I wonder if anyone would notice if I posted to the blog during the school year. Maybe if some of you have it in your RSS feeds...
My last summer-break post =)
Moving in tomorrow!
My dad and I just changed the strings on both the guitars. It didn't go perfectly, but it was good enough. My finger has a mark on it. Ouch.
Trac's here. He went to sleep like... more than an hour ago. Hahaha he was exhausted today. We had In'n'Out. And had a good dinner with my parents.
And now I'm on the couch, pleasantly tired. Gotta get up early tomorrow.
Lalala =)
My dad and I just changed the strings on both the guitars. It didn't go perfectly, but it was good enough. My finger has a mark on it. Ouch.
Trac's here. He went to sleep like... more than an hour ago. Hahaha he was exhausted today. We had In'n'Out. And had a good dinner with my parents.
And now I'm on the couch, pleasantly tired. Gotta get up early tomorrow.
Lalala =)
I WAAAAAAAAAAANT YOUUUUUU TO WANT MEEEEEE
I NEEEEEEEEEEEED YOUUUUUU TO NEED MEEEEEE
I'D LOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOVE YOUUUUU TO LOVE MEEEEE
OOOOOH
I'M BEGGIN' YOU TO BEG ME
shine up mah old brown shoez
i'd put on a brand new SHIRT
i'd get home early from work
if you saaaaa-aaaaay
that you LOOOVE MEEEE
DIDN'T I DIDN'T I DIDN'T I SEE YOU CRYIN?!
OOOOOOH DIDN'T I DIDN'T I DIDN'T I SEE YOU CRYIN'?!
FEELIN' ALL ALONE WITHOUT A FRIEND YOU KNOW YA FEEL LIKE DYIN
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
DIDN'T I DIDN'T I DIDN'T I SEE YOU CRYIN?!
HEY!
FEELIN ALL ALONE WITHOUT A FRIEND YOU KNOW YA FEEL LIKE DYIN
OH DIDN'T I DIDN'T I DIDN'T I SEE YOU CRYIN!?!??!!??!
FUCKING GUITAR SOLO
I NEEEEEEEEEEEED YOUUUUUU TO NEED MEEEEEE
I'D LOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOVE YOUUUUU TO LOVE MEEEEE
OOOOOH
I'M BEGGIN' YOU TO BEG ME
shine up mah old brown shoez
i'd put on a brand new SHIRT
i'd get home early from work
if you saaaaa-aaaaay
that you LOOOVE MEEEE
DIDN'T I DIDN'T I DIDN'T I SEE YOU CRYIN?!
OOOOOOH DIDN'T I DIDN'T I DIDN'T I SEE YOU CRYIN'?!
FEELIN' ALL ALONE WITHOUT A FRIEND YOU KNOW YA FEEL LIKE DYIN
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
DIDN'T I DIDN'T I DIDN'T I SEE YOU CRYIN?!
HEY!
FEELIN ALL ALONE WITHOUT A FRIEND YOU KNOW YA FEEL LIKE DYIN
OH DIDN'T I DIDN'T I DIDN'T I SEE YOU CRYIN!?!??!!??!
FUCKING GUITAR SOLO
It's time I posted something...
I keep meaning to. But then my laziness takes over. But I'm just sitting here in the kitchen right now and figured 'hey, what else am I doing right now...' I just had hot chocolate a little bit ago.
Alright, settin' some music on, as this post will need to cover a lot of information (and leave an even larger fraction out, I'm sure - there's way too much that has happened since my last post).
I think I will focus on the particularly fun and busy week I had last week. Because I still remember a lot of the details, and it was basically stuff happening every day. And then maybe I'll reflect back on other random things that have happened. I just realized I kinda wrote an abstract right there. So here we go.
Last Monday I went on a rather fabulous bike ride with some friends. We met at the shopping center with Chipotle and stuff and then went to the levee (by way of my house - I had decided to switch bikes). I've decided to use a different bike next year - not the really old green one from the last post. I figure - riding a bike on campus involves lots of weaving in and out of people and making tight turns and going off curbs and stuff - which really isn't what a thin wheeled, short handle-barred road bike is for. That thing was hard to turn quickly. So I'm using my brother's old bike now. It's a little messed up but it works. We went out on the levee past the bridge to an area where people go kite-surfing and stopped there for a little while, and then headed back because one of us had to go to work. After stopping at her house we headed back out again and went to this pretty cool place that's right around here, but where I still haven't been in years. There are huuuuuge concrete letters on the ground that spell out Foster City on the ground (look for it if you guys are flying into SFO and sitting on the left side of the plane). There's also a big area of bike jumps for bmx bikers and we chose a really big jump that nobody was using to sit on and enjoy the area. And then we went the other direction to a hotel with a cool gazebo thing. All in all I think we were out for about 4 hours.
That's the 'Y'!
On top of the big big jump.
These are plants. You must go AROUND.
(Can kinda hear Mitch Hedburg saying that)
Alright, settin' some music on, as this post will need to cover a lot of information (and leave an even larger fraction out, I'm sure - there's way too much that has happened since my last post).
I think I will focus on the particularly fun and busy week I had last week. Because I still remember a lot of the details, and it was basically stuff happening every day. And then maybe I'll reflect back on other random things that have happened. I just realized I kinda wrote an abstract right there. So here we go.
Last Monday I went on a rather fabulous bike ride with some friends. We met at the shopping center with Chipotle and stuff and then went to the levee (by way of my house - I had decided to switch bikes). I've decided to use a different bike next year - not the really old green one from the last post. I figure - riding a bike on campus involves lots of weaving in and out of people and making tight turns and going off curbs and stuff - which really isn't what a thin wheeled, short handle-barred road bike is for. That thing was hard to turn quickly. So I'm using my brother's old bike now. It's a little messed up but it works. We went out on the levee past the bridge to an area where people go kite-surfing and stopped there for a little while, and then headed back because one of us had to go to work. After stopping at her house we headed back out again and went to this pretty cool place that's right around here, but where I still haven't been in years. There are huuuuuge concrete letters on the ground that spell out Foster City on the ground (look for it if you guys are flying into SFO and sitting on the left side of the plane). There's also a big area of bike jumps for bmx bikers and we chose a really big jump that nobody was using to sit on and enjoy the area. And then we went the other direction to a hotel with a cool gazebo thing. All in all I think we were out for about 4 hours.
That's the 'Y'!
On top of the big big jump.
Alright, on to Tuesday. As you can see this is going to be a pretty long post. We decided we wanted to visit some teachers at our high school. We also came up with the epic idea of going to Masu first, which is an all-you-can-eat sushi place. It's not one of the places with boats or conveyer belts where you pick plates and then pay by the plate-type - it's a flat fee, all you can eat. Which is great, because we ate a LOT. Oh man. We were so full. So then we went to visit teachers/coaches. And then a group of us went to see District 9. I managed to spill my icee before the movie even began. Likely going with a soda next time.
WEDNESDAY! I headed over to Berkeley on BART (which fortunately didn't go on strike after all). I met up with Adam first, and then we met up with Tyler for lunch. Tyler took me to the machine shop to show me what he's been doing for a lot of this summer. Then, while he had work to do and a meeting with a professor, and Adam had an audition, I wandered around campus for a little bit. Adam's audition finished up really quickly though so then he showed me around some parts of the campus that I would've had a hard time finding otherwise. Saw this sign.
WEDNESDAY! I headed over to Berkeley on BART (which fortunately didn't go on strike after all). I met up with Adam first, and then we met up with Tyler for lunch. Tyler took me to the machine shop to show me what he's been doing for a lot of this summer. Then, while he had work to do and a meeting with a professor, and Adam had an audition, I wandered around campus for a little bit. Adam's audition finished up really quickly though so then he showed me around some parts of the campus that I would've had a hard time finding otherwise. Saw this sign.
These are plants. You must go AROUND.
(Can kinda hear Mitch Hedburg saying that)
We met back up with Tyler and went to see the underground stacks. I'd wanted to see them since a long time ago but couldn't get in. Then this year we found out that Stanford and Berkeley's libraries have some affiliation thing so I was able to get down there. We also checked out the Asian-American studies building (or something) which was pretty cool - the architecture and stuff are pretty neat to look at. Afterward we headed to see Tyler's new apartment. Much Rock Band ensued. Later I gave Adam his birthday present (it was his birthday) - that amazing Ghandi card that I found last year and the 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' book. We went to eat at CHEESEBOARD (which was a part of the reason I had wanted to come). It's a pizza place - no meat, only one type of pizza per day, and somehow basically always amazing. Our pizza had squash, cheese, pesto sauce... and it was AMAZING. Sounds like I might go with my parents to meet Tyler for lunch in the next few weeks and eat there again. Yayyy. That night my bed consisted of two lounge chairs, and office chair, and two towels ('pillow' towel and 'blanket' towel). Before leaving the next day I had about the largest burger I've ever had.
FRIDAY. What did I do........... I remember I did something. Hold on.
OH YEAH. Okay. I went to Stanford that night with a friend that plays the flute. We played some music and then went to the downtown Coupa Cafe.
So, that was a good week.
I've also been watching T.V. with our family friends, practicing lots of music, and (still) sleeping a lot. And we had a cross country reunion a while back, which was funnn.
I found out about a path near here that I really want to try out - it looks like a REALLY nice place to run/bike/roller-blade. There's also a hiking trail that I wanna hike. I'm realizing there's a good bit I'd still like to do before going back to school. Also I think it sounds fun to just take a drive out toward half-moon bay, just for the fun of it.
I think this is long enough. =)
FRIDAY. What did I do........... I remember I did something. Hold on.
OH YEAH. Okay. I went to Stanford that night with a friend that plays the flute. We played some music and then went to the downtown Coupa Cafe.
Mmmmm.
Then a bit past 11 a couple other friends came to my house to watch 'Fracture' (which I told some of you about last year, yeah? We need to watch it this year). It was fun.So, that was a good week.
I've also been watching T.V. with our family friends, practicing lots of music, and (still) sleeping a lot. And we had a cross country reunion a while back, which was funnn.
I found out about a path near here that I really want to try out - it looks like a REALLY nice place to run/bike/roller-blade. There's also a hiking trail that I wanna hike. I'm realizing there's a good bit I'd still like to do before going back to school. Also I think it sounds fun to just take a drive out toward half-moon bay, just for the fun of it.
I think this is long enough. =)
Send-Off Partayyyy!
I am once again going to the Minnesota send-off party in Edina, and I'm kind of excited so I thought I'd express that on our blog. I do believe I will be seeing our dear Trac there. :D
Any of youse guys going to your respective send-off parties, just for kicks?
Bhuuutan!
Hi friends!
I'm in Bhutan! It is beautiful and friendly and Buddhist and fresh and alpine.
I'm extremely happy.
I'm sorry I haven't been updating well.
I gotta run see more temples and stuff. I will post more later. Maybe even pictures!
Much love.
Private message: Hey Nicole! I got your message! I think you should definitely stick with it and I'd be happy to help. I'll write back a longer reply later..
I'm in Bhutan! It is beautiful and friendly and Buddhist and fresh and alpine.
I'm extremely happy.
I'm sorry I haven't been updating well.
I gotta run see more temples and stuff. I will post more later. Maybe even pictures!
Much love.
Private message: Hey Nicole! I got your message! I think you should definitely stick with it and I'd be happy to help. I'll write back a longer reply later..
ELECTRIC FENCE UPDATE
See my previous post for the first mention of an electric fence.
So, I was getting sick of having to snatch at 3 billion pieces of grass in between pulses of electricity, so I decided to trim all the grass with a weed clipper thing before turning on the fence tonight. There was some really stubborn crab grass, and I gave it a hard snip when...oops, cut the fence in two. I looked at it in disbelief for a split second, but then I just started hooting with laughter. I mean, anybody could have totally seen that coming. Did I? Nope!
I called my dad to ask him what to do about it. He figured it didn't matter since the fence itself isn't a closed circuit, so all I had to do was tie the loose ends to a couple of insulators, put those on some stakes and put the stakes into the ground to make the fence taut again.
But JEEZ. My luck, when it comes to electric fences, is nil.
I just saw this commercial that was like, "You don't need to panic when you talk to your kids about sex." and there's this guy, and he's trying to get to his daughter but he's miming invisible walls and shit, and she's like nine years old.
"You do need to talk to us, though.
You don't have to be explicit.
You don't need to tell us about the parts.
Just tell us how you feel.
Tell us not to have sex.
PAID FOR BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES"
I mean I can't even fucking believe that our government is STILL encouraging ignorance about sex-- "don't tell us about the parts, just tell us not to"?! I mean what the fuck is that?! It doesn't even WORK! So many CONCLUSIVE STUDIES have shown that just telling your kids not to have sex isn't going to WORK. Kids who want to have sex WILL HAVE SEX. Not educating them about it DOES NOT STOP THEM. It just keeps them from using channels to protect themselves from STDs and being mentally prepared for the actual emotional impact! I'm sorry I'm being graphic but it's really frustrating because people are really perverting the spirit of their faith-- I keep hearing stories about girls who have pledged to save their virginities, so they're having anal sex instead because it's not "real sex," which is just confusing because yeah it is and YOU NEED TO BE SAFE ABOUT IT.
I'm all for abstinence, really, I am! I really encourage girls and boys to wait for sex, I think it's great for people to wait until they're ready, whether that means marriage or finding yourself in a relationship you feel like you're ready to take the next step in, WHATEVER. It's your body. But you also have a right to know how it works, and how to protect yourself when you make that decision BECAUSE IT IS YOUR BODY AND YOU DESERVE TO BE SAFE AND HEALTHY. It's absolutely baffling why the US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN FUCKING SERVICES would encourage the denial of that right. I am ABSOLUTELY fine with schools teaching abstinence alongside other birth control methods, I think that's really important because I will readily admit that at sixteen I was not ready to have sex and it's good to teach kids that [i]not being ready is OK, and normal.[/i] But there are kids who are ready, or who feel they're ready, or who will be ready and won't know everything they should know before getting into it with another human being, and there are kids who are just going to have sex anyway whether they're ready or not and that happens WITH OR WITHOUT ABSTINENCE ONLY EDUCATION.
It's not even just about sex, but what can happen after. STDs and pregnancy and sometimes emotional trauma because yeah, people push it too hard. But people push it too hard IN THE MEDIA, AND IN REAL LIFE, NOT IN SCHOOL. But these kids don't know about their rights to their health, they might not even realize there's a problem if they start showing symptoms of something they don't even know is a disease. Kids will have sex, no matter what they're taught. They will. It's not about nine year olds, they haven't even hit puberty (although there's an alarming trend where younger girls are having sex more frequently now-- guess where), but kids who HAVE hit puberty and are experiencing a fuckton of new feelings they have a right to know how to deal with.
No one needs to feel guilty for being human. I mean, jesus, it's the biological imperative, and they should have the right to understand their feelings and interpret them in a way that best suits them.
I'm sorry I just practically wrote an essay, have a related Onion article http://www.theonion.com/content/news/study_abstinence_only_lunch
"You do need to talk to us, though.
You don't have to be explicit.
You don't need to tell us about the parts.
Just tell us how you feel.
Tell us not to have sex.
PAID FOR BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES"
I mean I can't even fucking believe that our government is STILL encouraging ignorance about sex-- "don't tell us about the parts, just tell us not to"?! I mean what the fuck is that?! It doesn't even WORK! So many CONCLUSIVE STUDIES have shown that just telling your kids not to have sex isn't going to WORK. Kids who want to have sex WILL HAVE SEX. Not educating them about it DOES NOT STOP THEM. It just keeps them from using channels to protect themselves from STDs and being mentally prepared for the actual emotional impact! I'm sorry I'm being graphic but it's really frustrating because people are really perverting the spirit of their faith-- I keep hearing stories about girls who have pledged to save their virginities, so they're having anal sex instead because it's not "real sex," which is just confusing because yeah it is and YOU NEED TO BE SAFE ABOUT IT.
I'm all for abstinence, really, I am! I really encourage girls and boys to wait for sex, I think it's great for people to wait until they're ready, whether that means marriage or finding yourself in a relationship you feel like you're ready to take the next step in, WHATEVER. It's your body. But you also have a right to know how it works, and how to protect yourself when you make that decision BECAUSE IT IS YOUR BODY AND YOU DESERVE TO BE SAFE AND HEALTHY. It's absolutely baffling why the US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN FUCKING SERVICES would encourage the denial of that right. I am ABSOLUTELY fine with schools teaching abstinence alongside other birth control methods, I think that's really important because I will readily admit that at sixteen I was not ready to have sex and it's good to teach kids that [i]not being ready is OK, and normal.[/i] But there are kids who are ready, or who feel they're ready, or who will be ready and won't know everything they should know before getting into it with another human being, and there are kids who are just going to have sex anyway whether they're ready or not and that happens WITH OR WITHOUT ABSTINENCE ONLY EDUCATION.
It's not even just about sex, but what can happen after. STDs and pregnancy and sometimes emotional trauma because yeah, people push it too hard. But people push it too hard IN THE MEDIA, AND IN REAL LIFE, NOT IN SCHOOL. But these kids don't know about their rights to their health, they might not even realize there's a problem if they start showing symptoms of something they don't even know is a disease. Kids will have sex, no matter what they're taught. They will. It's not about nine year olds, they haven't even hit puberty (although there's an alarming trend where younger girls are having sex more frequently now-- guess where), but kids who HAVE hit puberty and are experiencing a fuckton of new feelings they have a right to know how to deal with.
No one needs to feel guilty for being human. I mean, jesus, it's the biological imperative, and they should have the right to understand their feelings and interpret them in a way that best suits them.
I'm sorry I just practically wrote an essay, have a related Onion article http://www.theonion.com/content/news/study_abstinence_only_lunch
