Accepted to SMU

Today I got a huge red envelope from SMU with the wonderful news that I had gotten into the school.


Before I go any further let me give you this disclaimer: I get extremely angry when people proclaim what colleges they got into on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. I think it is blatant bragging and it really pisses me off so I have vowed that I am not going to do it. That said I want to gloat somewhere on the internet so I am sorry if anyone reading this is getting upset.


Now onto the good news. The second I tore open the envelope I was relived and excited. I AM GOING TO COLLEGE! It really hit me that I would be leaving San Diego in less than a year. The best news came in a small white card wrapped in a blue ribbon. The letter informed me that I had received a $60,000 scholarship. I had expected to get some money but $15,000 a year in front of my face blew my mind.


All of my hard work in High school has paid of both figuratively and literally. I am proud of this acceptance letter and scholarship even though it is not one of my top schools. Thanks for putting up with my bragging.


If anyone reading this is an alumni or is attending SMU let me know what you think about the school!

Put This On

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon the blog Put This On and it enthralled me. I spent easily an hour reading about men's fashion. It never occurred to me that fashion could be so interesting but it was. I didn't agree with every thing that he wrote but most of it rang true. How we dress is the way we present ourselves to the world. First impressions are a big deal and our clothes play a huge role in what people think of us.

Every time I spend more than 30 minutes at a time on the site I have to remind myself that fashion is just a shred of a complete person so I go read a book to be well rounded.

Here is the site:

http://putthison.com/

How to climb Half Dome

A friend recently asked me for advice on climbing Half Dome. Here are some of my tips if anyone out there is considering the strenuous hike.

ALISON!

You guys will kill it.

Here are some things you need (I am assuming you are doing it all in one day)

-camelbacks

-*water filter*

-first aide kit

-lots of snacks (don't even really need a full meal)

-*gloves for the cables (try to get wool ones with rubber on the hands and fingers at ACE hardware)* 

-flashlights

Leave as early in the morning as you can because you will get farther without heat. Also there will be less people on the cables the earlier you go. We left at 3 in the morning the second time and it was awesome.

Once you get to the top of Nevada falls there are no water sources other than the river. You need to fill up every chance you get and have back up water because the trail leaves the river after a while and there is no water for about 4 miles. 

Difficulty wise the hike isn't that bad. Its super steep until you get to the top of Nevada falls then it is pretty flat until you get to the actual dome. 

Right before the cables there is a 'bump' that is steep and super tiring that takes about 30 min once you get to the top of that all you have left is the cables.

For me the cables were some scary motherfuckers but I just looked at the step in front of me and took it one at a time. If you aren't scared of heights they aren't too bad. Coming down I went backwards which was the most comfortable for me but you will figure out what you want to do. The sketchiest part is when people have to pass you going up or down. 

I don't even remember how long it takes on the cables because you are so focused on just getting to the top.

Once you make it it is the best feeling ever!!!

My COLLEGES!

Here is the list of Schools I am applying to. In order of preference.

1. Dartmouth
2. UC Berkeley
3. University of Southern California
4. UC Los Angeles
5. UC Santa Barbara
6. Southern Methodist University
7. UC Davis
8. Cal Poly San Lois Obispo

Its funny/sobering to know that the school I get into will have a big impact on the course of the rest of my life. Schools 1, 2 and 4 are reach schools while 3, 5 and 7 are good matches and 6 and 8 are my safety schools.

Ralph Waldo Emerson - Self Reliance

It pays to be on time

Benjamin Franklin - The Autobiography

Henry David Thoreau - Walden

The American Dream

Fishing on a tiny lake. Hoping to catch dinner. Majestic mountains in the background. Friends in the foreground. On the pursuit of happiness. 

Martin Luther King Jr. - I Have a Dream

Nike Ad

I drew this for Marketing class.

Sunflower

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Swagg on Heem

My friends and I went up to USC to visit a friend and have a good time. Well into the night we were walking along the street and a group of people came up to us and gave us some wristbands and told us about their company called Swagg on Heem. I checked out their website when I got back and it is pretty sweet. They have a bunch of pictures of their wristbands in certain places so I took my own picture. I tweeted them this picture and they liked it and re-tweeted it. If these guys make it big it would be cool to say I met them when they were just walking the streets of LA handing out wristbands.

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

This is such a great quote, anyone can relate to it.

Half Dome and I

I have always loved Half Dome. Ever since we have gone to Yosemite I have always been drawn to its sheer size and beautiful shape. I have climbed it twice and both times it was the scariest thing I had ever done.  This picture was taken from Glacier point.

Mammoth Lakes

America is obsessed with College

John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath

My friends, who happen to be twins, were nice enough to pose for this picture after I pestered them for an half hour.

Henry David Thoreau - Walden

Office Space meets Hells Kitchen

My workplace is full of many interesting people. Young people work along side me in the kitchen, old people populate the halls of the community. I am the tallest person there at 6'4" and there are many people, young and old, who barely scrape five feet. I enjoy most of their company. Most members of the dining staff work hard and  get through work with little issue. But there are a few people, its always a few people, who really pollute the atmosphere of productivity.

 One of these people stick out farther than any others. She is 23 years old but acts as if she was 9. Her chubby cheeks are constantly slurping soup or blabbing to the chef, Santos. Santos is a great guy, he smiles back at her and nods his head as she peppers him with mundane details about her daily life. She makes each little story, each fact seem as if it was of the utmost importance.

"I went to the bar last night Santos."

"oh ya?"

"Yup, I went to the bar and guess how much I spent"

"how much"

"I only spent five dollars Santos, five dollars. I am so broke its not even funny so I only spent 5 dollars at the bar, I had to get my oil changed because my car was 3,000 miles over the limit till my next oil change so I had to pay for that, They also told me I needed to realign my tires but I was like 'Fuck that, I don't have money for that shit'...................

Her hands are very animated though out the whole story.

Santos still has the same smile but he is looking down at the plate he is preparing. His thick, black mustache hides his mouth. He is garnishing a chicken fried steak he just cooked. He still has the same smile and his head keeps nodding as Lindsay continues to let the torrent of garbage spew from her thick face.

Sweat is gathering on my brow. Its at least 95 degrees in the kitchen and the shirt and tie and apron I have to wear feel like they are suffocating me. On top of the heat, Lindsay sits, it feels as if she is sitting right on the top of my head.

I grab my styrofoam cup and dig my fingernails into its side as a shake and ice cube into my mouth. I clench my jaw, using the ice as a barrier between my teeth.

New Puppy and a Job

It has been forever since I have blogged. Summer has been pretty fun so far. Since the last time I posted something our family got a puppy named Millie. She looks like an old man but shes funny.

I also got a job as a waiter at a retirement community. Fun times.

Emily Dickinson

Em

This is a simple one but it is very true.

Bush and Obama

Summer Time

and the living's easy

Ken Kesey - One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

This quote is from one of my favorite books that I have ever read.

Hair cuts

I give my dad haircuts in the backyard. He pays me. I decided that I should expand my business so I am now the proud owner of Crazy CUT'S. I made a page on Facebook so it is official. Everyone on the basketball team says I'm crazy on the court so that is why I named it Crazy CUT'S.

One of the funniest lines and I really like the way the picture turned out.

Night of Notables

The other night for our humanities class (English and History) we all had to dress up as a prominent historical figure and attend a 'cocktail party with out cocktails' with our parents. Every student brought something to eat and their parents. Each student had a number on and the parents had to match the number with names on a list by asking questions.

I was JFK so I wore my suit and wore a red white and blue tie. At first most of us students were milling around and only talking to each other but eventually parents engaged us in conversation.

I found acting as JFK intoxicating. After telling people how I diffused the Cuban Missile Crisis and how I put a man on the moon I noticed my confidence grow. When one excited dad pointed out that I had an affair with Marilyn Monroe I decided that being JFK wasn't so bad. The rest of the night I walked around looking for more parents to talk to.

This might be a stretch but hang with me.  This feeling of power that I felt is the same feeling all of these cheating politicians feel before they cheat on their wives or send dirty pictures over Twitter. The more powerful one feels the more likely they are to cheat, I heard it on NPR, some big study was done. So there you have it, I figured it all out haha.

70's Magazine Cover

I made this cover in Photoshop. We had to make a magazine in our history class that covered the major events of a decade in American history.

This one was fun to do in Photoshop and I really like the quote.

ACT!

I am taking the ACT for the second time tomorrow. I am not really dreading it. I got a 31 on it the first time. I just know that I will be completely drained after. Then I have two basketball games but those are great for letting stress out.

leggo!

Here is another one of the 50 lines to live by. This picture was taken on the banks on the Merced River in Yosemite. We go every year and it is my favorite place in the world. No matter how many times I go, I am amazed by the magnificent granite walls that create the huge valley. I have climbed Half Dome twice and hope to do it again this summer.

Shot Down

I wrote a poem in English class today. My teacher told me that is was bad. It was supposed to be in the style of Dickinson and that is why she said it was bad. Here is the poem.

Hope

Hope came knocking on my door

 begging to come in

Hope! I said politely

raising my butt chin

You have no business here, I said

for I am not a sucker

I slammed the door abruptly

with a sour pucker

It is a pretty horrible poem. The rhyming is pathetic and there is no flow. But I was proud of it at the time so her ruthless critique stung my fragile creative spirit and I was in a bad mood the rest of class. I am over it now though.

my painting of a Soldier

       This is a painting I did last year for my AP World History class. We had to write a poem to go along with it but I don't know where the poem is. I was actually pretty proud at my attempt at a little bit of cubism even though I know it wont be going up in a museum any time soon.

        The only reason I scanned it to the computer is because I am going to reuse it for a project this year and that will force me to slightly deface it. I had to stitch it together with Photoshop from two scans because it was too big to fit into one scan so that is why it looks a little odd around the edges. 

Earlier in the year our teacher had us write six word memoirs and we were allowed to use our classmates memoirs in the 50 lines to live by project. This is one of the memoirs and the picture is my brother in Yosemite. 

Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

SO TIRED

It is 12:25 on a school night, wayyyy later than I am ever up. I just finished the 50 Lines to live by project and it has drained me. I will post some of the other good ones later. I don't even know why I am writing this right now.  Good thing I have psychology tomorrow so I can sleep in, that shit is a joke. I don't even know what I am writing right now. Only two more weeks of school.........

going to bed

50 lines to live by

This photo was taken at mammoth during the summer. Not a huge fan of the quote but had to find a way to get the photo into the project.

50 lines to live by

Here's another one.

50 lines to live by

I have a project in my English class that requires me to compile 50 lines to live by from all of the things we have read this year. We then have to take a picture that goes with each line. I am going to post some of the ones I like.

Too much time

Now that volleyball season is over I have a lot of time after school. Before volleyball I had basketball practice everyday. I should be working on all my projects that are due in a few weeks but I end up not working on anything until 5 or 6 at night.

My family bothers the shit out of me so I just listen to music.

I need a job.

OFWGKTA drawing

I drew this in psychology class. I don't worship the devil, I don't even believe in the devil or hell. Things like this are just fun to draw. They are fun to draw because I know people don't approve. They are fun to draw because things like this are over the top.

I wasn't trying to offend anybody or their religion. I was just bored in psychology class.

The rap group OFWGKTA inspired this drawing. They rap about messed up things that most people don't ever talk about but everybody thinks about.

DRAW something like this. You will feel better after.

Sundays

Sundays are the worst. The thought of a fresh week sits in my head. The homework sits in a pile as the sun slowly turns the surroundings gold. A horrible gold. NPR radio whispers in my ear from the background. Boredom sets in.

When I lie in bed on Sunday nights I always think about the past. I think about the memories from my childhood that are too blurry. I can't remember them clearly. I am only seventeen, why are they so blurry? I think about graduating from middle school. I think about the friends I have lost over time. I think about having kids. I convince myself I don't want kids. They ruin everything. But if I don't have kids what will I do my whole life. People have kids because they don't have anything else to do. I think about all this and more. Silly things that I make important in my own head.

All because of Sunday. I never think about these things on the weeknights. I am too caught up in everyday life to think about these things the rest of the nights. I can't fall asleep on Sundays so I turn on the radio. I listen to a financial adviser talk about money.

Emotions from the whole week sit in a pool on my chest. I swim in the pool. The rancid water gives me blisters but I swim anyways.

I hate Sundays.

Never going to Neverland

I want my crack at the world

I know I will get it, but I want it now

I want my shot to do something great

I want to grow up

I'm tired of being a kid

I want to create myself

I want respect

Softball Game

"How great would it be if I started yelling at the ump" we all laughed. It was funny because the girls playing were only ten years old. "I mean it would be hilarious, next game I am gunu do it and you will record it. Man that would go viral on youtube." We kept laughing. We didn't laugh too hard though, he had been ejected from two little league games. Those boys were twelve, and they were boys. He couldn't yell at a soft ball game, it was absurd so we laughed.

After my brothers laughter subsided he added his commentary.

"Thats such a childish thought" his sentence trailed of with a nervous laugh "I mean who thinks of that" Again we laughed. I chuckled at this. I like it when he makes funny comments. But again I didn't think it was too funny.

It was all a joke. Of course he wouldn't yell at a softball game. My mind wandered as I watched my sister swing the bat. I remembered the embarrassment I had felt when he had been ejected from my brothers game.

"Man, your dads a bad ass" The kid I was sitting with laughed. He was trying to make the situation less awkward. I laughed with him. I smiled to cover the shame. It was a horrible day. I hardly remember it.

My sister struck out and we shifted the subject to the weather.

"Man thats some crazy fog coming in"

The fog swept down from the sky. It was a brisk night and the fog made me feel claustrophobic.

Grammy Margret

When I step out of the car into the humid New England air I know Grammy will be happy to see us. Her old house on Saville Street in Cambridge never changes. The old white house is the same one my dad grew up in. As we walk through the door her thick Irish accent greets us.

“Oh, Peter you’re so big!” she hugs us as we bring our luggage into the house. “Oh, you must be starving, you’ve been on a plane all night.” We took the red eye into Boston and I was quite hungry. She quickly lit a match to fire up the old stove. She had cooked on the same stove for her five children. The stove must be over fifty years old. She moves slowly but deliberately.

“Here have some coffee cake to hold ya over until I finish fixing you breakfast.”

I always forget how much I love her accent.

Ray Bans

He always had ray ban sunglasses tucked into his shirt. He didn't actually wear them much but when he did they looked good on him.

"you want a cigarette" he asked

"No"

He smoked. We all tried to get him to stop but it didn't work.

"what are you doing this Friday?"

"I have practice then I am going out to dinner with my family"

It wasn't really true. I did have practice but after I probably wouldn't do anything. I just didn't want to be with him. We always ended up doing the same thing. After calling people to look for parties we would just go spend money. We would eat when we weren't hungry. Spending money always made the time pass.

"Oh call me after, Brian knows of some party and I think we're gunu go"

"Alright, sounds good"

I didn't call him. I spent my Friday night at home.

Diet

"I thought you were starting that diet today"

"No, today is a gorge day"

"Well" I said "that seems a little counterproductive to me"

She went on to explain the diet. One day of eating all the food she could. The next morning I woke up to the smell of bacon. A huge breakfast sat on the table. As I ate she put pieces of bacon in her mouth.

"I thought you were starting that diet"

"No, another gorge day, the diet calls for two gorge days, then I really start the diet"

"Oh"

I kept eating the meal. My eyes didn't leave the plate. When I got home later that day she was home. I was reading a book and I could hear the sound of whipped cream. Whipped cream leaving the bottle and into her mouth. Two children walked into the house. They were being dropped off because their parents had a meeting about their divorce.

"I bet your loving that diet so far huh Lisa?"

Lisa laughed. I put the book down on my chest and took my fingers and put them in my ears. I took a deep breath.