December 2011
23 posts
Redding.
That was wonderful. A fantastic trip. Damburger, the river trail, Eli, Addison, Carson, two old teachers, Girondas, the new RSA building, Sundial Bridge, Mt. Shasta Mall, and just driving around on all of my old streets. I remember so many little things, all with memories attached, but it wasn’t really sad this time at all. Sure, there are definitely parts I miss, but I kinda know that...
Burnt out.
I’m so sick of college essays. I’m doing so much work, just to get rejected in a few months. And seriously, do you need 3 essays, in addition to the general common app one? Ugh.
I just want to sleep…
Christmas!
So, the bad news: I have a canker sore, and the next few days are going to be a ton of homework and college apps.
The good news: everything else.
Overall, a very nice Christmas.
Christmas Eve.
I went to bed at about midnight, and couldn’t go to sleep. I wasn’t really super excited about today, and I wasn’t really thinking about Christmas even. So I guess it’s just sort of my brain with an annual clock saying “YOU CAN’T SLEEP TONIGHT, IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” to me. Weird. Oh well, it’s Christmas now!
I feel like I'm an incredibly jaded person.
I don’t know where this mood came from. But it’s not a whole lot of fun.
Instructions
I think The Prince needs an upgrade. And I would like to write it. After all, the world is quite a lot different from the 15th century, and while some of the lessons are still valid, many of them are not. Besides, Machiavelli’s work is a little too small in scale for me. Sure it would be nice to own Italy. How about the world? It really shouldn’t be that hard.
Intellectual Questions
I’m going to start a series of intellectual questions posed on here, about literature, life, politics (though I’ll try not to get too controversial), etc. If people think this is annoying, just tell me. And you don’t even have to answer, although answers are cool; you can just think about it in many cases.
Question: Could Jay Gatsby be considered a “tragic hero?”...
I would never be a college admissions officer.
To have so much power over young teenagers’ lives… I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t make decisions like that, especially not if I know that they have worked so hard and want it so badly. So in one sense, I have a lot of respect for the people who can do that, and try to make the best decisions with such a difficult task. But, on the other hand, I still hate their guts.
Too much to learn.
I start doing history notes, and before I know it, I’ve read 6 different web pages and am looking at physics, or a mountain range, or who knows what. There’s soooo much interesting stuff that I want to learn. And then there’s Spanish. So far, it’s quite fun, but I just don’t have enough time! And I want to get better at German too. And I want to read so many books.
I...
2 tags
“It seemed like a fine philosophy. In five years, I thought, it will seem just as...”
– The Sun Also Rises
Risk.
I seriously don’t know why Risk (Castle Risk in this instance) is so fricken’ cool. I get absolutely obsessed with these games. I’m so competitive, and this makes me more so than ever. But I have so much fun. And I try to help other people have fun too, even if I’m battling them. I love the strategy. Only think I dislike is when people get really personally hurt about it,...
Spanish!
I have officially begun learning Spanish on my own. I really want to learn this. This website is really helpful http://www.studyspanish.com/, and I think if I learn all of the grammar and stuff, it shouldn’t be too hard. Except I need people to practice with. I mean, there’s Frau Mac, and my aunt and cousin who teach Spanish, but other kids would be helpful too.
Anyway, I’m...
Christmas...?
So, I will now officially recognize that Christmas time has begun. But I’m feeling zero Christmas spirit. And I don’t particularly know why. And I like Christmas spirit, once it’s actually Christmas time. Sooo… Anybody have suggestions on how I can attain some of this yuletide cheer?
Just finished The Sun Also Rises.
Wow. Hemingway was amazing. I don’t know what it was, but the reading the last chapter of the book just made me feel so completely empty, filled with despair. I’ve read a lot of books with depressing endings. Grapes of Wrath, 1984, The Two Towers, Animal Farm, All Quiet on the Western Front, Hamlet, etc. But something about how this book was written, as well as A Farewell to Arms and...
Why do people work so hard to not believe what is...
They’ll do anything to not believe and not see what is so simple. I really don’t get it.
Yes, this is very ambiguous. Because it applies to almost everything that people do, from little personal experiences to general human practices that billions practice. We have eyes, we have minds. What is it that prevents us from using them?
A good idea.
I really want to sit down for like a whole day and write down a statement of my beliefs about everything. My philosophy and opinions. Because then it would force me to really think about it all and I would probably end up being more logical. But then I would also be able to argue a point and debate, and know for sure what I really want to say. Perhaps the biggest reason though is that then...
Are you kidding me.
I haven’t complained for a while. I really tried, and for a while, it seemed to be getting better. But after yesterday and today, I couldn’t hold it in. Honestly, does he even know what teaching is? What do we do for 90 minutes every single day? Can’t he remember any English class in his 18 years of college classes? Because I’m sure every one of them was better than this....
Blam.
Done. I’m not really proud of the quality of this research paper. Frankly, I don’t care much about it at all. I mean, it’s going to be pass/fail graded by a bunch of non-honors teachers to non-honors standards. And then it’s going to be graded by Underwood, for whom I have no respect at all (today’s class was absolutely abysmal, I got really mad, but that’s...