Change is a Comin'

Wahhhh.

I've had a horrible headache all day. I think it is because I am stressed.

I was going through my closet last night and Viva la Vida by Coldplay came on. I had tears in my eyes for a few moments. Once I leave for college, I can never experience home like I have known--I will be a stranger in my own house. I will never live there again (hopefully...I want a job after college), and I don't know if I will even live in the same state as my family.

So many changes, so many opportunities, so little time left in a familiar world.

It just hit me...

that I am not coming back home until mid-December.

Feeling Mediocre

As copied from my dailybooth picture:

heart slowing

shortness of breath

black on the edges

dead

I almost fainted today as I was sifting through my closet looking for Rush clothes. I don't know if I should attribute it to poor health, anemia, or a panic attack.

Today, I saw one of my good friends and we talked a lot about what girls normally talk about. No explanation necessary. I had a great day, yet I sit at home right now tired and in a lousy mood. The lousy mood is most likely induced from my laborious summer reading book. I feel guilty in saying that it is laborious (and thus implying I do not like it) because it concerns the Holocaust, but it is the style in which the book is written--it is exhausting! The narrator's many descriptions and small opinionated tirades make seamless reading difficult. I found myself reading 10 pages, stopping by Facebook, Youtube, Dailybooth, the like, and then continuing on my quest to reach page 75. The book has 234 pages, I think, so I have a long way to go...by next Sunday. I also have to read 30 pages for my Freshman seminar.

Tomorrow's agenda:

-Call my grandmother

-Read 75 more pages

-Run on the treadmill to test my new tennis shoes

-Plan sorority outfits

-Decide if I should add another class...which would put me at 18 hours for the semester.

buenas noches,

~meredith

I have a blog?

I forgot that I had a blog.

I went to Germany, and it was INCREDIBLE. I love it so much, and I met some amazing people. I was only there for a week, and it went too fast. The countryside was so gorgeous--rolling hills with vibrant green grass and stealthy trees. Also, everywhere you go in Germany, there is history--there is a purpose behind everything. Here, people arbitrarily build things for profit/business/personal gain/whatever...not much history. I want to go to either Munich or Berlin to study, and I will hopefully learn German. However, German is supposedly difficult for English-speaking people because it is not Latin-based. Oh well. Who knows.

Cheesy saying: Who knows what the future will hold.

~meredith

Alemania

En el verano que viene, visitaré a Alemania con un grupo de estudiantes. Seré el estudiante mayor del grupo, pero quiero aumentar nuevas relaciones! Vamos al castillo del Neuschwanstein. Soy tan emocionada! Nunca visito a Alemania. Adicionalmente, asistiré a una escuela por un día y puedo encontrar a los estudiantes! También, iremos al teatro y a panaderos fantásticos! Lo siento por mi gramática--No ha tenido español por un ano porque termine todos los clases de español en mi colegio. Voy a hablar mas sobre mis vacaciones en otras escrituras.

Chow,

Margarita

EL FIN.

Yesterday was my last day of high school. And it still hasn't hit me that I'm done.

It's so weird to think that I will be gone next year--gone, gone. Not "Oh, I can go home next week to grab that dress" gone. I will be 3,000 miles away, and I can't turn back.

My years at my high school were amazing--I've discovered who I am, learned A LOT of information, and made some awesome friends. But it hasn't been all rainbows and roses. I did experience some of the stereotypical high school drama, namely switching groups midway through sophomore year. My old group fell apart, and who I was "supposed" to be friends next were not the kind of people that I wanted to be around. However, after that hurdle, I am now friends with the most intelligent, conscientious, and driven people to ever grace my high school.

Making sorority packets. Practicing piano. Sending my AP scores. Doing orientation homework. Buying bedding (the kind that I ordered in my previous post, I returned). Cleaning out my room. Buying dorm supplies. I have a lot to do, and in the bustle, I don't really have time to think about what I will miss. I am not sentimental--I do not cry often, typically 2-4 times per year: once if I am hurt, twice if I am sad or angry at myself, once if I am happy. I haven't cried about leaving school yet, but I expect that to come either at the Awards Ceremony next Friday when I see my friends lined up for the top 10, Baccalaureate, or the Graduation Ceremony.

Regardless, this is the beginning of a new stage of my life.

I think I'm ready, but only time will tell.

byeWEB.

Ok.

I just published a blog, but realized that this needed to be said first:

I will not longer be blogging for by Web Design class because I DO WHAT I WANT. (said in obnoxious accent).

No. That's not the real reason. I'm finished with the class. I actually learned quite a bit about design--about HTML and CSS, specifically. I created my own website about Honor for my high school so that they can use it in years to come! I used CSS for that, which was very easy, although I sometimes mislabeled sections and had extra tabs because I was absent the 3 days they were taught!

Anyway, new, reflective blog due in 2 minutes.

Peace out, girl scout.

Roommate

This is slightly old news, but I FOUND ME ROOMMATE!

She is just like me--it's scary. We have the same answers for everything and seem to have the same temperament. We both are in the same major, same honors program, and want to have a high GPA while still going to parties and exploring the city. I ordered my bedding last Thursday!!! It is double sided, so if I get tired of one side I can just flip it!

Here it is! Obviously, my dorm will have a twin bed and be much smaller and not as pristine, but it will still be cool!

My Head is in Lala Land.

I think about college ALL of the time now. I think about it from the time I get up to the time I go to sleep. Homework and studying has been replaced with dorm shopping and Facebook chatting with people who I will be going to school with next year.

S

E

N

I

O

R

I

T

I

S

Another Web Lamentation

Someone noted that my posts have been dry and uninteresting! I am absolutely fine and am sorry about that. I've been blogging for my web design class--it is a requirement. Don't worry, it's only temporary!

With that said, here is some more web stuff:

1) The club I was supposed to create a web page for already has a web site, so no I am doing it for someone else.
2) I like CSS more than HTML, but it is very confusing. I missed 3 days of class when we learned how to do all of the tags and codes, so I am always frantically trying to keep up.

P.S.
I'm about to bomb an AP MacroEcon test and an AP Euro test.

Honors?

I got in to the Honors Science program at my already tough college--something that is slightly unexpected and not necessarily welcomed. Yes, I did apply, but I thought there was a chance that I did not get in! I am EXTREMELY scared of my major, Biology/Pre-med, and the idea of "honors" worries me. However, I will have a better support group of students who are motivated and smaller classes which will be more like my high school experience. I guess that I will only be able to tell if I can handle it when I get there in August! Oh the anticipation!

AWESOME ACADEMICS.
AWESOME PEOPLE.
AWESOME LOCATION.
AWESOME OPPORTUNITIES.

AWESOME SCHOOL.

I CAN'T WAIT FOR COLLEGE. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FREAKING AMAZING.

Web Page Ideas

I am not exactly sure what I should do for my web page. However, I do have a few ideas:

1) Admission's pages for the seniors or for the whole student body
2) A web page for the IS

I could make the Admission's page have information about sports, academics, courses, clubs, etc. It would be helpful for people to learn more about the student life at ESD.

A web page for the International Society could help them organize all of their different loaning arenas so that everyone in the club and the student body could keep track of the different opportunities.

Money Aside.

Money aside, which of these individuals would you prefer to work with or for? Why?

The movie Pirates of Silicon chronicles not only the development of the computer, specifically the Mac and the Windows programs, but also the relationship ship between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Both innovators are driven, brilliant, and changed the world. However, their individual personalities vary, Steve Jobs being tyrant-like and Bill Gates being nerdy and ever-so-slightly helpless. If I had a choice of who and for which company I wanted to work, I would work for Bill Gates.

Steve Jobs was portrayed, and in fact is, extremely motivated to the point of annoyance—he verbally abused his employees yet justifies it by saying that he is actually motivating his employees. But the degradation he bestows upon them for a seemingly worthless design cannot be conducive to a happy, low-stress work environment. Yes, he has built an empire and these tactics have made Apple popular—I am using a Mac computer—but how many enemies has he made in the process? How has he tainted his image? Steve Jobs’ pride probably does not allow him to think these things, and therefore as a boss, he would not be understanding or merciful if a program crashed or one had to take off for a funeral.

Bill Gates on the other hand is comically clueless and more child-like in that his personality is not as strong and in-your-face as that of Steve Jobs. He may have lifted some of his ideas from Apple, but Steven Jobs lifted some of his ideas from Xerox, so from that standpoint, both of their business are on similar playing fields. Bill Gates seems more personal, however. He is not a Steve-Jobs-machine that is looking for world domination, high status, and a company run like a military. Bill Gates is more diplomatic and his workplace would be more pleasant and have employees that experience lower stress while still trying to improve the world via windows innovation.

To further my point, I would like to discuss the iPad. This iPad is most likely going to cause an education and personal revolution—knowledge and communication will literally be at the fingertips of man at all times. But this system is not similar to the “anything-goes-and-everything-is-free World Wide Web (Newsweek April 5, 2010). He will have control of Apps, all apps, the internet, and all programs will be Apple-made—“the iPad won’t play videos that are created in Flash software, which is used for about 75% of all Web videos. Jobs has a “radical lockdown” (Newsweek April 5, 2010) on this system, and this exact strong diction used in the magazine describes Jobs. He is exclusive and does not work well with others, with other companies. The people must “sacrifice freedom for the sake of a lovely device” (Newsweek April 5, 2010). In other words, they are under the mercy of Steve Jobs. Perhaps, this reflects the corporate workplace of Steve Jobs’. It reflects a workplace that I would rather bypass for that of Bill Gates.

My Webpage Progress.

I need to work on my webpage more, but I can't because it is on a computer at school! HTML webpages really are not that difficult--you just have to combine everything you have learned. I just wish that we had more time to work on them!!!!!!!

What free time?

This weekend, I made $150 dollars!!!! I played piano for a church service, babysat, and worked my normal hours at a clothing store, and I'm not going to lie, I feel very accomplished. I like making money.

However, sometimes I feel that my grades are slightly lower than they could be because I do work for 4-5 hours every Sunday while most of my friends are either relaxing or doing homework. Consequently, I feel jealous of my friends free time. I am literally doing something 24/7. My Saturdays and Sundays are planned out by the hour. Fridays are really my only break from schoolwork, work, clubs, and organized activities.

Then I think about it. I have been living a chaotic life for 18 years now. Sometimes I talk to my friends and realize that my definition of busy is not their definition of busy. Definitely not. But I work the best under pressure--I have to have a ton of stuff to do to manage my time. But it is a double edged sword--I do not get very much sleep and am always worried. As I am participating in my various activities, I wish that I had free time.

I don't get it!!!! It is like my life is a big oxymoron!
Hopefully I will figure some stuff out in college.

Tables and My Webpage!

**TAKE MY POLL ON THE LEFT OF THE PAGE!**

I am actually making my own website...wahoo!
It is called "Fashion and Makeup." Very shallow, yes, but something that I enjoy =)

I believe in making yourself feel good and look good through hair, makeup, and clothing. HOWEVER, I do not believe in going overboard. For example, I don't think people should get their make-up done and nails all of the time or buy $400-500 dollar dresses and clothes. It is something YOU should know how to do and not spend a ton of money. Therefore, a how-to/discussion website of my philosophies is definitely something I am passionate about! With that said, I am talking about myself on my web page and things I do, so of course I like it. People like to talk about themselves...and I am a person, hahaha.

Back to tables, I think it is so awesome that you can turn a simple table into a website. I had no idea that HTML websites were tables before this! I hope mine turns out well!

SENIORITIS.

OMG IT IS SO BAD RIGHT NOW. I HAVEN'T STARTED MY HOMEWORK. I HAVE AN AP ECON QUIZ TOMORROW AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND ECON!

In other news, this weekend is going to be super busy...

Saturday:

10:00am-11:00 - Playing piano for the alumni chapel

11:00am-1:00 - Itinerary

2:00pm-4:00 - Sorority meeting

5:30pm-10:30 - babysitting

Sunday:

8:20am-9:15 - Choir practice

2:00pm-7:00 - Work

HELP MEH!

Nice Things

So, I (rather my parents) bought me some sunglasses. They are very cute...and very expensive. In my defense, they were my only birthday present from my parents. The sunglasses are really cool, but the price scares me.

Money. money. money.

I take very good care of all of my nice things, but I am worried that I will break/scratch/bend these sunglasses. Sunglasses are not known to be durable. I also do not want someone else to break them. The only expensive thing that has ever been broken under my care was my first digital camera that I had for three years, and I didn't even break it. Someone was looking at pictures and dropped it on the ground.

*knocks on wood of desk*

In other words, any time I buy something nice, I become very OCD about protecting it (ex. I double-bag my laptop, examine shirts/pants after I eat, constantly check my phone to make sure the screen is ok, keep a tight camera case on my camera etc.). On a positive note, I am super excited to wear them, especially on vacation!

Aggravation

I am angry. Very angry.

Today, we had a test in Physics, and all of the students were supposed to bring formula sheets. I was the only one who actually reviewed the material and brought a formula sheet. One of eight people. Wow. I first need to say that my class is composed of slackers and procrastinators and I am definitely the odd man out.

Anyways, I left the room to go to the bathroom, and I come back to see someone sifting through my spiral, through my notes, to find my formula. Sheet.

"Can I borrow your formula sheet."

Ummm, excuse me? Why should I lend my work, something that took me time and effort, to you who never does your work? I did to be nice. Pretty soon though, the rest of the class comes in and starts copying it, with the teacher right there! What could I say? I could've stopped it right there, but what stopped me is the fact that they had no idea what they were writing, while I had looked at the material and knew what all of the symbols stood for. Then I told them how appalled I was that they were doing this--TO THEIR FACE--and one said, "Meredith, you are cutthroat." Yes, yes I am, if cutthroat means safeguarding my work and being rewarded for the effort that I put into school.

After a few minutes, I asked the teacher to begin the test (people had not finished copying) and they cleared out of my space. I SERIOUSLY CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED! I was just so speechless that people could show up that unprepared.

I am pretty sure that I did well on the test. To my satisfaction, one of the problems consisted of a formula that was on the back of my formula sheet--a formula that no one saw ;)

-the cutthroat senior

Pre-Spring Break Drama

So, it's senior year. Many of the seniors are going to Mexico. A few of the seniors planned their own trips. Regardless, spring break anticipation has started to bounce around the hallways and infiltrate the minds of the otherwise studious students. Yes, even me.

Obviously, as a female, I find gossip highly entertaining. Therefore, discussions of how so-and-so is going to be drunk or so-and-so is going to hook up with you-know who are highly entertaining. But what I find most fascinating is the reasoning behind these rendezvous.

Why would I want to be so drunk that I don't remember anything? Why would I want to randomly hook up with some guy and not even like him? Why would I want to party so hard that I am living on the cusp of alcohol poisoning all of the time? The answer is that I have no reason to. I love my life, my friends, my family, my school, and my potential. I don't want to forget anything or regret anything. Ok, one drink is fine, but when one turns to four or five consecutively in a short amount of time, there is a problem. A problem that consists of an unhappy life and low self-esteem that needs bolstering by outside influences and peer pressure.

I am very thankful for every aspect of my life, especially my friends. They are supportive and generally believe in themselves and their abilities. They do not plan on getting "completely wasted" and parading around like the rowdy teenagers seen in movies. We carry on intelligent, or gossipy, or heart-to-heart conversations, we plan to go on physically demanding excursions, and we plan to just hang out and relax. relax. relax.

HTML, again.

What do I find most difficult about HTML code?

I have trouble remembering everything, especially certain little tags that will change the color or the text type. The class is very cumulative because we keep building on our knowledge to learn about different parts of a website, so it is easy to forget specific information. Luckily, we can look at our old codes to remember how to align text or turn a picture in to a link. If I had to choose one topic that was difficult, I would say ima

ges as links because you have to remember where you saved them, what you titled them, and whether or not to label it proj1 or something e

lse depending on where the folder is located.

Chow!

This is not an optical illusion. This is reality.

Optical Illusions!

I basically posted everything that I new about color in my last post, sooooooo....I get to talk about OPTICAL ILLUSIONS! Illusions, not Allusions. It bothers me when people mess up that word.

Link: http://www.geckoandfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/dot-illusion.gif

Link: http://unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/optical_illusions_2.png

I find this INCREDIBLE! I cannot believe that art can actually fool the human eye. In the first picture, I definitely think that the lines look slanted, but I know that they are straight. In the 2nd image, I am not sure what is going on--I cannot tell if animation is what makes the pink dot disappear. What I do know is that there are no green dots (follow the disappearing dot with your eye, and you won't see green!)

COLOURS! With an ou because I am British.

pink

red

orange

yellow

green

blue

purple

brown

black

This last week we learned about colours, which, I actually now find fascinating. Who knew that there were additive and subractive colours?

Subractive = the colours we normally see. For example, an apple appears red because the only colour it reflects is red.

Additive = Colours that are literally projected from a computer screen. The colour projected from a program is the colour that we see.

Also in that realm, the RBG colour model is used for computers/technology, and the RYB colour model is what is used for artists and normal people. In other words, the RYB is what we have been learning since pre-school, when in actuality, there exists more than one correct colour model...AND SANTA ISN'T REAL!

Hungarian!

Hopefully I will have these piece ready by March 12th when I have to play it Chapel.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZhssiqzkmI

I really do want to play this, but I am not sure if I will be ready! If not, I am going to play the piece that I wrote. I just do not want to be too nervous to play the Hungarian because it is really difficult and my fingers can easily get tangled!

Busy, busy, busy.

This weekend is going to be CRAZY! I don't know when I am going to do something called HOMEWORK!

Friday:
-10:30+I am leaving school early to go to a different city today for a luncheon.
-4:30-6:30I am coming back and then going to the senior Art Show.

Saturday:
-10-1 I am working on the my school's literary magazine.
- 1-2:30 - Working out
- 2:30-4:30 Homework
- 5:45pm-1:00am - Sadies Dance

Sunday:
- 8:20-12:30 - Church
- 2:00-7:00 - Hollister

Links?

Today was a difficult day in web design--people were having trouble creating links. To be honest, I think I understand it *crosses fingers* for the most part. I am still a little shaky on how to add colours, though. I actually found the section on images more difficult (which I still don't fully understand) and how to upload jpegs/pngs and what I should/should not upload. I will be missing Thursday's class, so I am sure that I will definitely be confused on Friday.

On another note, my senioritis is bad....very bad. I want so much to do well, yet I struggle to focus on doing my homework. It is much easier for me to complete work at school than at home because I have less distractions!

hasta.

OlympiX

GO TEAM U.S.A!!!!

Total Medals:

-U.S.A. = 24

- Germany = 18

- Norway = 12

Germany is a little too close for comfort, in my opinion.

Anyways, Team USA is doing amazing! Bode Miller, Lindsay Vonn, Shaun White, Shani Davis, and Evan Lysacek are just a few that stand out in my mind! We just beat Canada in hockey, so we will be playing for the Gold! While this is awesome news for the U.S., I can't but feel bad for the Canadians--This is their sport and their home winter games. However, I believe in the phrase "may the best team win." The US has the better team, so they deserve the win.

Imagezzz!

We have been learning about the different types of images in my website design class. I honestly had never thought about the different types of images--the extent of my knowledge was "this is a good picture and has a high resolution and a lot of pixels" and "this is a bad picture and has a low resolution and a low number of pixels."

PNG = Portable Network Graphics

GIF = Graphics Interchange Format

JPEG= Joint Photographic Experts Group

PSD = Photoshop document

We have learned about PNG, GIF, JPG, and PSD. PNG is the best for any type of logo and for transparency. GIF is used for smaller files because they have a reduced color set. JPG is good for photographs. PSD images do not even show up on websites because that file is specifically for Photoshop.

I find the information difficult to understand and wish that I could find a good website that fully explained everything! Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to research some more!

Technology and School.

Technology = convenience.

Therefore, technology such as my computer, makes schoolwork easier. Much easier. I can check my assignments online. I can email my teachers via our school email addresses. I can use the research databases to write a paper. I can use noodletools.com to create an extremely exact bibliography. In other words, I am "dependent" on technology--I need it to be successful. Yes, I could go without it, but typing papers and checking updates for senior activities and other memos would be more difficult and laborious.

Likewise, my phone enables me to contact my friends and parents 24/7. I can call or text the about homework assignments (and they can proceed to send me notes through email!) I would say that I use my phone in this fashion: 2/3 school, 1/3 social. The computer is about 1/2 school, 1/2 social.

While both aide my school endeavors, they also provide distractions. Facebook and youtube frequently call my attention away from homework and studying. Similarly, sometimes texting disrupts me when I am reading an assignment.

Technology is "una arma de doble filo" as we use to say in AP Spanish. It is both good and bad. However, its positive effects outweigh its negative effects.

SNOW!?!

Today, when I got out of the car, I was pegged in the back of the head with a snowball. It is snowing, the roads are icy, and kids are creating chaos across the school campus. It does not snow very often where I live, so when it does snow, students go CrAzY.

Mainly, this craziness consists of student complaints that the administration didn't let us out for a snow day. I agree. School has been cancelled for much less than what is happening at the moment.

However, the excitement is irresistible. Snowball fights, slippery hallways, and snowmen don the school. A few of my friends built a giant snowman (taller than me). Of course, I was inside reviewing AP Macroeconomics, but I did go out for a FeW pIx. We did just receive an announcement that we will be dismissed at 1:30, although the roads will already be shiny with treacherous ice.

Typically, I do not like snow. *GASP* But today, I found myself enjoying it. The cold is not completely unbearable, and the snow is perfect for snowballs. I am supposed to fly to Virginia tomorrow, but I am not sure that I will be able to....

What makes a good LOGO?

According to Lee Newham:
It’s describable
It’s memorable
It’s effective without colour
It’s scalablee i.e. works when just an inch in size
It’s relevant to the industry in question

Memorable. A logo must be memorable. Nike, AT&T, HP, Microsoft, etc., all have memorable logos. In fact, a logo defines a product--people associate positive or negative attributes to a company when they see a logo. Therefore, any enterprise must have a catchy, unique logo that demands attention and is easily remembered so that a person may associate his or her product with that logo. In my opinion, the "memorable" factor is the most important when selecting a logo. Color or no color, I want to see a logo that is simple yet creative, easy to read, and eye-catching.

Timeless. A logo must be timeless. It cannot be so specific that it would not adequately represent a new, innovative product. That logo should be a "blanket" for everything that comes underneath it, whether that be pages of information or listings of commodities. I would be confused if a company continually switched logos. Like the idea of people wanting prices to stay the same in a market economy, people want logos to stay the same--familiarity.

Relevant. A logo must be relevant. For example, a pet store that only sells dogs should not have a cat as a logo because it misrepresents its products and mission. I do not want to see an image and wonder why it is associated with a specific company.

GOOD LOGOS!

MSN- The MSN design has the company name in big, bold letters catching the viewers attention. Similarly, the butterfly complements the letters and is multi-colored. I like how the butterfly suggests movement, and thus innovation.

World Wildlife Fund - This is an example of an effective black and white logo. It is easily recognizable, and it's lack of solid "lines" allow it to be a flexible logo.

Univision - This logo takes a seemingly normal flag and makes it more interesting by curving the top left corner. The colors also attract the viewer's attention.

Apple - The rainbow colored apple is unique and stands out among the other logos. The apple logo is probably one of the most recognizable in the world. Apples are associated with knowledge, so this was a perfect choice for a successful, innovative computer company.

ABBA - Their logo is very simple yet demands attention. It adequately represents the band (the first names of the band members) and can easily be written on album covers and t-shirts. The backwards B creates a point of interest for the eye, catching the viewer's attention.

To Drop or Not to Drop...

I do not know why I thought it would be a good idea to take AP Macroeconomics.

Actually, I knew that it wasn't a good idea, but I was too stubborn to not take it. I have this idea that I need to take at least three honors/APs per year or else I won't get into college. Sounds stupid, right? It is (I'm already into 2...), but that is my reasoning. I would be much happier in regular and would make a better grade My schedule would hardly change at all is well!!!!.\ I am going to study a lot for my test tomorrow and will judge if I should drop based on the grade I receive. The down side to the regular class is that we have to play this stock market game for a grade AND do a business proposal project. The stock game sounds terrifying--even though it is fake money, I wouldn't want to lose any!!!!lol. The business project sounds cool, but it will take a lot of work.

What an interesting blog! I am such an interesting person!

HTML and all.

What do I really think of HTML?
HTML = Hyper Text Mark-up Language
At first, I was not enthusiastic because it looked really complicated. However, after working on my own website and coding it, I think it is pretty cool! Basically, anything that you want to code, you put in brackets like these: <>.

Brackets with random letters and symbols start to look pretty crazy when you have a whole page of them. Unfortunately, my coding is not very neat--it is jammed together. I can read it, but I look over at my friends' pages and it looks a lot better. I guess it just depends on how your brain works. Overall, I am excited that I now understand the code--I can even edit my blogs because Blogspot uses HTML coding!!!!

*hahaha. When I tried to post this, there was error because some of the stuff I had written in the body was interfering with the websites own code!

My Values.

What are your values? Circle five.

That was the question posed to us today in a "Money Matters" presentation. The woman directing the program called on different students to give their answers:

romance

fun

adventure

exploration

family

beauty

status

balance

I find it interesting that none of my top choices were on the list. My top five were:

health

happiness

relationships

education

integrity

I obviously like my list better, and here is why:

Romance- As of now, I am batting zero...*makes sad face*...but I've made it through life this far without it...but some would be nice....

Fun - if you are happy, won't you be having fun?

Adventure/exploration - I put these two words in the same category. While I tend to agree

with these words more than the previous (and if I could've added a 6th word, I probably would've added exploration) my other five values outweigh this.

Family - I absolutely love my family. They are supportive yet are distant...if that makes sense. They are not "hover parents." The reason I didn't list family is because 'relationships' encompass familial and friendly relationships.

beauty - Yes, I like to look nice and think that I am an average-looking person in the population, but what is beauty if you are not happy? What is beauty if you are not healthy?

Status - Again, what is status if you aren't happy with yourself and your life?

Balance - This is one that I also might have listed if I wouldn't have filled my quota. Sometimes though, I feel that people need to tilt the balance--If exams are coming up, ditch the social life to study. If a piano competition is approaching, practice the piano instead of wasting time on facebook.

...

Getting off the soapbox now.

Physics...

I told my teacher that I would turn in my Physics lab tonight between 6:00 and 6:30. It is 6:15 and I have not started it....That would be a problem. To be fair, it is actually due tomorrow 5th period, but I set a deadline for myself so that he could check it.

Dear Meredith,

GET SOME MOTIVATION YOU MORON!

This weekend is going to be busy. I can:

A) Be a hermit (get all of my homework and studying finished)

B) Party it up on Friday night and Saturday night (save it all for Sunday)

C) Try to find a balance.

I am going to go with C, but it is going to be hard...2nd semester seniors tend to want to bypass schoolwork.

Dog Story.

Today I stepped in dog poop in my yard. I don't have a dog. MLIA.

Ok, ok. So I do have a dog, I just didn't step in his poop. (I think it is pretty funny and should be submitted to MLIA...MLIA) Last week, I was walking from my car to the house (I have to park on the street) when I smelt something horrible. I looked at the bottom of my beautiful, plush, pink Uggs and saw a plastered mound of yellow-green. DISGUSTING. Naturally, Mom would not clean them for me, nor could I solicit my younger brother.

Short story shorter, I cleaned them all the while holding them five feet away from my body (my arms are indeed five feet...). But I was angry. My dog does not poop in our front yard, especially not in other peoples' front yards. I think it was our neighbors dogs...I don't know. Whatever left that needs to watch its back.

Apples and Oranges

I am very disappointed that we do not have any apples in the house. What is this madness? I always have an ap ple after school. Now, I have to settle for two clementines.

Other Blog.

http://www.operationsoforder.weebly.com

The ^above^ link is my new blog. However, I do not like it very much. In my opinion, blogspot is definitely a better, free blogsite. On Weebly, I cannot change the background color of the layout, which is highly annoying. I could go into the HTML code and change it (which is probably what I will do). If you go to that link, I give a mini-review of it via the questions my teacher asked the class.

Now, for today. It is going to be busy. I have to go to choir, do some homework, work for 5 hours, and then do some more homework. Of course, I procrastinated and now have to do it all today, but what gives? I think most people do all of the homework on Sundays, the only difference is that I work and they don't!

I might double blog today--I have some ideas? I always think that I have good ideas until I actually try to carry them through!

g2g.

2nd Semester Schedule....uh-oh.

AP English

AP European History

AP Macroeconomics

Calculus

Physics

Website Design

HELLO NOT EASY 2nd SEMESTER!

Lo Siento!

Dear Blogspot,

Tomorrow I am going to create a new blog. I have to--it is for my website design class, and I am supposed to compare between blogs to see which one has the best formatting, color schemes, flexibility, etc. If the new website is better, I'm might have to let you go, ya know? I don't mean to be rude, but I always take the next best thing that comes along.....

Sarcasm aside, I can pretty much promise you that I won't leave you, no matter what, through thick and thin and love and hate. We will be together, forever. So don't worry. *dananana* be happee!

Oh...wait.

I just started to write about high school relationships and the different types of people found in a typical high school setting, but then I realized that if people from my school were to read this, it would be really awkward. AWKWARD.

So, no.

An online blog can never be the same as a personal diary because you always run the risk of someone reading it. And putting your feelings on the line, my friend, is scary.

I've procrastinated long enough.

peace.

*list subject to change

My favourite cities that I have been to thus far (and I haven't been many places!)

1. Granada, Spain

2. Washington D.C.

3. Taos, New Mexico

4. Los Angeles, California

5. Barcelona, Spain

6. NYC, New York

7. Albuquerque, New Mexico

8. Atlanta, Georgia

9. Santa Fe, New Mexico

10. Vail, Colorado

Second Semester Senior

A for alliteration?

Tomorrow I begin my final semester of my senior year, my final semester of high school. I am excited that a new chapter of my life will begin in 5 months, but I know that I am going to miss the close-knit community--my high school is my second home.

I've been faced with a lot of things to think about, things that will impact the rest of my life. Choosing a college, for instance, is a very scary decision. I know that wherever I go, I will be fine, but I want to make the RIGHT decision, whatever that is.

This semester I will constantly battle senioritis. I will want to party and hang out with my friends rather than study and practice piano. But I have to find a balance between both. Balance, balance, balance, I hear it all of the time. Now more than ever, it is essential to wrap up my senior year with positivity and success. I cannot let myself down after I have been working years to reach my goals.

Speaking of senioritis, I have a big AP Macroeconomics assignment tomorrow. I should probably do that, right? Maybe I will go shopping instead? Oh wait, I already did that...

Ready.

Set.

Go.