Feeding Deer is Fun.

Or so I assume.
The weekend before finals, my aunt and uncle very graciously brought me back to their house to meet up with my parents for some down time before the big tests. Honestly I thought of it as something really fun to do with some of my favorite people so that my three boring days of studying didn't have to be five (hey, I was going nuts after studying even for only one day). I had a blast coming "home" to great food and good company.
Anyway.
Just before picking up my cousin from school and finally getting to the house, my aunt and I stopped at Panera Bread for some delicous chicken noodle soup in bread bowls. They were AMAZING, but we were on a little bit of a schedule so we had to take the empty bowls to go.
With my cousin in tow, we pulled into the driveway and went in the back door. Walking back out for another one of my bags, I noticed a few deer in the backyard. Since Ithaca has a rather large population of deer, I thought nothing of it until they came within twenty feet of me and my family.
Since we still had one bread bowl left, we tore it apart and took turns thowing the pieces onto the lawn. Well, seeing as they were so close, I decided (with a little encouragement from my aunt and uncle) to hold out a large piece of the bread bow land to try and get them to come even closer.  It was working for a little bit, until I crouched. Apparently my version of appearing as a smaller, harmless animal was viewed more like a predator ready to pounce. The deer flinched and then eventually trotted to a "safe" distance until we went back inside. Then, they went back to enjoy the little feast.

So, I didn't actually get to feed the deer by hand. My hopes weren't too high, and it was probably a good thing I didn't get too awful close to the whitetails, but the experience made for a nice break from college and some pretty cool pictures!



P.S. and my finals worked out fine :)

Nieva!

Syracuse has finally become a winter wonderland.

A big storm blew in on the third and began the lovely pile-up of snow. Giddy from the fact that break was only two weeks away, the ESF freshmen (the fun ones anyway) ran straight outside to have snowball fights and to sled down the hill on cafeteria trays at midnight. We were pretty excited, but that excitement only grew as we watched the snowflakes swirl without a single break, for FIVE DAYS. It was a winter miracle!

I can see three hidden cars in this picture, can you?

 Three more cars in this picture.

The bike rack.

Each morning we woke up to find the cars covered in 5-6 more inches of snow and the sidewalk paths nonexistent. The plows even had a hard time catching up with the 38 inches that had fallen. Snow drifts from the Syracuse wind piled up above my waist, and even the normally drab ride to school became an eerie world of white, with trees that had a good six inches of snow on their branches. It was absolutely beautiful!

Looking up the sidewalk next to the quad.

Picnic table

The bridge to get to Walter Hall, and the one little path that was carved out.

Honest Abe on his horse

Rain came on the following weekend, melting down the white stuff to only a couple inches. However, in only a few short days, the forecast went up again as the temperature dropped. Two feet plus is supposed to fall by tomorrow night! HOORAY!

Adirondack Weekend

     This last weekend was one of the BEST weekends I've experienced in quite some time. I went with the Bob Marshall Club of ESF for an overnight stay in the High Peaks in the Adirondacks.  
    
     To start off our trip, we got going from the nearby student center at 5:30 am. I was jittery from excitment and just a little from being nervous. Heck as excited as I was, I'd never done a trip like this before and I just didn't know what to expect.
     Well, about 3 hours later ,and north of Newcomb, we were starting our 5-6 mile hike to the lean-to. The trail was absolutely gorgeous, even if it was covered in icy snow. It was alot of uphill to get to where we wanted to be, but finally made it around lunchtime. A friend and I stayed behind at the lean-to while the other six group members decided to summit Mount Marshall, a nearby high peak. Don't get me wrong, I really wated to join them, but since I was already a little tired and had learned that they were going to climb 2000 ft. in elevation in 5 miles, I thought better of it. I needed legs that actually worked for the next day's hike out!

     My friend and I decided first to go down by the shore of the "Flowed Lands" in which we were camping next to. We stepped out from behind the trees and met a breathtaking sight. Straight in front of us was Mt. Colden. The pond/lake was iced over and the top of the mountain was dusted with snow. We sat on some rocks and listened to the silence. The veiw was absolutely incredible!

     We next decided to explore down the trail a little bit to keep our blood moving (after all, it was only 40-50 degrees out!). We met a man who worked for the DEC on our short hike, and he suggested a "secret" spot off to the left of the next lean-to down the trail. We walked about a quarter mile more and came out to a beautiful spot. The lean-to had direct sun and a great view. We wandered off to the left and found ourselves next to a pretty little rocky stream.

     After about fifteen minutes, we decided to head back to our lean-to. The rest of the group said they'd be back when the sun set and we figured we'd want to be back in time for that.
     We got there early enough to rest out on the rocks again and to lay out our sleeping bags in the lean-to in our desired spot- the middle. There was going to be eight people in that lean-to that night, and we wanted to be warm!
     Eventually the rest of the group joined us and we took a couple pictures. We worked together to make a delicious spaghetti and sausage dinner and then headed to our sleeping bags, snuggled in nice and tight.
     The next morning called for oatmeal and hot drinks. The thermometer read 25 degrees. We sat out by the pond/lake as the sun rose, enjoying the warmth while pumping more water.

     Soon, it was time to head back out. The trail was just as wonderful as the day before and hiking it went too fast. We soon arrived at the parking spot and enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before driving back to Syracuse.

     Everyone was sad to leave, but were thankful for the glorious weekend, away from the stresses of college life.

Just Something I Wanted to Share with the World

On Central NY's Failure at Producing Frozen Precipitation.

My friends, I now live in the snow belt of New York.

Today is November 1st (Yes, this post was scheduled).

YESTERDAY was the first "snow."

     Ok, there's nothing wrong with that (all of you snow-haters are probably huffing and puffing about those flurries) but I think that it's about time for a couple feet of the white stuff. Even if it is November
    
     I love the snow. I think it's fun to throw snowballs I love to make snow sculptures (or just snowmen). I love to rush inside for delicious hot cocoa. That being said, when my college choice happened to be in Syracuse, I wasn't too bummed. I mean, I hear the word Syracuse and immediately think: SNOW.
     When I got here, I expected it to be a whole lot colder than down south a.) because it's at a higher latitude and b.) because it's in the snow belt. Doesn't that automatically make it a colder city?
    
Apparently not.    

     In the last month or so I've realized the city certainly isn't colder than my hometown a couple hours south. Up here, while leaves were still in the opening act of their colorful performance, they were completely shed from the trees at home. I would hear about frosts and freezing cold weather (once, even snow) that happened at home while I was enjoying the low fifty-degree weather.
     Of course, this is all attributed to the Great Lakes and the whole concept that the air upwind from Syracuse is extra-moist. This gives us lots of precipitation, which, combined with the slightly more temperate climate here rather than in the surrounding areas, means there's more lake-effect rain than lake-effect snow.
     Don't get me wrong, I'm in love with the warm weather too. I love being able to wear my shorts and sandals just a little bit longer. However, when it gets to be this time of the year, when the weather can't decide whether it wants to be snow or rain, I don't enjoy it so much. Especially when faced with making difficult decisions every morning (umbrella or parka?).

Well, overall, it IS Syracuse, it WILL get cold and I'm sure that, if I give it a couple weeks, the weather will finally stick to one form of precipitation and it'll snow like the devil.

Kudos to You, Wonka

On Sunday, I was sitting on my extra-high-XL-twin-size dorm bed, working tirelessly on my chem lab report due the next day. It was Halloween, so to boost my creative juices.... or rather... just my motivation.... I grabbed a box of nerds from the awesome care package my mom sent me.
After spilling a few, eating a bunch, and putting my tastebuds into deliciously tangy overdrive I noticed the side of the box:

** Want to know where Wonka candy comes from? Read all about it in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. By Roald Dahl http://www.roalddahl.com/ **

It seems as though society hasn't gone too far down the drain after all. Good old Willy Wonka, promoting a BOOK on his candy box.

:)

One More Post of Guster

Here's a little tidbit from the concert I went to last Monday. I have to say these guys are almost better live than they are on CD. If you ever get the chance (and if you like their music of course) go see them! My tickets were a little over $30 and I would have gladly payed double for what I experienced.  Heck, the main singers had colds and STILL sounded amazing.

Ok.

Enough gushing.

Here're the pictures:

That's right. Front. Row (ok there was ONE person standing between me and the stage). Check out the drummer, and his bongo-drum set. And yes, it was in Ithaca, that's why the piano-with-a-chalkboard-front says "Scooter [he helps play percussion] is GORGES."

That's all for now.... ; )

Just So Wonderful and Easy

  
     For the longest time I've been dying to write about some of my favorite things. So, in order to provide myself some more blog fodder, I'll (hopefully) be writing a series on my fave's.
    
     Today's Favorite is in music- namely a fantastic little group called Guster. I had only heard of them last fall, but they've quickly become my favorite band. Not once before have I come across CDs in which I enjoy listening to EVERY song (when it wasn't a "greatest hits"). That's exactly what happened to me on Ganging Up on the Sun and they're newest album (as of last Tuesday) Easy Wonderful. If you're into rock and alternative music, these guys will definitely catch your interest.  Plus, I love that they're still going strong after nearly 20 years!
     To me, the songs on Easy Wonderful are more blast-on-a-rainy-day type songs while those on their previous ones are nice to relax to. It's really cool how the drummer uses a congo-drum-set (congo drums instead of toms and a bass) and that the group incorperates all sorts of instruments (always a plus for me).

These are my reccommended Top Five:

1. Satellite
2. Do You Love Me?
3. What You Call Love
4. Bad, Bad World
5. Ramona

That's a general list, depending on the day they can go back and forth, and Long Way Down, Ruby Falls, Amsterdam and basically the whole Easy Wonderful album can be thrown in too.

Anyway, I hope you check them out, they're certainly worth it!

More Views of Syracuse

Yep, I haven't bogged in forever, I know. It's just, this whole college thing really sucks the time out of me! I can't believe I'm in my 6th week of 15 already! The weeks go incredibly fast and it's amazing that it's already going to be the second week of October! Anyway, things are going good and the only downside is that I kind of miss my family and friends. :)
Anyway.... I figured this post would be about posting some pictures of my lovely school :)
Enjoy:

On Weekends at College

      Last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was a three-day weekend for me. All week I was so excited (two three-day weekends in a row?! How awesome!) The first weekend was really cool, because I got to go home and enjoy REAL FOOD and see everyone again. This weekend, however, was the polar opposite.

      Ok, it wasn't terrible, only as terribly boring as sitting in my room all day, everyday. At first, I thought it was awesome that I wasn't required to do anything those days.

      Then came Saturday.

      I had all of my homework done and was basically surfing Facebook and eating meals. Thank goodness my mail was actually contained some pretty awesome stuff (laptop bag, letters and a care package from Mom containing comics from the paper, carrots and my Seventeen magazine) or else I possibly would have gone crazy.

      I finally went ice skating around two o'clock to get some excersize. And let me tell you. It's definitely excercise! I went by myself to the indoor rink that's up on the hill behind my dorm and walked from the sunny seventy-degree weather into the cool, crisp 40-50 ish degrees inside. I rented my awesomely cheap skates (four bucks!), put them on, and glided out into the unpopulous ice. I was the ONLY one out there- which made it so much better because I could flail my arms and not hurt anyone skate wherever I wanted, whichever way I wanted. It was only the second time ever that I had been skating and I'm proud to say I haven't fallen yet. Lost my balance, yes, but never fallen.

      After a refreshing forty-minutes-ish, I went back to my cave-of-a-dorm room, sore ankles and all, and continued doing nothing. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE doing nothing and it's no problem... but given the last year I had and the non-existant summer vacation, I'm not used to doing nothing. Let alone three days in a row. Once I get everything done, there's no point in doing nothing, so I figure I should go out. If only I had something to do, energy to do it... and money to spend! Oh money to spend would be wonderful right now.

      Really though, I don't mean to give anyone the wrong impression of college weekends (heck, all of my followers have already experienced them) and I'm sure my definition of this weekend was far from the stereotypical one. Honestly, though, I know they'll get better (next week I have a freshmen retreat to a ropes course!), especially once I get that energy to get up and go do it!

      But now it's Monday, the weekend is over and boredom ceases to exist... for the most part. Today, Monday activities call (Woodsmen's practice anyone?) so I must depart from this rather non-exciting post.

Peace!

Sharing Biology Class: Part II The Galls

 It's time for the second round of the Biology Class series!

This lab that my class and I did last fall had to do with a certain natural phenomenons called "galls."

What are galls you ask?

Galls are those swelled, green balls found on Goldenrod stems. For class the friday before lab that week, our homework was to go out and collect galls. They are most usually found in the giant gatherings of goldenrod (not on singular stalks in the middle of nowhere) and our job was to grab 'em, tag 'em and bag 'em. ....Ok, so tagging didn't happen but all of us brought in twenty or so galls that Monday morning for dissection.

Dissection you say? The whole reason that these galls are in existence is because of the parasitic Gall Fly and Gall Moth. These two insects spend their larval stage inside the galls. Eggs are laid inside the stem, and the gall forms as the eggs grow into maggots. The white plant tissue surrounding the maggot's little hideout serves as it's nutrition and protection (although one type of beetle can sometimes burrow into a gall and feast on the white grub within). Eventually, the maggots mature and emerge from the gall as adults to start the cycle all over.

Anyway, back to dissection. Our job was to take scalpels and cut open those galls. It was a relatively fun class, interuppted here and there by occational cheers along the lines of "Hey guys! I DIDN'T accidently cut through my grub this time!"  We basically had to measure the galls, count the ones that had maggots in them, and examine the inside nutritional tissue.

All in all, galls are pretty cool. The grubs aren't slimy and discusting (they're more like really, really short white earthworms) and I was happy to finally learn what the heck those swollen lumps were on the flowers.

** Thanks to http://www.gpnc.org/goldenro.htm and http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/goldenrod_gall_fly.htm for helping me remember some information!

5 New Things I Experienced in the Last Few Days

1. Ice-skated

2. Tried sushi (only a bite)

3. Saw a live comedian

4. Watched people getting hypnotized

5. Pulled a muscle in my neck trying to keep my balence on a bus that was near it's full capacity of people.

Aaand, I succesfully completed my first day of college. Hurrah!

After all of the orientation things last weekend, it's finally nice to be able to go out and do things on my own. Schedules were so packed (try 8am to 11pm) and even though some were optional, those were the fun ones. It was so awesome though. I'm having a blast, and I just hope that these classes won't be too difficult. So far chemistry seems good, and other classes won't be too awful bad, as long as I can budget my time correctly.

Anyways, although that may not be very interesting to read, I had to get some of the new goings-on off my chest.

So, hooray for good classes, a great schedule and new friends. Cheers!

Sharing Biology Class: Part I

One of the most interesting classes I had last year was A.P. Biology. Yes, I know I wrote about how much it aggravated me, I still think it was pretty darn awesome. This series hopefully depicts the better times I had in the class.

Gross, I know, but that was the very beginning of my favorite class last year.

Our very first lab was studying the eating habits of slugs. This means that our homework that first Friday was to go out and collect at least five slugs, more for extra credit. Our rather large class of nine was successful in our searches for the slimy little critters. I grabbed an old, plastic ice cream tub to house my catches in and dubbed it "The Slug Pad." 

Only when I got to class that Monday did I realize how my seemingly triumphant 12 slugs paled in comparison to one of my lab partner's nearly 200. I thought it was cool that she could get so many! This picture above is only a fraction of her huge tub-full.The class gathered around to wince and gag as she uncovered the overcrowded box.

As class went on and we got through our lab papers, my two lab partners and I were put on Slug Duty as the little slimeballs kept escaping from their prison of plastic. Thank goodness for gloves!

At the end of the lab, a week later, we set our captives free. While dumping out The Slug Pad, I turned over a leaf to find a slug that had laid some eggs! Our class, being the cool kids that we were, turned her into the class pet, Bertha. We made sure to give her water as much as we could remember every day and even gave her a mini-terrarium to house her future babies.

Unfortunately, our beloved Bertha sadly dried out died from the change in surrounding atmosphere.

R.I.P. Bertha! You are sorely missed!

Dear Blog,

     I'm sorry. I've left you out in the cold again. I know it was wrong of me, but I have good reason, I promise, my lonely little blog. These past few weeks, dare I say months, have been excruciatingly busy for me, for it's truely painful to have to deal with

a.) getting up at 4:50am every weekday
b.) spending eight hours at a job that I hate, because we literally can not do anything
c.) knowing that those eight hours of nothing could be spent doing so many more productive things
d.) not being able to do what I need to after work, because I'm too exhausted from trying to look busy all day (I'm not lazy, my boss told me to do this)
e.) knowing I can't relax on the weekend because we have so much going on (not complaining though, because they're all so worth it...they just make me tired is all)
    
     And, on top of this all, I'm trying to get used to the fact that I will soon be surrounded by hundreds of people I don't know, trying to make friends and basically handling living on my own. I'm not entirely scared of this, I mean, home is only a couple hours away and I can contact help whenever I need it. It's just intimidating to know that I won't be seeing anything familiar for at least a couple weeks. I believe I can handle college, it's only the change that I'm hoping I can get used to fast.
    
     It's not you, dearest blog, it's me. Those reasons are why you have been so deprived of new material. When I come home to check all of my e-mails and my facebook, I'm simply too tired to carry on and spend up to an hour writing an entry. I wish not to spend my precious few hours in the evening sucked into cyberspace only to come out moments before bedtime wondering why it's suddenly so dark out. This is summer, the one season a year I have to relax and enjoy being outdoors, the place that I so dearly love.

     So forgive me, my beloved blog, for leaving you for the warm vernal breezes, the cool nights under the stars, the marshmallows toasted over the campfires, and the coziness of a sleeping bag in our tent. Also, for dealing with thank-you cards, spending time with family and for sorting and determining which of my belongings is worthy enough to accompany me to the next stage of my life.

     I promise to always keep you in mind, but I cannot say how often future entries will be posted. I posess no knowledge of how much time I'll have in order to sit and write, although I hope I'll have just a little!

Take care, and I hope to write again soon,
Love,
Holly

Just a Little Note

   
 So this morning I had a little brush with nature again.

Mom was driving me to work this morning and as we pulled to a stop at the bottom of our hill, I saw a deer cross the street into someone's lawn. It wasn't completely out of the ordinary, but I found it interesting that I had just come down from a rural road where deer often frequent, to downtown where the animals under the "wild" category consist mostly of squirrels and crows. It was just a neat beginning to my day.

     And on the way home, just before pulling up to our driveway, a mother turkey crossed the road with  dozen or so of her poults. Again, not strange but just a nice welcome home. 

     I think I'm going to miss all of these little joys that come with living rurally once I go to college. But.. being a biology major, maybe I'll still get to enjoy nature a little bit :) Boy these next three weeks are going to go by fast!

This Is My Car

Or, rather, my family's nonexistant one.
One of the many reasons I haven't written in here since the beginning of the month was because I wasn't here at all last week. We, my family and I, were all set out to go on vacation last Sunday. Our plan was to go to Chestertown, Lake Placid and then Old Forge to do some hiking, kayaking and other awesome things we like to do in the Adirondacks. We have to go through Utica to get where we were going and then continue on route 8 in the direction of Speculator.
Well, we hit the West Canadas and stopped at a picnic spot on West Canada Creek about midday (maybe 1:00) to have lunch. After lots of pictures and lovely turkey sandwiches, we went further down the turn-off road to a possible hiking spot. We all decided we were just a little too tired to hike four miles round trip, so we turned around to rt. 8 and went on our way.
It wasn't twenty minutes later that we turned around a left curve to see a long stretch of road and this car pulling hastily back into a line of about seven. That car had cut in front of a track (Ford) that was pulling a boat on his trailer.
That threw the truck out of control...which sent it fishtailing across the highway. Once we saw that, my dad slowed right down, pulled off the highway and into the grass.  Sooner than we could think, we saw the truck wildly swerving to the left... and then... straight into our left side.
Honestly, it was so fast that I had no time to think. I really thought it would miss us because, you know, things always worked out that way. But, no, I realized it was coming for us when it was about a foot away from the side of the car. We all braced, flinched or both as it drove us into the weeds.
I don't remember hearing anything really, except the impact and the windows blowing out.
When we were stopped, Mom checked to see if we were all ok, and then we got out of the car (note: we were informed later that it is a bad idea to do that).  Mostly, we were cut up from glass and bruised. Dad had the worst of it right under his ribs. The truck driver immediately got out of his truck to ask if we were alright and to see if we needed an ambulance.

The passer was nowhere to be seen. Grr.

Fast forward to when the ambulance came; we were all put in precautionary neck braces and taken all the way back to Utica. Our vacation was going pretty poorly, but we were more concerned about each other at that point. An hour later, we were wheeled into St. Luke's hospital and cleaned up. We were all in shock, which was probably good because it bore the blunt of hearing that Dad was going into surgery for a splenectomy, but bad because our minds were still set on "Ok, so we'll have to cancel the hotel tonight, but maybe tomorrow we can go on our way."
Eventually we figured out the car was taken to Speculator, so we went and cleaned it out the next day. Seeing our things back at the hostpital, the nurses jokingly said we were the most prepared accident victims they'd ever seen. And soon, the shock wore off to a point that we realized we had to cancel all of vacation.
One week later, last Saturday, we came home from Utica after staying with my Aunt and Uncle, at a hotel, and with my mom's cousin. Dad was all stapled up (turns out he could keep his spleen, yay!),-and the rest of us just weary from the tiring previous days.

I'm definitely still feeling it, but we're all a lot better. Several people commented to us that maybe it happened for a reason, and I agree that it's a possibility. Maybe it was saving us from a more terrible accident down the road, or maybe it's the cause for a beneficial effect. I suppose we'll never really know, and all we can do is be really thankful for how it turned out. It could certainly be a whole lot worse!

Happy July!

Finally, summer is here!

     Okay, so it's officially been summer since June 21st, but this weekend really hit things off for me. This month is THE month of summer. There's Independence Day festivities, our town holds its Lumberjack Festival, the weather is hot and several flowers are blooming. Kids don't have to worry about school and seemingly everyone takes a vacation around this time.
     What I like most about summer is the opportunities to be outside. It's warm out, and I enjoy wearing dresses, shorts and skirts. I like taking pictures of flowers and leaves and things as well as just going outside for walks or trips to the state park. Like I said, last weekend was really great for me, and want to know why? It's because I spent most of it outside.
     My grandparents own a little piece of land out in the middle of the woods, a couple miles out of town. It takes quite a while to get there, mostly because the road you travel in on is completely dirt and rocks and you have to drive about 10 mph in order to keep from bouncing up and down too much. Anyway, they built a simple cabin out there and invited my sister and I to sleep over the night before our Independence Day family get together. 
     That first day was kind of cool- around 70 degrees- and after helping unpack the vehicles, my sis and I went around to the stone wall to search for salamanders. Just like that, we caught a black one with white spots that was covered in a slime that resembled Elmer's Glue. The slime made it kind of hard to catch him/her and it took some good scrubbing to get it off our fingers, but it was worth the pictures we got. We returned him/her to the stone wall and moved on into the woods to look under logs and more rocks. There we found mostly slugs, one Red-Backed Salamander and a toad.
     For the rest of the day, we walked around, got our bunks ready for bed and did crossword puzzles. After a delicious steak and potato dinner courtesy of Grandpa, we scratched off a couple lotto tickets and then went to bed.
     The next day we woke up, and had breakfast. Seeing as there no electricity up there, it's understandable that there was no toaster; I instead toasted my cinnamon raisin bagel over the fire, and it was simply fabulous. I then went inside with the others to get ready to welcome the rest of the family. When everyone was there we started one of the best annual meals in the world. First out were the shrimp and drunken shrimp, then was oysters rockefeller, then chicken, clams, macaroni salad, crescent rolls, and fruit salad. It was all delicious, and by dinnertime I only had room for a grilled hotdog (actually, I didn't, but I made room because it looked so good). A couple walks in the woods followed and we just visited until it was dark- and time to go home.
     And that's just one of the reasons I love summer so much. All the fresh air and good spirits. I felt so fresh after coming home, despite missing a shower that morning. Afterwards, we just couldn't help but go back outside to look at the stars. It was one of those super-clear nights when you can almost make out every one of the billions of stars in the milky way- they're not just a cloudy swath in the sky- and we even saw a few shooting stars!
     Oh it was truly the best weekend I've had in awhile! I can't wait to see what the rest of this season brings!

The Decision

Hey look, I'm posting faster than I thought.

I've started Depicting Deposit -another blog... I'll definitly keep posting in both, but just letting you all know that I have no posts up at this new one, so don't get too excited yet. :)

that's all for now ....

Thoughts...

I have a question for all of those who have blogs out there. Do you ever sometimes feel that your blog makes no sense? That you came in with a plan and had tons of ideas of what to write about and yet now you're here, twenty-some random posts later, asking these questions of your followers? No? Well that's how I feel today.
Honestly, I was thinking of starting another blog, completely dedicated to a single topic. I've looked around for ideas and have seen some that only post pictures, others with artwork and some with a continuing story, each post representing another chapter. I'm kind of liking the photography one...
For now, I'll keep thinking. Who knows how things'll go with work starting next week and college in august but I'll certainly post my decision.

B-B-B-Bennie and the Jetssss

  
      High school is just about over... all I have to do is take a NYS regents test and then graduate. That's it! If I haven't already said so, I'm amazed at how fast this year went by. All my upperclassmen friends used to warn me how fast their senior years went by and how I should make sure to enjoy mine, but I don't think I ever really thought it would go this quick!
      Anyway, I was thinking about that today and how I finally have ALL of my schoolwork done and handed in. It seemed a little weird to have two big projects due the last day of school, but I suppose that's what comes with taking a course like AP Biology... Our projects were actually pretty cool- for one, my partner and I re-wrote Bennie and the Jets to Bennie and the Biomes (maybe I'll post that in here soon...) and for the other we were given the assignment to collect pictures of things such as "eight bugs," "five wildflowers," and "two amphibians/reptiles" and put them in a PowerPoint slideshow with it (hey it was right up my alley!), but taking all of those pictures outside reminded me of the above picture.
     A couple of years ago, I took it upon myself to make a Nature Alphabet just like the one above. I thought it was the coolest thing to find letters hidden in plain sight like that and I just had to try it out. The only problem with this? Back then, it was the dead of winter. I didn't care though and followed through to make one very cool, but very monochromatic alphabet.
     Now, however, with it being summer and me having no other obligations than finding a job and attending graduation parties, I think I'll have the time to make a really fantastic, knock-your-socks-off alphabet. Hopefully it'll be much more colorful than the last...
     Obviously nothing else has been too awesome in my life lately to blog about (I mean, I wrote about AP bio today... 'nuff said) ... but hopefully with all of this free time I'll have a chance to stretch my mind's creative legs. So, sorry for the boring stuff!


 Oh, and for anyone who still wants to read our rendition of Bennie and the Biomes:

Hey kids, shake out loose together,
Snowboards hitting powder
Tundra’s known to change it’s weather
We’ll kill the caribou tonight
So stick around.
Your gonna hear eccentric bugles
Solid howls from hounds

Say, Bennie, those forests, have you seen them yet
Oh it’s gettin’ warmer out, were bennie and the jets
Oh but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh bennie they’re really green.
Thats an electric moose, a grizzly too
We’ve only seen em’ in a magazine
We’re bennie and the jets

Hey kids, wait is that a coyote?
Maybe their friendly
I think that we should find out
We shall survive, let us walk across the sand
The sun is high ,we’re burnin’ our feet
Let’s get to a cooler land

Say, Mandy and Tommy do you want to get wet?
Oh, it’s raining out, we’re Bennie and the jets
It’s really hot and its humid
They’re cutting down all the trees!
It’s a panda boo, eating bamboo shoots
Just like in your NG magazine
We’re Bennie and the Jets

Bennie!
 
yeah... I thought it was at least a 5 on the top ten songs of all time... hahaha :)

Nerves of Steel

          So, again it's been a few weeks since I last posted... I swear this last month of high school is just hectic!!
     
     What inspired me to write today, besides the fact that I have free time (strangely enough...), was my trip to Darien Lake last week. Our physics class went for Physics Day, along with just about half of all the other high schools in the state.
     One of the first rides my seven-student class went on was Ride of Steel, formerly known as Superman when Six Flags owned the park. After we had ridden it the first time, we all decided to go again because the line was short. It wasn't until a friend asked me to ride up front that I actually got nervous about the ride.
     I agreed to go up front because a.) I didn't want to be the one to 'chicken out' and b.) It was thrilling just thinking about front row. So we went up to the line for the first car. Right there my palms started sweating, "what if's" began popping up in my mind and I was getting a little nauseous. What had I gotten myself into?

     On the outside though, I kept cool, even though my friend and our teacher kept making fun of me and another friend who'd come to ride up front with us. I took deep breaths and even when I was sure I should get to a car farther back, I stayed in line. When we got to the front and climbed in our seats, I was almost shaking. I told myself over and over "you'll be fine, it's just the first seat, no biggie" etc. I mean, what could be the problem? I already rode it once; this would be no different, except...

     It was WAY better!

     That ride was just fantastic, I knew I'd love it, I just had to convince myself! A 208ft drop at 76 degrees is O.K. in the middle of the train, but when you've got nothing in front of you, and your hands in the air (a.k.a. in the front), it's awesome! As soon as I was about halfway down that first hill I knew I'd been silly to freak out.
     I got to thinking about it later in the day and I realized something: that I can do whatever I have the courage to do. Even if I'm scared out of my wits or just nervous, as long as I have that initial surge of bravery, I can hold onto that and it'll bring me through. I mean, I knew I'd be fine on Ride of Steel, but I got into second guessing myself and worrying about stupid, obscure things. When that kind of thing happens it overtakes my mind and clouds my judgement, but if I hold onto that first "I can do it!" feeling, everything works out just fine. 

     I'm just so happy that I've come to this realization, and that I can use it in future experiences!

How Far Away is Graduation?

42 days.

     Yeah, that's right... forty-two days until I'm done with my high school career... forever. Honestly, I'm not too upset about it, but I also kind of feel like I'm losing a little part of me. I mean, think about it: I've been going to school for the last (almost) 13 years. I've known nothing else than to get up at 6:30 and get ready for school on weekdays and, heck, I can barely remember my life before school. Maybe I'm just nervous because this routine, the one constant in my life (besides family of course), won't be there anymore.
     I know I'll be ok and I think I'll adapt just fine, but sometimes I have little doubts. I think about being two hours from home, about friends I may or may not make and basically hoping that I can get to class on time (my residence halls will be a mile and a half from my first class...ah!). Then I remind myself that it's only two hours, not across the country; that all the freshmen will be in the same boat and it'll be easy to make friends, and that a 1.5 mi isn't that bad when you can ride the bus for free.

     Anyway... that was my little stress release for the week. I finished my biology exam on Monday and have felt burnt out ever since (and I stil have backwork I need to finish!!), and I'm going to my third track meet of the week tonight... oh I can't WAIT for the weekend!
    

Boston

    
     So, last week I finally made my college decision and filled out all of my scholarships that were due just in time to head off on my senior trip- to Boston, Massachusetts!
     First, I have to say that Boston is a really attractive city. All of the architecture and brick houses with black trimming make it look so beautiful. Now, I've been to New York City (and don't get me wrong, I'm a die hard Yankees fan and all) but in comparing just the visual parts of each city- Boston wins by a landslide. It's just so pretty!

     First off when we got there, our class (all 30 of us) got on a Duck Tour bus and took a tour of the city. I enjoyed myself, but we were all pretty put out when they told us the 30mph winds (plus gusts) were keeping the vehicles off of the water that day. So the multi-terrain tour was only limited to the streets. : (
     Anyway- Our next stop was a lovely dinner cruise on the Spirit of Boston. I was impressed with the buffet and I think we all had a little fun dancing to the DJ.
     The next day we went on a whale watch, visited the New England Aquarium, walked the Freedom Trail and finished with dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Whale watching was a wonderful and only a tad boring experience.

     Me being the biology major, of course I have to go more into detail about the whales. First, you get to the wharf and the boat people advise you by saying "watch out, there are three-foot crests today" and "if you have seasickness medicine, take it." I'm all for a prep speech, but honestly, during the whole three hour trip I really didn't get how they thought those waves would cause seasickness (honestly I think it's just a sales pitch to get you to buy the medicine they sell on the boat). Anyway, after we got out of the bay and had ridden another hour out into the ocean, we started seeing our first whales- the finbacks. They were appropriately named I think because that's really all we saw- the little fin on their backs when they crested the surface. It was cool to see the little sprays erupt out of the water every once in awhile though.
     A little later on, we started to see strange little flocks of seagulls, gathered around bright turquoise water for no apparent reason. I watched one group for awhile and suddenly saw a smooth black...thing emerge from the center of the turquoise. It was a humpback whale's head! That was the way they fed- by scooping up their fishy food from below (the gulls hung around hoping to snatch a little snack for themselves). The whales were so beautiful- I think the best part was when their tails came up above water. It's amazing to fathom how huge they are! Our boat floated around them and one humpback even got as close as twenty feet! To really finish our watch with a flourish, a whole pod of dolphins swam in and stayed with us for a few minutes. To anyone contemplating a whale watching tour, it's highly worth it when you get out there!
     On the way back in, my friends and I hunkered down under the railings out of the wind. The boat was going so fast now that you could lean forward far enough that, while your center of gravity was far off, the wind would keep you upright. It was crazy!

     Directly after the tour boat docked, our group headed into the adjacent New England Aquarium. I won't describe every exhibit, but the highlights were a jellyfish room, penguins and a central cylindrical fish tank that housed sea animals from sharks to sea turtles to moray eels. I took so many pictures!
     A guy posing as Samuel Adams came to get us for the Freedom Trail next. I thought everything he had said was really interesting, but about halfway through my feet were hurting and I couldn't concentrate. My friend and I ended up making up a random freestyle rap to pass the time (disclaimer: I am a terrible rapper). Sam led us to the Hard Rock Cafe last and I enjoyed a pretty awesome chicken caesar salad with a nice view of the cymbal-covered wall and rock music echoing though the restaurant.

     Our final day was less crazy. We had a nice slow morning walking around Quincy Market and checking out all the merchandise. I was introduced to Starbucks and am convinced that java-chip frappuchinos are the best things in the world. Ever. I'm also convinced that my thin wallet will prevent me from enjoying these too often. : )
     Before the final ride home, we stopped at a recreation center for a couple hours and rode go-carts, played laser tag, and, my favorite, rock climbed! The only downside was the sore muscles from trying to hold on at the very top of the wall...and watching kids much younger than me reach the top of the "hard" course when I myself couldn't quite reach the top of the "medium" one! (don't worry, I was master of the beginner's level, haha).

     All in all it was a fantastic trip. The people that went are mostly mature so our chaperones could lie back a little and I think we all felt like it was a true vacation from the stressful, homework filled world we came from (and had to go back to).