Somewhere Else

I long to be somewhere else under this unfinished sky. I want to disappear into a world of stories. A world where things are simpler yet a million times more mysterious. To immerse myself in its environment, letting the cool, misty, air brush against my skin and chase away the recent stupor I have been in. Today I wish to submerge myself in a world of my daydreams.

First, I would leave to a forest covered in a thick fog. Trees tower high above me and their branches create a dark green and brown lace over the endless white sky. A luscious moss covers large, slate-gray, rocks that are scattered across the forest. Besides that the floor is composed of a patchwork quilt of leaf litter from deciduous trees that completely obscure the rich soil lurking beneath. The forest is endless. The perfect place to sojourn for a therapeutic time of isolation. I would wander until I am ready to leave and rejoin “reality.” But I wouldn’t go home quite yet.

I would emerge into a new world. One with adventure and possibility, and unknown places. A world of endless possibilities and no expectations. The world would have everything from mountains that touched the sky to cliffs that were embraced by foaming waves to towering cities with architectural marvels.

I wish to be in this fantastic world. I know however, I can find it anywhere. That’s all I need to remember when my days are dull.

Pet Peeve (a rant)

I don’t consider myself to be a high strung person. I am not easily aggravated by people (especially if they are outside of my own family.) I didn’t even freak out when my diorama for math class made out of Lego’s fell to the ground and shattered as I was heading out to school a while back. I just picked up the pieces and tried to fix the damage that had been done. However, I recently discovered that there is one thing that can really get under my skin: when I am talking about something and someone says everything is going to be okay.

This might sound innocent, and I wouldn’t mind if when people said it to me they actually meant it. What annoys me is when people say it in the patronizing way. They might as well be saying, “Look at how silly _____ is. I don’t really want to listen to what ____ is saying so I’ll tell ___ not to worry so _____ will shut up.  ____’s problems/concerns/life/ and goals are so unimportant.” Now this might be a dramatization, but people ( well really one person) says this to me all the time.

It bothers me for a few reasons:

• The majority of times when I am told this I am not worrying about anything. I am just stating what I have to do. For example, if I ask someone what work needs to be done or if someone asks me what work needs to be done I will tell them what I (or we depending on the case) have to do.  I’m just not so anxiety ridden that I need to be reminded to calm down.

 

• I don’t like being brushed off. When people repeatedly say this to me it becomes clear they just don’t want to hear me talk. I’m far from chatty (which is probably hard to tell from this blog) and what if I am saying something important. For example, what if I am trying to talk about  a group project and timing. Just make the effort to be polite enough to listen. I promise I will not continue to talk about it for hours. In fact, listening will probably take 30 seconds to a minute. I don’t like it when people dismiss what anyone has to say.

 

• What if I was seriously worried about something? Being told nonchalantly that I worry to much and everything is going to work out by someone who couldn’t even wait for me to finish explaining the situation is not helpful. While, I understand that one might say that they were just trying to help or make conversation by that statement, it would have been just as easy for them to actually make a suggestion or something related to the topic.

It feels so good to finally get that out. Please comment with your pet peeve.

Wow… I missed my goal by a lot

So first things first: I am shocked by how far off I am from my blogging goal, well actually I knew I wasn’t going to hit it I really am a bit more ashamed at my lack of reliability. I will do better next month, and I don’t feel like going through my list of excuses as to why I am too busy to write.

Lets bridge the gap from my last post to now here is what I learned:

1. I have a family of raccoons  living in a tree in my back yard next to my shed.
2. Apparently the word “raccoon” could be considered plural or singular.
3. Coffee is good for motivating myself to study math over spring break. (I was trying to self study a subject so I could skip that course next year and move on to the next math.  Also, this was the first time I tried coffee.
4. Understanding the material is only half the battle on a major exam the other part is time management.
5. Raccoons can create a home for themselves nearly anywhere. They will adapt to their environment because they do not create their own nests.
6. I am not good at lacrosse.
7. My dog also likes coffee and caramel.
8. html is not as confusing as I once thought it was
9. Sometimes small things can bring the most joy, like sitting outside for lunch surrounded by all the trees that have finally bloomed and become laden with flowers.

“Flowering tree bright purple flower” on tree by Rosendahl on Wikimedia commons 

   10. I did not have as much to say today as I thought I did.

I know this is a irrelevant post.  Here are some facts about raccoons. 

April 4th: My Never Ending Scarf

People change. We are shaped by the environment around us and the experiences we have gone through. It seems like the adolescence is a catalyst for change in many ways. During this time people go through many developmental changes to become the adults that support our community and sometimes family in the future. I have decided (all of the seriousness of the last few sentences are wasted on my real topic) to document the next four years of my life with something that will literally grow as I go on. It also fits into something that I have been unable to do ever… no matter how many times I restarted… after stopping… for no reason. This thing is knitting a scarf and finishing it. I have started countless one before in many colors, blue, red, white, black, but I have never finished.

I started this blue scarf in my school. We actually have a knitting club in school, and I still haven’t finished it. I decided it is going to be a four year long project. Right now my scarf is about 3 feet long, and I am determined to continue. I still have 3 1/2 years to go. I am so excited to see how long it will get! On the last day I am going to wear the scarf no matter how long it is.

 

April 2: Sounds Surround Us

I realized today how much sound is really around us. The sound of wet sneakers thumping nonchalantly against rough concrete.  The quick speech of peers made just unintelligible by distance. The sounds of birds singing. The hushed roar of cars passing by on a road far ahead. All of these noises are in my daily life, and I normally don’t recognize them. They become white noise, which is helpful at times such as when I am trying to focus on what others are saying or am deep in thought, but some times I feel like by tuning into only a few sounds I miss a lot.

For example, for just a few minutes this afternoon I found myself paying more attention to all the sounds around me. There was chatter both in front and behind me, but nothing I could really make out. I noticed a chorus of birds in the trees to my left. if I hadn’t paid attention to the sounds around me I wouldn’t have any proof was any other type of life besides humans around me at all. I was surprised to hear the variety of the bird calls even in that short time; there were at least three different types. I found myself pleased by the plopping sound my toe made as it caught the surface of a previously still puddle. It felt surreal paying attention to all of these things, like I was in a world very different from the one I normally inhabit.

The white noise that surrounds us could be heard as a single track or sound or as a million instruments playing together, it all depends on how you listen.

April 1: I Have Returned With Mild Confusion

I feel like I have climbed a mountain, because I have returned! I know I said I would before, but it still feels good to be writing outside of Slice of Life. Although my blog will still probably contain the same type of daily randomness. Perhaps the mountain thing is a bit of an exaggeration. It feels more like it did when I got through the longest run for my preseason conditioning without stopping. That was a big improvement from the first and maybe even the second attempts at that run.

But even if this is extremely over dramatic I am going to run with it. I feel like I am on the mountain and my path is clear; I can continue. However, some parts of the path are unclear. For example, I didn’t know what to title this blog. I couldn’t really say “Slice of Life 32.” The whole point of my Slice of Life blog was to cover the month of March. It feels weird to extend it to April. I also can’t use the #slice2014 tag anymore. These are minor changes, but they surprised me.

Now that the awkwardness and self pleasing paragraphs above are finished. 

Today I started to learn HTML. It seems really interesting, but honestly I’m a bit lost. It probably didn’t help that I missed the first class, and that my class was behind to begin with so the teacher had to rush through our lesson. So that adds to my general feeling of confusion today. Things seem off; absolutely wonderful (the weather has really effected my mood today along with my tired giddiness.) but off. Unfortunately, I am not able to foresee what is alluding me.