First Day of Senior Year

I realize this is a day late, but I was busy the other night.
I still feel it serves its purpose.
Excuse crappy editing and audio...

Fan of Panera Bread?

Atmosphere can change a lot about how we perceive a place.

When I step into Panera Bread, I feel more sophisticated, taking in the organic color scheme and "FRESH" plastered everywhere. The vision of wholesome bread makes me feel proud to eat somewhere much more upper class than say, McDonald's.

Even the menu gets me excited with names like "Chicken Bacon Dijon" and "Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice". When I finally sit down, I happily scan my meal and take a bite into my hot, crispy Panini. After taking my last bite and last slurp of my soup, I am satisfied, and go about my day.

However, the next time I eat at Panera Bread, I might not feel so satisfied. I might even feel as sheepishly guilty as I do when I devour a BigMac. McDonald's has to make their nutritional values so obvious they stick it onto the packaging. Panera Bread customers buy into that "intimate" feel and don't think twice about the nutritional values (which are comparable, sometimes worse, than any other fast food chain). I'm not a health nut, but it's interesting how a simple environment can drastically change somebody's feelings and opinions about a place. I assume that companies relentlessly abuse this.


Smokehouse Turkey Panini In the end, are we all just pawns of mega corporations?

my 16 year old self

reflection

You know what I like about staying at home? You can be totally selfish and have some dedicated "me" time. You can watch the Woodstock 40th anniversary recap on the History Channel and make all the annoying comments you want to. You can listen to the Silversun Pickups with no objections. And sometimes, you learn things about yourself.

This is how I want to remember my sixteen year old self:
selfish, timid, fascinated, lazy, dorky, book worm, plain, daydreamer, confused, frustrated, warm, faithful, realistic, closet fashionista...excited for life!

HOW DO YOU want to remember your 16 year old self? How much have you changed since then?




To my small, small group of readers, I love you all! I'm glad I can put a smile on your face.

Quite the Tank Top

On my back to school wishlist (which, judging by the past few years, never get to accomplish), I want this tank top from Forever 21.

Pretty schnazzy, I'd say.

On another note, I'm in driving school this and next week. Learning a lot of interesting things, watching lame videos, and trying to make the road a safer place. Most drivers are so obnoxious, really....

Underwater Pictures

My Olympus Stylus 1050 SW doesn't take the greatest quality of pictures, has slow shutter speed, and an auto ISO that drives me crazy, but it IS 10 ft. waterproof (and shockproof and cold weather resistant). Needless to say, me and my friends had loads of fun taking underwater shots in the pool!

SENIOR STATUS

How lame, this is the second entry of the day =D
But I just got my senior picture proofs in the mail, which is -kinda- epic, considering I haven't bought school pictures since the 8th grade.
I'm still convinced that Lifetouch, in any way, shape, or form, is a complete rip-off. But at least for the senior photo session (I just got basic head shots), they seemed to show more professionalism.

flashback PRE-K

my top picks...

standard yearbook photo

lovely plastic rose

cap & gown 2010

and alas, my favorite. there's something timeless about black & white.

And here's where I impart my wisdom
The higher the sitting fee (which usually involves way more poses and outfit changes) the more expensive your actual photo package will cost. Because, of course if you paid to take all those poses, you're not going to get just 2 poses printed. Looking back, I should have just gotten the most basic of the packages, instead of including the cap and gown.

Be frugal, my friends!

COLLEGE preparations

The path to higher education has always been a goal of mine.
It seems about right, it seems stable.
Find a college, get accepted, acquire some respectable degree, get a job.
But HELL, it's not even November, and I'm already stressing out.
Endless search engines, taking in the many numbers thrown at you, campus tours (which, unfortunately, I've taken none yet)...just so many factors to consider.

SO, to keep my sanity and thwart summer boredom, I've organized the chaos of what is, the College Application process.