what do you say

my 1st legit day of winter break was amazing.

• i woke up at 11am. i almost never get to do that.
• i went real sledding for the first time in my life.
• i had the "full winter snow experience" - snow, sledding with scarves, mittens, etc. , hot cocao
• i got the glee + boyslikegirls cd
• i went to tysons & saw avatar

so, i have to say that avatar was a great movie. i actually wasn't to excited for it before i saw it (seriously? blue people). But the CGI was amazing and i'm usually not the type of person who comments on these types of things. it looked real. the plot was really slow at first, but after a while, i got really into the movie. there were parts where the screen turned black and i thought the movie ended, but thank god it didn't. at one point kathy and i grabbed each others' arms and said "i hope he doesn't open his eyes" at the same exact time. it was shocking, and luckily, his eyes did not open. the idea of blue people is a little strange at first, but i got used to it after a while. i loved the movie, and i don't like sci-fi at all.

together we'll dance in the dark

last night was horrible. i think it taught me a lesson about procrastination.
after around 3am, my brain stops working, and i start writing down random words. i remember i was copying down my physics problem and i wrote "a closed closet is clothes" instead of "a closed system is..." i actually didn't feel tired though; i was on a caffeine rush. that just proves that caffeine doesn't necessarily wake up your mind.

instead of focusing on all of the bad school-related things that happened to me today, i'll just list all of the good things. it's just another shot at optimism.

1. i've sorted out our fbla marketplace thing
2. a someone did something that made me pretty happy
3. christmas party saturday (:
4. only 3 days left of the week
5. i'm going skiing for the winter holiday
6. i've reconnected with some friends
7. i might go to sleep before 12am today
8. i only have my slacker classes tomorrow
9. i think my psat score will qualify for the merrit scholarship thing
10. i bought a new box of tazo chai tea

the end

harrypotter: take 3!

i feel like i'm becoming nerdier and nerdier every day. when i put that exclamation point after the '3' in the title, i thought of 3 factorial (3x2x1). i think it pretty much shows how sad my life is now. all i can think of is schoolschoolschool. i'm stressed to the point where i'm voluntarily declining invites to go out. like tonight, for instance. i could be at some restaurant with my friends, and except i'm sitting in front of the computer. i haven't exactly started my homework yet either because just thinking about it makes me scared. i don't know if i'll survive tomorrow night.

on a brighter note, i went to costco on friday with a group of friends and bought hp6. i can now say that i'm re-obsessed with tom felton after watching it. even though it's the 3rd time i've seen hbp, i still screamed at the lake part. there's something wrong with me. what creeped me out even more was the fact that one of my friends thinks that snape is hot. apparently, his "character" is sexy, whatever that's supposed to mean.

ohmygodihavesomuchhomeworktodo.

1:23

sometimes, the littlest things can make my day.



today, there were lots of these.

stuck at home minus friday.

new moon was the event of my weekend. i have to say, it was a terrible movie, but i loved it for certain reasons. i feel like kathy nguyen's twin right now. it's like i'm copying her in everything and she's copying me in everything else. we talked about how she freaked out when taylor lautner appeared on screen and how that was exactly like my tom felton fangirl moments during hp6. taylor lautner is like the megan fox for girls. ohmygoddd. he's amazing. except for his nose. we decided that edward cullen is pasty. and extremely hairy (shouldn't it be the other way around?). i was really happy when that guy from sweeney todd showed up too.
i even got to show liam my car this weekend. we went to wegmans & watched part of x-men at my house. and he ate a huge bowl of spaghetti + bread and finished a chipotle burrito afterwards. thats gross.
after rei + 20 minutes of line, the seats we wanted were "saved" by some retarded little bitch who wanted to reserve the entire row. we should've sat down anyways. next time something like that happens, i'll ignore the person and sit down anyways. it reminds me of the time when i almost got into a fight with this girl at a atl concert. asdjkl; just thinking about that makes me kinda pissed off. the trailers were dead boring except for the 1st one. later, ben told me that he wanted to see that other movie with robert pattinson in it (the other superboring trailer). ben & liam were totally into the movie... it was really funny. except there were these really annoying girls sitting behind us who kept on commenting throughout the movie. even the guys beside me were annoyed. ah. the guys beside us were super cute, and it was kinda funny since they both went to see new moon alone (aka w/out any girls). i'm pretty sure they weren't gay because one of them whispered "ohmygod.. she's sooo hot" when bella was on screen.

other kindanotreally interesting things this weekend: i washed my car for the very first time. got my swine flu vaccine. bought a cute lunch bag/box thing.

unrequited.

Unrequited: "un⋅re⋅quit⋅ed  /ˌʌnrɪˈkwaɪtɪd/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uhn-ri-kwahy-tid]
–adjective 1.not returned or reciprocated: unrequited love.
2.not avenged or retaliated: an unrequited wrong.
3.not repaid or satisfied."

unrequited sounds like such a sad word. an unrequited crush. well, i guess it can't be that bad since you have have an unrequited wrong. is requited a word? i might just go look it up after this.
if an unrequited crush feels bad, then how does unrequited love feel? i wouldn't know, since i've never been in love. what are the chances really of meeting that one person who actually loves you back? apparently, not very slim if you look at all of the married couples in the world. i've actually given this a lot of thought. are my parents in love? or do they just love each other? maybe it's an asian thing, or maybe it's just my family.

i guess i had a lot of time today to think about things. sitting in the library for a couple hours waiting for my dad gave me lots of free time which i spend doing nothing. i've realized that i get annoyed a lot the littlest things. pet peeves maybe? but some of these things are bigger than just pet peeves:

-people who never take me seriously. it's okay when we're both joking around, but honestly, i hate it so much when people think i'm stupid. or when they doubt my reasoning or answers when i clearly have done all of the freaking work and they obviously don't know what they're talking about. & when i say stop, i mean it. i'm actually talking about two people in particular, and some of my friends have heard these rants. i guess it applies to my brother too, except he doesn't count since he's family.

-clocks that tick, and digital clocks that blink.

-people who think they're better than me if they're smarter. i don't care if you got a 40/40 on the last test or have a 99.9% in some class or if you've read the encyclopedia. know-it-alls are like ajksdls.

-constant "subtle" braggarts. it's like those off-hand comments. not blatently bragging, but the constant subtleness kill me. like they're pretending to be all casual, but you know that they really just want to tell you all about when they met george washington or hooked up with 100 guys. you know what. i don't care.

wow, that made me sound like an angry person, but whatever. just felt like maybe listing all that stuff would help me vent? i should do physics now.

cised.

I went to the nissan dealership today to test drive an altima. it was absolutely wonderful, especially since they got the car all the way from delaware just for me. the color & handling was amazing, and we're probably getting the premium package, which includes a bose sound system, a rearview moniter, and a moonroof. amazing.
what wasn't amazing was the salesperson. she knew her stuff, but she didn't seem very enthusiastic. The honda salsesperson from a few weeks ago was so nice. charismatic is more like it. he called today when my dad wasnt home. the conversation went something like this.

-hi! is your dad home?
-nope.
-oh okay. i was wondering if you guys were still interested in buying the the accord coupe. did you test drive the altima yet?
-actually, i did that today.
-so.... did you like it?
-um, yeah. kinda. i like the color better than that of the accord...
-oh. okay. alright. have you decided on the car?
-uhhh, i guess it's really up to my dad to decide on the car.
-oh. oh. alright then.

I FELT SO BAD. he sounded so disappointed that my heart went out to him a little. i tried to reassure myself that he's probably sold a whole lot of cars already, and that one car won't really matter that much. even though he was very nice and informative, i guess what i'm looking for in a car doesn't relate to the salesperson.

i need someone to persuade me that
a) one car to a car dealer doesn't matter that much, especially if its a honda salesperson and that a lot more people will buy cars from him.
b) the altima is a whole lot better

i just called my dad to talk about it. he was like "awww ivy, you're so sweet. but really, it's reality. you can't make everyone happy. this car matters more to you than it does to the salesperson. and many people look at different car options and test drive a lot of them."

caffeine today: one cup of coffee

silly people & school

yesterday, i had a airplane race with will, and somehow my plane ended up on the roof. i guess that's good thing, because mr. kemp actually gave us extra credit for it. i wonder if he got our plane back. we spent way too much effort on that just to have it blown away or eaten by an owl or something.

i dont know if i should do powderpuff. i could make the practice tomorrow, but i can't do any of the non-8th period ones. next wednesday is also a disaster since i have to go to fbla, and then possibly some sort of calc/phys tutoring. my calc tutor is coming over tomorrow. hopefully he'll help me understand everything. i got a 54% on my last test, which is worse than what daniel got. and he's switching to AB. it makes me kind of worried.

nearly the entire junior class had to stay afterschool today because of the nhs ceremony. it was totally pointless, aside from the apush review session i went to, the walk to starbucks/five guys with friends, and the food. i had this whole conversation with sabrina during the actual ceremony about silly people and how they make me happy. sabrina, now that i think about it, the answer to that one question you asked is yes. not when i actually wrote it, but it's true now. at least at this second i'm fickle.

caffeine: gingerbread latte.

h cee el plus en h four oh h.

yesterday, we had around 15 random minutes of storytelling in english class. i never knew that such exciting things had happened to my english teacher, ms waterfall. there was a really funny and disturbing story about her chem class in her junior year of high school related to drinking HCL and NH4OH. i was nerdy enough to work out that reaction in my head.

alice's mom came over today with two giant bags full of japanese food from the sushi place nearby. as much as i dislike her strict rules, i love her mom. she brings sushi & cheesecake factory gift cards & plants randomly. today was especially amazing. we had sushi, some deep friend vegetable things, rice, some other vegetables, and miso soup. and now i have a superasian lunch for tomorrow.


i'm really looking forward to this weeked too. i've decided that i'm being the mat hatter for halloween, and my costume doesn't look anything like him except for the hat. i think buying costumes is totally overrated.






caffeine: NONE.

present times.

hectic, happy, & hopeless. that's basically my life right now.

hectic: last week of the quarter. it seems that every teacher justs wants to give you as many projects and tests this week. right now, i'm considering not doing powderpuff because of my calc grade even though i've already paid the fee. academics matter more. this weekend is also going to be crazy. i have plans nearly every single day, but i guess that's good. shopping, halloween party, etc.

happy: my dad cleared out our 3rd garage space in order to prepare for my future car; it makes the possibility of actually getting a car seem very real. on sunday, i test drove the 2010 honda accord coupe. switching from a 10 year old clunky SUV to a sporty coupe was shocking. the control was mindblowing. next week i'm driving the altima coupe.

hopeless: my love life. more accurately, my lack of one...even though
ilikesomeone.
the smallest things can make me happy.

caffeine: english breakfast tea.

procrastination is a talent

today was good & bad.

the good: my parents are researching cars. altima coupe vs. honda accord. coupe vs. sedan vs. suv. after seeing it in person, i've realized that the volvo c30 is very strange-looking, despite what reviewers and critics might say. the s40 is much prettier, except i really dont have $35k to spare. my dad taking me to the dealership this weeked so i can test drive a few cars.

i got two service hours today for playing mario kart. it was supposedly my "peer tutoring" time at the hospital, except no one needed help on their homework, so i ended up playing with a 10-year-old for two hours straight. my thumbs hurts from too much button mashing.

the bad: everything. life. school. i just failed a calc test, and i have 1000 other things due this week. i need to read one and a half books and write a paper. im trying not to think about it now.


caffeine today: NONE. apparently, i looked very pale and sad today.

fish are friends, not food

this weekend has been... eventful. not all fun & games, but i definitely wasn't bored.

saturday: i had to wake up at 6:30am to get school. why? i was volunteering for openhouse at school. i drove to ramya's house, and, as usual, she took around 15 minutes to "walk down the stairs." eventually, we got to school around 8:10. openhouse was open at 8:30. when we got there, there was already a rabid crowd of asian/indian/white parents just about ready to burst inside since the doors were locked. eventually, we got in with sean & rachel's help.

aditi hands me a nametag saying "here, write your name on this, but don't write your last name." apparently, if you do, you'd get stalked by some of the crazy asian parents. (i'm guessing this has happened in the past?)

volunteering in the marine bio room was actually fun-ish. i got to know a lot more of my classmates & advertise tj. we had these touch-tanks set up where visitors could touch everything (sea cucumbers, sea urchins, etc.) except the jellyfish. a little boy tried to talk to me in korean. i've never felt so un-asian in my life.

i basically had to talk about this kind of upsidedown jellyfish, and i like to say that i'm pretty good at bsing facts.

after openhouse, i went to andy's house to visit/ have a hw party. i now realize that i've been to Blue Pearl multiple times before.

sunday: i watched a part of The Mist with ben. no matter how much he denies it, he really was scared. we were practically clinging to each other at the garage part. the movie's actually more gross than scary though. the special effects are ridiculous: in a bad way, but the gore made up for it. i think i empathize (simpathize?) too much with the characters in the movie, and that's what made it so bad. the ending made ben and me really sad, and i guess thats the last horror/suspense movie i'll see in a long time. i'm fine with that.

today/monday: (it's technically tuesday now) salsa dancing AKA studying for the SAT with friends. it's actually not as bad as it sounds.

i actually have too much to say and too little time in this post.

caffeine: tall pumpkin spice latte.

an object on planet X.

the physics problem sets are crazy. i have to say, our teachers must be pretty creative to come up with this stuff, or have wild imaginations. they go along the lines of "the 16" bore guns on the WWII Iowa Class..." or "an object is launched on planet X has an initial velocity of..." it's ridiculous. i spend half of my night trying to figure out what these problems are about. someday, i'll visit this planet X.


instead of doing physics, i wanted to upload hc pictures. I just tried to do that, but then i realized that all of those pictures were on my flash drive which i gave to cindy in energy sys. she said that i'd get it back during marine bio, but that never happened. ohwell. during openhouse, the marine bio lab is going to have jellyfish & sea cucumbers. weird, but interesting. at least i'll have NHS hours.

supershort post because i need to do physics.

war paint & crayon wars

post-homecoming week is always a disappointment. no more pep rallies, weird costumes, or random pictures. it makes up for all of the fun the students had during hc week.

TJ lost the game 0-7. the game part wasn't what mattered though; it's all in the people, the spirit, and the fun. we had an amazing pep rally. freshmen musical ex was the best i've even seen from freshmen. i'm proud to say that i'm one of the few juniors who knew what was coming. 2012 cheer was...interesting. it went "two oh - one two, we're gonna beat the ---- out of you!"

i have to say though, the the juniors were the most spirited. screw seniors. everyone was decked out in red/white/blue/toga. after the first block of pep rally was over, i went back to my marine bio class and we all convinced Mrs. Wu to let us go around and spirit war other classes. bestdayever.

game was okay. normal football stuff...except i got really into it. it was great: taking pictures, doing the "freshman" (that came out wrong), getting yelled at by a band person, sharing hot chocolate & cider, and freezing my butt off.

the "freshmen"

saturday was... interesting. dinner is, and will always be my favorite part. i fail at pins and flowers, and i learned that crayon wars are very fun.

dear sabrina, i think i win this one. my policeman is still alive.

caffeine today: .5 cups of english breakfast tea

one, two, three, four, GO!

thursday: class theme day.
junior class of 2011 theme: "duty calls"
jobs, army, superheroes. almost everyone dressed up.

i have to say, the class of 2011 is pretty cool. tj is just so spirited in general. my friend came up with the superfantastic idea of being the teen titans. as in..

when there's trouble, you know who to call

teen titans!

from their tower they can see it all

teen titans!

when there's evil on the attack

you can rest knowing they got your back

'cause when the world needs heroes on patrol...

teen titans go!

i forgot my camera, so i stole these from andy.

that's pretty much all i know. my costume as starfire pretty much sucked, but this one guy in my physics class came up to me and asked me if i was starfire. it totally made my day. making a the "tower" on my friends' lockers, taping aluminum foil all over divya, wearing a scandalous skirt, using organic chem gloves for robin, carrying around "communicators." yeah, we're pretty much the coolest kids ever. actually, one guy dressed as a toilet. then there was kim & ron. and sailor moon, jupiter, saturn, etc. ironman. telephone from powerpuff girls was definitely my favorite.

deep-sea drinking?

i can't concentrate when i read 9-page articles about deep-sea bacteria & sand. thinking about math homework is infinitesimally much more interesting than trying to pronounce something ridiculous like "thiomargarita namibiensis." (it has nothing to do with a margarita or any alcoholic beverage.) i'm trying to say it out loud right now, and ben's giving me weird looks. it makes my brain hurt.

mickey/minnie tomorrow. teen titans thursday. blue friday.

i have a serious addiction to caffeine: two cups of english breakfast tea. again.

it was really only you.

new obsession:



this song just makes me happy for some reason. it's not a happy song. it sounds pretty angry almost.

aim is the main distraction of my life. i think it takes up at least 50% of my computer time. but that's okay. talking to my friends online at 1am when i'm alone downstairs is a good thing; i'm scared of my own house at night.

i type very loud.
there's a clock ticking in the closet.
my house is making weird noises.
aim saves me from going crazy.
i've been watching the banner on the marine bio blackboard account for the last 5 minutes. it's a moving fish that spells out "welcome" in bubbles.
i really want an omlette.
i'm not tired at all right now.

amount of caffeine i had today: two cups of english breakfast tea, one sip of ben's coke.
i'm getting a little better.

a neverending story.

when i was little, i used to watch aladdin, sleeping beauty, and the lion king with my brother. then came the 1000 sequals of a neverending story and fantasia. pokemon, yugioh, all of the japanese cartoons. lizzy mcguire, sabrina the teenage witch, kim possible, teen titans. avatar. now its more of bones, gossip girl, and phineas & ferb. i still like aladdin the best.

i wish i had time to watch tv now. homework never seems to end; once i finish a project, another is assigned. this weekend is just as bad. in an attempt to not procrastinate, i'm trying to finish my workload for tuesday too. just thinking about it makes me cringe. i'm going to bring some work to TTT tomorrow, but i don't think i'll get anything done.

hc week is next week! i know what to do for every day except tuesday (nintendo) and thursday (duty calls). i'm attempting to be starfire from the teen titans for thursday, but that'll be a "fail" since i don't own anything purple. dress your best is always my favorite.

caffeine overload today: starbucks vanilla latte, mcdonalds iced tea, english breakfast tea, and pepsi.

yummy yummy?

hoo ha hoo ha. nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah.
repeat 3x.

my brother and i are the coolest kids ever. if you hear this song, you'll understand. we used to sing that part in the car all the time, with him doing the hoo ha, and me nahnahnahing. it drove my parents crazy. we knew it was a real song, but we didn't know the name of it, or even how the rest of it went. yesterday, while reading his AP bio article, ben suddenly sits up and says "IVY! I KNOW THE NAME OF THAT SONG! 'BEST FRIEND!!!'" best friend by toy box/aqua. the lyrics are strange, the tone/voice stranger, and the music video was probably made by people who ate crack.

ohemgee. el-oh-el.

[21:20] x33 k a t h y y: ivy = tinkerbell and tinkerbell = skank therefore ivy = skank?
[21:20] x33 k a t h y y: LOL
[21:20] ohsnap x itsivy: um.
[21:21] ohsnap x itsivy: the transitive property doesnt apply
[21:21] ohsnap x itsivy: LOL
[21:21] x33 k a t h y y: it ALWAYS applies
[21:21] x33 k a t h y y: kathy = harry potter. harry potter = cool. kathy = cool.
[21:21] ohsnap x itsivy: it definitely doesnt apply there.
[21:22] ohsnap x itsivy: kathy=harrypotter. haryypotter=reallyreallystupid.....
[21:22] ohsnap x itsivy: sooooooo
[21:22] x33 k a t h y y: nope thats a lie
[21:22] x33 k a t h y y: it only applies when its true
[21:22] x33 k a t h y y: because of a = b and b = 1 a can't be -2!!!
[21:22] x33 k a t h y y: wait what
[21:22] x33 k a t h y y: nvm

That had to be one of the most ridiculous AIM conversations i've ever had. We were talking about halloween costumes.

big words are confusing.

I was taking my AP calc quiz today when I noticed that there was very little white space on the cardboard box surrounding my test on my desk. So, in the middle of my timed-10-minute quiz, i started to read what people wrote. It was basically a series of "My life sucks," "good luck!" and "I hate..." so and so. After 3 minutes of reading, I decided to finish up my quiz. But then I noticed something.

How can i be so tired and stressed at the same time!

a reply was written below in a different colored pen:

-It's not mutually exclusive.

It took me a while to figure out what the second part meant, and afterwards I thought that it was the most hilarious thing ever for some reason. Only a tj kid would say something like that.

Today, I almost spilled a secret. ------ told me something that I couldn't share with everyone. Then, someone asked me about it. Both of these people are really close friends, but I can't tell. I felt like I was going to explode.

Last week, my dad decided that we were going to have security cameras in our house. or outside. something like that. I'm not sure if I'd really like that.

i like to pretend that i'm cool.

day one of week two went by fast. each class only took about 50 minutes. in physics, we walked back and forth in front of a motion sensor, and talked for 5 minutes. it was amazing.

i also went to the library to do homework today. not only did i get some done, but i also got to hang out with my friends at the same time! even the grouchy librarian who hates me couldn't bring me down.

i feel like such a nerd for saying that.

nerd is the new black.

i like to whine. i like to complain. i'm possibly the most annoying person you'll ever meet. all of my posts contain some amount of bitching. it's who i am. so instead of just having one long rant and a giant block of meaningless words, i'll put them into list form.

1. i really want to go to the library right now. the only problem is that it's not open on sundays. stupid recession. americans are retarded. now, i can't visit the library to go do my homework without any distractions, like this blog. also, my house is very noisy.
2. the SAT can go ---- itself. enough said.
3. the same goes to my APUSH book. i've read 4 pages and so far, i've written 2 whole pages of notes. only 60 more pages to read. what's really sad about this is that i actually enjoy reading the book. it's just taking notes that i have a problem with.
4. my mom keeps on pressuring me. i have to get good grades. i have to get an amazing SAT score if i want to get away from my house. i have to get that merit scholarship PSAT thing even though we really don't need the money.
5. i'm already behind on homework, and school started only a week ago.

again, i'm going through one of my terrific adolescent moods. being a teenager is absolutely wonderful.

ivy, aka professor moody.

i'm in a mood right now. i crave coffee and eggs and peace of mind. i can't have coffee right now since there's none in my house. i can't have eggs because of my genes. and i can't have peace of mind since i have so much homework and everywhere i look, i am reminded of it.
first week of school and i don't think i'm gonna survive the weekend. i have so much to read: english, spanish, marine, energy sys, apush. and so little time. it's piling up, and i know it's only the beginning. already, i can see that lacrosse might not be possible for me this year, especially if i'm volunteering at the hospital. honestly, i'm happier at school than i am at home, since home equals homework.
as a continuation of my whining, i have to say that hc asking week is next week. the dance itself will be on october 3rd. i'm pretty sure that someone, maybe more than one person, will ask me next week. i'm trying to decide now whether or not i even want a date. honestly, going with a group of my girlfriends would probably be more fun.

on a happier note, i watched the series premier of the vampire diaries today. it was amazing. as well as some of the guys in it. i swear, if the plotline seemed dead boring, i still would've watched.
what's kind of sad about watching it today was that it took me around ten minutes to actually find the cw channel. i used to watch gossip girl religously, so i don't know why that happened.

looking back on everything that happened to me today and how i felt and reacted, its safe to conclude that i'm just going through some steriotypical teenage mood swings.

freshmen & fresh starts.

week one of school isn't as bad as i thought it would be. it was really nice to see everyone again; aside from NOAA with sabrina, i only got a few chances to see my school friends over the summer.
on the first day of school, i started off with my typical triple tall iced skim caramel macchiato. it was nice, except for the fact that i had to pee a billion times during the school day. in addition, in addition, i also thought that it was an anchor day for some reason. oh well. yesterday was fine too; i got to show liam around school. it made me feel so...old i guess.

today was the first day of having "real" classes. monday and tuesday don't count since its all about syllabi and introductions. i had history (where i nearly fell alseep), spanish, physics, & calc. i already know that physics and calc will be my hardest classes. the guy who helped me out a lot on my physics lab probably thinks im mentally retarded now. or deaf. or both. that also goes to my ap calc partner.

also, the doctor called today and told my mom that my cholesterol was super high. apparantly, it's in my genes. i have to watch what i eat now; no more fries, chips, ice cream, eggs, or anything else that tastes remotely good. it's not like i can't eat it, its just that i have to severely limit myself when i do eat unhealthy foods. i'll probably go crazy in the next 48 hours.

let's make this last forever.

Summer is nearly over, and it's time that I fully realize that. This has possibly been the best summer of my life. I've went everywhere... and nowhere. I traveled across the globe, but some days I sat at home, doing nothing. I've made new friends, and possibly neglected some. But really, the holiday has gone by too fast.

Even though it's the end of one vacation, my mom has already started to plan another. Spring break. Where do I want to go? My parents don't really care: CO skiing, cruise, or Atlantis. Nowhere too far though. I guess trying to decide where to go is making me think that summer's lasting a little bit longer.

first cup of starbucks in a month.

i had to wake up early today to go get my blood test for cholesterol & anemia & something i can't remember. showing up at the lab office was like the calm before a storm; i listened to my ipod, tried to read some school stuff, and cracked lame jokes with my brother. but this all ended when a woman wearing scrubs called out my name. i guess i'm fine with needles, just not when i'm the one getting a shot. i remember volunteering to help a doctor give a whole bunch of people blood tests, & i was completely fine with watching. it's a whole different situation when it happens to me. i've had a fear of needles since i was little: once my mom told me that if i moved too much, the needle would break off into my skin and get stuck inside me forever. i think that really scarred me for life. everytime i get a vaccination, or a blood test, that thought goes through my head. this time though was worse than usual. i started hyperventilating before i got in the chair, & then my mom started yelling at me which made it even worse. i think i either got too much or too little oxygen because after a while, my arms got all tingly & my face and legs were numb. the actual shot didn't hurt at all, but it's the idea that makes me panic. i couldn't calm down until 10 minutes afterward. again, my mom's yelling did not help.
i'm like a little kid when it comes to these types of things.

on a happier note, i got to hang out with some of my friends today & that turned out to be fun. it left me in a good mood for the rest of the day since i also had starbucks. tomorrow, i'm going shopping with some more friends & possibly going to a party. i'm not too sure about the party though. it's not like i don't want to see people, it's more like i'm just really lazy and i kind of want to spend my last few days of summer relaxing. then, on sunday, i'm going back to school shopping. then a party that night. just thinking about all of this makes me happy (:

i kind of got re-obsessed with tom felton.

wow. this post is long, boring, & it doesn't even have any pictures!

ready, set, go, it's time to run.

instead of watching countless episodes of phineas & ferb and strange documentaries on the history channel and watching nigahiga and shanedawson, i really should finish up reading The Mayflower. I flipped through the book yesterday, & i realized that it wasn't 400 something pages long; it was only around 360. which means i'm almost halfway through!

also, i got my schedule yesterday. after stalking myself on richie's intranet account & using jeff's web, i finally found out which teachers i had. i'm so not looking forward to 2nd period. & i don't really have an close friends in that class either. yay me.
my other classes are fine though, and it makes me happy (:
i'm really jealous of richie's robotics class; it has everyone in it.

together we'll be running somewhere new.

a whole lot of my friends want me to go out with them this week, but i have to finish all of my summer homework. only around 400 more pages to read, a couple short stories, & an essay to write. at least i finished all of my spanish worksheets. if i want to have any fun before school starts, i'll have to be done by friday.

i've talked to someone who has gotten his schedule. apparently, no teacher's names are put on it, which makes me extremely nervous. if i get the some of the same teachers i had last year, i think i'll go jump off a bridge. or something like that. i think the schedules are coming today in the mail though. okay, so don't expect to see me ever agian after 2nd period.

i have a doctor's and dentist's appointment today. hopefully, there won't be any needles; if there are, i'll probably start hyperventilating again. i can't stand shots. it's fine watching another person get one, but it's a totally different question when it's done to me. i remember when i was little, they had to get a two nurses to hold me down while the doctor administered the shot. now, it's gotten a little better.

i really should go read The Mayflower.

the 3rd time is not the charm.

yesterday was supposed to be a peaceful, carefree day of doing summer homework. when my brother found a small mouse in the guest bedroom, this was all destroyed. the mouse was grey, & it was the size of the circle you can make with your thumb and pointer finger: extremely small. i immediately freaked out until i realized that it was extremely cute. we caught it in a box & then let it free in the woods. a couple hours later, when my two cousins came over, another mouse had appeared; this time, in ben's room. still, i thought that the mouse was pretty interesting & i found it quite adorable. this mouse was also brought outside. i finally lost my patience later on. i was peacefully attempting to read The Mayflower when my concentration was disturbed by a repeated tapping noise. i finally got up from my bed & walked towards the direction of the noise. after squinting around, i discovered a small shadow in the middle of my dimly lit bathroom floor. i was about to brush it off as a piece of trash or fluff when it moved. after a minute of hyperventilation and ten yells of "ben!" my brother finally arrived, shoebox in hand ready to capture the small mouse. it was quite a workout for the both of us. after closing the lid on that last shoebox, i no longer found it cute. i think i can understand kathy a little bit better now.

monotony is the key to happiness

today is the first day of "summer" since i've gotten back from europe. "summer" is waking up at 7:30, watching tv, going on the computer, eating a tomato the way a person would eat an apple, not looking at my cell phone all day. it's what i enjoy the most. there's no drama, no confusion, no excitement; it's just tranquility. i usually fall into this kind of habit a few weeks into the holiday, after the initial joy of being free from school and homework wears off. it's blended in with a mixture of parties, trips, and the occational summer camp. but now, with only one week left before school starts, my summer days are filled with homework. the results of procrastination are finally hitting me. it really does suck.

i wish summer never ended.

home equals heart.

it really is true. i've never been happier to be home. three weeks is too long of a trip. it makes me miss home. it doesnt matter how fun the trip was, or even how many great friends i made, my room, my bed, my piano, my phone, & my friends back home matter more to me.

i went to bed at 7:30pm last night; in england, that would be 12:30am. it's 9:22 right now, and i'm trying to get over my jet lag. home food helps. so do kinder chocolate bars.

i got a haircut today, and i think it looks okay. i tend to dread haircuts because they always cut my hair too short. i get really attached to my hair when it gets long. ben didn't really freak out about his hair this time either. shocking, really. after living in the same room with my brother for nearly a month, i've learned a lot more about him. for instance, his favorite color is orange. he wants to own 2 dogs and live in a small house or apartment when he gets older. & he REALLY loves babies and animals. a couple days ago, my brother & i just sat in front of a fountain in paris and watched pigeons, ducks, & seagulls for an entire hour.

i really want to meet up with truc so i can tell her about my trip. actually, anyone for that matter. calling someone isnt just the same.

europe is so different from america. i kind of miss it. & i kind of don't.

pictures will be on facebook soon (:

two a day.

post number two today.

i have never appreciated owning a bike so much as i do now. europe is full of walking. theres the occasional tour bus, but honestly, who has enough money to go on tours every day? theres even a lane for bikes on the street. renting a bike is also an option, since not that many tourists can afford to have their bike shipped to paris. they come with flashing lights and lovely reflective tape so airplanes can spot you from the sky.
i saw a smartcar today, except it wasnt the normal kind. this own looked like a sports convertable; it was low to the ground and was actually smaller than the typical smartcar you see in the streets. my moms Sienna could probably run over it.

im heading home tomorrow; ive been away for so long that its hard to remember what living normally is like. everything was done for you on the cruise. my friends and i left an empty plate in a corner on the staircase. five minutes later when we came back, it was gone. getting proffesional photos was fun. being crazy. adults walked by shaking their heads while muttering "teenagers..." home will be a drastic change from the past 3 weeks.

fish out of water.

on the last night of the cruise, i cried.
it's not the same as the last day of school, or even graduation. its the fact that ill never see these people again in my life. sometimes, friendship just isnt enough. i didnt fully realize that until michael said "i hope you have a good life," and truly meant it. it wasnt the normal "see you later" or even the carefree "bye," it was different.
even my new american friends cant really visit. LA is a long way from home. pennsylvania is too. goodbyes are always hard.

i miss them already.

i also miss my VA friends. i just read all of sabrinas & trucks posts. ill go look at other peoples blogs after this.

day three in paris was exciting. we went to versailles & i asked my brother what was his favorite part of the trip. he replied with "food." i know he really meant it too. after several hours of trudging through ancient artwork, we had gelato. in paris. it turns out that parsian gelato tastes better than the one we got in rome & in florence.

when i get back home, i seriously need to exercise. and not eat.
ill have to buy another airplane seat so that ill fit on the plane.
i was rolled off the boat since i was too fat to walk.
seriously, one of my greatest fears is that ill come back to school and have people think "wow. i think ivy gained a lot of weight this summer." my brother and my mom tease me about it, but it does affect me. its really superficial, but i have nightmares about it.

naps.

We were I'm gibraltar earlier today. Monkeys hopped on cars. Its an island that's a part of the uk. Apes are everywhere. One tried to hop on ben.

I'm in my room now because I don't really feel like doing anything. Tired. And only a few people are on the pool deck. The island's still filled with cruise people... Which means that most of my friends are in caves, shopping, or being molested by baby monkeys.

I'm actually kinda pissed off at a certain person right now. I hate it so much when someone just acts like they're drunk. Honestly, they're not fooling anyone. This boat probably has more drama in two weeks than tj does in a year. Its all about getting off with certain people, drinking, enemies, and friends. Ill actually miss it all when I get back home. Its like high school, except everything is sped up 10 times faster: friends, fights, flings.

I really need to send off my postcards.

i'm (almost) on a boat.

Five minutes into the bus ride and I'm already bored out of my mind. its the strangest bus I've ever been on. Seatbelts are required. Bright blue curtains line the windows. There's a safety card in the seat pocket in front of me. An orange and white satellite receiver is spinning on the buikding next to me.I bet that it's calling aliens down to earth. At least it looks like it. the glowing seatbelt sign is on. My brother calls this the "ground plane." He's completely right for once.

Yesterday I went on a full day tour of london. Waking up so early was quite the experience. The tour bus was nice, but I wanted to go on the doubledecker. That's okay though. I had tons of fun. We visited big ben, the london eye, st pauls cathedral, and many other places. I also went on the river cruise and saw the pedestrian bridge from hp6. I would post up a picture except my dads blackberry can't really connect to the camera.the eye was my favorite though. Its like a huge ferris wheel where you get to stand in this giabt glass room. The view was spectacular. Again, I'm really dad that I can't post pictures.
The people here are really nice too. I met this austrailian lady when we ate at the pub. And there was this really cute spanish kid who drank a lot of beer. The tour guide was super funny too. Ny parents had some trouble understanding him though.his attempt at an american accent was... Sad. Anyways, I still have 1 more hour on this bus. I've sent out only two postcards so far. Everythings so expensive.I had a bottle of water with my dinner yesterday. Apparently, water is around $8. Crazytalk. I had fishcakes and nearly all of my moms pina colada last night. It was... An experience.

I now know all of the words to "I'm on a boat" and "down"

woah.

So I just got to the hotel room in london after eating at mcdonalds. Everything's so different here. Even the mcdonalds. Its actually really cool. Its a million times cleaner. And really green (literally). the food is different too. And its a lot quieter and stuff but maybe that's because I went at like 22:00.
What's really funny is that my dad can't understand what these people are saying. Especially wheb they talk fast. It reminds me of when I watched skins yesterday and they had subtitles for some scenes. Hilarious.
British commercials are funnay

I'm really glad kyles okay ;)

if i could be anywhere.

wow. two posts in one day. & i still need to finish packing for europe.
i've gotten all of the addresses i need for postcards. actually not all, but i don't feel like sending out a million of them. with my luck, the postcards i send will end up in canada or iceland. i think it's the thought that really counts.
screw packing. i'm going to watch skins on bbcamerica. i've seen so many trailers for that and it looks pretty interesting. my mom's going to kill me for not packing.
i dont care; i'm too excited for tomorrow. i'm so freaking hyper right now, it's not even funny. i even put up tom felton's song & i'm on a boat because they somewhat relate to my trip.
i can't call anyone for 3 weeks. that's 21 days. 504 hours.
but that's still okay. i'm freaking out about tomorrow. i wish truck could get out of viet school soon so i can be like sdjgklsdj;l to her. maybe i'll call richie or ankit or something.
whatevers. i have to go pack & download music & stuff now before my mom gets home. the end.

pessimistic outlooks.

airplanes make me nervous. it feels extremely unnatural to be so high above ground. i've been on so many flights now, yet i can never shake the anxious feeling i get on a plane. i tend to over-analyze and think too much. if the plane suddenly stops working, everyone's going to die even if you're above water. the impact of the ocean from such a high altitude is the same as falling onto a slab of concrete. it's why so many people die from jumping off the golden gate bridge. the same thing won't happen if you're in a train, car, or boat. if any of those stop functioning, there's still a likely chance of survival. i'm a paranoid person by nature.

i hate smell of airplanes. how many sick people have breathed that same air that's being recycled through the over-active air conditioning of the person next to you? for that reason, i never try to turn it on; it's always cold enough anyways. having cold air blasted at your face makes the smell even worse. instead of being the faint smell of sweat and coffee blended together in an unharmonious scent, it feels as if you're standing next to your brother who had just run a mile in 50 seconds drinking 5 day old coffee. what makes this even worse is if the person next to you is extremely overweight and is eating mcdonalds or some other deliciously aromatic food. first of all, that person is not only taking up his own seat, but he's also starting to spread right over to your own personal space. plane seats are small enough, thank you very much. then, soon after his body mass is infringing on your seat, the smell hits you. now it smells like sweat, moldy coffee, & food containing a disturbingly high amount of trans-fat. i know this from experience.

i'm probably going to call truck to whine about this some more even though i already did with saab. i'm glad my friends can put up with me & all of my complaints. i'm leaving tomorrow morning for heathrow airport. by the time i get there, it's gonna be night.

harrypotter: take 2.

Yesterday, i went to tysons with sabrina & bought new sunglasses to replace the old pair that i had lost. my new pair has the same frame shape as my old one, but my attachment to my old pair hasn't worn off yet & i still miss them. i still have to decide whether or not i like my new ones, yet i can't bring myself to regret any of my purchaces.
i also did a good deed. when the cashier handed me my change, she gave me an extra five dollars. i noticed it and handed it right back to her. i feel like a good person.

after shopping, we went to see harry potter for the second time. this time, i missed the where the wild things are commercial & the part where the girl floats up into the air and screams. thank god. seeing harry potter 6 again made me think of a few things:

• i get scared easily. the first time i saw the movie, both truc & i screamed at the cave scene when harry tries to get some water out of the lake. this time, i told myself i wasn't going to do that again, yet that proved to be futile. i screamed...again. (this time it wasn't as loud though)


• my annoyance at hagrid has escalated to a whole new level. i have a great dislike for that character, but i didn't know why until yesterday. i figured that it's because he's too emotional & exuberant. he's loud, hairy, dumb, & he never really thinks before he acts. he's the personification of stupid. i'm not saying that i dislike people who are emotional or loud; it's just the combination of all of these factors that truly disturbs me.


• tom felton is amazing. no more words are necessary.

today, tomorrow, & friday.

"today is a good day." i used to say that phrase a lot to a certain someone. he'd always reply "don't you ever have a bad day?" i never did when i was with him, and he definitely knew that. it's strange how when i think back on it, i can't remember anything but those moments; our conversions are lost from my memory. did we ever have normal conversations? i can't say that i miss him, but i do miss the feeling of someone making my day a good day. but that's all in the past now.

today is a good day because i get to go to qdoba, a place just like chipotle, only much cheaper. i'll go there with sabrina, eric, tim, earl, & kevin at 2 since it's half price for students.

tomorrow will be an amazing day. i just know it. sabrina & i are going to see hp6 again, and i'll go buy some sunglasses. i've lost two pairs this summer: one michael kors & another F21. honestly, i could care less about the designer ones; the F21's were my favorite. even though i already own 3 pairs, i'll go buy some more tomorrow. the price tag doesn't matter, as long as they resemble my old pair of sunglasses. shopping makes me happy.

friday will be a whole lot better & significantly worse. i'll be without my phone for 3 weeks, something i can't recall ever happening to me. i'll be on a plane for 9 hours, breathing recycled air and drinking copious amounts of Sprite. on the bright side, after those 9 hours, i'll be at the London Heathrow airport. apparently, it's the third busiest airport in the world, ranked under Atlanta & Bejing. i've never been outside of North America, so this will be a first.

cinderella & spiders.

last night, i dreamt that i was attacked by a giant spider in the Forbidden Forest.

"A dream is a wish your heart makes."

deep, deep in my heart, i really would like to be confronted by an overgrown, hairy spider. anyone who truly knows me should be aware that that is my greatest goal in life. it's a wish that my heart makes, according to cinderella.

concrete oceans & stone birds.

it's like being right next to the ocean; i can hear the waves & feel the spray. but it really doesn't smell the same. a few times a week, we spend our lunch time here, the novelty of the sound, look, & feel of the waves has long worn off. its just a nice place now. nothing too exciting. i've always wondered what would happen if i threw a penny in there.

i've also wondered what the hand fountain would look like if it was working.

today, i accomplished something. i solved a rubik's cube for the very first time. i used to think that everyone who was able to do them carefully thought through each of their moves; now i know that's not true. it's more like memorizing patterns and sequences rather than solving a puzzle.

click on the picture. it'll be a whole lot clearer (:

shopping high.

i never knew that shopping could make me so happy, even though i went yesterday. today, i took a practice SAT test, but i was in such a good mood. i'm usually really grumpy during practice SATs because honestly, who isn't? who wants to take a 4 hour test and essay at 8:30 every sunday morning?
but that's okay because i went to potomac mills with kathy yesterday and bought a whole bunch of stuff. i also broke my no-caffeine rule when i went to starbucks. but that's still okay since i bought a whole bunch of stuff. (: