A Review of 2010

     So I was looking at Tori's blog and I saw her recap of 2010 blog and thought that it was so cool that she and Leah had done one. I talked with her and she told me that I should do one so that we can all better get to know each other. I thought it was a great concept and hear it is now. It took me forever to find pictures (I am a VERY visual person so I LOVE PICTURES!), but it was actually really hard at first to remember what took place in the year 2010. I mean there were things that stood out immediately and other important things that I had forgotten. I wonder if that means that I am getting old? I hope not...it probably means that I just get too busy. I tried to take some of the most important events, but I actually really enjoyed this post so it's slightly lengthier. Well here is my version of the year 2010 (it's not in any order, because it was really hard to organize  and I added more stuff as I remembered things)...

1. I started off getting my braces off!!! (Finally!)

2. In January, I went to Ohayocon. For all you non geeks out there, it's basically an anime convention (similar to a Star Trek probably, but Japanese culture). I was pretty into it for a while, so we went down to Columbus and cosplayed (meaning dressed up like characters from an anime, for us it was Death Note), hung around the Convention Center, met some new people, hugged and took pictures with everyone, and PARTIED!

I was Light! It wasn't that bad of a cosplay...

We were all dressed up for this rave, with our characters on our t-shirts!

This was the last day and it was rainbow day, so we were each a color! And a random dude....

3. My family survived my little sister and her episodes, surprisingly enough. I even joined NAMI to help and learn more, took some classes, and did NAMI Walk with a lot of my friends (Meaning Kandi, Noah, Katie, Tori, Lexi, Sam, and my family)

4. I went to California over the summer to visit my relatives with my dad and my two sisters

5. I volunteered at Aurora Manor (Rehabilitation and Elderly home). I love it because they are always so happy to see kids there and they are really interesting to talk to!

6. Started IB! Lost any chance that I had at a normal high school experience and instead gained a lot of homework!

7. Started looking at colleges. Case Western Reserve University is my dream school! Other than that I am not sure where to go for Pre-Med/Forensics. I am excited though for college, but the task of finding the perfect one is daunting!

8. Went through the summer math program to get into IB. That was a major pain in the butt, but at least we all suffered together! =D

9. I worked on ACT's Zombie Prom over the summer, and it was definitely one of the best experiences of my life! The people were great! Although by the time school came back around, I felt like I had never left!

10. I took the APUSH exam in May...it sucked! I loved the subject and aced the class, but I got a 3 on the exam! I blame the Puritans and the irritating multiple choice question involving the Campbell's soup can! 

11. For my sixteenth birthday, over the summer, my mom somehow scrounged up enough money for the two of us to go to London! It was the best trip ever! I loved visiting England! 

Waiting for the Tube at Charing Cross Station (There was so much cool artwork in the Tube)

YAY CASTLE!! 

You can't go to London without participating in tea time! 

Noah, I don't know if you read these...but I found a picture of the food and thought of you so it's up here now! =D

And of course the classic guards that are so entertaining! ^.^

12. I joined a bunch of school clubs this year, like SADD club (Haven't gone to a meeting in a while though...), French Club, Science Olympiad (2nd year), Drama Club, Improv Club, Quizbowl, Stage Crew (My favorite!), officially a Tech Crew member, FMP, and I think that's it...yay business! 

13. I worked on the fall play Noises Off as the Assistant Stage Manager. 

14. Harry Potter came out!! I was so excited! Go Gryfindor! 

15. Went to some awesome parties, saw some old buddies that graduated, and stayed out late! Yay for getting older! =D

16. Dealt with some legal stuff between my family. 

17. Played some epic PSP games, but I'm scared to finish Final Fantasy's Crisis Core, because of the INEVITABLE TEARS! ='(

HE'S GOING TO DIE! 

18. I worked on Crazy for You, in March...here's a pretty good picture of Noah. Suffer Noah! :-P

Here's Noah...Tee-Hee-Hee 

19. Went to my first real concert, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus's concert with some friends and it was great!!! The crowd was really into the music and rhythm, and I wanted to go into the mosh pit, but I didn't want to risk getting hurt by the crowd. =(  

20. I was the Props Mistress and Crew Manager for the Wizard of Oz play for Harmon Middle Schoolers. It was definitely an experience...little kids are hyperactive and destructive. 

21. I had fun modeling for different friend's art projects and this one company...

22. I went to homecoming and had muchos amount of fun! 

23. I went to Tori's Sweet Sixteen Party as Lexi's date! (Shout out to Tori!) 

24. We all lost Kara to Georgia because she had to move! =(

25. I learned how to belly dance (thanks Suz!) and how to shoot a gun (thanks Nancy!). Both are great and belly dancing is a surprising workout, and shooting a gun is actually pretty exciting! 

26. Many funny epic moments occurred and I grew so much closer to all of my friends! It was a great year! 

     Wow! That was a lot longer then I thought that it would be! Sorry, just there was so many things that I had to include! I guess it's just a looksie on my life. I have high hopes for this year, but I am worried because of college stuff, SAT/ACT testing, and our Extended Essays. I do regret last year that I didn't get my temps...time passes to fast! I hope that this year will be just as great as last year and everyone who reads this enjoyed some of the embarrassing pictures!

Hallmark Holidays

While I was at my dad’s house, his girlfriend Catherine and I went out shopping at a Pat Catan’s with my little sister Colleen, and Catherine’s ten year old daughter Maddy. As soon as we entered the store, we were bombarded by all of the Christmas clearance items. However in the far corner, you could see that the takeover of the stuff for the next holiday was occurring. I personally had no idea that there was another holiday until Easter, but Colleen so nicely pointed out, “Look Emma, Valentine’s Day stuff are already out!”. My first thought was “Oh poo I might have to celebrate that holiday this year”. I don’t mind holidays, and for right now I have a boyfriend but its Valentine’s Day. I mean, come on, it’s so cliché and definitely one of the most awkward holidays out there.

Most girls LOVE Valentine’s Day, while I on the other hand usually forget about it. I mean it’s a Hallmark Cards created holiday created for people to spend more money on the people that they like and love, when in reality ever y moment should just be cherished, every day. I’m not saying that every day girls and guys should give each other chocolates and what not, but isn’t it better to celebrate the fact that you have every day together, and those memories that you have with that person, then to celebrate one specific day. Plus, guys, at least all of the guys that I know, stress over what to get their girlfriends. If it’s stressful, then how is it fun commemoration of your relationship? To me, it’s just another day, and should not be obsessed over.  

Being Impersonal and Private

Supposedly my blogs aren’t personal enough, which I hadn’t realized as much as before. I always have hated writing assignments given by teachers that involved telling a personal story from my past, and so I tend to avoid doing them when I don’t have to. I’m a pretty logical and analytical person, because I feel that a lot of the time emotions just end up in the way a lot of the time. So what I had decided to do for these blogs was to find random subjects and write about them. I would rather do that then try to dramatize my life to make the blogs interesting, or make myself seem pathetic. I apologize for the dryness and the harshness in my blogs, but I can think like that a lot. Even though nobody reads these but occasionally Tori and Katie, and then Mr.Wilcox when he grades them, I still feel bad. However unlike Facebook and Myspace, I would rather keep my personal issues and problems private. It’s not to be rude, but a lot of people already interfere with my family and I’s daily life enough that I don’t need others doing so as well. Although, then again, in this day and age the popularly accepted normal IS to interfere in everyone’s personal life, via media connections. Yet, I don’t understand why people should because they usually seem to do more harming than helping.

I remember when I was little I used to think that I was being spied on by some other people that would then inform my parents and others about what I was doing. I used to get a little freaked out by it because I felt like my privacy was being violated. Which is what is called normal today. Yet, if we call that normal, then how do we classify stalking because they are both so similar and it’s hard to differentiate. Both involve knowing a lot about someone, but they use slightly different ways to figure out the knowledge, I guess? I don’t like it. Especially because we are so technologically savvy, but I wonder if there’s a limit to how technological we can be before we get set all the way back to the beginning. 

People and "True" Love

               Okay, a secret about me: I enjoy watching a show called The Millionaire Matchmaker. It’s an entertaining show because it’s about all of these people who seek the matchmaker, Patti, to help them find true love. The people that come in though, always seem to think that they are all that and that it other people’s problem that they haven’t met their “true” love yet. There is usually something wrong with them though (mostly involving their attitudes), and Patti finds it and then uses it to deflate their egos a bit (plus teach them a lesson) leading to them being more desirable to women. Watching the guys change though is a hilarious rollercoaster. However, only some of the couples end up lasting more than a couple of months. They believe that they have true love, and then the relationship ends so quickly.

                I don’t really think that I believe in true love. I find it a nice dream to have and I am always so ecstatic for people that I know when they find their dream soul mate, and I believe it possible for them; however I have never thought it possible for me. I know that it is a strange way of thinking, but that’s what I have always thought/believed. What adds to my disbelief is that when kids today say how much they are in love with their boyfriend/girlfriend, I immediately want to laugh at their foolishness. For kids these days, to believe that they are in love and only in high school is hard to believe, I mean it is high school and we are still so young, so how is it possible to know who we want to spend the rest  of our lives with? The word “love” is used way too casually in our everyday conversations. How are people supposed to realize that when you tell them that you love them that you mean it like you love a sweater or that you actually like them for who they are. Also, it’s not as big of a deal these days if you don’t love someone and your married to them, because you can just get a divorce, compared to in other societies and cultures, you are stuck with that person till they die.

                All in all, I feel that love is not a good word to use because of its common everyday usage. Its common usage is based off of our society and how as people become more dramatic, then they also look for more meaningful words to replace the everyday words. So I feel that the major lesson of the day would be to not use words unless you are prepared for their real meaning and that you sincerely mean what you are saying. 

Hypocrisy Involving Truth

            People can be so hypocritical when it comes to telling the truth.  There are situations where humans desire to know the truth, and either they receive it or are lied to about it. Then there are other times where they think that they want to hear/discover the truth, when they would actually be happier not knowing, or believing a false truth. I dislike the hypocrisy surrounding the concept of truth, but it is perfectly understandable to me about why it exists. A classic example would be a girl asking a guy if an outfit looks good on her. If it doesn’t the guy could either tell her the truth and face the consequences or he could say yes and lie about it to keep her happy.  The girl may desire the truth about the outfit, however most off the time, the people might just think that they want to know the truth however ignorance is bliss to them.  

It is human nature to try to keep people happy, and if that means lying and not telling them the truth, then so be it. The people that are brutally honest usually get a bad reputation in society because others view them as being mean and cruel, because they are not censoring their thoughts. They just say what comes to their mind, leading to them being very blunt and honest. It might be human nature to survive, which is why people deceive others when it comes to the truth. People don’t want to hurt others or burden them with reality, so instead they tell false truths to help others survive in today’s world as best as they can. However much society would like to believe that they are truthful, in reality by believing that is just adding to the lies surrounding truth, and is proving human nature to be very hypocritical and cowardly because they don’t want to own up to what life actually is.  

Life Without IB (Shout Out to Tori AND Katie!)

Okay, so I was slightly procrastinating on homework the previous night, and I was flipping through some people’s blogs (awful way to procrastinate because it is still homework related) and I saw one on Katie’s that was a shout out to one that Tori did, and I really liked the topic that they wrote about. So hopefully they won’t mind that I am going to use their topic as well. I don’t know if I could see my life without IB. However I feel that if I wasn’t in the IB program I would probably be doing as many AP classes as possible, leading to a slow and painful death. At least with the IB program, the classes are planned out so there is a slightly smaller chance of not overworking myself. I feel though that if I was taking AP courses, I would not be friends with a lot of the people that I am friends with now. Granted, I would be able to spend more time with my older friends, but I am always one for new friends. Plus I feel that with AP I might have had more of a social life (strange concept…a social life…huhhh…).

 However AP courses are not as much my style because it is more memorization then comprehension and I have one of the worst memories possible. Plus, I wanted to improve my writing and since we do so much writing in IB, it’s a great way to improve my writing. Without IB, I would have more time for my extracurricular and volunteering activities. Plus I would possibly be able to get more sleep. Though IB takes a lot of work and there is so much stress, I feel that it is a great experience and I am enjoying learning new things about different people from teachers to students. All in all, I really like IB (and I feel that so does everyone else), no matter how much we all complain and whine about it! 

Dreaming about Sleep/Sleeping

           Sleep…also known as the elusive dream of a high school student. Or at least the elusive dream for an IB and AP student, and I guess anybody else who works really hard. I know that for me, at least during the school year, getting sleep is difficult. A good night’s worth of sleep is 6 hours. It’s so little because between the extracurricular activities, school work/homework, stuff to be done at home, and then friends and all of their problems, it’s hard to get everything done. Yet it’s what we as students do to continue doing what we are doing in our lives. Still, it’s hard for me to see some of my friends change as they lose sleep. One of my friends has gained bags under his eyes and his temper has become worse because he is not getting enough sleep, as he instead studies and does sports.
           I read an article today about how teenager’s brains are chemically wired for the teenager to sleep more than an adult or a little kid, as they grow at the crucial stage of almost like a halfway point. The article proves that teenagers need more sleep, yet I know nobody who gets the nine hours of sleep a night. To me, that’s insane. It would be nice, but there is just so much to do, and we are at a crucial point in our lives right now, so how could we spend nine hours sleeping and not doing homework? However, I know that on weekends many people crash as they get about 12 hours of sleep a night. I remember when I was younger, I would always think that those types of people were storing the energy away for the week, so that that way they could continue functioning properly.
           Personally, during the week I can’t wait for the weekend to get some sleep but even then it’s difficult because of the homework received on Friday and then due Monday. I find it ironic then when we come back to school on Monday and in for example, Spanish class, Señora Foster would always ask us what we did over the BEAUTIFUL weekend. The weekend that nobody enjoyed because of homework, she is always so surprised.  It’s just entertaining to me to see sometimes the teachers surprised by the amount of work that we do. Even my dad, was shocked by the amount of homework that we can sometimes get. Well, I kind of got off topic however I can’t wait for college to get some sleep! (Just kidding, college will probably equal double the work load of now…Yay! *please note the sarcasm*)