Yesterday, I met a friend. It wasn't just another going-to-the-store excursion with a schoolmate, or a hike with my cousin. It was a real girl, who I hadn't really known until then, who listened to me and talked to me like I was normal and had the same sense of humor as me. Even though it wasn't until about five minutes into our meeting that the awkwardness began to ebb away, I found myself wishing that I could just go back to the beginning, and once again capture that feeling of pure excitement and mystery, not knowing what was going to happen but being so enthralled with the idea that it would happen soon.
I guess I've been thinking like that lot recently. I just let things slip by too fast, and don't think to take a memory snapshot of them, because I don't think that they'll be that important later. It's the weirdest things that are, though. The most amazing part about starting this school year was wondering about what it would be like with all of the new sixth graders, and how I would like my new teachers. I let my imagination just carry me away, and then I meet up with the reality once time catches up with me.
Realities are like crossing a line. Once you are there, there's no going back without the help of amnesia, and you just have to live with the truth. What I've found, though, is that even though the reality is different from my imagination, I like it just as much, only in a different way. For example, between two of my friends, they have hosted four exchange students over the past three years, from Austria, Italy, Thailand, and Finland. Every time they break the news that a new one is arriving and give me her name, my imagination runs wild with what I think she will look like and act like. By the time she arrives, the reality is so much different, but I don't care, because she's so amazing as it is.
The real thing that bothers me is the feeling of being ignorant. If only I could remember what it was like to not play the violin, watch ballet only from the audience, or not know the exchange student from Thailand. It's like a little snapshot in time, that only I can revisit or remember, if only I had the power, and of course there's the part of my head that reminds me that I actually know the truth now. If I had a time machine (and there isn't much above that on the list of things that I would really, really like), I would go back to something like the time that my cousin was my age, fourteen, and apparently the coolest person on Earth. Even though I would know that I wouldn't be twelve anymore, at least I could see how he acted (since now, at sixteen, he's still the coolest person on Earth and I'm just a little kid). If only I had written it down in a diary, but, like I said, I just didn't find these things small important. A bit depressing, how fast my life goes by. I guess I just have to spend more time focusing on the little things, the details, and not the just the main themes. Otherwise, you miss so much.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
It Is Returning
It's returning through the dark, guys! Again, I guess. Anyway, DOCTOR WHO IS COMING BACK TOMORROW.
Yes, I know that you're all screaming and freaking out right now, and I really would do the same thing. I really, really would. If only I had seen the rest of season 7 .
Sometimes, I guess, there's a show that you find that isn't just some crappy thing you watch on the side. It's an actual story, and actual life, that you get so wrapped up inside. It sounds so dumb, but this show will do that to you. Finding someone else who feels the same way as you is like finding a precious gem. Only you two understand how this is (even though there are thousands more somewhere else), and together you can mourn the characters that never actually really existed. You create a fake world, and freak out when it breaks down. I guess it's the same way with books, too, but since Doctor Who is COMING BACK tomorrow, I'm going to stay on that topic.
I've been missing the Doctor and Amy and Rory. I know what happens to them, and I know who Clara is and blah blah blah, but I also want to actually see season 7. I miss being wrapped up in this world, and, frankly, watching old episodes isn't really the same. If only tecnology would show me some mercy and allow me to see it. Sigh.
Well, celebrate it all you like, with Clara making her second debut (is that even possible) as the most recent lucky British person we all envy to death. Meanwhile, I will go sit on my TARDIS beach towel and stare at my Keep Calm And Don't Blink poster and sonic a bunch of stuff. Allons-y!
Vworp, vworp.
Yes, I know that you're all screaming and freaking out right now, and I really would do the same thing. I really, really would. If only I had seen the rest of season 7 .
Sometimes, I guess, there's a show that you find that isn't just some crappy thing you watch on the side. It's an actual story, and actual life, that you get so wrapped up inside. It sounds so dumb, but this show will do that to you. Finding someone else who feels the same way as you is like finding a precious gem. Only you two understand how this is (even though there are thousands more somewhere else), and together you can mourn the characters that never actually really existed. You create a fake world, and freak out when it breaks down. I guess it's the same way with books, too, but since Doctor Who is COMING BACK tomorrow, I'm going to stay on that topic.
I've been missing the Doctor and Amy and Rory. I know what happens to them, and I know who Clara is and blah blah blah, but I also want to actually see season 7. I miss being wrapped up in this world, and, frankly, watching old episodes isn't really the same. If only tecnology would show me some mercy and allow me to see it. Sigh.
Well, celebrate it all you like, with Clara making her second debut (is that even possible) as the most recent lucky British person we all envy to death. Meanwhile, I will go sit on my TARDIS beach towel and stare at my Keep Calm And Don't Blink poster and sonic a bunch of stuff. Allons-y!
Vworp, vworp.
Heroes
A few weeks ago in Honors Language Arts, my teacher took us out into the hall and had just stand of opposite sides of the hallway. She had us write our definition of the word "hero" on a notecard, and then read off a list of notable names. If the person fit the definition on our cards, we would move to the other side of the hallway. By the third name, everyone had moved, agreeing that people such as their mothers, Michael Jackson, and Dobby the house-elf were heroes to them. The point of the exercise was to get us thinking for our upcoming definition essay (which, incidentally, I should really be working on), but I kept on thinking about it as we went back to the classroom, and throughout the rest of the day. My definition was something like "a person who has paved a path, whom you aspire to, who has fought in a battle of some sort and gave it a full attempt; basically, a role model." Is this true to me? I really don't know yet.
In one of my favorite books, Waiting For Normal, Addie is talking to her new friends about heroes. "A hero is somebody who sets themselves apart from others," she says, quoting the dictionary. "You know-someone who is strong or show courage, takes a risk. And I know Webster's is probably talking about well-known heroes. Like from the newspapers and history book. Inventors and athletes and people like Martin Luther King. But don't you think it's possible...that every person is a hero to someone else?"
I trust Addie, who was left to take care of her baby sisters all alone for three days in the middle of the winter at age nine, and has had to live with her crazy mother, seperated from the rest of her family. So am I right? I never said in my defnintion that you had be famous or anything. I guess I have to look at my own heroes.
There's my math teacher, who graduated from college last year and is a huge feminist, always standing up for herself and the rest of her gender. She doesn't let anyone say anything negative in her class (when I mentioned that I was going to be free at lunch the next week to take a test because I didn't have Battle of the Books anymore because we were going to lose at Regionals, she made me write an essay on confidence. And it had to be less than fifty words, becuase otherwise it wouldn't be hard for me). She's shown me what I want to be like, even though we don't have the same personality. I've even taken to writing down the things she's said in the year so far: "I'm talking about this [in math class] because everything we do here is integrated. Language arts, music, social studies, math...they're all integrated, because life is integrated." Or, "Someone who has one great hit in their baseball career is not considered a great hitter because of that one hit. You have to be consistent."
And what about Malala Yousafzai, who stuck up for her country, gender, and education by doing just what I'm doing, only with a purpose in mind? My gosh, she is my hero for so many reasons, along with thousands of other girls around the world. Every time I see her speak (the same video over and over again), it just makes me think of all that she's done and been through, and it just awes me. If only I could tell her how awesome she is. Girls' education really matters, and who better to speak for it than a spokesperson for the girls who suffer from the loss the most?
Every night (well, every night before my parents got rid of cable), my dad would sit down and watch The Rachel Maddow show. Just a journalist, maybe, but another hero as well. She means what she says, and I agree with it. And look how far we've come for it to be okay for a member of the LGBT community (gasp) to deliver news. It's the same with Ellen DeGeneres, even though they're totally different people. Ellen's hilarious, and she stands up for herself. She has no problem with herself. Good for her. If only more people were like that.
So I guess heroes can be anyone, really. Maybe I don't really want to be a math teacher or a talk show host, but I can still heed the advice of these people, and believe what they preach. And they don't have to be perfect, either, because I wouldn't want to be a perfect person, or look up to one.
Coming back to Addie and her story, her other friend came in at that moment. When she explained to him what was going on, he agreed. "Makes living kind of scary without them."
I couldn't agree more.
In one of my favorite books, Waiting For Normal, Addie is talking to her new friends about heroes. "A hero is somebody who sets themselves apart from others," she says, quoting the dictionary. "You know-someone who is strong or show courage, takes a risk. And I know Webster's is probably talking about well-known heroes. Like from the newspapers and history book. Inventors and athletes and people like Martin Luther King. But don't you think it's possible...that every person is a hero to someone else?"
I trust Addie, who was left to take care of her baby sisters all alone for three days in the middle of the winter at age nine, and has had to live with her crazy mother, seperated from the rest of her family. So am I right? I never said in my defnintion that you had be famous or anything. I guess I have to look at my own heroes.
There's my math teacher, who graduated from college last year and is a huge feminist, always standing up for herself and the rest of her gender. She doesn't let anyone say anything negative in her class (when I mentioned that I was going to be free at lunch the next week to take a test because I didn't have Battle of the Books anymore because we were going to lose at Regionals, she made me write an essay on confidence. And it had to be less than fifty words, becuase otherwise it wouldn't be hard for me). She's shown me what I want to be like, even though we don't have the same personality. I've even taken to writing down the things she's said in the year so far: "I'm talking about this [in math class] because everything we do here is integrated. Language arts, music, social studies, math...they're all integrated, because life is integrated." Or, "Someone who has one great hit in their baseball career is not considered a great hitter because of that one hit. You have to be consistent."
And what about Malala Yousafzai, who stuck up for her country, gender, and education by doing just what I'm doing, only with a purpose in mind? My gosh, she is my hero for so many reasons, along with thousands of other girls around the world. Every time I see her speak (the same video over and over again), it just makes me think of all that she's done and been through, and it just awes me. If only I could tell her how awesome she is. Girls' education really matters, and who better to speak for it than a spokesperson for the girls who suffer from the loss the most?
Every night (well, every night before my parents got rid of cable), my dad would sit down and watch The Rachel Maddow show. Just a journalist, maybe, but another hero as well. She means what she says, and I agree with it. And look how far we've come for it to be okay for a member of the LGBT community (gasp) to deliver news. It's the same with Ellen DeGeneres, even though they're totally different people. Ellen's hilarious, and she stands up for herself. She has no problem with herself. Good for her. If only more people were like that.
So I guess heroes can be anyone, really. Maybe I don't really want to be a math teacher or a talk show host, but I can still heed the advice of these people, and believe what they preach. And they don't have to be perfect, either, because I wouldn't want to be a perfect person, or look up to one.
Coming back to Addie and her story, her other friend came in at that moment. When she explained to him what was going on, he agreed. "Makes living kind of scary without them."
I couldn't agree more.
Just another corner of the universe
Welcome to my small corner of this very large universe, which could also just be the Internet, since the time has come that the Internet may be the universe after all. Here I give you a chance to read into my thoughts, which may or may not be very interesting, and, if you want, try and fine some deep meaning in them. Or you can just read them for fun, or decide that they are extremely superficial, or not read them at all. Either way, I'm going to keep writing them.
A little while ago, I decided that I wanted a blog, after reading numerous blogs of exchange students, who told me and the rest of the world of their wonderful adventures in some foregin country that I can only dream of visiting. Since my life isn't exactly amazing or a one-of-a-kind story, I assumed that I had no reason to start a blog. Then, just recently, I realized that there's nothing more intersting than a life. Yes, they may have extraordinary lives, but just to put yourself in the shoes of someone else who lives on the same planet as you can be incredible. A life-that's something all by itself.
I can't tell you about just one thing. If I decided to write only about my violin, then I would probably run out of things to say. If I was only doing dance, then I would get bored with describing that foutte turn or whatever. If it were politics, I would make myself out to be an extremely opinionated person who talks about nothing else besides spending cuts, and I don't want to be that person, either. So why not just talk about everything? It's like an online journal, that everyone who wants to can read. That's how cool the 21st century is.
Well, I'm just a recently turned 14-year-old with a weird sense of humor, a love for music and writing and Brtish science fiction, and a few trees in my backyard. I will quote Harry Potter to you a lot, and probably will randomly post about it a lot. Or maybe not. This is my first blog, after all.
A little while ago, I decided that I wanted a blog, after reading numerous blogs of exchange students, who told me and the rest of the world of their wonderful adventures in some foregin country that I can only dream of visiting. Since my life isn't exactly amazing or a one-of-a-kind story, I assumed that I had no reason to start a blog. Then, just recently, I realized that there's nothing more intersting than a life. Yes, they may have extraordinary lives, but just to put yourself in the shoes of someone else who lives on the same planet as you can be incredible. A life-that's something all by itself.
I can't tell you about just one thing. If I decided to write only about my violin, then I would probably run out of things to say. If I was only doing dance, then I would get bored with describing that foutte turn or whatever. If it were politics, I would make myself out to be an extremely opinionated person who talks about nothing else besides spending cuts, and I don't want to be that person, either. So why not just talk about everything? It's like an online journal, that everyone who wants to can read. That's how cool the 21st century is.
Well, I'm just a recently turned 14-year-old with a weird sense of humor, a love for music and writing and Brtish science fiction, and a few trees in my backyard. I will quote Harry Potter to you a lot, and probably will randomly post about it a lot. Or maybe not. This is my first blog, after all.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)