Applebees and a new shirt just made my day.

I was really looking forward to going to see a movie today. I was all ready to see the movie Remember Me and cry by the end while eating nachos, but to my misery nobody else in my house likes Robert Pattinson (my whole family is Team Jacob). So we didn't see a movie, and I was planning to sulk all day and drown in my sorrows, but it didn't need to, because today was actually fun. My family and I took a trip to the famous Long Island (is that a state?) and we went to Applebee's. Even though all my friends say Applebee's is the worst restaurant since White Castle (which I happen to love) I adore Applebee's and their spinach artichoke dip and way too sweet lemonades. I have a lot of good memories in Applebee's, like when my aunt and I saw Mama Mia and went to eat there just because we wanted to waste money in the city. Not that it's that expensive. I do remember one time, though, I was with my parents and my sister and we were shopping and decided to treat ourselves to some Applebee's. Well, they made the decision without me, but I agreed, so I could care less. Well, to our horror, we sat in that booth for a whole half an hour without someone coming to us and even introducing ourselves. I was dumbstruck, and my dad was outraged. Needless to say, we left and ended up eating pizza and buffalo wings at Pizza Hut. Well, back to today. After stuffing our faces with appetizers and soda, we went to Walmart (you ever notice there isn't a Walmart in New York?). I guess my aunt bribed me with food because we spent the next 2 hours in the clothes section looking for a red shirt for a baby. At least I got a shirt that makes me look like Demi Lovato ( who is one of my teen idols). That just shows how being a good person and holding tongue when you want to yell at your aunt to hurry up can get you a reward. The funny thing is the red shirt that we finally found was for a 2 year old, not a one year old. Thank god for that shirt or else I would've lost it.

All the small things

The highlight of my day was falling asleep on my dad's bed with my sister, dad and dog (yes my dog). It's times like those that make me appreciate all the small things, like playing with your little sister and waking up from a nap with your dog licking your face. These things don't happen everyday, and you need to take advantage of all these opportunities because life only comes around once. That's what my dad says. Sometimes you've got to put down your phone and take out your head phones for a second because before you know it you'll be in college and you'll be so busy with life's obstacles that you won't have time for all the small things. On day my dad was lecturing me, he told me he knows that it's inevitable that we'll grow apart, but hopefully when I'm older and less self absorbed we'll get closer. He said one day I'll understand why he was always so hard on me. That really annoys me because I'm going to have to wait till I'm in my twenties, married and successful to finally get why my dad didn't let date at fourteen and ground me for getting the grades I do.That's how life is, though. At least for me, I never really understand why people do the things they do and say what they say till a while has passed by. Have you ever been lost in thought, brooding over you don't know what and WHAM you have a revelation. You think ohhh that's why he said that, or he did like me last year. Sometimes in life, the signs are slapping you in the face, but you don't get it till your forced to face the facts. How I got to this topic is beyond me. This is what I mean when I say I don't get to my point till the end.
I start talking about a small tidbit of my day then next thing I know I get all philosophical like I'm Socrates' niece or something.

Spring Break here we come

Hey all my fans, Shelle has entered the blog to add a post. It's great that it's Spring Break, right? I always wondered if Spring break for some people was like in the movies, where you go to a beach with all your friends for the entire week and everyone sees you on MTV. Does that actually happen? I want to ask if anyone has anyone has ever done that.(Add that to my bucket list).Usually I spend my break doing absolutely nothing and homework (since we have so much.). It's funny how everybody plans to do all these things they never do during break, like clean out your closet, but they never do it. Personally, I just wait till the last second to anything of importance (other than homework).So now this blog is going to be a record of all the things I need to do during the break, and everyday I'll see if I check anything off of my list.

• Do all of my homework before the weekend (it's not as easy as it seems)
• Watch a movie with my beloved aunt at the theater (I want to see Remember Me or The Runaways, which of the two would you recommend, fans?)
• Eat at Red Lobster (Can you believe I've never been there?! I'm an Olive Garden kind of girl.)
• Finally organize the hurricane that is my book bag.(there's going to have to be some encouragement to do this).
• Write some more songs (This won't be hard)
• Listen to some music (Like Mcfly, Paramore, Rise Against,Disturbed, Flyleaf, blink 182, Metallica, Eminem, ACDC...)
• Skateboard
• Blog (of course,how else would I stay on track)

• Do laundry

So I expect my followers to see if I can meet my goals, even the ones i don't want to do. You have to be my impetus!!!

Something to Look Foward To

Well, it's 10:00 at night and Im sitting on the dining room table and I'm writing this post while listening to Rise Against. I have to say, I've come to enjoy posting almost everyday. To be honest, it gives me something to look foward to. Not saying my life is so uneventful that the only fulfilling thing I do is blog. It's just that it helps to be know know matter how banal or maddening my day is, I at least know I can go home and rant about it on my computer and people will read it. Unlike a diary (which I only write in like once a year oddly) I can have my voice heard. It's amazing. I remember when Ms. roth first presented the idea.I was outside one morning shaking her hand, and she told me about how she thought I'd be the perfect person to take on this project. I thought, well how interesting. I get the privilege of reporting what happens in school. Once again, my judgement was dead wrong. ( I'm notorious for this.) It's not just me writing about about what happens in class. If it were that, I wouldn't have a blog, I'd be in charge of the Sentinel or updating Edline. I have tried, I mean really tried to write about exactly what's happened in my day, but by the end, my eyes are drooping and my finger instinctively hits the backspace key. To me, a blog is not like a journal. It's not to say what is happening, but to be the real you, to reflect on life in general, to be witty.Maybe I think this because personally I can't write out what I'm feeling simply. I need to make it reflective and personal at the same time. Usually when I write, it's because I have some point to make.It's like sometimes there's a pain in my chest that won't go away till I write what's going on in my head, and I don't really get down to what I've been meaning to say since the beginning till the end. To me those are the only best ways to write. Like Ben Franklin says , "Speak when there's actually something of importance to say." Wise words from a legendary hero.

Just in case I get famous

I've realized that I've never fully introduced myself. I guess I didn't think I should because this isn't only about me. But then i thought, " how can I post on this blog to people who may not know me? Granted, it may be cool to have a bit of mystery between the reader and I. I also didn't think it was that imperative for me to make a formal introduction if the few people who actually knew this blog existed pretty much saw my face every day. But then i decided, hey, in the slight possibility that I become famous for my writings for my posts, I want my fans to know a bit about me.
My name is Shelle (short for Michelle if you didn't know).Music and writing are my vices to life. I'm a hopeless romantic at heart and I spent the first twelve years of my life with my head in the clouds and my nose in a book. It took me more than half of my life trying to fit into the box of Perfection for me to finally accept myself as the unique, quiet and emotional weirdo that I was born to be. My best friend has a confident bubbly soul that always has the consideration to be brutally honest with me since a penchant of mine is running away from the truth. The fattiest thing I eat is fried oreos and I will eat anything in the entire world except olives. The only breakfast I can have every single day if I had to is grilled cheese and choclate milk. My favorite poem is The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe because when I was a kid my dad would read it to me right before I went to sleep every night. I'm a rocker at heart, and if you ever need the lyrics for any Mcfly song I'm the girl for you. Every time I post I listen to Paramore's album Brand New Eyes. When I get angry I love to listen to Eminem, who I will tell anyone is one of the greatest rappers alive. Lastly, the most personal thing I have is my songbook.
Well that's me in a few lines. I feel so famous.

A Spring Dance to Remember

I've got to be honest. When I first heard the details of the spring dance I wasn't that excited. I mean I love the experience:buying a new dress, getting accessories that would match my outfit, all that stuff. But when I heard about the admissions fee and the fact you had to aparantly pay for your food, I thought that was ridiculous. I never really heard of having a dance where you had to pay to get in. Regardless, I had to stick my foot in my mouth. Here i was, judging the dance before it even happened, and it turned out to be awesome.Here's the stuff I loved about it because it would be too long if I didn't list them out.

1. The cupcakes(supplied by the one and only Kinyanna Evans)
2. The music(a round of applause for Chris O.)
3. The performances(who knew Cash Records could rap so well?)
   
4. All the pictures
5. The look on everyone's faces when She Fox and She Wolf made their grand entrance
6. The runway show

These are the just a few things that made my day on Friday. What I'm trying to say is that the dance was another beautiful memory to add to my young life. When i'm old and have kids, I'm going to share this day to everyone who will listen.

Never Do Your Nails in th Morning

I've got some advice (I like giving advice). Never do your nails in the morning. Especially if you still have streaks of all the colors of the rainbow still on them. It may seem like it's a good idea to paint your nails a nice shade of green if you miraculously have ten minutes before you have to leave the house to catch the train. I'm telling you now,though, don't do it. Because even if those streaks are almost gone, I can almost guarantee that those streaks will be visible under the new color. I should know about this because I've experienced this, numerous times. In this situation, the saying practice make perfect does not work. Trust me, no matter how many times you try this, you'll still have smudges on your nails. It's funny that school is like badly painted nails. It needs to be done with precision, and it's really frustrating when you give something your all and end up messing up everything at the end. Like when you take a test and you're on the last question, and it has five parts. It's worth ten points, and you feel like pulling your hair out because you just spent an entire hour of your life sitting and circling letters, and whether or not you fail depends on this ten point question. You can't help but out end up staring at the page for five minutes till it goes blurry. Granted, it doesn't take an hour to do your nails, but the precision you need is ridiculous. No one can really master it.The hilarity of it all is that I need to change my nails to red after I finish writing this because eye burning green does not even remotely match my dress for the dance tomorrow.The dance that I have to pay two dollars to get in. Not to mention" food will not be provided without a fee". Let's hope no one forgets their money. It would really suck to be the only one hungry while everyone is munching on pizza and slurping down kool-aid. I wonder, will there be a juice bowl? I guess not,, because then people could take juice for free. Imagine the horror that would create. Gasp at the wasted profit.

Somebody once told me

To be honest, I don't really know what to say in this post. I guess I can reflect some more, but there's mot really much to say. Well, I guess that's a lie. I could go on for hours reminiscing on the past, thinking about all the things I've learned over the past five years, the friendships I've developed, the drama Ive caused and learned to steer clear from. All the facts about trees and world history I've ingested. It's crazy how all those things end being forgotten eventually, but you always remember your first crush and your best friend's favorite color. You remember lessons and anecdotes your professors tell you. I guess what I'm trying to say is that school is more than work.It's more than your GPA,even though that's really important. Your parents and all these teachers tell you school will add up in the end, but you don't really believe them till you're older. If your teenage years are the best years of your life (or so they say) why don't you go above going to school, or defying anything that has to do with schools.
High school is for finding who you are.
Someone once told me that soon enough I'll be able to know who I am, not who people think I am, or what I wish I could be. After that, there will be no turning back. It's really hard to accept that you aren't happy with who you are, and your teen years is your chance to organize your priorities as a student and a person. Learn what you want to do with your life, and start the rigorous journey to live your dreams.Let's face it, staring up at the clouds will only get you so far.

Clean Slate

I remember on the first day of school, listening to my teachers talking about having a clean slate, a fresh start. All the things that happened in middle school are wiped off, they said. I was sitting in room 301 , writing all my regrets on a paper to throw away. I wrote all my mistakes I kept harbored inside me, all the things that I did that I never forgave myself for. Most importantly, though, I admitted the thing I never thought I would say. All through middle school I put myself in a box, the box of being the perfect person. I blamed the people around me for only perceiving me as the one who always did the right thing, the girl who never got lower than a 90 in any class. The thing is, I saw myself as this too and even though I dreaded the disappointment of the people surrounding me that were breathing down my back constantly, it was me who I was afraid of disappointing.I was trying to mold myself into something I would never become, a statue that was incapable of making the wrong decision. In middle school it felt like the cycle of my trying to be the epitome of perfection would never end, but high school, I discovered, was my chance to be proud of me, not the person people thought I was, the person I yearned to be. I've learned over the course of this year that perfection is impossible, but anything other than my best is inexcusable. If I learn to balance myself, my interests along with the importance of excellence in academics, I will no longer feel suffocated by my own criticizing eyes. I'm glad for this activity.Because of it ,I have a clean slate with everyone: my peers, the teachers and most importantly, myself.

How It All started

I guess I should start from the beginning: an August summer day, a crisp new uniform, perfectly curled bangs, and undying excitement for high school. The four years that everyone looks forward to, the best years of your life. Well nobody tells you hard it all is. One minute it's the end of the first day of high school, and your in McDonald's buying dollar fries and saying hi to your crush you haven't seen all summer, and the next thing you know, you're sitting in the cafeteria across from your House Leader and next to your mother talking about how you have a 75 in physics. There's only one question running through your head:what happened? Last you remember you had an 85. This isn't how high school should be. You blink and BOOM school as you know it transforms completely. You have quizzes every week, projects, netbooks, and research papers. No more staring at your notes for five minutes on line for math and acing the test. Don't even try it. Because if you do, you'll be explaining to your mom and dad that you need to stay after school for tutoring because you got a 55 on your quiz. At first it's like "Aah, no reason to freak. I've got four years to bring up my grades." But then you go back to sitting in a cafeteria while you're house leader's telling your mom your grades are slipping. And what happens when you go home? You're phone gets taken away and your mom buys you a geometry book you need to study out of an hour a night. Your dad looks you straight in the eye end tells you" You better bring up your grades or you're going to be reading the encyclopedia and working out of SAT books till your hands fall off". That's when you realize :high school isn't an episode of 90210 or like the movie Mean girls, where you sabotage everyone's reputation to win the heart of the cutest guy in school. You have to sit and study when you don't want to. You need to go tutoring and pay attention in class instead of laughing at fart jokes. Most importantly, though, you have to know when you need help and stop at nothing to get it. Because in the end, life is going to be filled with crossroads and questions that only you can answer for yourself, and let's face it: if you can't survive ninth grade, who's to say you'll get through life?

Just Write Anything

What is there to write about school? How we get hours of homework every night? How my day is longer than my mom's nine to five job? How I have to listen to teachers drone on about the Byzantine Empire and draw t-charts trying to prove triangles congruent? School is rigorous,to say the least, and there are some days I wake up in the morning and do not want to go to school and sit in a desk all day reading off a powerpoint and adhering to BRIDGE values. Some days I want to turn off my alarm and sleep till eleven and watch some Spongebob all day. But in the end, that's going to get you nowhere. I mean, yeah, school is hard and long and frustrating half the time, but so is life. And like life,you need to try your best and get over the fact that life sucks. I mean if everyone used the excuse that life is unfair to escape reality, we''d still be living in caves and sitting around a campfire making cave drawings like a neanderthal. I've found that in school, you need to find something that wakes you up in the morning :whether it's wanting to see your friends, or going to gym, because let's face it,your impetus isn't always " the thrill of learning something new."Otherwise you'll be pulling you're hair by its roots and yelling "Why me!"at the top of your lungs.So yeah, UCHS is maddening,but that's what makes it so unique. While everyone else is learning the anatomy of a plant or something, we're learning physics. We need to laugh in the face of adversity and doubt. We're going to get to college while everybody else is working at Mcdonald's and making fries, and this blog will be a documentation of our journey to college.