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).