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 Archive -- Week 46: 5/11/03 - 5/17/03
Song of the Week: Oasis - Champagne Supernova
As kids, most site viewers wanted to either be a police officer/fireman or a doctor/vet.

 
May 11, 2003 - mother's day
Despite the fact that I've celebrated it for my entire life, I've never known the background behind the annual holiday of Mother's Day. So this year, I've decided to do a little bit of research, and I came up with the following: The American celebration of Mother's Day as we know it dates back to 1907 and Ana Jarvis. Jarvis began a campaign for a national holiday honoring mothers, and she started with her church in Grafton, West Virginia. She persuaded the members of the church to celebrate "Mother's Day" on the second sunday of May (which that year was the 2nd anniversary of her own mother's death). Jarvis and her supporters spread the idea for a mother's day, and by 1911 almost every state had one. President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 declared the 2nd Sunday of May a national holiday, to celebrate the women who gave life to each and every person in the country. So there you have it... the holiday that seems so routine for us now wasn't even an official holiday in the US until 89 years ago.
 
Image of the Day

Quote of the Day - Kevin Arnold, The Wonder Years

"I guess things never turn out exactly the way you planned. I know they didn't with me. Still, like my dad used to say - traffic's traffic. You go where life takes you. I remember a time, a place, a particular 4th of July. The things I saw in that decade of war and change. I remember how it was, growing up. Among people and places I loved. Most of all, I remember how it was...to leave."
 
May 12, 2003 - respect the retrospect
So I'm in a very retrospective mood at the moment... While I may say "man, I'm so glad to graduate," I really am afraid to leave. I'm afraid of the future, I'm afraid of getting old and forgetting the amazingly brilliant moments of my life that have occured periodically throughout the past four years. I have been in a great deal of *social groups* at school, and I feel like I have made connections with so many people, some only for a day or two talking online. I am looking back at all those times where I faced diverging roads, where I clearly took certain paths, where I crossed points of no return. I have so many memories of experiences in my past that are swamped with "could have beens" and "what ifs". I could have chosen a different path, I could have gone down a different road... I feel bad about certain things I've done, and I think things could have turned out for the better if I hadn't made certain decisions. However, I accept that the past is behind me, and I respect the past and don't think about changing it, really.  For if not for all the experiences I've had, I would not be who I am now. Since eighth grade, I have been growing to know who I am more and more by making decisions and facing moral quandries that define my character. I am understanding my values and my limits, my personality... and slowly but surely I am learning to be more patient with and accepting of people who don't necessarily think like I do but think in a manner that works for them. 'At's all for now. 
 
Image of the Day

With jazz band recently ending and marching band starting up again, I figured it was appropriate enough to post this jazz band photo of Courtney and Cathleen, who will be taking over as Junior Field Commanders next year. Yes, it's true, I was so amazing that they needed two to replace me. Heh, plus it's Courtney's birthday today, and since I won't be able to attend her party, I figure the least I can do is stick her picture up on my site for my thousands and thousands* of daily viewers to see. So Happy Birthday Courtney!
 

*--"thousands and thousands" was slightly rounded up from the more accurate but less impressive number, 3.

Quote of the Day - Isabelle Eberhardt

"The farther behind I leave the past, the closer I am to forging my own character."
 
May 13, 2003 - lots o' questions
What do you remember about your life exactly five years ago today? Who did you spend your time with? How were you feeling emotionally? How about four years? Three? Two? Just one year ago? Ever look back year by year and plot out the changes you've gone through? When a person does that, he can't help but notice a few constants lying around there... a few things that have always been true of him, even if they were subdued at one point. Have the things that have changed in that time changed for the better? For the worse? How so, either way? Was there ever anyone you didn't know all that well that you wish you would have gotten to know more? What stopped you? Is there anyone you know now that you want to know more? Why let history repeat itself? "Why not go out on a limb, isn't that where all the fruit is?" (so said Frank Scully)

These are the questions in my mind at the moment, the questions I'm asking to myself. Perhaps the biggest one of all is, if I had a chance to do it all again, what would I do differently? What would you do?*
 

*in no way shape or form is this an endorsement of Marc Summers or any of the shows he's hosted.
 
Image of the Day

"Freedom Fries" and "American Onion Soup" just don't have that old ring to them that I'm used to. How ridiculous.

Poetry Excerpt of the Day - The Ballad of Reading Gaol, by Oscar Wilde

Like two doomed ships that pass in storm,
  We had crossed each other’s way;
But we made no sign, we said no word,
  We had no word to say.
 
May 14, 2003 - let's get physical
Well, I'm off to Cedar Point today with our Physics class. We'll be spending a few hours today measuring various things about the rides, so I'm sure I'll pick up plenty of ladies there. I really can't believe this year is already over. It's like I've been trying to push my way through the year, and now that it's the end, I'm like being dragged away kicking and screaming. Part of me wants to leave certain things behind and move on, part of me knows that some things will be left behind that I don't want to lose, and so I don't want to go. But I guess I should just get to the Point.
 
Image of the Day

Pointy Cedar.

Lyrics of the Day - Rod Stewart

"Claim the road, touch the sun,
No force on earth could stop your run.
When your heart bursts like the sun,
Never, never give up on a dream."
 
May 15, 2003 - burn baby burn
Cedar Point we relatively enjoyable yesterday, though I was dumb enough to not use any sunblock. My nose is bright red, and since I was wearing my Yo! Brooklyn hat yesterday, a fourth of my forehead is red as well. I look like a human form of rudolph the reindeer who either just woke up or was smacked in the head with a shovel (maybe both). I didn't get to ride the new ride there since they were having technical issues with it most of the day. Alas, no big deal... I rarely get so excited about something that I'm disappointed if it doesn't happen. I used to be like that, but something must have changed that this year. Perhaps I was just tired of setting myself up to be let down. In other news, we got our yearbooks today, and I'm sure I'll have a picture or two from mine up here at some point. As for now, I'm gonna head up to Best Buy to buy the new Third Eye Blind CD, and then to go see Matrix Reloaded. Adios.
 
Image of the Day

Not exactly sure what this is, but in searching google for an image pertaining to the whole "There Is No Spoon" thing, this was one of my results. Kind of looks like something I would do.

Quote of the Day - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good."
 
May 17, 2003 - down with love
I apologize for my lack of update yesterday, but my internet was down for most of the day, and when it was back up, I wasn't around. I saw Down With Love last night... it was a pretty good movie overall. The thing about it that stuck out at me the most was the comedy. It was mature and immature at the same time... But yeah, enough about that. I saw the Matrix Reloaded on Thursday night, and it was alright, though the sex scene seemed almost as out of place as the one in Daredevil. And for the past two days I've been listening to the new Thrid Eye Blind album every time I'm in my car, and I really like it.

As for today, I woke up early to head downtown to be filmed for channel 5's "Best in the Class" series. Generally, I don't like recognition, but since there were so many people (can't give you an accurate number, but I'd say like 150 or more) who were all at the top of their class, I felt like just some shmuck again. I liked it. The guy who gave us instructions barely congratulated us and was very lighthearted about it all, joking around with us from time to time. After the group shot we had to take individual 15-second shots, and I was quite far back in the line and had to wait like an hour to be fimed. Nonetheless, it wasn't a wasted hour, as I spent my time talking to a few people from other schools, including my current English teacher's daughter. It's a good feeling to know you can relate to people you've never met before. 
 
Image of the Day

A shot of the famous Aurora Borealis over Lake Chocorua... via the Mount Washington Observatory photo journal.

Lyrics of the Day - "Forget Myself" by Third Eye Blind

I keep on forgetting myself,
Who am I? 
We both don't know
Time ticks by, where did it go?
You always knew where you were going to,
So sweetly you said please come with you.
The biggest fear running through my head,
When you said you loved me you meant what you said.