, but I have to finish the story.
Curse my need to have complete thoughts!
3/9/12
Bad Decisions and Silver Linings
So, by now I've realized that humans make bad decisions. A lot. I myself, have made quite a few bad (rather, stupid) decisions in my short life.
Most of these decisions just seem to come back and bite us in the butt. They can totally ruin an otherwise happy day or even a whole week. They can sometimes destroy you mentally.
But there's a silver lining to these bad things.
Almost every time, whether we realize it or not, the bad decisions we make give us a ton to learn from. Making mistakes is one of the most (for lack of a better word) powerful ways to learn, and to even change as a person. If people didn't make mistakes, then I don't think we would ever grow. Granted, we have to make a decision about what we do with our mistakes as well. We can choose to learn from them, or just shove them away and ignore them. Choosing the former is always the better option, I think.
Anyway, I made a bad (mostly stupid) choice yesterday, and I paid for it today. It was painful, but it really made me realize that, for my own sake, I'd better not be that stupid again. My blunder gave me a greater determination to make sure I stay clear of future blunders like it. I don't think I would have that determination if I didn't make that mistake, so I'm actually kind of glad it happened.
Silver linings are everywhere, y'know. They're just in the eye of the beholder.
Have you ever made a bad (or herp-y) decision that you were able to learn from later? Do you think it made you a better person?
Most of these decisions just seem to come back and bite us in the butt. They can totally ruin an otherwise happy day or even a whole week. They can sometimes destroy you mentally.
But there's a silver lining to these bad things.
Almost every time, whether we realize it or not, the bad decisions we make give us a ton to learn from. Making mistakes is one of the most (for lack of a better word) powerful ways to learn, and to even change as a person. If people didn't make mistakes, then I don't think we would ever grow. Granted, we have to make a decision about what we do with our mistakes as well. We can choose to learn from them, or just shove them away and ignore them. Choosing the former is always the better option, I think.
Anyway, I made a bad (mostly stupid) choice yesterday, and I paid for it today. It was painful, but it really made me realize that, for my own sake, I'd better not be that stupid again. My blunder gave me a greater determination to make sure I stay clear of future blunders like it. I don't think I would have that determination if I didn't make that mistake, so I'm actually kind of glad it happened.
Silver linings are everywhere, y'know. They're just in the eye of the beholder.
Have you ever made a bad (or herp-y) decision that you were able to learn from later? Do you think it made you a better person?
3/5/12
An Internal Struggle... About Books
I have this checklist thing that I do every night when I lay down to go to bed.
For usually about half an hour, I run through my entire day in my head. From the time I headed out the door to go to Jazz Band to the homework that I just got finished with (probably at a later time than is acceptable). After I run through my day, I ask myself a series of questions that inadvertently make my brain spring off into totally different directions.
The first question I ask is: Did I finish all of my homework? I run through my school day again and try to remember what we did in class and what I've done for homework. I like to consider myself an organized person. But I'm also quite paranoid and a chronic worrier. So even if I KNOW I've gotten all of my assignments done, I still worry that I missed something. One of my greatest fears is waking up one morning and realizing that I forgot to do an assignment. Pretty stressful. As I said earlier, these questions and doubts make my mind ask other questions: Do we have a test tomorrow? Oh no, we have a test, what if I'm not ready for it? When is the deadline for that project?
But after a while, it's not enough that I worry about school. I have to worry about everything else in my life. And by that I mean insignificant things that I could probably go for many years without worrying about.
My most recent string of worry stemmed from books. It went down kinda like this:
"I have to finish Lord of the Rings. Soon. I'm so close, just need to read a little more. When will I have time to finish it? Will I finish it? Oh no, I've started reading Sherlock Holmes too. I'm terrified of reading two books at once, what if I get things all jumbled up and suddenly Sherlock's taking a case from Frodo? I have too many freakin' books. Will I even be able to finish them before I graduate? I'm halfway done with the Language Wars, but after that I have to read that other book from Anderson, will I have time? Oh yay, my Bioterrorism book came in the mail today. Now I have ANOTHER book to read. ... Speaking of Sherlock, I wonder when the third season will come out? Oh, what if BBC decides to cut the show's funding?! No, that's ridiculous, it's a really popular show... But so was Firefly! GAH! IT COULD HAPPEN!"
From there I'm pretty sure it was an internal worry rant about how good shows are always cancelled early. But that's a subject for another day I suppose.
For usually about half an hour, I run through my entire day in my head. From the time I headed out the door to go to Jazz Band to the homework that I just got finished with (probably at a later time than is acceptable). After I run through my day, I ask myself a series of questions that inadvertently make my brain spring off into totally different directions.
The first question I ask is: Did I finish all of my homework? I run through my school day again and try to remember what we did in class and what I've done for homework. I like to consider myself an organized person. But I'm also quite paranoid and a chronic worrier. So even if I KNOW I've gotten all of my assignments done, I still worry that I missed something. One of my greatest fears is waking up one morning and realizing that I forgot to do an assignment. Pretty stressful. As I said earlier, these questions and doubts make my mind ask other questions: Do we have a test tomorrow? Oh no, we have a test, what if I'm not ready for it? When is the deadline for that project?
But after a while, it's not enough that I worry about school. I have to worry about everything else in my life. And by that I mean insignificant things that I could probably go for many years without worrying about.
My most recent string of worry stemmed from books. It went down kinda like this:
"I have to finish Lord of the Rings. Soon. I'm so close, just need to read a little more. When will I have time to finish it? Will I finish it? Oh no, I've started reading Sherlock Holmes too. I'm terrified of reading two books at once, what if I get things all jumbled up and suddenly Sherlock's taking a case from Frodo? I have too many freakin' books. Will I even be able to finish them before I graduate? I'm halfway done with the Language Wars, but after that I have to read that other book from Anderson, will I have time? Oh yay, my Bioterrorism book came in the mail today. Now I have ANOTHER book to read. ... Speaking of Sherlock, I wonder when the third season will come out? Oh, what if BBC decides to cut the show's funding?! No, that's ridiculous, it's a really popular show... But so was Firefly! GAH! IT COULD HAPPEN!"
From there I'm pretty sure it was an internal worry rant about how good shows are always cancelled early. But that's a subject for another day I suppose.
3/3/12
Reckless Hallway Drivers
I knew it was only a matter of time until I had to blog about this.
The hallways at school are kind of like a two-lane highway. Between classes are the "rush hours" where people are trying to get from place to place. Or at least SOME people. When I go into the hallway after class, I usually mean business. But there's always challenges that come with trying to navigate the hallway highway. Here are a few:
1. The Slow Driver
It always happens. And usually only when you REALLY want to get somewhere too. You get stuck behind someone who's going at the speed of a snail, and as luck would have it, there's usually too much of a crowd for you to move around them. It's very frustrating. But you know what else is frustrating?
2. The Couple
Ooh, I have a personal vendetta against this one. Mostly because my locker is a magnet for gross displays of hormones. ("God in Heaven, I just want to put my Calculus book away! STOP THAT! Don't you need to breathe?!") One of the worst things about couples is that they're famously slow drivers as well. So now you're stuck behind two people who don't give a crap that you have places to go. Hand-holding makes this even more difficult, as you can't just push through.
3. The Roadblock
If you've been to a high school, you know the one. Though it's more likely a group of people than just a single person. These road blockers will stand right in the middle of the freakin' hallway and thereby make it ten million times more difficult for responsible drivers to pass. A few times I've noticed my own friend group doing this, and I freak out every time. Shoving may ensue. "We're doing that thing that I hate! Get out of the way! Before we become one of THEM!"
4. The Motorcycle
This one may seem a little confusing if you don't share my biased view of motorcycles. I'm talking about the motorcycles that constantly weave in and out of traffic, cutting off whoever is in their way. Those ones. They definitely in high school. Almost the opposite of the slow driver, motorcycles will cut you off because, darn it, they have things to do that are obviously more important than manners. Changing lanes abruptly in a high school highway is dangerous and just frelling annoying. It needs to be stopped. I recommend something with piranhas.
I'm sure that at least one of you has had an encounter with one of these terrible drivers. (if you haven't, you obviously have never even been IN a high school) Which driver type mentioned here do you dislike the most? And do you have any solutions as to how to deal with the jerkfaces? Do tell. :)
The hallways at school are kind of like a two-lane highway. Between classes are the "rush hours" where people are trying to get from place to place. Or at least SOME people. When I go into the hallway after class, I usually mean business. But there's always challenges that come with trying to navigate the hallway highway. Here are a few:
1. The Slow Driver
It always happens. And usually only when you REALLY want to get somewhere too. You get stuck behind someone who's going at the speed of a snail, and as luck would have it, there's usually too much of a crowd for you to move around them. It's very frustrating. But you know what else is frustrating?
2. The Couple
Ooh, I have a personal vendetta against this one. Mostly because my locker is a magnet for gross displays of hormones. ("God in Heaven, I just want to put my Calculus book away! STOP THAT! Don't you need to breathe?!") One of the worst things about couples is that they're famously slow drivers as well. So now you're stuck behind two people who don't give a crap that you have places to go. Hand-holding makes this even more difficult, as you can't just push through.
3. The Roadblock
If you've been to a high school, you know the one. Though it's more likely a group of people than just a single person. These road blockers will stand right in the middle of the freakin' hallway and thereby make it ten million times more difficult for responsible drivers to pass. A few times I've noticed my own friend group doing this, and I freak out every time. Shoving may ensue. "We're doing that thing that I hate! Get out of the way! Before we become one of THEM!"
4. The Motorcycle
This one may seem a little confusing if you don't share my biased view of motorcycles. I'm talking about the motorcycles that constantly weave in and out of traffic, cutting off whoever is in their way. Those ones. They definitely in high school. Almost the opposite of the slow driver, motorcycles will cut you off because, darn it, they have things to do that are obviously more important than manners. Changing lanes abruptly in a high school highway is dangerous and just frelling annoying. It needs to be stopped. I recommend something with piranhas.
I'm sure that at least one of you has had an encounter with one of these terrible drivers. (if you haven't, you obviously have never even been IN a high school) Which driver type mentioned here do you dislike the most? And do you have any solutions as to how to deal with the jerkfaces? Do tell. :)
2/27/12
I'm Singin' My Blues~♪
Hope you enjoy it! Or maybe you'll end up not liking it. Either way, tell me your thoughts!
2/26/12
MYAH!
I've realized how truly terrible I am at comebacks. Or really just any kind of clever planned out line. If I happen to say something funny, 98.42% of the time it's unplanned. Completely spontaneous.
It's pretty pathetic. During those times where a clever comeback is absolutely necessary I usually resort to something like this: "Yeah, we'll you're, uh... Uh... MYAH!"
I know it makes no sense. I suppose that's the point. Then again, there really is no point. It's just my frenzied brain trying to think of something witty without totally herping. Which fails, of course. Miserably I might add.
Most often, after one of these meetings occur, and I am left outwitted, I simply can't leave things alone. I seem to not be able to accept that I was out-witted, and sometimes lie awake in my bed trying to think of some one-liner that could REALLY crush 'em. (I know. I'm a great person) Sometimes a clever line does in fact pop into my head at around midnight, but by the next time I see the person who out-witted me in the first place, it becomes quite the moot point. If I pursued the matter anymore, my herp factor would shoot up like eighty percent. Though the fact that I spend so much time thinking about these things is probably proof enough that I have quite enough herp for the average non-lizard.
It's pretty pathetic. During those times where a clever comeback is absolutely necessary I usually resort to something like this: "Yeah, we'll you're, uh... Uh... MYAH!"
I know it makes no sense. I suppose that's the point. Then again, there really is no point. It's just my frenzied brain trying to think of something witty without totally herping. Which fails, of course. Miserably I might add.
Most often, after one of these meetings occur, and I am left outwitted, I simply can't leave things alone. I seem to not be able to accept that I was out-witted, and sometimes lie awake in my bed trying to think of some one-liner that could REALLY crush 'em. (I know. I'm a great person) Sometimes a clever line does in fact pop into my head at around midnight, but by the next time I see the person who out-witted me in the first place, it becomes quite the moot point. If I pursued the matter anymore, my herp factor would shoot up like eighty percent. Though the fact that I spend so much time thinking about these things is probably proof enough that I have quite enough herp for the average non-lizard.
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