Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Seven Day Luck Spell

This is a spell to help break through obstacles and bring you luck in your endeavors. It's relatively easy, as yet untested by yours truly, but I'll let you know if it works out.

Items you'll need:
~ A black seven-day candle
~ Water
~ A saucer
~ Paper

(note: modifications can be made, ex: color of candle depending on what you want, quality of paper, color of ink used to write on paper, etc.)

Directions:
1. Put some water in your saucer (not overflowing, but enough to drown a piece of paper)
2. On a piece of paper, write what you desire (ex: money, love, etc.)
3. Fold up your paper and place it in the water
4. Put your seven-day candle on top of the paper and light it
5. Each night before you go to sleep visualize your desire being obtained while lighting the candle. Let it burn for a while, meditating on your desire. Try visualizing ways to make it come true, or let your mind wander (thus letting the energies of the world guide your mind)
6. On the seventh day, dispose of the candle by getting it away from your property
7. This spell can be modified (as stated earlier). A black candle is used for breaking through obstacles preventing you from your desire.

Friday, August 28, 2009

aaaaah

I'm at this retreat center in Sonoma right now and I'm supposed to be working on my college essay, but I don't really feel like it. So instead, I will find something random and glorious and post it here.

Well, this video is a parody of Twilight, but I can't embed it, so if you want to watch it click this link right here and press play.

It's amazing.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

3 Awsome Things (July)

The Impossible Quiz: (n) A series of questions and obstacles that are completely random and often very difficult to answer. The series of questions is so long and difficult that it has been dubbed impossible to complete. I myself have only gotten to Question 72 thus far. Try it, become addicted, and then become my minion so that I may laugh at you.

MUAHAHAHA



It Had to Be You: (n) A song by the band Motion City Soundtrack that I absolutely LOVE. My favorite line is "Let's fight crime with mangoes and limes and join the PGA." You don't need to love the song as much as I do. I'm totally cool with that.



Hair Dye:
(n) A special sort of substance that changes the color of one's hair. For the best results, I suggest that one bleaches one's hair first, unless one is blond, in which case one's hair is already light enough for the dye to have an effect.

Yeah, my hair has purple streaks now. This actually happened a couple weeks ago thanks to a certain Kenneth Lee. I'll have to find a picture that captures the amazingness of my hair...

(this is totally what I look like now. except not.)

Videos from: YouTube.com
Picture from: this place

Hmmm...

I am in Iowa at the moment, taking a class on blogging... I find this is deeply satisfying. See, I'm here at an intense writing camp for teenagers (bragging point: over 400 people applied, only 120 were accepted to 2 summer sessions. fuck yes I'm special!). It's called the University of Iowa Young Writer's Studio. If writing dost interest thou, thy humble messenger urges thee to apply for next summer. It's great because there are people from all over the US who have the same interests. Seriously, I sit in the halls/lounge-place-thing and everyone's talking about all these highly intellectual authors and I'm sitting there, thinking, 'Gawd dayum, I need to catch up on my intelligent reading!' But it's great. Check it out, see if you want to come to Iowa City for some creative glory. If you join our little cult, you won't regret it. We won't let you :)


(yes, that is me with the square head. I shant explain...)

Thursday, June 25, 2009

RAWR

Some Advice...

Here's a tip for all juniors who are becoming seniors: START YOUR COLLEGE ESSAYS EARLY!!  I'm doing it and so should you.  Imagine, if you start NOW while you have long days of doing NOTHING then you can be done with the most stressful part of college apps.  I remember last year's senior class Freaking Out with capital FO because they started they're essays late.  The other college application stuff is just tedious paperwork, but the essay is UBER difficult because you're supposed to write an essay about YOU.  So, this summer while you have nothing better to do, write an essay about yourself and have people help you out while you're at it.  Come November, you'll breathe just a little easier knowing you've already done the hard stuff.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

3 Awesome Things (June)

Summer: (n) 1. The warmest season of the year, falling between spring and autumn. It runs from June to August in the northern hemisphere and from December to February in the southern hemisphere 2. A period of greatest happiness, success, or fulfillment in the life of somebody or something (1)

Summer is technically here now, but alas, Marin weather hath been a tad moody this past season. Only this morning 'twas foggy and cold in Mill Valley and San Anselmo, however the day cleared up and the sun broke through the clouds for the afternoon. 'Twas lovely indeed.

(2)

Penguin: (n) An upright web-footed seabird with contrasting black and white feathers that cannot fly but uses its flipper-shaped wings for swimming. Native to: cold regions of the southern hemisphere (1)

Penguins are just cute and cuddly and they can't fly but they do their flying in the water man. Have you ever seen a penguin swim? Neither have I, but I've seen videos and it's awesome!! I know penguins don't really go with summer, but that's okay. They still rock some socks.

(3)

Balloon: (n) 1. A small colored bag made of thin rubber or plastic that is inflated with air or helium and used as a toy or decoration 2. An extremely large bag filled with a lighter-than-air gas and used as a form of air transport, carrying passengers or equipment in a suspended basket or gondola 3. A glass with a large rounded bowl, used for drinking brandy (1)

Balloons are colorful and if you inhale the helium your voice goes all high and you sound like a chipmunk would sound if chipmunks could talk... And then there are those clowns that can take a balloon and turn it into a dog. That's perty nifty if you ask me. Though clowns are kinda scary... (o.0)


How to Make Monkey Balloon Animals -- powered by eHow.com

So this woman doesn't look like a clown but she's still freaky, so sorry about that... and the annoying add... just mute your computer or something. Look, now you can make monkeys out of balloons!! YAAY!!!

Sources:
(1) MSN Dictionary
(2) Summer Picture
(3) Penguin Photo

Monday, May 25, 2009

Prom o(^o^)o

Mkay, so last night was the San Domenico prom.  I started out my Sunday by waking up and downloading some new songs.  I got a song called "Dinosaurs go Rawr" by Amy Can Flyy.... It made me really happy.

Between 3:30 and 4:30 people began arriving at my house.  Ariel, Jordan (a girl, btw) and Maria came over for snacks and getting ready before prom.  We played Curses, this UBER fun game that everyone should play at least once in their life.  So for the game, you basically go around giving people "Curse Cards" which are cards that have ridiculous stuff written on them that the one who is given the said card has to do throughout the game.  Some examples: "Every time you hear an animal noise, say the name of a lunch meat" or "You are a gorilla.  Every time you speak scratch your underarms."  After a while everyone accumulates like 5 of these cards so everyone ends up looking quite silly.  It's VERY fun, trust me (^o^)v

So then we got ready.  We all got dolled up in our pretty makeup (or rather, Maria's pretty makeup... everyone else forgot theirs and I think mine is hiding in the back of my friend Callie's car...) and then we put on makeup and jewelry and we managed to get ready in an hour, which is pretty good considering it was prom.  My grandma came over and did my hair (^^)  She teased my short curly hair a bit to make it wild and exotic (sort of) but then I had to tame it because I had this HUGE poofy thing at the top of my head and it was odd...  So yeah.

Then Jonathan, my prom date and the brother of the aforementioned friend named Callie, came over for pictures and we all hammed it up for my stepmom Lori's fancy new digital camera.  A few pictures will be posted below.  EVERYONE LOOKED AMAZING, EVEN CALLIE WHO WASN'T EVEN GOING TO PROM!!  (she's a freshman in college but she's out for summer and came to drop Jonathan off with his mom)

So we got to prom about half an hour early since Maria and Jordan thought they had to set up the decorations, but everything was alreayd set up when we got there so we all kinda sat around chit-chatting for a while...  It was kinda funny :P  Then people came and we spent a ridiculously long time eating dinner, but we had fun messing with Maria and Jordan by hiding their chairs under the table... I know, we have such good manners.  OH, btw prom was at the Casa Madrona Hotel in Sausolito.  So then later we trekked to the room where the dance was going to be, and trust me it was a minor hike.  We got lost on the way trying to find the frickin room where the dinner was, but the hotel is pretty so it's all okay.  So yeah, the dance.  That was fun (^^) Only thing that made me sad was that I asked le DJ person to play "Hips Don't Lie" so I could show off a bit (TEEHEE!) but she played it at the end.  When we were supposed to leave.  And all the lights were on.  And the last song she played in the darkness was that annoying Prince/Princess/Love story song by Taylor Swift.  FML.

But yeah, it was fun (=^.^=)v

(the corsage Jonathan gave me <3 )

(me, Jordan, Ariel, and Maria)

(model pose!)

(isn't Maria gorgeous?)

(my friend Callie, isn't she perty?)

(me and Jonathan)


o(^o^)o

(YAY)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

YAY ASHLAND!!

So I went to Ashland, Oregon about two months ago (sometime in March) for the Shakespeare festival because my school is amazing. See, every year there's this week called Spring Discovery. Everyone is supposed to go off and discover something. The freshies stay in Marin and do stuff like go to farms and play with dirt and learn how to defend themselves. It's actually really fun! Sophomores go to Catalina Island nearish to LA . Juniors and Seniors get to choose what they do, and I chose to go to Ashland. Some people went to the border of Mexico to do service learning down there, but I chose the fun/carefree option.

It's a 7 hour car ride to get there. Yay. On the way down I watched Benny and Joon, an absolutely brilliant movie that you should see, and not just because Johnny Depp (sp?) is amazing hot, but because he's an amazing actor too.

We drove in on Monday, had dinner, and talked ourselves silly in our hotel rooms. Tuesday we saw The Music Man, a fun play that opens with a fast-paced talked-out song that just makes you bounce in your seat with joy. Wednesday we saw Death and the King's Horseman, an intense play about the Yoruban king's horseman who doesn't fulfill his duty and suffers immense shame in the face of his people. Thursday we saw Macbeth, which was EPIC AND BAD-A**. And yes, Macbeth was the only Shakespeare play that we saw during the Shakespear festival. I'm not sure what the thinking was behind that...

Well, if you ever get the chance, go to Ashland. It has good restaurants and funky little shops, and if you look in the right places you can find good deals in the consignment stores. Don't be afraid of used clothing, they have character that can be erased with a good wash. Do be sure to go with friends, so you have someone to share chocolate with, since there's this chocolate store that's AMAZING, and I think there's an actual chocolate factory that you can tour. My friends went and the factory people gave them free chocolate and lavender flavored chapstick.

So yes, go to Ashland and revel in their Shakespeare-rich culture and the amazing food. Go off and be merry!!

PS: Some pictures below...
(Yes, that is the airport in the town of Weed)
(some flags in Ashland)
(My friends Emily, Maria and Ariel in the hotel)
(LOL)

(LOL)

Nepal

Mkay, so about 3 weeks ago I got back from Nepal I have some stories and some pictures to share.  MUAHAHA!!!

So it took 2 days to get to Nepal from SF  airport.  One 12 hour flight to Japan, 4 hour layover where we took showers (because the Narita Airtport is AWESOME), 6 hour flight to Bangkok, stayed the night in Bangkok, 2-3 hour flight to Kathmandu, Nepal.  ALL RIGHT.  Once we got to Kathmandu, we went to the house of Olga Murray the woman who created the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF) that helps kids in Nepal.  We stayed with her and she showed us the NYOF orphanage and nutritional rehab center for malnourished kids.  Here are some pictures!
(eating Japanese food in Japan, LOL)

We went with Elizabeth, a friend of Lori's and the woman who introduced us to NYOF.  She brought her son Sam along as well.

(oh, those silly Japanese kids...)
(Nicole, Sam, and me with some of the orphans)
(Olga Murray and the kids in the nutritional rehab center)

So before leaving for Nepal, Nicole and I collected a whole bunch of kid's clothing and toys to bring to Olga.  My school donated a TON of beanie babies and I got to give them to the kids at the nutritional home.  They had never had any toys before so they were scared of them!  It was so cute!!  In the rehab center, they bring malnourished kids in with their mothers so they can teach the mothers how to feed their kids healthy meals with what they have, and then those women go back to their villages and teach the other women there.  Cool, huh?

(a store in Kathmandu, ENGRISH)

(some cows in Pokhara)

After 2 days in Kathmandu, we all went to the mountains for a four day trek.  Oh yeah.  Hot sun, high altitude, steep pathways, it was INTENSE.  There was one day when we hiked uphill in the blazing sun for 5 hours.  Straight.  Hell yeah.

(some women hiking in flip-flops, the porters carrying our bags, and a donkey)
(innit pretty?)

And that's the story of my trip to Nepal.  YAY!! (=^.^=)v

Friday, May 1, 2009

3 Awesome Things (May)

Birthday: (n) 1. The day on which somebody is born 2. The day in each year that is the anniversary of the day somebody was born (1)

My birthday was last Saturday, May 2nd. Isn't that exciting? I'm finally 17!  No driver's licence though... You wanna know what isn't so awesome? SATs. On your birthday. Yeah, I took those scary subject tests on my birthday. I did my best, though.  That night I did go to Strobe VI, which was UBER fun, but I need to make a separate post for that. 

Anyhoo, below are some pictures of my joint birthday with my best friend Maria last year, when we both turned 16.

(From left to right: My brother Alejandro, Maria, me)

(the tall one behind me is my sister Nicole)

(me and my dog Poncho after a night of partying)


Star: (n) 1. A gaseous mass in space that generates energy by thermonuclear reactions, e.g. the Sun. Stars range in size from that of a planet to one larger than the Earth's orbit 2. A shape representing or based on that of a star as seen in the night sky, usually having five or more triangular points radiating from a center (1)

Have you ever looked up at the stars and wondered why they looked so darn small?  And then when you learn about light travel and all, don't you ever think it's weird that when we look at the sun we're looking at what the sun looked like 8 minutes ago?  Now picture this, you're looking at a start that's 800, 000 light years away.  That means you're looking at what it looked like 800, 000 years ago and it'll take 800, 000 years for humans to figure out if it died or not.  Crazy, huh?  But stars are pretty, so that's why they're awesome.  YUSH!

(2)

Joy: (n) 1. Feelings of great happiness or pleasure, especially of an elevated or spiritual kind 2. A pleasurable aspect of something or source of happiness (1)

Joy is a lovely thing for obvious reasons.  No explanation necessary.  This video brought me joy..

(3)

(3) found on Youtube.com

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Those Crazy Chinese People...

So yesterday I came back from Nepal (I left Tuesday morning from Bangkok and then arrived at SF airport Tuesday morning... Time on this planet confuses me) and mother-dearest took me and my sister out for lunch. We went to Chrysanthemum in San Anselmo (don't know where it is exactly, but methinks it's on Sir Francis Drake Blvd), my favorite Chinese restaurant. I go so often with my dad that the family that owns the place kinda knows us pretty personally...

ANYHOO, as most Chinese restaurants do, they gave us fortune cookies after our meal. Mine was something like "Big changes await you," but my sister's cookie was empty. EMPTY. I always thought it was supposed to be a bad omen or something, like "YOU DID NOT GET FORTUNE THEREFORE YOU WILL DIE IN SEVEN DAYS" type thing.

So I asked the waitress, "What does it mean when your cookie is empty?"

She replies: "Oh, it doesn't mean anything. Fortune cookies are just for fun."

.........

I feel disillusioned. Betrayed. Like all my hopes have been crushed... My faith in the world is gone.


Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Good Family Fun... In Nepal

Howdy folks (folks being about three people who actually read this. OH WELL). I'm in Nepal right now and it is very hot right now (muy caliente). It's 8:30 pm here, but it's like 8:30 am yesterday in America. I AM SENDING YOU A MESSAGE FROM THE FUTURE!!!

Omg. Mind boggling, ain't it? Because I'm Texan.

Anyhoo, pictures and stories to come once I get home, since my sister wants to go to bed now and she's making fun of my blogger-osity. I hope to see my amigos soon! If I don't die.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

ouch groan WAFFLES!

I just came back from Strobe. It's a dance put on by these people with pretty lights and they have DJs from ENERGY 92.7 come and play techno music and shtuff. It was amazing. Four whole hours of solid dance, 8pm to 12am dude.

I heard about Strobe 3 Strobes ago (this was the fifth Strobe) but I could never go for random and evil reasons, but this time I went!! So my life is complete for now.

Things I gained: a dance with 9 different boys (at least 3 of them were creepers though), a bead from some random girl's bracelet that got caught on my shirt, several glowsticks that got stolen or lost somehow, and then one of the boys I danced with called me the best dancer there that night! In case that boy happens to be reading this (unlikely), THANK YOU!! Now I know I don't look like a flailing chicken when I dance, because I was never sure...

The theme for the dance was wardrobe malfunction, so naturally there were a bunch of girls wearing underwear-like, shiny spandex with fishnets. Thank you, so much. I really wanted to see that. At least it was dark and there were plenty of distracting lights (^o^)v

In line, my sister met someone and they became best buddies at the dance so the new friend is at my house right now. On the way home she managed to convince my mom to go to Safeway to buy toaster strudel and chocolate-chip waffles, so I had waffles. WOOT WOOT!!

So I'm going to bed now. I feel kinda like a loser for blogging right after a dance, but oh well. Now you know I do actually have a life... sometimes... <(o.O;)>

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

3 Awesome Things (April)

Spring: (n) 1. The season of the year between winter and summer during which many plants bring forth leaves and flowers. It runs from March to May in the northern hemisphere, and from September to November in the southern hemisphere 2. A time of new growth and regeneration (1)

Spring is a happy time of year, mainly because my birthday is in spring, but also because everything is green and there are colorful flowers in the hills and people wear white and only weirdies wear black and it's all so colorful and happy! Some people get allergies, and that's not fun, but that's what allergy medicine is for!! WOOHOO!! Okay, here's some Vivaldi for you:



(2)

Sunshower: (n) An unusual meteorological phenomenon in which rain falls while the sun is shining. These conditions often lead to the appearance of a rainbow, if the sun is at a low enough angle. The nature of cumuluform clouds is such that the sun can often be seen while they are producing rain. If a sunshower occurs when the sun is low in the sky (specifically, any time the sun is at less than a 42° angle), a rainbow can occur. (3)

Sunshowers are often associated with weddings between different types of animals, from elves to foxes and bears. For some reason, in America sunshowers mean that the devil is beating his wife... (3) Pleasant thought, isn't it?

I also heard somewhere that if you walk out into a sunshower and you look at your reflection in a mirror, you can see your future. I haven't gotten around to trying that yet, but when I do I'll keep you posted.



(3)

Pencil: (n) A thin cylindrical instrument used for drawing or writing. It consists of a rod of graphite or some other erasable marking material inside a wooden or metal shaft. (1)

Pencils are amazing because they come in all different colors and you can do a lot with them (artistically speaking). I use them for drawing and writing, which is what they are mostly used for. I like mechanical pencils the best; you don't have to sharpen them, they aren't all icky and scratchy like regular pencils, and they come in all sorts of pretty colors!! Regular pencils are cool too...



(4)



(1) Definitions found at the MSN Encarta Dictionary
(2) Found on YouTube.com
(3) Found on Wikipedia
(4) Found on this website

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

doom de doom doom...

*sings* VANS Warped Tour is coming to San Francisco and I am gonna go because I went last year and had loads of fun and I hope I get my celebrity pants signed by a famous band so when I'm a starving artist I have something to sell to pay the bills....

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Gir Song

I warned you about the random, didn't I?




Wednesday, March 25, 2009

CRAAAAASH and then fall... o(_ _o)

So I have a life that decided to eat me, which is why I haven't posted in a while. Last week I was in Ashland, Oregon for the Shakespeare festival, but more on that later. I shouldn't be blogging but I felt that most dedicated bloggers would blog about absences, so that's what I'm doing. I'm just checking in so those 2 people from Malaysia and the one person from Sweden know what's up (if they can read English...).

Yeah. I have visitors from Malaysia and Sweden. How awesome is that?! There's this cool thing on google that lets you track what countries people visit your site from. It's called Google Analytics. It's perty nifty, I must say. Beware, it also makes you sad. Yesterday I had 3 visits... <(T_T)> But since I made this blog I've had 67 visits from 34 different people! YAY!! Don't worry, this thinger doesn't give me personal info, only your name, address, IP address, first language, personal tastes and all the websites you've ever visited in your life. Just kidding :P It only gives me what city you live in, so it wouldn't be very practical for me to stalk you.

Anyhoo, I have to go do some math homework. YAY!! o(_ _o) = falls down (theoretically speaking).

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Be Careful Out in Cyberspace

I was randomly browsing the internet as I often do when I'm "taking a break from homework," and I came across a disturbing story: a young girl, about a year older than me, killed herself because she was labelled the school whore after her ex-boyfriend sent out pictures of her when she was completely naked.  Below is the video I found.


Three Awesome Things (March)

Since not much is going on in my life right now, I decided to make a list of 3 amazing things. These are by no means THE most amazing things, simply 3 random things that I think are awesome. I think I'll make a list of 3 things every month... (we'll see how that works out).

Enjoy (^^)v

3 Awesome Things

1: Waffle (noun) A thick light pancake, crisp on the outside, that is baked in a waffle iron to give a pattern of indentations on both sides (1)

A good waffle has a crispy layer of goodness on the outside while still having a layer of fluffy delight beneath. These beauties taste delicious with maple syrup or butter and sugar. They taste best when warm and fresh out of the toaster/oven. Since they can be addicting (I know out of personal experience), I suggest buying organic healthy ones. They still taste scrumptious, and you don't feel guilty about the DELICIOUS AWESOME-NESS of a waffle.





2: Rainbow (noun) An arc of light separated into bands of color that appears when the Sun's rays are refracted and reflected by drops of mist or rain. The colors of the rainbow are conventionally said to be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (1)
According to my science textbook, the rainbow is the only spectrum of light that humans can see. There are other types of light (like ultraviolet, and apparently radio waves are light too... which is strange when you think about it, but if the scientists say it's true then it will be true until future scientists say otherwise). Rainbows are beautiful because bright colors are positively lovely, and there's something amazing in the way it makes sense for them to turn into other colors. Like red turns to orange, which then turns to yellow, and so on. Rainbows are rather logical, and they are pleasing to thine eyes, therefore rainbows are marvelous.
Note: Rainbows are often seen with unicorns and leprechauns.

(2)


3: Emo Kid (noun) I've looked this up and apparently there are two types of emo kids, fake emo kids and true emo kids. A true emo kid pretty much does whatever the hell they want because they want to, but are very in touch with their feelings. They like good music, good lyrics, poetry, and they like finding the deeper meanings of the world. A fake emo kid is a Hot-Topic baby: one who doesn't have any HUGE problems but has emotional difficulties (most often due to spoiling by the parental unit) and so creates problems. Fake emos like to draw attention to these created problems by practicing how to write suicide notes, cutting themselves, and other such rebellious actions.

Both types dress similarly, the only difference is where the clothes come from. Most emo kids wear tight, dark jeans, studded accessories, thick-rimmed glasses (usually black), band t-shirts in dark colors, and they usually style their hair in this flippy hair-do (3) that's usually dyed black. Fake emo kids will dress in mostly Hot-Topic brand clothing (hence the nickname of Hot-Topic baby). Real emo kids will get their clothes from wherever the hell they feel like.

Then there are ninja emo kids: emo kids that don't immediately look like emo kids, but you find out later that they are suicidal and need serious help. While they are harder to spot, once you get to know them you'll discover their true identity.

Summary: Fake emo kids = Hot-Topic babies, looking to be "cool"
Real emo kids look the same, but are looking to be themselves

Now, all emo kids are sensitive, emotional, and dramatic and extremely fun to mess with (I know from personal experience). Next time you see one, try waving or hugging them. They'll glare at you, the you'll laugh, and then they'll be confused as you walk away. Pure, awkward fun.

((If you are not a young, impressionable child, I suggest going to YouTube and searching for the username "adamandandrewmusic" and taking a look at their video "Emo Kid." But if you or your parents will get mad at naughty words, I suggest you stay away. FAR away. It's funny though.))

Resources Cited:
(1) MSN Encarta Dictionary

(2) Inhabitat.com

(3) Picture of Gerard Way, lead singer of My Chemical Romance. I don't know who this actually belongs to...

(Note: I originally planned to have a list of 10 awesome things, but 3 things made a decent sized post so it's only a list of 3 things.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Visiting Colleges

Yesterday I came home from Claremont, CA, a small-ish town about forty minutes away from LA. I was there visiting the Claremont colleges: Scripps, Pomona, Pitzer, Harvey Mudd, and Claremont McKenna College. I flew down from Oakland Airport (yay OAK!) on Thursday night with my mother-dearest (Celia) and her luuurvely wife, Sally. We arrived at LAX sometime after that, and then drove to Claremont in this tiny little Nissan that both Sally and I thought was amazing, but mother-dearest wanted a big truck so she could drive the biggest car (she's compensating for her height). So we drove down the highway (meaning, they drove, I don't have my license yet).

I don't know anything about the hotels in Claremont, but we stayed at the Double Tree and it was magnificent. Just so you know, in case you plan on heading to Claremont (which you should because it is beautiful and amazing, an awesome college town with little shops and everything is about 10 times cheaper than Marin. Well, almost everything else is).

On Friday I visited Scripps, Pomona, and Pitzer (in that order). Scripps had a beautiful campus and felt like a grown-up version of my high school (San Domenico High School). Scripps is all-girls with no religious affiliation that I am aware of and a strong humanities department. There were squirrels and bunnies and birdies everywhere. It was like a fairy-princess land! I wouldn't be surprised if Scrippsies walked around in poofy dresses and crowns while singing to the little woodland critters.

Pomona was big on athletics, but they still stressed education above everything else. Their campus is much bigger than Scripps, mainly because they have 1,200 students compared to Scripps' 900. Everyone at Pomona seems really nice. Plus, they have these fountains everywhere and according to the guides, people are constantly tossing other people into them... It's all in good fun, so I hear.

Pitzer has a strong love of the environment. They just rebuilt their dorms so that they're certified green buildings, which is awesome. They have a strong science program along with amazing abroad programs. The student body is very politically active. The guide told us that a while back there was an old house that was going to be demolished, so Pitzer students bought the house for $1, picked it up and moved it onto campus property and converted it into a student-run eatery. It's an awesome little cafe, I must say.
After all the tours, I hung out with my friend Callie. She is my San Domenico-ordained big sister who goes to Scripps. She and her amazing roommate, Laura, hosted me Friday and Saturday night in their dorm room. Scripps dorms are so roomy!!! And Callie's building has these doors that pop open when you swipe your Scripps card. It's like magic!!!

((Above: Callie is the blond beauty right thar))

Callie also introduced me to her awesomely silly friends.


((Vicki and Julia))













((Emma and Gwendy))













((In order from left to right: Callie, Liz, Vritti, Eva))







((My room post-arrival))
[[Edit 8:00pm March 9, 2009]]

Sunday, March 8, 2009

And so it begins...

Hello... you...

You are reading this, which means one of two things: you're bored (as in EXTREMELY bored), or you know me and are reading this out of loyalty (even though you might not want to...). Or perhaps you just want to because you can. Well, thank you for reading my first post. I have a few promises for you:

ONE: I will not be one of those girls who talks about herself in such a way that it's boring and kind of stupid. [disclaimer: this blog is obviously about me, so you'll have to deal with some of that, but this will NOT be a public diary. I do keep a diary, but no one is allowed to read that until I'm dead.] **

TWO: I will be positive at all times, mainly because college admissions, future employers, and other random people will be reading this. I always want to give a good impression! [Besides, pessimism gets on my nerves.]

THREE: This will be a blog of stories, advice, pictures, videos, and other random things that I hope you will find amusing enough to read. I can't guarantee that you'll understand it all, though...

FOUR: There is no four, but four lines can make a square or a parallelogram, and those are cool...

** Here's a good video you should watch: