I've missed you.
I've been meaning to do this for a while. Since Brandon is taking the day off and I have the cashiers booth to myself for a few hours, now is the time to stop putting it off.
I have the best intentions ever for this journal, I swear. I get the urge to journal frequently but i'm put off by the fact that it's been a long-ass time since i've made a real entry and I don't want to continue like nothing happened over the last 6 months or so. Because a lot happened; mostly awesome things. So here is my compromise: I mass uploaded a bunch of photos to Facebook recently, so i'll post the link to some albums. The last half year will be a photographic journal. I made the albums public, so they should be viewable by anyone to wants to see them. And if something needs to be discussed in depth, I will do so. So, a light recap:
I don't take as many pictures as I would like, but i'm getting a little better.
Here's the link to that long-ago trip to San Francisco to see Explosions in the Sky: Spring Break 2008! A good percentage of those are Honnie's pictures, but it made for a better, more comprehensive album. That trip was really fun despite minor drama and slightly awkward sleeping arrangements and I got to know Honnie better, which is probably one of the best things about the last few months.
I finished spring semester with a 3.5 and a feeling that it was gonna be a good summer. I got an A in summer school and then it was time for the MMSdance show. The night of the dance show was also the night of my first rave, EDC, to which Kalani accompanied me. I wasnt about to carry around a camera around all fucked up so there are no pictures, but it was really fun and I look forward to Monster Massive at the end of this month if only I could find someone to go with.
There was a good month at the beginning of the summer where I wasnt doing much, just working and laying around. It started to pick up towards the middle when I started hanging out with Honnie and Kalani more. Also I took many people on hikes. I hung out with both of them one on one, but it works out a lot of the time that when you're hanging out with them, you're hanging out with their other friends, which turned out to be a really good thing. I feel like I got a smidge less socially awkward being introduced to so many people. It helped that a lot of the new people I met are pretty amazing.
My good friend Britt moved to Vancouver, BC to be with the love of her life. When I tell people this they get all cynical on me but I think they're a really cute couple, and I see them lasting a long time. She also really needed to move, Southern California just may have not been the best place for her. Here's a few pictures from her going-away potluck. I miss her. A lot.
Then all of a sudden it was August. The second weekend in August I flew to Arcata, CA where Humboldt State University is located. I did a campus tour and stayed with Cameron, who lives there now. It was really fun. I'll go further into detail about how a feel about Arcata and going to school in general later, but here's some really cool pictures from the trip: A weekend in Humboldt. Snug in the middle of the Redwoods, i've never seen such natural beauty. It was breathtaking.
A mere week later it was time to pack up the Green Machine and head once again to San Francisco, on the joint mission of moving Honnie into Berkeley and going to the San Francisco Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, where I saw Steel Pulse, Beck, Radiohead, Devendra Banhart, Kaki King, Lupe Fiasco, Cake, Regina Spektor, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers! Whew. The festival was soooo much fun. Honnie and Drew went with me the first day and also Tayler and Andrew (II) were there. Taylor was really sweet letting me stay at her place. Berkeley is gorgeous and I was intensely jealous of her college experience for a couple minutes before I decided I wouldn't be able to handle living in a triple dorm anyway. The second day I was alone for about a half hour before I made friends by offering weed and munchies, in that order. Afterwards I met with Honnie and co for our last dinner together for a while. We had really tasty Indian. It was all so much fun, but bittersweet because we (Drew and I) were leaving Honnie there. "You guys will be going home without me!" she kept on saying. I miss Honnie a whole lot, but she's been home to visit twice since then and Drew, Vince, possibly Vi, and I are going to visit her for Halloween because it's a four-day weekend from school! Every time I visit SF I get more familiar with it, which is cool, but I never really want to drive there again. It's all confusing one-way streets, so every time you make a wrong turn you end up five miles away, in tears, lost. No thank you. Public transportation for the win.
I know several people will hate me for this, but not a week later I saw Radiohead AGAIN in Chula Vista, near San Diego. This time Brandon came with me, and plied me with drugs and delicious alcohol. The show was really good but I think the Festival performance was slightly better.
Thus ended the big events of the summer and the start of the fall semester. Well, actually, fall semester started the week of our trip to SF... that, and the Radiohead show, showed up in my grades. I'm not doing well this semester. This is the worst i've ever done at LBCC so far. I'm pretty sure it's because it's my last semester there. Also it does not help that I HATE math, and i'm in precalculus when I won't ever have to take actual calculus. Also my history teacher is busting my ass with so much homework; between just those two classes I don't think i've ever had so much homework. It'll all work out, though. In precal I scored some extra credit and she drops the lowest test score; also, we just started on trigonometric stuff which I feel much more comfortable with. And in history, I just need to suck it up and do the BS homework and he said there's no reason I can't get a B or higher. So it'll be okay, but it wont be my best semester.
I've been deeply in debt this whole summer and much of last year because i'm a sucker who loaned thousands of dollars I didnt have to Tim. This prevented me from achieving some of the goals I had planned for the summer, such as getting a good bike, my first tattoo, and a myriad of other things that require money. But at least I can go to Disneyland for free and there was lots of fun, free stuff to do in Long Beach. Tim sent in a bill a couple weeks ago, so I really REALLY look forward to being paid back and restoring my credit score. Also I get a financial aid check next week, yay! My second job at the dance studio is very cushy and easy, everyone is super laid back and nice. It's the no-stress job that pays for my gas and drugs.
The first day to apply to HSU was last week. I'm dragging my feet about it because 1. it's a pain in the ass and 2. i'm terrified. I can't believe this is my last year in Long Beach (at least for a while). I know everyone gets the jitters, and there's no way i'm not going, but... jesus. I was asked a rhetorical question the other day; "We're all on a journey, going to new places... what are you leaving behind?" After a split second I said to myself, "Everything." I've never left home for any length of time, lived on my own or started a new life anywhere. I'll have one friend there but I feel like i'm just starting to get the hang of things and branch out here. I almost dont want to make new friends because it'll make it that much harder to leave. And home won't be close enough that I'll be able to visit frequently; Humboldt is 700 miles away, a 13-hour drive or $300 plane ticket round trip. Not to mention the misgivings I have about Arcata itself; after growing up in Southern California, where nothing is more than a few hours drive away and convenience is my buzz word, literally living in the middle of the forest where their claim to fame is a Target is going to be... rough.
I'm sure all of these feelings are old hat for a lot of you, but since we're catching up and all.... This year is going to be really important and I need to document it, fear and all.
Wow. I didnt intend for this to be such a long entry. But now I can move on in this journal and have it be current. I also didnt intend to spiral into such anxious thoughts, so here are some things to make you smile:
I have the best intentions ever for this journal, I swear. I get the urge to journal frequently but i'm put off by the fact that it's been a long-ass time since i've made a real entry and I don't want to continue like nothing happened over the last 6 months or so. Because a lot happened; mostly awesome things. So here is my compromise: I mass uploaded a bunch of photos to Facebook recently, so i'll post the link to some albums. The last half year will be a photographic journal. I made the albums public, so they should be viewable by anyone to wants to see them. And if something needs to be discussed in depth, I will do so. So, a light recap:
I don't take as many pictures as I would like, but i'm getting a little better.
Here's the link to that long-ago trip to San Francisco to see Explosions in the Sky: Spring Break 2008! A good percentage of those are Honnie's pictures, but it made for a better, more comprehensive album. That trip was really fun despite minor drama and slightly awkward sleeping arrangements and I got to know Honnie better, which is probably one of the best things about the last few months.
I finished spring semester with a 3.5 and a feeling that it was gonna be a good summer. I got an A in summer school and then it was time for the MMSdance show. The night of the dance show was also the night of my first rave, EDC, to which Kalani accompanied me. I wasnt about to carry around a camera around all fucked up so there are no pictures, but it was really fun and I look forward to Monster Massive at the end of this month if only I could find someone to go with.
There was a good month at the beginning of the summer where I wasnt doing much, just working and laying around. It started to pick up towards the middle when I started hanging out with Honnie and Kalani more. Also I took many people on hikes. I hung out with both of them one on one, but it works out a lot of the time that when you're hanging out with them, you're hanging out with their other friends, which turned out to be a really good thing. I feel like I got a smidge less socially awkward being introduced to so many people. It helped that a lot of the new people I met are pretty amazing.
My good friend Britt moved to Vancouver, BC to be with the love of her life. When I tell people this they get all cynical on me but I think they're a really cute couple, and I see them lasting a long time. She also really needed to move, Southern California just may have not been the best place for her. Here's a few pictures from her going-away potluck. I miss her. A lot.
Then all of a sudden it was August. The second weekend in August I flew to Arcata, CA where Humboldt State University is located. I did a campus tour and stayed with Cameron, who lives there now. It was really fun. I'll go further into detail about how a feel about Arcata and going to school in general later, but here's some really cool pictures from the trip: A weekend in Humboldt. Snug in the middle of the Redwoods, i've never seen such natural beauty. It was breathtaking.
A mere week later it was time to pack up the Green Machine and head once again to San Francisco, on the joint mission of moving Honnie into Berkeley and going to the San Francisco Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, where I saw Steel Pulse, Beck, Radiohead, Devendra Banhart, Kaki King, Lupe Fiasco, Cake, Regina Spektor, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers! Whew. The festival was soooo much fun. Honnie and Drew went with me the first day and also Tayler and Andrew (II) were there. Taylor was really sweet letting me stay at her place. Berkeley is gorgeous and I was intensely jealous of her college experience for a couple minutes before I decided I wouldn't be able to handle living in a triple dorm anyway. The second day I was alone for about a half hour before I made friends by offering weed and munchies, in that order. Afterwards I met with Honnie and co for our last dinner together for a while. We had really tasty Indian. It was all so much fun, but bittersweet because we (Drew and I) were leaving Honnie there. "You guys will be going home without me!" she kept on saying. I miss Honnie a whole lot, but she's been home to visit twice since then and Drew, Vince, possibly Vi, and I are going to visit her for Halloween because it's a four-day weekend from school! Every time I visit SF I get more familiar with it, which is cool, but I never really want to drive there again. It's all confusing one-way streets, so every time you make a wrong turn you end up five miles away, in tears, lost. No thank you. Public transportation for the win.
I know several people will hate me for this, but not a week later I saw Radiohead AGAIN in Chula Vista, near San Diego. This time Brandon came with me, and plied me with drugs and delicious alcohol. The show was really good but I think the Festival performance was slightly better.
Thus ended the big events of the summer and the start of the fall semester. Well, actually, fall semester started the week of our trip to SF... that, and the Radiohead show, showed up in my grades. I'm not doing well this semester. This is the worst i've ever done at LBCC so far. I'm pretty sure it's because it's my last semester there. Also it does not help that I HATE math, and i'm in precalculus when I won't ever have to take actual calculus. Also my history teacher is busting my ass with so much homework; between just those two classes I don't think i've ever had so much homework. It'll all work out, though. In precal I scored some extra credit and she drops the lowest test score; also, we just started on trigonometric stuff which I feel much more comfortable with. And in history, I just need to suck it up and do the BS homework and he said there's no reason I can't get a B or higher. So it'll be okay, but it wont be my best semester.
I've been deeply in debt this whole summer and much of last year because i'm a sucker who loaned thousands of dollars I didnt have to Tim. This prevented me from achieving some of the goals I had planned for the summer, such as getting a good bike, my first tattoo, and a myriad of other things that require money. But at least I can go to Disneyland for free and there was lots of fun, free stuff to do in Long Beach. Tim sent in a bill a couple weeks ago, so I really REALLY look forward to being paid back and restoring my credit score. Also I get a financial aid check next week, yay! My second job at the dance studio is very cushy and easy, everyone is super laid back and nice. It's the no-stress job that pays for my gas and drugs.
The first day to apply to HSU was last week. I'm dragging my feet about it because 1. it's a pain in the ass and 2. i'm terrified. I can't believe this is my last year in Long Beach (at least for a while). I know everyone gets the jitters, and there's no way i'm not going, but... jesus. I was asked a rhetorical question the other day; "We're all on a journey, going to new places... what are you leaving behind?" After a split second I said to myself, "Everything." I've never left home for any length of time, lived on my own or started a new life anywhere. I'll have one friend there but I feel like i'm just starting to get the hang of things and branch out here. I almost dont want to make new friends because it'll make it that much harder to leave. And home won't be close enough that I'll be able to visit frequently; Humboldt is 700 miles away, a 13-hour drive or $300 plane ticket round trip. Not to mention the misgivings I have about Arcata itself; after growing up in Southern California, where nothing is more than a few hours drive away and convenience is my buzz word, literally living in the middle of the forest where their claim to fame is a Target is going to be... rough.
I'm sure all of these feelings are old hat for a lot of you, but since we're catching up and all.... This year is going to be really important and I need to document it, fear and all.
Wow. I didnt intend for this to be such a long entry. But now I can move on in this journal and have it be current. I also didnt intend to spiral into such anxious thoughts, so here are some things to make you smile: