What an Awful Friend

I like telling stories. Like a lot. I like telling stories because you can tell them if you’re in any mood. So I tell stories all the time. I know my friends probably hate it. It must be so annoying to be always listening to Kirsten’s incessant voice talking about how she got lost on the city bus and had to walk back to Treasure Mountain (True story and yes, I referred to myself in the third person.) But I like to tell stories because it helps me laugh at myself and I like making people smile. And sometimes nobody laughs, which is embarrassing, but hey you keep trying. 

Courtesy of clairelasecretaire.wordpress.com

I think this blog has been like my own personal, yet public journal. I’ve been able to tell stories and talk about random things, like how I want to own a naked cat someday. I’ve learned about myself, but mostly just expressed myself. 

To understand my transformation throughout this year, we have to look back to my locker at the beginning of this year. At the beginning of this year my locker was clean, fresh, and relatively organized. It was very innocent. I had a folder or binder for every class, and enough pens to last me an eternity. When they tell you that you can be prepared for high school, it’s total crap. By the first week my pens were missing and I felt like a homeless person, because of how often I begged people for a pen. “Spare a pen for a unorganized train wreck, would ya sir?” Gradually, my locker became worse and worse. Piles of paper built up inside my locker. Unknown liquids spilled and stained my locker. The door became vandalized with drawings of dogs, courtesy of Aysia and “I love JB” courtesy of River. 

Yesterday, after a very random and unfortunate chain of events I ended up at school with quite a bit of free time. So I decided to get a bit of the cleaning of my locker over with. As I began to clean it out I realized exactly how much stuff had occurred so quickly this year. I found three silver spoons, papers from every class, a small yellow bowl, six unused highlighters, four binders, three folders, and a mug. 

Then I looked at the empty and organized locker, and thought to myself I made it. It may have been hard and it may have been messy but I made it through my first year of high school. Where my blog played in that, I’m not exactly sure. I think my blog has shaped me into the writer I am today and has sparked my creativity. It’s also caused much suffering. I’ve lost hours of sleep because of writers block. 

Overall, I don’t think my blog drastically changed me. But I do think it’s helped me. It’s given me a new place to share my thoughts, even if no one is reading. Although it’s cheesy, I like to think of my blog as a friend I made this year. So cheers to my friend, I hope to never see you again fourteen days from now!

My Must See Movie List

My father does not enjoy sad movies. My sister does not enjoy scary movies. My brother only likes documentaries and highly acclaimed movies. But I love most genres of movies and so I usually watch all kinds of movies with my mom. Together we somehow find a creative movie that we haven't seen to watch, and if we can't find one we haven't seen, we watch an old one we have seen.

I have seen a lot of a lot of movies. Here's the ones that I suggest (these are just one from each genre):

Romance/Romantic Comedy: About Time
I love this movie. I first saw it with my mom and sister. We had randomly selected it from our television. It wasn't a very popular movie and I have yet to meet someone who has seen it. But it really moved me. It's the story of a young man, Tim Lake, who discovers that the men in his family can travel back in time. No, it's actually not cheesy. Tim who is extremely quirky, decides to use this new advantage to fall in love. In turn, he meets Mary played by Rachael McAdams, and learns from his mistakes to live life to the fullest. This funny and romantic movie is perfect for anyone who wants to laugh, smile, and have a good time watching a movie.

Trailer: About Time

Action/Adventure: Bourne Identity
I have yet to read the books in this action-packed series, but the first movie is one of my favorite movies. The Bourne Identity is about Jason Bourne, a trained assassin who suffers from total amnesia in an accident. He soon sets off to find out his identity and discover the truth of who he was before. If you like this movie, they are in the making of a new one and bringing back Matt Damon (finally!). Other great action films include The Revenant, Taken, and American Sniper.

Trailer: Bourne Identity

Horror: Pet Sematary

Courtesy of tumblr.com 

It's an old film, but if you want to see a classic scary movie, watch Stephen King's, Pet Sematary.
It's the story of Louis Creed and his family.  When the family cat is accidently killed, Louis takes it to the haunted pet cemetery that he heard would bring it back to life. A few days after burying the cat, it reappears, once again alive. But it's personality is changed. The cat is now vicious and hisses at Louis. Then his son of only a few years old is hit but a truck, he takes him too, to the cemetery. His son comes back from the dead evil and thirsty for blood. He has to fight and run from his own son, scared for his life. While it's not the scariest movie I've ever seen, this film with most definitely give you nightmares.

Trailer: Pet Sematary

Comedy: Ace Ventura, Talledega Nights, and Hot Rod
I not a huge traditional comedy movie watcher. I've seen Step-Brothers and other slapstick movies alike it but I don't find them all that interesting. The only ones are prefer to watch are Ace Ventura, Talledega Nights, and Hot Rod.

Young Adult: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
I must admit, when I heard of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, I was completely uninterested. The movie is about a high school student named Greg, who believe being invisible is the best way to live his life. He spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl. When he meets Rachael, a classmate diagnosed with lukemia (no, they don't fall in love) his life is sent on a new course. This funny and sad adaption of the book is about friendship and self-discovery. It's a must see for anyone who likes sarcasm. Boyhood and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are also great young-adult films.

Trailer: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Sci-Fi: The Martian

Courtesy of en.wikipedia.com

Most of you have probably already seen The Martian, but if you haven't, you need to. I will say that this is one of the best Sci-Fi movies I have seen, hands down. The Martian is extremely well animated, filmed, and created. This film keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time while making you smile. In the movie, a man is pushed to his limits when he is left behind on the uninhabited planet of Mars.

Trailer: The Martian

Other movies that I suggest:

• The Help
• The Revenant
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• American Sniper
• Eat, Pray, Love
• Boyhood
• Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Heart of the Sea
• We Bought A Zoo
• Blackfish

I Forgot To Eat!

Here's a very unattractive image of me going
 hardcore on a slice of pizza. Courtesy of me. 

I love food. I usually scoff at people who just don't eat very much or don't like eating breakfast. But last Thursday, I basically forgot to eat. I had woken up in a panic, knowing that I hit the snooze button on my alarm. By the time I was in the kitchen to get breakfast, my mom was pulling the car around. So on my way out I grabbed some coffee and some cold coconut pancakes my mom ate the night before. In the car I rushed to shove my shoes on and sipped my barely warm coffee. I jumped out of the car to catch the bus without even taking a single bite of the pancakes.

I was hungry and tired for the whole morning. Reaching lunch felt like crossing the finish line of a marathon. At lunch, I realized that my mom had been in a rush, too, and she ended up packing me two coconut pancakes, one piece of bacon, and some syrup. Now, normally two pancakes would have been fine, but these coconut pancakes were about the size of my palm and were made of coconut milk, coconut flour, and coconut sugar. Add on the fact that I hadn't eaten breakfast, and this lunch was like the mini potato chip bags which are about sixty-five percent air.

I went along with my day, not caring too much that I hadn't eaten a lot. When I got home I went up to the barn and immediately rode my horse, Kiss, then came back to the house to change into my workout clothes for Athletic Republic. In case you don't know, Athletic Republic is a athlete training center that has personal trainers who give you a different workout each time you come. Unlike I usually do, I didn't grab a snack while I was at the house, but jumped in the car and went straight there without eating. That day I was with a bunch of boys that I didn't know and I was put on the treadmill with one other kid.

The treadmill at athletic republic is crazy. It vertical treadmill that increases it's steepness by the amount the trainer sets it to. During my first few sprints, I was fine, running as I normally do. But then I started to feel cold, like I do at the end of cross-country races. I walked in circles during my breaks. Suddenly, the whole room was spinning and I felt vomit rising in my throat. The trainer said I could go to the bathroom if I felt dizzy, and I nodded and went. Right when I reached the bathroom, I sat down on the floor next to the toilet and put my head between my knees. The whole room was blacking out and my mouth watered. I sat there for at least ten minutes before getting up. I held onto the wall to steady myself and went back to the weight room. The trainer asked me if I was okay and I said I was fine but he handed me a strawberry yogurt and a spoon. I really did not want to eat the yogurt, as I never liked super sweet yogurts, but he said I had to. So I ate tiny bites and swallowed it.

After waiting about half of an hour and deciding that I wouldn't be able to get back on the treadmill that day, he set up an exercise where I would just have to stand up and pull my knee up. But when I stood up the room spun again, my skin went cold, and my vision blurred. I ended up having to call my mom to come pick me up, but not before everyone there watched me sit on the floor and hold my head between my knees. All because I didn't eat. I was so embarrassed. I went home and crawled in bed at six thirty with an almond butter sandwich and slept for two hours before waking up. Then I ate a quesadilla and watched Grey's Anatomy with my mom for a little while before falling right back to sleep.

Yesterday, before I went to athletic republic I hate half of a chicken quesadilla and a banana. It's a myth that you shouldn't eat before a workout. I definitely learned my lesson...(That school is poorly affecting my health!)