Pulling My Hair Out!

Hello, my fellow bloggers - I'm alive! Yes, it's been over 2 months since I last posted something on here but life has been super hectic. I'm a high school senior, so my life revolves around those college applications. The dreaded, endless college application season has arrived. I'm practically finished except for the essays but so far, so good. I've just got to perfect and verify that all my information in those applications is correct. 

My dream school is NYU. I've had my heart set on going there as soon as I went to a college information session of theirs at my school. The student diversity, the campus life, the extraordinary opportunities to study abroad - and of course, NYU is in the heart of New York City, where something is always happening at any given moment. I've been to New York, and I loved it. I live in the south, so its a pretty big distance, and I'm not sure I'm independent enough to go so far on my own, but I feel like it's the only way I'll truly let go of dependence on others - to go so far away that there's no one there to solve my problems for me. It's a daunting idea, but I feel confident that I can do it. People tell me that I should go to a school closer to home and see how it goes and then transfer into NYU, but I am scared that 1) I wouldn't get accepted as a transfer and 2) I'll be just too comfortable at whatever school I go to that I won't feel like going anywhere else. And frankly, I'm just tired of the state I live in. I need a change. 

My grades are pretty good - I am in top 10 of my extremely small class of 109 students, I'm not in ten different clubs at my school but I am in a few and I've dedicated my efforts and my time to those specific clubs. I just didn't want to get so stressed out with so many clubs and then not be able to say I contributed much to any single club because there were just too many. I'm in the process of writing a kick-ass essay for Common App, and I've got my recommendations from two teachers and the counselor. SAT scores aren't too hot - 1790 - I took the exam again, but I doubt I did any better, partly because the monitor didn't give the dictated time for each section. So, I'm hoping that with everything else, the SAT score won't matter as much to the admissions people. 

Of course, there are other schools I'm applying to - half of them public and half of them private, all of them in my state - but I can only imagine myself at NYU, not at any other particular school I'm applying to. Of course, NYU is a reach school, but I think I may have a decent chance at getting accepted. 

I'm submitting my application to NYU first, so wish me luck on getting that acceptance letter!

The End is Near

So, summer is winding down and rapidly coming to a close, but that's not what I'm worried about. It's school - that horror dungeon designed for learning but is actually a place of hatred and stereotypes and utter loneliness, at least for me. Plus, I doubt I will ever need to know the significance of a specific history event or understand Shakespeare's works in my future. But then again, who knows? 

Summer is the greatest thing that has happened to me this year. I got to volunteer at my pediatrician's clinic in June, where I got a taste of what my possible future profession would be like, and I got to intern at my uncle's magazine, 002 Houston. It was truly an experience for me, and I'm glad I got to be productive this summer. I also got my driver's permit - the sweet reward of almost a month, 2 hours per day Monday-Thursday of constant dull videos. 

In July, I went to Spain to visit my family. My brothers and Dad had already been here for a month, and I was just catching up with them. I got to spend a week in Madrid with my grandparents, and then went up north to my dad's hometown. Life here is almost totally different from my life in the states. The small town life is tranquil and liberating. I can go wherever I want, whenever I want. I can party until the early hours of the morning without worrying about my parents getting mad. And best of all, I have my friends, who are older than U am, and therefore I can rrelate to them more easily than I can to people my own age. There were at least 20 people at my birthday dinner -the most people I've ever had come to an event of mine. It was truly amazing. 

Now that I am about to leave from Spain, I wonder what else I could have done with my time. I really should've done more college stuff. But I doubt many people really focused on college this summer. Especially those who are out of the country. I'm not excited to go back to Texas because as much as I love the big city, it has its disadvantages. The busy hustle and bustle life is something I don't mind so much, but it's nice to not have anything to do for a while. I miss being able to go to the mall and the movies and the museums whenever I want. Some things I won't miss, however: 

- The fact that we have to turn the router off and shut off the electricity every time there's a thunderstorm. 
- How the power will go out at least once every time I take a shower.
- The smell of shit throughout the town. 
- The startling amount of dust in my grandmother's old house. 
- The 50 km drive to the city (and to a mall, a hospital, and a movie theater, among countless other amenities that are a 5 minute drive away in a Texas big city).

Things I will miss: 

- My family and friends. 
- My uncle's dogs, Pol and Lua, and Jacko, the German Shepard and my 2 beautiful cats, Luna and Mimosa. 
- The peacefulness and the mountains and the cool weather in the daytime and the chilliness of the night. 
- The snacks - Cheetos Pelotazos, blackberry and raspberry gummies, Ham-flavored Ruffles. 
- The Corte Ingles.
- The Pizzeria La Competencia - by far the most delicious pizza I have ever had. 

It's a bittersweet feeling to leave - I want to go and I want to stay. The fact that I have to leave so soon means that summer is coming to an end and my senior year will start. The only bright side to school starting is that it's my last year of high school. I want nothing more than to be far, far away from the idiots and stupid-heads in my high school.

Hope everyone's summer has been amazing, and for all of those in school, best of luck in this upcoming school year!

Shopping Crisis!

Now, I know I haven't been on here in months, but I apologize. I've just been so busy this semester! 

I came on here to rant about shopping. I really really want this Kate Spade idiom bracelet "Look on the Bright Side" but I can't find it anywhere! I saw it on the website a few months ago and was going to buy it but ended up not buying it. I regret it. My aunt has one, and I love it! It's such a shame they don't have it anymore - they should sell them again! I'd buy one!

There's also a wristlet by Tory Burch that I really wanted but then it sold out!!! 

I just really needed to rant to people about this.

Merry (Belated) Christmas!

Hey Everyone! 

So I knew I'm a few days late on this, but Merry Christmas! I hope everyone reading this enjoyed a wonderful holiday, whether it be Christmas, or Hanukkah or whatever you guys celebrate. I also hope all students reading this are enjoying their holiday break. I know I am...not, haha. I'm so bored. That's partially why I decided to post again after so long (sorry, guys, with finals and...personal issues, I couldn't find much time for blogging.) But here I am! 

So, since the last time I posted I have not read any books, unfortunately. I have new books, I just haven't read them. Shame on me, I know. On the other hand, I got a new Barnes & Noble Nook HD for Christmas, so that's really great. Now I can (hopefully) spend less money on books! Although I do enjoy visiting B&N, and do so often. I also unexpectedly got Beats headphones this Christmas, so that's exciting. I can't wait to use them. 

ANYWAYS...I do read FanFiction, and that's what I've been doing instead of reading books. I like to read Greek myths, especially the more...romantic ones, like Eros & Psyche and Hades & Persephone. And this FanFiction I'm reading, Quietus, based on the Hades and Persephone myth, is AMAZINGGGG...but it's been almost a month and a half since the author has posted a new chapter or even a preview on DeviantArt and it's really frustrating me. I'm still checking daily for any updates but I'm kind of tired of waiting. I hope the next chapter she posts is especially good to make up for the long wait. 

In my last post, I talked about a book I had read, Wither, by Lauren DeStefano. Even though the book itself didn't hold my interest for too long, I have to admit I'm obsessed with the Linden/Rhine pairing, and have been since I've read the book. It's constantly on my mind, I admit. I'm dying to read the last novel just to find out what happens with Linden, Rhine and Cecily and Gabriel. I will be horribly upset if Linden does not end up with Rhine and Rhine only (I can't stand Cecily). In my opinion, they are meant to be. They seem cuter together than Rhine and Gabriel do. I've also been following Lauren's Facebook, and she wrote this quote that I really, really like, that I will post on here (all credit belongs to Lauren DeStefano). 

I think that sometimes, as humans, it's in our nature to fall out of love with things. The more the day we live resembles the day we lived before, the less excited we become. And really, I don't think the problem is that we need more grandiose things to hold our interest and reignite the spark we forget we even crave. Maybe we just need to be reminded sometimes that life is brutal and wonderful and terrifying. We need to be reminded that what we have is poetry in living motion. What we have is fleeting and fragile, but it's brilliant. We need to be reminded of the way the leaves catch fire in the sunlight and words sit patiently on pages, always whispering and waiting for us to listen. We need to be reminded that there at least ten thousand ways to fall in love with what we foolishly think is ordinary. 
                                                                                                        - Lauren DeStefano 

And with that inspiring quote I leave you guys today. I hope you all have an amazing New Year spent with dear friends and family! 

Back to Books!

Hey all! Long time no see! I know, it's been some time, I've been insanely busy with school and I haven't been reading much for fun. 





However, in English this year our class, we've read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, which I must say, was phenomenal. I loved the book. It's about the war in Vietnam, and the soldiers' experiences during the war. At first, I believed I would detest the book, since war stories are not usually my type of book. On the contrary, I couldn't put down this book! I'm glad we got to read it in class. 

We finished TTTC in mid-October, and now we're reading a graphic novel called Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. It is a good novel. I was also surprised I liked this book so much, since I can't force myself to read a novel that's mostly pictures and few words. This book, however, has a decent amount of words, which I think kept me into the book. The book is about a young Marjane Satrapi experiencing the drastic changes in her life due to the Islamic Revolution in Iran, such as having to wear the veil, the Iran-Iraq war, etc. It's pretty fascinating, and very humorous at times. There is a second part to this novel as well, which I would like to read once I'm finished with the first novel. I'd suggest this book to anyone who doesn't mind diverging into a little bit of history while enjoying a comic at the same time. I actually have to a presentation on this book, and I have a topic in mind as my theme for the presentation. I don't know when the date of my presentation actually is, but wish me luck!!! 

I have read some books for fun this semester so far (I can't keep myself from buying books at Barnes & Noble, haha), one of which includes the Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano. I can't say much for this series, unfortunately. The setting and the plot should be quite interesting to me normally, but I couldn't quite keep myself interested in this series. 

This series takes place in the future of North America (which is all that's left of the world after a catastrophic world war that wiped out all the other continents), in which girls only live until the age of 20 and males die at 25 at the hands of some incurable virus. As a result, in order to keep the human race going and for families to keep their family lines/names going on, girls are abducted and sold to men with the intent of impregnating them. In this story, the protagonist, 16 year old Rhine Ellery, is one of these kidnapped girls forced to marry 21 year old Linden Ashby, along with two other kidnapped girls, Cecily & Jenna. In Linden's world, everything is not what it seems.  Linden's father, Housemaster Vaughn, is sketchy. And then there's Gabriel, a servant whom Rhine finds herself growing attracted to. Meanwhile, she desperately plots her escape from this world of illusions to return to her twin brother, Rowan. After reading the first novel, Wither, I decided to give the second book, Fever, a chance. I only got until half the book until I was completely bored with it. The only reason I stuck with this series for so long is because of the love triangle between Rhine Ellery-Ashby, the servant Gabriel, and Rhine's husband, Linden. I know it sounds odd to want Rhine to end up with Linden, the man who kidnapped her from everything she's known and forced her to marry him, but he's kind to her, and wants to protect her. He's painstakingly oblivious to the goings-on of the world around him, and that makes me pity him, makes me want Rhine to love him as he loves her. Even though she looks like Linden's dead first wife, Rose, I think Linden loves her for a different reason. I just never felt any chemistry between Rhine and Gabriel, even though I have a sickening feeling that they are going to be together at the end of this series. The last book, Sever, is set to release next February, and I will force myself through the book, if only to read the Rhine-Linden scenes and find out who she ends up with. 

Lastly, I read another novel recently called Stolen, by Lucy Christopher. I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. I loved it so much that I'm going to reserve a whole post just for that novel itself. Therefore, my review of this book will come in a later post, which will hopefully be soon. In the meantime, I suggest to those who haven't read it yet to go to their local library/bookstore and PICK IT UP ASAP. I'm dead serious. This novel will have you experiencing the exact same feelings as the protagonist, which is utterly freaky considering the situation. I won't ramble on and spoil it. Go read it! I mean it! 

Until next time! :) 

Dukan Diet Study

Hello All!

I know I haven't gotten on Blogger for over a month. I apologize. The start of the school year has been unbelievably stressful. 

My topic for today is the Dukan Diet. You guys might have heard of it - Kate Middleton was reportedly on the diet while getting ready for the wedding of the century. 

And no, if you all are wondering. I'm not going on the Dukan Diet. However, for biology, our class received a project to study a diet plan of our choice and explain our discoveries. I chose the Dukan Diet - mainly because I read celebrity gossip and I recalled Kate Middleton's diet when I got this project. 

It would be extremely appreciative, if any of you are currently on the Dukan Diet or have been on the Dukan Diet at some point in the past, to answer some of my questions about the diet.

1. Why did you choose the Dukan diet to begin with? Does it work? Does it satisfy? 

2. Do you have cravings for certain foods either allowed or prohibited by the diet? Do you plan on following the diet indefinitely? 

I will love you guys to infinity and beyond if you share with me your experience with the Dukan Diet. 

Hope to hear from all you Dukan dieters soon! :) 

Summertime Sadness

Well, I'm deeply saddened to say that I am leaving Spain tomorrow afternoon, after two relatively quick months here. What this also means is that school is going to start very soon, which is something that rather disturbs me, because the school year never flies by as quickly as summer does. My summer is technically over with my arrival in America, because I have to frantically finish reading that damn book my Spanish teacher assigned us for the summer (I'm on chapter 8 out of 30+ chapters, yeah, not good, I know). The book kills my eyes. It may be a classic, but it's boring as hell and difficult to read. I also think I have to read a second book in English...

Anyway, it's time to reflect on my trip to Spain. There are definitely some things I would do differently should the opportunity repeat itself or if I could turn back time (which is something I'd love to do). For example, I would change the fact that I didn't go out to hang out with people as much as I should have. 

I won't go on and on and on about my summer, because while it had it's fun moments, a lot of it was boring, all alone in the town. 

Anyway, if anyone reads this, please comment on how you spent your summer and what things you would do differently if given the chance. 

I hope the rest of everyone's summer is spent fabulously, and that summer 2012 can be ended with a bang! :)