my opinions
may 23rd, 2008
Another week done, and there's only one regular week of school left! as if the school year didn't go by fast enough, the past three weeks have basically flown by. i'm pretty excited though cause the matches concert is coming up in a couple weeks! and warped tour pretty much right after that. this weekend is a three day weekend and it's pretty much packed up with stuff to do. today i might go shopping with margarita for toga-inspired outfits. tomorrow there's a family outing for breakfast and indiana jones, and then a big birthday party saturday night. sunday i think i'm going to movies with some friends, and monday there may be beach plans if the weather is nice. right now it's supper smoky because of the fires in santa cruz. it mostly looks really foggy but it smells like camp fire everywhere you go. this week in web has been pretty low key because everyone's recording their music. pretty much everyday in class someone's playing their guitar or just hanging out. even at los altos this week has been pretty chill, hopefully next week will be the same to end the year on a stress-free note.
may 15th, 2008
holy crap. two full normal weeks left in school for this year. it's crazy! i still remember things from freshman year like they were yesterday, so it's insane to think we're done with junior year. going to be seniors! i guess i'm looking forward to the freedom of being a senior, but i'm not looking forward to having to start it all over again at college. i mean, i'm super excited to go get out of mountain view and do something interesting, but i just finished four years at the same place with the same people, and now i have to go start all over again somewhere else. i think it'll definitely be better than high school, pretty much no question on that but it's definitely scary as hell. i pretty much have no idea where i want to go at this point, i just know i don't have a problem with out of state. yesterday we had our freestyle bbq at lunch, which was totally awesome. there was tons of food and great homemade desserts. everyone wants to do those more often and i agree. i thought it was pretty funny though because all the first years and some second years were there, but we managed to still hang out with the people we usually do. it's hard to break habit, and even harder to branch out from your most comfortable social circle. still, no matter who you spend the most time with, it's still super easy to talk to anyone from freestyle cause we're such a small group. we really need to have another bbq at some point, and someone needs to have a big end of the year freestyle bash for sure.
may 9th, 2008
WooWhoo! Another friday, at last. there's like three weeks left in school, so there's not that much left to do. today my family's having a graduation party for the brother, there's going to a be a bunch of food and drink. I invited some of my peeps to come over to for a Y show pre-party. I don't know what's going down tomorrow, but it may be a continuation of bonfire fun! Wednesday we're having a freestyle BBQ at lunch, for all the students. it'll be fun cause there'll be food and music and all the freestyle kids! it's really kind of amazing how well we all get along with each other. the group is so small, that really, if just a small group didn't get along the whole school would be awkward and tense. in design someone was saying how we should have a freestyle dance. it's a cool idea, but as ms. p pointed out, it would be like dancing with your siblings. which is totally true for our group. we're so small, and we spend so much time together that we really are like family. definitely ending this year and leaving for the summer is way worse than leaving a class at los altos. it's just not the same thing. here we're so close, and we help each other with everything. being at freestyle, you really come to depend on the other kids for help and support, because they're really the only people who will ever understand exactly what you're going through. it'll be tough leaving, but next year will hopefully be even better, not to sound too cheesy.
may 2nd, 2008
WooHoo Friday! So yesterday was our Documentary exhibition at los altos, and it went really well. i actually think it was our best exhibition yet. for some reason i felt like everyone was really calm, things got set up in plenty of time, and no one was really freaking out. i missed a lot of class before hand, so i didn't get to finish my audio slideshow until yesterday in class. my slideshow wasn't in the exhibition but all the films were really great and interesting. I'm really glad it's friday though, and now i have a project free weekend to read my new book! totally dorky, but i'm not ashamed to say i'm obsessed, basically, with the Twilight series. There's 3 books right now, and i've read the first two and i'm starting the third. They're about this girl who falls in love with a vampire, and the obvious conflicts that would follow that situation. The love side of the story is pretty cliché, but the vampire aspect is really unique and isn't what most movies and stories are. There's a movie coming out in december that i'm really excited for! Today I pitched my experimental idea to miss p today, and she liked it. which i think is actually a first. so that takes a huge load of stress of for this weekend, and the entire project. I'm going to be making shirt stencils, and then actually making the shirts so i need to start thinking of ideas for stencils. Making the shirts will be pretty easy, just time consuming so i need to get going on my stencil ideas.
april 4th, 2008
Today is friday, thank god. except i could actually use probably two more days to get everything i need done. tuesday is my surgery and then i'm out for the whole week. which is nice cause even though it's going to be horrible and painful, i get a break right? after next week it's spring break and usually i'd be excited to hang out with friends, go to the beach, or do whatever you can't during school. but my spring break is going to consist of me laying stomach down on the couch, flipping channels, loaded on vicodin, unable to leave the house. it's going to suck. i'll probably read, and maybe study for the sat's. hopefully i'll feel well enough to stencil some shirts, because that keeps me busy for awhile. I'm hoping some of my friends will come and visit me when they're not out on vacation. But this week has been a super busy work week. i've come in early to freestyle everyday, stayed at lunch, and come back to freestyle after our minimum days. All i have left to do is actually make my audio slideshow, which might take more time than i have. Oh well, i'm super excited cause i found out the matches are playing a show at the filmore in june! sweet. definitely going to that.
march 24th, 2008
So this week we've been working on our book layouts. the program we use, indesign, is actually pretty cool and easy to use. i learned how to make an action in photoshop, so instead of individually resizing pictures, you just select them all and apply an action. that makes doing a lot of things in photoshop so much faster. i finally finished editing all my photos so now all thats left is decided where exactly they go. we made a mock-up books with pictures from our contact sheets, so i started to make my book based on that. Unfortunately, because that would have made it too easy, when i got all my pictures up i did not like the layout at all. none of my pictures really flow together that well. so once i figured that out, i decided to put my book together like my audio slideshow layout but change it when needed. this layout works a lot better cause then all i have to do is make small transitions to make my photos all look more unified. Once i have all the pictures in with my found images, i just have to put in the text and make sure everything is consistent and flows.
march 21st, 2008
Sweet, today's friday! The weeks keep going by pretty fast, which is great but also kind of scary considering how much stuff there is to get done! Wednesday was my seventeenth birthday, and we had a track meet against milpitas. My birthday was pretty nice, and my car is still filled with balloons. The track meet was our first home meet, and it took a long stressful practice the day before to get everything ready. Milpitas's girls are really great throwers and they seemed pretty nice so it wasn't too bad. I did okay in disc but i'm really liking shot more. every meet so far i've increased my throw and this week i did my personal record so far. of course i've never managed to hit 25 feet, and guess what i threw wednesday! 24 feet 11 and a half inches. 11 and a half inches. are you kidding?! like, for real come on. i guess next meet i'll just have to hit 25 for real, all i need is a half inch. Our next meet is versus gunn on april 1st. that will be my last track meet for the season before i have my surgery. i don't remember any particularly great throwers on their team so hopefully my last meet will be successful! Right now i'm just starting to make all the designs for my documentary website in illustrator. i think it's going to turn out pretty good, and i already like it more than my narrative site so i'll be excited to put it up soon!
march 11th, 2008
So today is tuesday, the second day of a whole new week, but i feel like last week didn't end! Hah. last week was pretty bad and i didn't have much of a weekend. saturday i woke up at 5:45 to be at school by 6:30 to head to watsonville. the invite was pretty fun, but now i have a seriously wicked sock tan. not good. los altos took home a lot of medals, and the varsity girl runners pretty much scraped. Sunday i just hung out at home all day which was pretty okay because i was super tired. I finally talked to my friend who i haven't been in touch with lately so that's pretty cool. This week our meet on thursday is against mountain view! it's the first time we've ever played them because they just got moved up into our devision. i have no idea what their throwers are like, but i think it'll probably be fun considering i know some of the people on the team. plus, with all the mountain view kids here, it'll be cool to be at their school. There's not a lot going on this weekend but hopefully i can sleep most of it cause i'm still like crazy tired. which is annoying cause i'm going to sleep by like 10 every night! My birthday is next week. that's pretty sweet, i'll be seventeen. I'm not sure what i'll do, but hopefully something fun with some friends.
march 5th, 2008
Today is Wednesday; the middle of the week. This week is actually pretty eventful. Monday was a fairly normal day, broke some hearts. I made captain of the girls throwers! That's actually very exciting. Today there's a pasta feed after practice because tomorrow is our first meet against Los Gatos! I'm pretty excited for our meet but Los Gatos is really good, so i'm not sure how well it'll go. We have minimum days today and tomorrow so i'm actually glad i won't be missing any school for an away meet. Mostly this year i'll be missing 7th period, which is totally fine by me. Most our meets this season are home which is nice, but also not as fun because you don't get to take the bus somewhere new! Friday is just a normal friday. I don't what i'm going to do, it's so weird not having to go to work every friday, i actually have to make plans now. Whatever i end up doing won't be much considering i have to be at los altos at 6:30 a.m. on saturday. Watsonville Invitational. apparently watsonville is a hour away in the middle of farm land. awesome, can't wait. invitationals are generally always pretty fun, and some cool people are going. It's going to be a long day.
february 26th, 2008
So today is tuesday of our week back from ski week. yesterday was pretty hard to get through but today's actually not so bad. The week was really good, which is why it's so hard to come back! most vacations are okay, so i don't feel too bad about starting school again, but this one was pretty good and i enjoyed myself. it started off pretty amazing with the panda maldroid show. panda did not disappoint at all, and i found another band that i really like who's also local: maldroid. i went out to dinner with friends a couple times. i played lazer quest! which i haven't done since i was probably 10 or 11. i hung out with some new people which was totally awesome. i forgot how happy it makes me to be with cool people who like the same things as i do. i also realized how crazy i was for thinking people i was friends with in the past were good for me. i had some relationship drama this week. i'm handling it as well as i can. it's a difficult situation, but when is it not? i'm jut glad i have so much support around me from friends. they let me vent as much as i need, and give me advice that i can actually use. it's nice to be reassured that i'm not the one with the problem. it makes dealing with what's going on that much easier.
february 11th, 2008
I'm super excited for everything this week! So it's monday, the 11th. today I'm going to track and after, a couple of us are going on a 'field trip' to get new throwing shoes. Hopefully they'll have some decent colors and i don't end up with the ones that look like clown shoes! The ones i have right now are cool but they're falling apart. Tomorrow is just tuesday, i don't think anything special is really happening except for getting all the homework done i can for the week. wednesday will be pretty sick. i have web and history all day. right after school i'll probably go pick up my last pay check! Which is a total bummer cause it's not going to last very long. =/ But right after that i have to go to the dr.'s in mountain view for an eye appointment, hopefully score some new glasses. And after that i'll go back to freestyle to get ready for the narrative exhibition! I'm super excited for the exhibition. the work isn't as good as last time, but it'll be fun because a bunch of my friends are coming. Plus, the freestyle kids all go to ice cream after for tradition. Then thursday is valentine's day. i think it's going to pretty decent this year. definitely better than past years, and i'm looking forward to giving people the presents i got. I don't really have any other plans that day other than going to track. Friday is also going to be totally sick because I'm going to see panda!!! they're playing at bottom of the hill in san francisco. i love them, i can't wait to see them again live now that i know their music. hopefully i'll be able to score a c.d., maybe even an autograph! they're my age too, i think they're all still in high school. then, after friday, we have a week off. sweet! that's also going to be pretty legit. I'm not going anywhere special but there's definitely some trips to the beach or the city in my sights. I haven't been to the haight in a while, it's going to super fun! can't wait.
January 25th, 2008
panda.
click here.
or here.
January 18th, 2008
It's a new year already. crazy! it's weird thought to think it's a new year cause we're only half done with school, but it's still pretty rad. A look back at 2007? It was pretty okay. It started off with some ending of friendships, heights of friendships, and realizing which ones would last forever. I finished my sophomore year of high school, and got a job. Over the summer i worked, and got my license! the new job and ability to drive gave me a huge opportunity to meet new people. And i did. Working was one of my favorite things because of all the people i got hang out with every week. School started again, my Junior year and I started at freestyle which is one of the coolest things i've ever gotten to do. I kept working, and kept getting more and more attached to the people i met there. Now i'm already through January of the new year. I'm quitting my job, but i really hope some relationships i've made there won't end just because i won't be there all weekend. Some friendships in general are still over, and some somewhat questionable. Track starts soon, and there's still more to look forward to for 2008.
december 17th, 2007
Finally. the last week of the first semester of my junior year. im spent. completely exhausted. this semester has been really non-stop working, without any real breaks, but it has gone by really fast. i mean, the past two years have gone by incredibly fast. i still remember things from freshman year like they were yesterday, and now i'm halfway to becoming a senior. crazy really, but i'm really looking forward to having winter break. all i have to do is get through a final on thursday, and two on friday and i'm done! plus, saturday is the matches concert, which is going to be awesome. i can't wait to see the band, and shawn harris of course. i still have work a couple days this week, but then it's christmas. Mostly, i'm excited because my parents and my brother and i are going to disney land for two days after. that's going to be really sweet, i've never seen disney land all dressed up for christmas and new years before. on our way back, we're stopping to visit cal poly, so that should be pretty interesting. i'm so tired, and really glad this semester is done. it was great, but i'm ready for a break.
December 2nd, 2007
So it's just another one of those weeks where you think everything is going fine, good, maybe even great, but then something happens to ruin that streak. It's so annoying! i mean, come on, give me a break, right? Everyone has those times, i'd like to meet a person who doesn't. it could be a combination of work, or family, or relationships. Whatever it is, you can never really know what's going through the other person's mind when you're feeling discouraged. Maybe they're feeling as bad off as you, too bad you can't just talk to them about it. i mean, of course you can talk to them, but would you? I don't think i could. what do you do? i wish i knew. guess this is just another time of going with the flow and just waiting to see how it unfolds. i'd like to think everything happens for a reason, at least, that's what i tell myself. guess i'll just see how this week goes, who knows, it could pick up again, plus, it's only one week. what's one week when you have a lifetime?
november 13th, 2007
"salty eyes" -the matches
Do you belong to a song?
Does it drag you along by the tongue at the top of your lungs?
Are you drunk?
Have you been drinking?
Do you below the overpass go with a fifth in your fist
reminiscing the kiss of a love that just didn't love as much as you did?
But please don't give up, dear walls.
Don't let the ceiling fall.
When you belong to a song, Salty Eyes.
You belong.
Shrill notes begin the grim violin.
Then from the silence of violence the sirens orchestrate the score.
To which one more corpse is left quiet.
How we've become the hollows of drums.
The rest between notes and the hollers that never reach throats.
"Friends" in quotes, they're not calling.
But please don't give up dear you.
I'm but the sliver moon sliding through
When you belong to a song, salty eyes.
You belong.
Do please believe, however naive.
let it drag you along by the tongue at the top of your lungs.
And belong salty eyes.
When you belong to a song, salty eyes.
You belong.
So I just finished my very first website. Thank the lord. Haha. Honestly, when I first sat down in this class the idea of making our own websites seemed completely ridiculous and impossible. It wasn’t my motivation level, it was just the fact that making a whole website seemed like some huge thing only professional web designers can do properly. I can say now, that even though it did take a lot of time, and a lot of help, it was possible. I did it! And I’m happy with how it all turned out. It’s really amazing actually, I had an idea in my head, and just making a few css rules later, here it is. Bam. Crazy. I’m really excited for everyone I know to see it, and the idea that anyone in the world could see it is kind of really cool too. Now that I’m also learning photoshop and illustrator is nice to have a place I can display my work. Especially so people who can’t come to my exhibitions, and for my friends who live other places can see what I’m up to. Just the idea that I created my website still amazes me. I’m really excited for what’s next.