Walton Color Guard

The prestigious Walton color guard came to our school during gm class. A few days before the Pope color guard had been here, but proudly and quite truthfully I can say that the Walton color guard is of course the better. In fact, their winter guard dance was so good today, I was tempted to go to Walton after all just to join.

After the company danced, they again let us onto the floor to try out the equipment. I screwed up all my courage and went. IT WAS GREAT!!! The most fun I've ever had ding a single thing. At first I was so scared about throwing the flag up and then catching it, but then I tried it once, somehow managed to catch it, and from that point on was hooked. In total they had time to teach me three throws, we were starting on a fourth when they had to gather all the equipment. While I had my instructor person to myself, Yvette, Katherine, Kelley, and Gretchen all had to share one, one that was considerably less experienced than mine I must say. Only now do I realize how luck I was.

The feeling I experienced right after a successful toss and catch was incredible. It really makes me wonder how awesome it would be if I could do it all the time, and better yet, as part of the Walton color guard. I was so caught up in all this that I even went and asked the organizer if I could join Walton's color guard even if I was going to a different school. But of course not. One can't have all the good things in life.

Thinking back to tossing the flag just brings such delight. So happy that I could catch it and turned out to be good at it. My helper, Jessica I think, said that I was really good and the whole thing and should join the color guard at Walton. I almost cried when she said that. I love life.

I need to go buy a flag for my very own, cheer myself on in the backyard or something. =D

Ah Right...

Forgot to say, if anyone actually made it through reading all that (it's really not that much, so interesting once you actually start), then I'm extremely proud of you! I would highly recommend you to research him, he is just a fascinating person. Especially his quotes. =) He has the best quotes ever and seem to make him more real, substantial, but yet still admirable and a great hero that's REAL to look up to. I hope you like him, too. ^.^

My Crush is Dead

This is Horatio Nelson. He's my long-time crush, except for the little fact that he is dead. This picture is of him at age nineteen. There's an interesting tale behind it. Captain Horatio Nelson, painted by John Francis Rigaud in 1781, with Fort San Juan—the scene of his most notable achievement to date—in the background. The painting itself was begun and nearly finished prior to the battle, when Nelson held the rank of lieutenant; when Nelson returned, the artist added the new captain's gold-braided sleeves. Another fact to love about him. And he's an actually cute famous person, too. Love this guy. =D

Since I'm so obsessed with him, I'll even that this space on my blog and post all these interesting facts about him beginning with his early life:
Nelson attended Paston Grammar School, North Walsham, until he was 12 years old, and also attended King Edward VI’s Grammar School in Norwich. His naval career began on 1 January 1771, when he reported to the third-rate HMS Raisonnable as an Ordinary Seaman and coxswain under his maternal uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling, who commanded the vessel. Shortly after reporting aboard, Nelson was appointed a midshipman and began officer training. Early in his service, Nelson discovered that he suffered from seasickness, a chronic complaint that dogged him for the rest of his life. Ahaha. =) He was this great naval commander but got seasick everytime. makes me laugh every time.

This is from the Battle of Cape St Vincent:
Nelson was victorious, but had disobeyed direct orders. Jervis liked Nelson and so did not officially reprimand him, but did not mention Nelson's actions in his official report of the battle. He did write a private letter to George Spencer in which he said that Nelson "contributed very much to the fortune of the day". Nelson also wrote several letters about his victory, reporting that his action was being referred to amongst the fleet as "Nelson's Patent Bridge for boarding first rates". Nelson's account was later challenged by Rear-Admiral William Parker, who had been aboard HMS Prince George. Parker claimed that Nelson had been supported by several more ships than he acknowledged, and that the San Josef had already struck her colours by the time Nelson boarded her. Nelson's account of his role prevailed, and the victory was well received in Britain: Jervis was made Earl St Vincent and Nelson was made a Knight of the Bath. On 20 February, in a standard promotion according to his seniority and unrelated to the battle, he was promoted to Rear Admiral of the Blue.

Battle of Santa Cruz de Tnerife:
The battle plan called for a combination of naval bombardments and an amphibious landing. The initial attempt was called off after adverse currents hampered the assault and the element of surprise was lost. Nelson immediately ordered another assault but this was beaten back. He prepared for a third attempt, to take place during the night. Although he personally led one of the battalions, the operation ended in failure: the Spanish were better prepared than had been expected and had secured strong defensive positions. Several of the boats failed to land at the correct positions in the confusion, while those that did were swept by gunfire and grapeshot. Nelson's boat reached its intended landing point but as he stepped ashore he was hit in the right arm by a musketball, which fractured his humerus bone in multiple places. He was rowed back to the Theseus to be attended to by the surgeon. On arriving on his ship he refused to be helped aboard, declaring "Let me alone! I have got my legs left and one arm." He was taken to the surgeon, instructing him to prepare his instruments and "the sooner it was off the better". Most of the right arm was amputated and within half an hour Nelson had returned to issuing orders to his captains. Years later he would still excuse himself to Commodore John Thomas Duckworth for not writing longer letters due to not being naturally left-handed.

Battle of Copenhagen:
On the morning of 2 April 1801, Nelson began to advance into Copenhagen harbour. The battle began badly for the British, with HMS Agamemnon, HMS Bellona and HMS Russell running aground, and the rest of the fleet encountering heavier fire from the Danish shore batteries than had been anticipated. Parker sent the signal for Nelson to withdraw, reasoning:

I will make the signal for recall for Nelson's sake. If he is in a condition to continue the action he will disregard it; if he is not, it will be an excuse for his retreat and no blame can be attached to him.

Nelson, directing action aboard HMS Elephant, was informed of the signal by the signal lieutenant, Frederick Langford, but angrily responded: 'I told you to look out on the Danish commodore and let me know when he surrendered. Keep your eyes fixed on him. He then turned to his flag captain, Thomas Foley and said 'You know, Foley, I have only one eye. I have a right to be blind sometimes.' He raised the telescope to his blind eye, and said 'I really do not see the signal. The battle lasted three hours, leaving both Danish and British fleets heavily damaged. At length Nelson despatched a letter to the Danish commander, Crown Prince Frederick calling for a truce, which the Prince accepted. Parker approved of Nelson's actions in retrospect, and Nelson was given the honour of going into Copenhagen the next day to open formal negotiations. At a banquet that evening he told Prince Frederick that the battle had been the most severe he had ever been in. The outcome of the battle and several weeks of ensuing negotiations was a 14 week armistice, and on Parker's recall in May, Nelson became commander-in-chief in the Baltic Sea. As a reward for the victory, he was created Viscount Nelson of the Nile and of Burnham Thorpe in the County of Norfolk, on 19 May 1801. In addition, on 4 August 1801, he was created Baron Nelson, of the Nile and of Hilborough in the County of Norfolk, this time with a special remainder to his father and sisters.

Battle of Trafalgar:
At four o'clock in the morning of 21 October Nelson ordered the Victory to turn towards the approaching enemy fleet, and signalled the rest of his force to battle stations. He then went below and made his will, before returning to the quarterdeck to carry out an inspection. Despite having 27 ships to Villeneuve's 33, Nelson was confident of success, declaring that he would not be satisfied with taking less than 20 prizes. He returned briefly to his cabin to write a final prayer, after which he joined Victory’s signal lieutenant, John Pasco.

Mr Pasco, I wish to say to the fleet "England confides that every man will do his duty". You must be quick, for I have one more signal to make, which is for close action.

Pasco suggested changing 'confides' to 'expects', which being in the Signal Book, could be signalled by the use of a single flag, whereas 'confides' would have to spelt out letter by letter. Nelson agreed, and the signal was hoisted.

As the fleets converged, the Victory’s captain, Thomas Hardy suggested that Nelson remove the decorations on his coat, so that he would not be so easily identified by enemy sharpshooters. Nelson replied that it was too late 'to be shifting a coat', adding that they were 'military orders and he did not fear to show them to the enemy'. Captain Henry Blackwood, of the frigate HMS Euryalus, suggested Nelson come aboard his ship to better observe the battle. Nelson refused, and also turned down Hardy's suggestion to let Eliab Harvey's HMS Temeraire come ahead of the Victory and lead the line into battle.

Victory came under fire, initially passing wide, but then with greater accuracy as the distances decreased. A cannon ball struck and killed Nelson's secretary, John Scott, nearly cutting him in two. Hardy's clerk took over, but he too was almost immediately killed. Victory’s wheel was shot away, and another cannon ball cut down eight marines. Hardy, standing next to Nelson on the quarterdeck, had his shoe buckle dented by a splinter. Nelson observed 'this is too warm work to last long'. The Victory had by now reached the enemy line, and Hardy asked Nelson which ship to engage first. Nelson told him to take his pick, and Hardy moved Victory across the stern of the 80-gun French flagship Bucentaure. Victory then came under fire from the 74-gun Redoutable, lying off the Bucentaure’s stern, and the 130-gun Santísima Trinidad. As snipers from the enemy ships fired onto Victory’s deck from their rigging, Nelson and Hardy continued to walk about, directing and giving orders.

Shortly after one o'clock, Hardy realised that Nelson was not by his side. He turned to see Nelson kneeling on the deck, supporting himself with his hand, before falling onto his side. Hardy rushed to him, at which point Nelson smiled

Hardy, I do believe they have done it at last... my backbone is shot through.

He had been hit by a marksman from the Redoutable, firing at a range of 50 feet. The bullet had entered his left shoulder, pierced his lung, and come to rest at the base of his spine.

Nelson was carried below by a sergeant-major of marines and two seamen. As he was being carried down, he asked them to pause while he gave some advice to a midshipman on the handling of the tiller. He then draped a handkerchief over his face to avoid causing alarm amongst the crew. He was taken to the surgeon William Beatty, telling him

You can do nothing for me. I have but a short time to live. My back is shot through.

Nelson was made comfortable, fanned and brought lemonade and watered wine to drink after he complained of feeling hot and thirsty. He asked several times to see Hardy, who was on deck supervising the battle, and asked Beatty to remember him to Emma, his daughter and his friends.)

Hardy came below deck to see Nelson just after half-past two, and informed him that a number of enemy ships had surrendered. Nelson told him that he was sure to die, and begged him to pass his possessions to Emma. With Nelson at this point were the chaplain Alexander Scott, the purser Walter Burke, Nelson's steward, Chevalier, and Beatty. Nelson, fearing that a gale was blowing up, instructed Hardy to be sure to anchor. After reminding him to 'take care of poor Lady Hamilton', Nelson said 'Kiss me, Hardy'. Beatty recorded that Hardy knelt and kissed Nelson on the cheek. He then stood for a minute or two and then kissed him again. Nelson asked 'Who is that?', and on hearing that it was Hardy, replied 'God bless you Hardy.' By now very weak, Nelson continued to murmur instructions to Burke and Scott, 'fan, fan ... rub, rub ... drink, drink.' Beatty heard Nelson murmur 'Thank God I have done my duty' and when he returned, Nelson's voice had faded and his pulse was very weak. He looked up as Beatty took his pulse, then closed his eyes. Scott, who remained by Nelson as he died, recorded his last words as 'God and my country'. Nelson died at half-past four, three hours after he was shot.

This is but a severely shortened version of the grand deeds of Horatio Nelson. Many battles he was also involved were not recorded here. He was a true hero who died a hero's death. He left this world with many accomplishments, much more than the average man can claim or his/herself.

Nelson was just about the bravest person ever to walk this earth. His quotes are the very essence of strength, ideals, and humor all combined in a perfect combination. Hey Nelson...

I HEART YOU <3

=D

It's Still Here...

that iPod...
is STALKING me.

it won't leave my field of vision and keeps clouding my thoughts with its shiny presence.

everyone is like "keep it, are you stupid? the principal won't know who's it is. just KEEP IT. I'll even let you borrow my wire to recharge it..."

so...

what should i do? Good Samaritan or personal interest plus logical choice? grrs...iseriously hate hard decisions, someone make it for me?

naahhh...apparentl life just can't be that easy...

Manga Tutorial: Lesson One B

Next we will draw some male eyes. Male characters are sometimes neglected by fan artists, because many fan artists have trouble drawing guys. They really aren't that hard, though, just different. Most male eyes are more thin and narrow than female eyes, though there are several exceptions. This particular eye (which I think belongs to Hotohori from Fushigi Yuugi) is narrower than other female eyes, without being so thin that it looks like it belongs to a more shady, suspicious character. ^_^ Begin by drawing a thick, very slightly curved line. Its almost horizontal, but still has a slight curve to it. The edges should curve inwards a little, more so on the left.

Lightly draw two diagonal lines, starting from the edges of the top line, to help define the lower part of the eye. The lines are almost perpendicular to each other. Don't make them too steep or too flat, or the size of the eye will be off. Draw the lower line of the eye, using the guidelines to help you position it.

Erase the guidelines and draw the iris. The iris is a perfect circle, but is paritally covered up by the eyelids. Do not draw the iris so small that you can see the entire thing (unless trying to convey a strong emotion like surprise or anger)

Male characters have light glares in their eyes, too, though they often are not as large or obvious. Draw one oval light glare on the left side of the eye, and a pointed one on the right side.

Draw the pupil benath the light glares and shade heavily, especailly if the character has darker colored eyes. Draw the eyelid and eyelash. Male characters tend to have darker, thicker eyebrows, so make sure they aren't too thin. Don't worry if the eyes look too 'girly'; often times its hard to tell if some eyes belong male or female characters. Some styles of eyes are interchangable and can be used for either gender.

Once you have the right eye drawn, you're probably going to want to draw the left eye, too. All you have to do is draw the mirror image of the exact same eye. The placement of the second eye can be tricky, though. Anime eyes, no matter what style, are always drawn about one eye length apart. The distance may be a little more or less, but one eye length is a good measurement.

You probably are not always going to draw your characters facing towards you, though, so you'll need to know how to line up eyes at different angles. Always draw guidelines to help you position the eyes, until you are really good at it and no longer need them. You don't want the eyes to be off-center. Notice that in this picture, the right eye is smaller and flatter than the left since it's further away from you.

The previous two posts are all made with help and information fromManga University with special thanks to Julie^^.

Manga Tutorial: Lesson One

So I've decided that in addition to reviewing some nice mangas, I'll also start giving out some drawing tips. We'll start with the eyes today. As we all know, the eyes are the most distinguishing feature of anime characters. So to be succesful as a manga artist, you need to be able to define your individual characters, give them expression and personality. The eyes are the most reasonable place to start you on your career.

Lets begin with the most basic and common of anime eyes, the large female type. Start off by drawing a line that curves upwards, and is slightly thicker at the highest point. This eye will be on the right side of the face, so make the left end of the curved line higher than the right. The top of this particular eye (Lina Inverse's eye, actually) isn't a perfect curve; it is slightly angular. Some styles of eyes are nearly perfectly curved on
the top.

Next, you want to draw in the lower part of the eye. To help you place the lower half, lightly draw diagonal lines pointing down, starting at the edges of the top part of the eye. The steepness of the slope of these lines will determine how large and wide the eye will be. If you look at the other tutorials on this page, you will see that the steepness of these lines varies. Using these lines as a guide, draw the lower part of the eye. It should slope down to the right a little, and should be thicker at the right corner.

Erase the guidelines and draw a long oval within the eye. Some characters have large circles for irises, but this particular one has thin ovals. You can adjust the shape so it's wider, if you like. Make part of the oval obscured by the upper part of her eye. With all styles, the complete iris is rarely visible; part of it almost always is concealed by the border of the eye.

Next, draw the outline of the light glares. Anime characters' eyes should always have at least some sort of shading. Anime females in particular tend to have really heavy shading and lots of shiny areas. Make sure you choose a light source, and stick with it throughout your picture. For example, since the light is coming from the left in this picture, I have to make sure all the highlights on the rest of the picture originate from the left, or the lighting will be inconsistent (unless I'm using multiple light sources, but I won't get into that). Draw two long ovals: a large one on the left side of the iris (which overlaps the outline of the iris, as you can see), and a very small one on the other side of the eye.

Next, draw the pupil underneath the light glares. The highlights are always on top; never draw the pupil on top of the light glares. Draw the eyelashes, too; with this particular eye, the eyelashes are a series of spikes coming off of the top-right part of the eye. Make the spikes follow the curve of the eye, so it looks like they are coming off of the eye; don't just draw zig-zag lines sticking out of her eye. ^_~ Also, draw the eyelid on the left part of the eye. Its just a thin, curved line originating from the top of her eye.

And there you have it ^.^, you've survived drawing your first manga eye. Obviously with more practice you'll become better at it.



Okay, now we are going to draw another style, one that isn't as common. This eye is much more slender, elegant, and realistic looking, and is used in more serious anime and manga. Begin by drawing a long, slightly curved line. The left side should be lower than the right, and the line should curve in sharply at the left edge.

To help you define the sides and bottom of the eye, lightly draw two diagonal guidelines that originate from the edges of the eye. Unlike the previous tutorial, these lines are not very steep; the more horizontal the lines are, the smaller the eye will be. Don't make them too flat, though, because you don't want this eye to be too squinty. Using the guidelines, draw the bottom line of the eye.

Erase the guidelines and draw the outline of the iris. If there were no eyelids, the iris would be a perfect circle. However, since the iris is bordered by the eyelids, the top and bottom of the iris will be hidden from view. The iris should not be so small that you can see the entire thing (unless you wanted to convey certain emotions like anger or surprise, but that is covered in another section).

Next, draw the light glares on the iris. The placement is the same as in the previous tutorial, but like the iris itself, the glares are much smaller and more circular. Draw the eyelid above the top line of the eye, as well.

Draw the eyebrow and shading in the rest of the iris. Remember to draw the pupil beneath the light glares, and to make it stand out from the rest of the eye a little no matter how darkly you shade the rest of the iris.

Here are a variety of other styles of female eyes you can make using the same methods. Try to see the differences between each style, as well as the similarities. Though the shape and proportions change, the top border of the eyes is always thicker, there are always multiple layers of shading on the irises, etc. Some of these were sketched fairly quickly and are a little messy, but I hope they are still helpful.

We'll do the male eyes tomorrow. See you then^^.

Finders Keepers Losers Weepers?

Does this age-old law still hold true in our modern society? Anything we find, is it really okay to keep? For instance...I found an iPod at Chinese school today, and now it's in my bag.

Is that really okay? I feel guilty just thinking about it...

But there's no name, nothing, and it was on the ground after everyone had left the building, unfortunately, that includes the teachers.

Aishiteruze Baby

Title: Aishiteruze Baby
AKA: I Love You Baby
Author: Yoko Maki

Summary: Aishiteruze Baby is a shōjo manga series that revolves around the life of Kippei, a popular high-school playboy who flirts with any girl he sees, without thinking about their feelings. His life is turned upside down when one day his aunt abandons his five-year-old cousin Yuzuyu at his house. Kippei is assigned the task of taking care of Yuzuyu for the time being, and he must learn how to become the "mother" she needs. As Kippei learns how to care for Yuzuyu, he also learns to care for Kokoro, a quiet girl at his school, who helps him out.

In Japanese, aishiteru ze (愛してるぜ) is a casual, masculine way of saying "I love you"
(The above pic makes a great wallpaper if you need one.)

Favorite Character(s)
Definitely Kippei and Yuzuyu in this one. There's no competition against them. Kippei starts out as a total playboy but then as he spends time with Yuzuyu has his cokking skills and personality changes a lot towards the better (yes, cooking skills and personality really did go together, trust me on this). And Yuzuyu on the other hand... Yuzuyu is sooo cute, it should be illegal to be that cute. Kawaii^^.

Have fun reading this one, it's another great read. But then again, i do only post what I think is good... I don't see the point in recommending something bad to anyone. Oh well, go have fun now. =D

Hana Kimi

Title of Manga: Hana Kimi: For you In Full Blossom
Author: Hisaya Nakajo

Summary: Mizuki Ashiya a Japanese girl who lives in America has fallen in love with Izumi Sano, a Japanese high jumper who goes to the all boy high school Osaka Gakuen. So what's a smitten teenage girl to do? Dress up like a guy and hope you can get into the school of course!
When she gets there, the biggest shock of her life is that she and Sano are going to be room mates! Then begins the cutest love story of the ages while other guys start to question
their own sexualtiy.

Favorite Book Quote
"What is with Greenpeace anyway? Who wants to live in harmony with nature?! I lived in harmony with nature and it gave me a rash!" ~ Dr. Umeda, Page 145, Hana Kimi vol. 6, By: Hisaya Nakajo

Favorite Character
Shin, Izumi's younger brother, is actually my favorite character. He
doesn't appear much throughout the manga, but the few volumes that he dominates are very important to a subplot. He helps build Mizuki and Izumi's relationship closer and reveals more about Izumi's previous life. There's more to it but I won't be a spoilsport. Go Shin!


~~~~
This is the perfect manga for those who need a first manga to start. Good for multi-manga readers as well. Probably those 13+ would find this most enjoyable. This is with my highest recommendations. Grade: A+

Good readings to you. =D

Same Old, Same Old...

these days, i've been feeling slightly depressionalist. life just seems so monotoned, and i must confess that for perhaps a year now i've had no interest in my own life but rather only of books and any good manga that i happened to have been reading. pouring over the characters and plot of these stories often interested me more than my own life did. i even began trying to match my life to another story, for a long while forcing myself to believe in wishes and magik. allowing my true life to become interlinked with some daydream that i created, refusing at times to get up from bed in order to stay in the world of dreams slightly longer, risking my own health in order to stay up late and read and read and create fantasy worlds of my own. it was around this time that i truly started trying to catch sammy. in fact, i used all methods known, showering him with candy (...), talking to him more (are we even "just friends" YET???), and changing my personality multiple times (from sullen to cheerful and pessimist to sunny and flowery), obviously, none of this ever worked, causing more harm than help and causing me to spiral further into this confession that i am writing now. i started listening to popular music, to fit in with the "in" crowd. trying all the drastic situations i read about in manga and trying to maintain hope that i was in fact making progress when there were of course no signs at all. telling myself that a miracle would happen, allowing my grades to dip and pursue him fully, thinking that life would all be just a walk in the park and that we were "meant to be". taking any trace of friendship or conversation to be a sign that things were starting to work out, that everything would have a happy ending in the end.

obviously, noting ever worked out, no miracles happened, and i was left much worse off than when i started. true, i started in sixth grade, trying to become friends with yvette by sharing a mutual interest in something. but then i fell to addiction as she stepped away, into the clean, pure world that i had left behind. as my life fell to pieces and i realized new lies, i found that though i had always thought myself a strong will, it was in fact nothing against its biggest enemy, like a newborn against zeus. i could will myself to do nothing, to stop nothing, my own mind had become poisoned, a prison that chained my body. i could neither stop reading manga or sleep earlier. in time, even my passion for books faded, only manga sustained me. this does not mean that i ever let my grades drop below an "A" average in any class, but the will to fight was gone, i no longer competed with classmates, never challenged myself if possible, life was an absolute torture. i was aware of all this, all the wrongness and harm to myself and only myself, but i couldn't stop. but then as my grades continued to drop, i turned to a new comfort, food. i'm not FAT, yet at least... but i have uncomfortably gained maybe five pounds in the past year and no longer am a slim figure perfect for the world of ballet, the one place where i really fit in with the rest.

i say i try to resist the temptations of food and manga, and sometimes i do. but more often than no i would rather release myself to my longings and punish myself another time.

but the world is different to me now, a new wind has blown in and joined the mix. by going to this new high school where i know absolutely no one, i have lied and lied about my one true reason that really pushed me into going. i am ashamed that it is so. but i cannot deny the truth. the truth is that i need to start over my life, build new friendships and new study habits, new ways of thinking and new ways of living. having this goal afore me inspires and pushes me to new heights. for all to see here, i admit everything...

A Day Of Bread.

No...the title really has nothing to do with the post. At least, not this one, maybe in the future I'll have an entire post just about the delights and wonders of bread. But that's a post best saved for another day, if ever...

What with ballet performances popping up everywhere and high school coming just around the corner, my time to blog, scarce to begin with, has now dwindled down to completely nothing. What should I start with today? The ever so awaited ending to the endless CRCTs? A science project in class with a partner I don't know that involves causing a bear to disappear? Or should I, perhaps, mention my dancing life, soon to take over both my social and academic world all happening as my closest confident takes leave from dancing next year? Or maybe I should start with yesterday, when the "first day of the rest of my life" start. But I don't think I'll talk about any of this things... In fact, I will now contradict my previously typed words and save the end of this here short post for my "Tales of Bread". Yes, I know, charming title, and of course I have no idea what its pages contain. So let us lose ourselves in the world of BREAD. There's oh so many different variaties. For instance, there's shortbread, sourdough, rye, multi-grain, whole-wheat, honey-oat, and oh so much more...

However, it seems that nothing about eiher my life nor bread will be further released here, the time has come for me to say "goodbye" for the day.

~Tchao

*sigh*

CRCTs...
why do we even have them?

Back To The Start

Here I am, back in good old Georgia again. =D

Turns out, though vacations are really fun and stuff, in the end the best place really is home. Met a lot of hot guys in the streets of Chinatown in Boston and Manhattan, and also those two cities themselves. One of the cutest I've seen was working in the Farmer's Market in Chinatown of Boston. Really quite cute.

Manhattan was so much more New York-ish than I'd even thought possible. We got on the ferry in some park in New Jersey and went to Ellis Island first. Next we went on to the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island. The security on these two places and the Empire State building was even more terrifying than the ones you usually get at airports, trust me on this. After we went to Liberty Island, we were ferried across to Battery Park in New York. Here we got a hotdog New York style of the streets and later also had some nice honey-roasted coconuts (?)and a giant pretzel of those nice street vendor peoples. Following Broadway up from downtown toward midtown, we enjoyed a view of Manhattan and Wall Street. Later we took the subway up to Central Park. The subway system was extremely confusing at first, but somehow we got where we wanted. From Central Park (really pretty there, can't believe there's so much green in Manhattan of all places...)we walked back to the Empire State Building following Fifth Avenue and all wowed at the amazing stores there. We passed Abercrombie and Fitch and there was this huge line of (mostly) girls outside. Inside the store were flashing lights, a huge poster of those really hot shirtless guys, and then standing right under the poster were *drum roll* the very models themselves, shirtless under their poster and having a blast. Anyways, we went up to the 86th floor on the Empire State Building (aww...no 600th floor?) and caught the Statue of Liberty bathed in a very rosy looking sunset. Needless to say, many many pictures were taken here in all directions. After this, we got on the subway again and went down to Chinatown. Had a real meal there (lobsters again =D) and spent a nice long while walking around and enjoying Chinatown/Manhattan/the goodness of New York life. After all this, we took yet another subway back up to Time Square. A lot of pictures and time was spent staring around us at the entire buildings composed of advertisements. My brother even went and played pinball on THE SIDE OF A BUILDING at my urging. And this was LITERALLY on the side of the building itself. Ah, the wonders of city life. Somehow, we managed all of this in one day and were done by around 10 PM.

Apparently, we wandered into Time Square on a late Friday night. The crowds there were all really loud and fun. The entire square was alive. My only objection to life in the city is all the smoke there. Both from all the factories and all the minors smoking "to be cool". But really, I'd go live there in a split second if I could. =P

Yesterday we drove for exactly 14 hours and 28 minutes here from Newark in New Jersey. Arrived at our house at 11:58 PM yesterday (YES! Made it before this morning XD).

Now on the top of my list of favorite colleges sits Yale. It' both beautiful there and has a good system. Another plus is the awesome little town it sits in, full of good food places.

Spring break is over tomorrow, then CRCTs start this Wednesday. Then I have a huge Latin project to start/finish. Then of course there's about three weeks worth of Chinese homework that I really need to catch up on plus an essay for the Chinese school to submit to the newspapers.

Why am I always so busy?

Oh well, I guess I like it this way. =/

I Heart NYC

actually staying in New Jersey tonight, right across the border from Manhattan though. after seeing Yale, i can really see why it's the third or second most prettiest college in the world now. the tour guide was amazing and now i really think i prefer Yale over both Princeton and Harvard now. exploring the greater heights of NYC tomorrow, wish me luck, i only have one day to see everything i can.

the hotel we're staying in is really nice, hard to believe it's only a three-star... if you're ever in the area, it's right next to (literally) Newark Airport. the name? Ramada. straight across the lot from what looks to be a five-star, Sheraton. night again, getting up at six tomorrow morning to the get the most i can out of NYC. ~.~

What's It Now...King?

visited Harvard and MIT yesterday, really loved the architecture on Harvard. then we went to downtown Boston, and it ma ave been one of the prettiest and safest places i've been in the USA. we walked along the harbor, park, CHINATOWN, and just around the downtown area. had a really nice lobster dinner at The New Golden Gate in Chinatown, it's a brilliant restaurant, very efficient and tasty, i highly recommend it. i need to get on my way over to New York and Yale now, you'll be hearing more from me tonight, hopefully.

Prince For A Day

went to Princeton today on my way to Boston. the town around it is really quite charming, i love it. =D i've got my eye set on the school now and you'll be hearing about that in four/five more years from now. but we're going to see Harvard and MIT tomorrow so i'm completely undecided right now.

Boston itself has very pretty quaint little buildings and a very active street. we're also going to Chinatown, the harbor, and exploring the streets tomorrow night. I'm kinda tired from driving so much today so that's all from me.

i'll start uploading pic of my trip maybe sometime next week if there are any exceptionally good ones. night now ~.~

You May Have Been Wondering...

no...
i'm off of sammy, he can go be happy with that girl of his (yes i know her now, no, i'm not saying it, it hurts my head just to think it)
now...i really don't see what's so good about him any more, that light around him has been dimming and finally disappeared over the past few days. i can finally think of him without my mind exploding in a flash of pain (the same sadly can't be said of that girl...)
but just wanted to say here that i'm actually over him now...no regrets (okay, yes, alot, but we're not talking about that now...)and i think i'll finally move on now.
i guess this is the absolute best time it could have happened to me, now i can enjoy my spring break in peace =)

there should be some other prince in shining armor waiting for somewhere around some bend in the road of my life...

DC =D

saturday we drove 11 hours from Atlanta GA all the way into DC. yesterday we toured all the Smithsonian museum's in our area(we're staying at my dad and mom's old college friends from way back 15/20 years ago)they're all right next to the memorials and stuff. then today we went to the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and the latest Smithsonian Museum. and...*drum roll* we went the White House today!!! it was for the annual Easter egg roll/hunt/random stuff, but we actually got to see the White House today with all this extra security around. also there where JUSTIN BIEBER and *more drum roll please* APOLO OHNO!!! *faint* my hero XP. but i went to the justin bieber concert while my dad's friend took the rest to the egg hunt and stuff with the promise that they would later come for me. however, after the concert ended i waited another15 minutes til he remembered me. under normal circumstances this would have been fine, but this time however...apparently apolo (=D!!!!!!)had started his show 10 minutes early, so even though i was completely on time, THEY WOULDN'T LET ME IN! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but over all it was a great first two days of spring break^^

preview of next few days of my spring break:
tomorrow we're all driving up to Boston(that's another 10 hours stuck in a car) after a stop at colleges(yes, i got my parents to agree to this trip by talking about colleges)up in boston we'll have some fun, eat lobsters =), look at more colleges?, and so on. then we're on to new york-statue of liberty, empire state, central park, time square, more colleges...

then i suppose that's all...if you can call that all^^

PS after seeing his concert in live and all his fans, i've decided that i'm no longer against him, this added to his Canadian heritage(i'm canadian too =D)that instead of disliking, i now like him wholeheartedly^^(now how old is he again? 14? 15? think he turned 15 in February but not really sure...i'm 14 in may =D)

PSS from new york to atlanta, it's a...15 HOUR DRIVE(is that even possible in one day?)...