2010

It doesn't seem so long ago that I was sitting here, adjusting to 2010 and remembering 2009. January saw me finishing up my first ever college winter break, which seemed to last forever, up until the moment it was over. I saw Rocky Horror live for the first time with Greg and Jesson and, more terrifyingly and against my better judgement, with my and Greg's mothers. Oh gosh. I remember wanting to go snow tubing desperately, though I never did.

I had a birthday party here at home with local friends, when we saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show for my second time, and against the will of most of my friends, but I didn't turn nineteen until two days after classes started again, and to celebrate that, friends in college ordered takeout and enjoyed it in the common room, and we ate a cake that Mum had made me. I do remember that She Who Must Not Be Named showed up uninvited, and that bugged me a lot. After we ate, only two friends remained to watch The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert with me, hogging the common room TV from anyone that might have wanted to watch the State of the Union address.

I took the Jeopardy! test for the first time. With upsetting results.

During midterms, I wrote a wonderful essay on the nature of dreams for my philosophy class. It was stressful, but it was actually a fun paper to write. Kelsey wrote one in the form of a dialogue between Alex Trebek and Johnny Gilbert. We also spent two and a half hours a week sitting through A History of Modern Philosophy with a very silly professor who is apparently mildly famous within his field. I also took my first college French class with an amazing professor, and I'm convinced she is Monsieur's long-lost-relative-of-some-sort. I continued German and I took European history for the first time since 'global' in eighth and ninth grade. I also started band and bassoon lessons.

I made a transfer application to Drew University, and was accepted with a small scholarship. Then I wrote them a letter asking them to defer my enrollment one year. They wrote back and said I wasn't allowed to take more than a certain, small amount of credits [something like 11] in the next school year. Oops.

I also had my first ever college spring break. It was two weeks long and spent at my own home, hanging out with friends. Trina came and visited for a couple of days and we went roller skating. After Easter, my triple turned into a double and Kelsey and I rearranged. I even got a fort out of the deal.

In April, I saw my first opera, Die Zauberflöte.


In April or May, I took a trip to Mount Holyoke to perform a German play which I had had a major hand in writing, though my character only had a couple of lines, only to be left out of the programme, and to come in third place out of three schools competing. Nonetheless, the German Theatre Workshop was a fun experience and I made some new friends out of it.

At the end of the semestre, things took a turn for the worst with The Bad Thing, which had a great deal to do with She Who Must Not Be Named. So I did not enjoy most of May, and I was just incredibly grateful when it was all over. It was also around that time that I got the news that Dan H would not be returning to Conn for sophomore year. He was, indeed, transferring.

Summer was the best because it was long and I did not have anything to do for a very long time. No job, no homework, just friends and relaxing.



There was, of course, AnimeNEXT.



Then, within one week, everything exciting that would happen that summer, did.

On 24 July, I went to see David Mamet's Race with Liam and Viggi, and I was lucky enough to get signatures from the cast and A PHOTO WITH EDDIE IZZARD. And then I promptly stopped breathing. It might not be an understatement to say that that was one of the most exciting moments of my life so far.


On what I think was the hottest day that summer, I went to the beach [*gasp*] to celebrate Kristin's sweet 16. She and I being as pale as we are turned into lobsters. Very pained lobsters. I seem to remember, at the end of the day, her mother yelling at her for not putting sunblock on because she was already extremely red, and she said back that she'd put it on four times and still got burned that badly. I also remember Ying seeing me come back out of the water and freaking out: "You're all spotty!" Having all but given up sunlight, it has been years since I had had so many freckles.

Just days after that, I went to a water park for the first time in years with David, Arianna, and Kristin. It was more fun than I had remembered it, and I did not get further sunburned. And by the end of July, I was packing for a trip to Belfast! Which I wrote about while I was there but never actually posted anything [maybe I should amend that...].

It was yet another dream come true, having never been to the UK before, even though it was only for a week.

September saw me back at COLLEGE, to my dismay, but newly resolved to bury myself in schoolwork and planning for a very different future. I took two French classes - one in film and one seminar on prostitution in the 1800s. I also worked very hard to get into Chinese 201, a class which would eventually get the better of me. I continued German with 201 and I continued my theatre studies with Technical Theatre, a class on the building, managing, and designing aspects of what goes into making plays. I had so much fun with that that I actually got a job out of it, hanging lights and building sets. I didn't get a chance to work this year, but I have promised myself that next year, when I have an easier schedule, I will. And of course, band and lessons.

There was NYAF and NYCC, and I got separated from Jesson and everyone for a long time with a dead phone battery and ended up taking the bus home by myself. But I did get to meet and speak briefly to Zach Weiner, which is really, really, really cool.

Sophomore year was dramatically different from freshman year, though only separated by a few months of break. I had a car. I came home almost every weekend except for two - the one after I first arrived and the one before Thanksgiving. She Who Must Not Be Named, surprisingly and to my great joy, did not return, though I wait in fear to find out whether she is returning for the spring semestre or is in fact waiting until next fall. Kelsey came back, though, even though she wasn't supposed to. Dan did not. I had my own room and I decorated it by getting rid of all the furniture except the bed.

I started thinking more and more about my actual future [ooooh~], something which I'd never wanted to do before, and which landed me in this upsetting school in the first place. I thought about what I wanted to accomplish in the film industry, and the incredible amounts of fun I had in my French film and tech theatre class made me realise that, though I love acting, I would be content working on films in a more creative role [ideally directing, but that's unlikely, I guess]. And I realised that I didn't only want to study film as a theory, like literature. So I started new applications, this time to the UK. In the end, they went to Nottingham-Trent University for Film and Linguistics, York University for Writing, Directing, and Performing, York University for Linguistics and French, Aberyswyth University for French and Film and TV studies, and Queen's University Belfast for Film and Linguistics.

The year ended with decent expected grades - they haven't been received yet but I'm expecting hopefully all A's except for Chinese and possibly my seminar. There was a very large paper on prostitutes to be written and a very strange movie about a German drug dealer and love triangle [more of an arrow shape, actually].
There was a fabulous Christmas, filled with gifts, friends, and family. I was accepted into Aberystwyth. There were many movie days, only to be added to in the early days of this new year. There was dancing. And there was cake.

So 2010 had its ups and downs, and frankly, I'm not too sorry to see it go. But I do think that it has prepared me in wonderful ways for whatever will come next. At least three things that I survived - The Bad Thing, learning German, and learning bassoon - can all be pointed at as I say, "Well I survived that, so I can do anything!" The year was, in complete honesty, heart-breaking, and I don't mean in the traditional sense. But it had its wonderful moments, and I wouldn't trade them.

As for 2011... I don't know what it's going to bring. My classes still haven't even been finalized for the spring semestre, and fall seems worlds away. I'll have a decision to make, in some ways difficult, as to whether or not I am going to the UK for the next three or four years, and if so, which school. But what I do hope for the year is the strength to continue dealing with a school that I don't love, the confidence to make this school work for me in my last months, and the perserverence to find and follow what it is that I actually "want".

Here's wishing you all a very happy and lucky new year.

Thanksgiving

On Tuesday I went home! Yay! It was awesome. Not really. Actually, my one class was cancelled, after weeks and weeks of the professor saying, "I'm not going to cancel class on Tuesday," so I didn't have anything to do until 3:00, and I could have taken the same train twenty-four hours earlier if I had only KNOWN. Ugh. Oh well. After being home for a very, very short while, Mum and I went to NYC to pick up Elisabeth!! Yay! And then, our super fantastic weekend began~



I woke up early on Wednesday, but Elisabeth didn't want to. Makes sense. Why be crazy like me, if you don't have to, right?

So I went to the high school that morning! I started the day in Mirsky's first period AP English, where we played the 'surrealist game'. Basically, everyone writes a question on a piece of paper, and then folds the paper so no one can see. Then they pass the paper on to someone else, and then everyone writes an answer on their new paper. Then, they read the combined question and answer and try to interpret it, lol. Mine was something like "Why are there no chipmunks here?!" and Vigg's fail answer was "Blue." But there was a funny one: "Where will ___ go to college?" "Pretty pretty rainbows".[I don't know the kid, so I don't think it's fair to publish his name, but they assure me he's pretty flamboyant and... yeah.]

Second period, I went to orchestra, and third I went to Madame Steffener's French class, and her son was there and he is SO CUTE. For fourth, I visited Dr. Walsh in AP Enviro, even though I have never taken that class myself. And then for fifth, I went to Gov, another class I have never taken. It took Mr. Safran a really long time to notice I was there. I went to band for sixth period and sat with Josh, texting Eric and confusing him about. For seventh, I got to go to 'my' Chinese class, and I ended up taking notes for Johnny. -.- Eighth was World Film, where we watched 400 Blows, and then I left.



After school, Elisabeth and I went to the Original Pancake House, and we were planning on meeting Bryan and Alex there, but they were slow and I had a dance lesson to go to. We ordered, and when our food arrived, so did Bryan and Alex, so we ate and talked to them. Then, when we had to leave, their food showed up. Funny, but it worked.

Then I went to my dance lesson, which, as always, was a lot of fun. I think Elisabeth was slightly impressed [Victor was in show-off mode, of course! Ugh!], but I was fairly embarrassed.

Then I had to go to the mall to get a haircut. I ACTUALLY LIKE IT and it's as short as I want it! I know, right? Lol.

<-- Me, plus new haircut, making a grumpy face ['cuz it was really late at night]. That night, we had dinner at Pane Vino, and then that's where the fun began. It started with kidnapping Vigg, and culminated with twelve-ish people watching THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX. That movie was fricken fantastic, as the name might suggest. If you haven't seen it, go see it now. If you have, well then go see it again.



After the movie, we went back to Bryan's house, where we played things and stayed up really late. And Vigg thought Arianna was a b-tard. And it was amazing and fun. Yay. ♥





Thanksgiving itself was pretty low-key. We woke up in time to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade [bizarre, as usual], and then we got ready to go to Aunt Mary's. I felt sorry for Elisabeth, having to repeat the 'I'm French, but I grew up in Tokyo, and now I'm at Middlebury, Vermont' speech so many times... We hung out until four, when we had dinner. This wast the first time we'd ever had dinner at the same time and the same table as the adults. But the Mahoneys weren't there, and neither was Uncle George & co., and the Maine McDonalds were MIA as well, of course. We were finished with dinner by five, and had dessert at six. By seven, we were ready for bed, and we left around 7:30, getting back at nine. At ten, we were sound asleep.





We had a lazy day after Thanksgiving. We both woke up relatively early - Elisabeth at eight and I at nine - because of our super early bed time. Well rested, we spent the day doing a little bit of nothing, and attempting to do homework. Notice the attempting.

Ying came over because she wanted to play violin with me. She'd brought some duets from anime, and one was from Tsubasa: Resevoir Chronicle, which is one of my favourites, and it was really cool to be able to play a song that I know. After she had to go, I just kept practising [once you pop the fun don't stop?].

Mum tried to fix her computer, but it turns out she needs a new hard drive [yay -.-], so we went to Best Buy. Elisabeth came too , because she wanted to see what it was like. We looked around the entire place, and I drooled over some gadgets and games I might enjoy, but most importantly, we found no hard drive for Mum. She'll have to order one online... for which she'll need a computer... yay?

At 6:30, we went to Arianna's house for her After-Thanksgiving-Day Party [or, You're Welcome Day Bash], and I brought the chocolate cake Mum had made. A lot of people were there, including Bryan, Greg, Kenny, Kim, Virginia, Cassie, Lori, and Justina and Stephanie, so it was really awesome. I was happy to see them all, and I feel like, if it weren't for this, I wouldn't have seen most of them this weekend. Dinner was wonderful - everything was homemade from scratch! - and so was Mum's chocolate cake.



Elisabeth and I left at midnight and went to bed soon after.



Saturday was the day that Elisabeth and I had arranged to meet Kristen, our mutual friend from Explo who lives near me, and so I really have no excuse for not seeing her for over a year. Mum made scones when Elisabeth and I woke up, so we were well fed for the morning. At twelve, we went to the Short Hills mall to meet Kristen at the California Pizza Kitchen, and we watched her eat lunch. Then we went shopping for a little while. The Gap was having a great sale, and all t-shirts were only ten dollars [including those men's waffle shirts I'd paid so much for before!!], so I bought two, a red waffle shirt, and a purple and black striped shirt. Kristen eventually had to leave [*sadface*], but Elisabeth wanted warm pajamas, so we went to Macy's. There, we found super soft and fluffy bathrobes and we each bought one. Leaving, she asked me, "How do you call this warm fluffy thing we just bought?" I don't know why, but I thought that was cute, lol.



After the mall, Jesson wanted to hang out. He originally suggested seeing Ninja Assassin, but that looked really crummy, and movies in Livingston are so expensive... So did all the other movies nearby, and The Road and Men Who Stare At Goats were just too far away. We agreed to rent a movie instead. I brought Elisabeth to Jesson's house, where we looked through five or more photo albums. We drove to Eric's house - our first successful Eric-napping! - and then to Blockbuster, which is going out of business [*sadface*]. I bought There Will Be Blood and some half-price popcorn, and Elisabeth bought Atonement and Speed Racer, and the guys bought Speed Racer [blu-ray], Superbad, some anime, and something else... Back at my house, Mum made us rice and chili, and then we watched Superbad in my room. During the course of the movie, Sara, Greg, Tara, and Pascal all made their way to my house, too, but Greg and Tara left.



When the movie was over, Greg wanted us to come hang out at Littel People's Park with them, so we walked there. We were almost to the parking lot when Greg calls me and says they'd left already. What? Sorry, but aren't you supposed to call before you decide to leave, if you're expecting people? He said they were going to Riker Hill Art Park, so we walked back to my house, got my car, drove to Jesson's house to get Oli's car, and called Greg again, but he'd left the art park and was going to Eddie's house. No, that was a party I just would not crash. So we ended up at Wendy's [fast food] instead.



Sunday was the 'chill' day. Or at least it was supposed to be. Elisabeth and I woke up, took long showers [because we won't get another as comfortable for three weeks], and ate breakfast. I did my laundry, and we packed. Then we made a last minute, spontaneous trip up Route 10 to Kam Man to get bubble tea.

After that was when it stopped being chill.

We drove Elisabeth to New York City for her 2:45 bus. We thought leaving at 1 was plenty early. Good thing we did, because there was so much traffic around Weehawken and the Lincoln Tunnel. Finally, we stopped at where her bus was supposed to be - it was 2:30 at this point! - and it wasn't there yet. So she and I got out and looked around; we found some of her friends from school, I said good bye and went back to find Mum's car. It wasn't there. I stood in the spot where she'd left me for half an hour, and I even tried calling her but she left her phone at home. I was quite upset. She found me after almost thirty minutes.

Then we drove down to Newark. The traffic wasn't nearly as bad on the way out. We were about an hour early for my train, so we stopped at a CVS and bought a water bottle and a Butterfinger for the ride.

When we got to Penn Station [Newark], we wanted to sit down, so we went up to the track on which my train was supposed to come in. The television board told us that the train was delayed twenty minutes, but when a train pulled in only five minutes late, Mum was convinced it was mine and sent me off. A conductor told me I was going the wrong way! South! To Newark Airport! AAAH! I asked him what I should do, and he said to get off at the next stop and find a train to NYC. That's what I did, but the next wasn't until 5:03, and it was only about 4:40. I frantically called my mother, even though I knew she didn't have her phone [!!!] and left her a message telling her my predicament, when what do I see but a train pulling in on the opposite track labelled 'Amtrak'. Well, I might as well try my luck. I asked a conductor where this train was headed and he said it was the one I was supposed to be on, so I got on at the very last second. Thank goodness it was so much delayed, otherwise, I would never have gotten back to school.


Back at school, I fooled around with Kelsey, Ariana, and Dan. It was very amusing - poor Kelsey! If I ever need to blackmail her, I'm pretty much set... Haha.



On Monday night, we had a potluck. And it was amazing. Yay! And then Kelsey wrote a letter to my German teacher about how amazing his photocopying skills are.



And, as always, you can check out all of the photos on Facebook.

Fall Break

Fall Break

My fall break was fantastic. It was supposed to start "Thursday at 5:00 pm", but my theatre teacher cancelled class for that Thursday. That being my only Thursday class, I could leave as soon as classes were over on Wednesday, which is precisely what I did, catching a 3:07 train back to NJ.

It was great being home.

On Thursday, I visited LHS. I tried the side door, but it was locked, so I turned back to walk around to the front, when I heard the door open and Josh Kim yell my name. That was convenient, and great to see him. I stopped by the band room with him and Anton, but I wanted to visit Mrs. Lee, so I did, but she wasn't there! The Spanish sub that always subs for her was there, and I asked if I could just say hi, so she said I had "two minutes". It took a little longer than two minutes, yeah, but she kicked me out after a while. A lot of people to see in that classroom :( Hopefully next time, Mrs. Lee will be there and I can spend more time!

I didn't know what to do, since I told Mum not to pick me up until 1:04 [when seventh period ends], so I went to orchestra. Dr. T. made me play o__o;; It was pretty unnerving when she said "Oh you can sit next to Deborah!" Hah -.- Except I played the second part on the harder songs. Hehh. It was really great to see everyone, but there was much more weekend to go!

Mum and I practised making rainbow cupcakes. I also had a dance lesson on Thursday night, and I brought the cupcakes to dance to share with everyone there. Yay dance! Woo. That made me happy. I miss it so much :'(

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On Friday, I went to LHS again for the GSA meeting. I was really surprised at the underclassmen turn-out. It looks like there's hope for the club yet! Yay! I brought a rainbow cake, too, because it was a Coming Out Day party. Everyone loved it [but it's hard to eat something with so much food dye].

That evening, I went to see The Invention of Lying with Vigg. It was cute, but not as amazing as I'd expected [I don't really know what I was hoping for, since my hopes weren't very high; it wasn't even a bad movie, in fact it was very good, but... well I don't know]. Afterwards, I kidnapped him to my driveway for about forty-minutes, not telling him where I was taking him next.

Then we went to Applebee's. That was wonderful! I got see Bryan, Arianna, Alex, Kevin, Dan, Mike, and many more amazing band geeks. Life is weird without them =\ Any way, we tried to smush ten people into this little tiny booth, which was only built for six, max. That was fun.

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Saturday was fantastic beyond belief.

I went to the mall because Mum wanted to buy ...who knows what. And I needed tights. I ended up stopping at The Gap and getting fall-wear, too. I love their boys clothes. So great haha.

I got all dressed up in a knee-length striped sweater/dress and my tights and my Mary Janes, and I even straightened my hair yay. I went to New York City, where I met up with Sharon and Maria for a little while, as I headed to the Radio City Music Hall. Alice was with them, too. That was great. I miss having Sharon's smiling face and Maria's sense of humour~ Last year, I sat between them every day, and now I don't :(

Halfway there, Mum yelled "SHIT" and grabbed my arm - not joking. Turns out she forgot the tickets. WTF. I was VERY angry and scared they wouldn't let us in. When we got there, they only let one person in to the box office at a time, per party, so I had to stand on the street and wait. That's when I saw Stephen Colbert. He was there with two of his kids and the man said 'only one at a time' and he was a little mad with him and said, "I have kids with me, I'm not going to leave them out here alone." I wasn't paying attention, though, 'cuz I was scared for the sake of my own tickets. I didnt' realise it was Stephen Colbert at the time, either.

We got in.

When the show started, I almost cried three separate times out of sheer excitement. It was a concert of The Fellowship of the Ring music, performed by a massive, live orchestra, and three choruses, with the movie projected on a giant screen in the background! AHHHH.

The scariest/most amazing part was intermission. I went out into the lobby to buy a programme, and four feet in front of me, I saw Howard Shore walk by. I have never been so starstruck. My mouth and eyes opened wide [ =0 ] and my feet wouldn't move... at all. He was right there, shaking hands with someone, and I was right there and couldn't do anything about it. I went back to my seat to see if I could find Mum and tell her, after I'd lost him into the crowd, but then I remembered to buy a programme. As I continued searching for Mum, I found Dan [H., from school] and told him about this. Sooo excited. I started crying a little bit, again, haha. Tears of joy!

After the second half, I heard that there was a signing. There was such a long line, but I finally got there. Howard Shore signed my Fellowship of the Ring CD that I've had since middle school. AAAHHH.

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Sunday was the chill day. Mum and I woke up very late haha. We also had to buy a new suit case, because I've been using my sister's. But this one is superiour, really. And I also bought bubble tea! Yay! I don't know if there's any of that up here, still -.-

I caught a train back to school that evening, and worked on a paper during the three-hour ride.

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Fall break was great. The next time I'll be back will be for Thanksgiving. See you then :D
Pictures coming soon... I just left my camera at home so I have to wait for this weekend when Mum brings it up.

The Last Week

Before I went to college, I had one week to hang out with as many friends as possible! I was very upset that I missed the TCNJ and Lehigh kids :( But here's a quick story of my adventures with everyone else.

On Tuesday, the twenty-fifth, I picked up Jesson and we visited Band Camp. I brought everyone popsicles and they were all very happy :] Except my sister, who acted like a little brat to me once again, because nothing is ever good enough. It was really great to catch up with everyone, since a lot of the band kids [that didn't graduate with me] are kids I don't get to see as often outside of school.




I had a dance lesson and had to leave band camp for that. It was a good lesson, as I recall.

That afternoon, I rode my bike, and Jesson ran around after me. Then he went home to pack for his trip to Maryland.

That night, Ying and Will came over, and we went to Pane Vino for dinner. We made Ying eat a lot of food, lol. Well, she ordered a calimari appetizer, but Will and I never planned on sharing it, so she had to eat both that and a meal all by herself. After that, we got ice cream at Calaco's and we jumped napped on my trampoline. HINT! Will is very ticklish. Just letting you know. After that, it was goodbye to two of my very good friends :'(



Wednesday, the twenty-sixth, was Sharon day ♥ . We watched The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert because all our other options were too depressing. [Hmm, the Holocaust movie or the story of a kid from a ghetto?] She even came to watch my dance lesson, but had to leave halfway through. I think she survived the drive home, though I'm not sure, since I haven't heard from her since ;D

On Thursday, I went to Verona Park with Maria! We had a lot of fun having a picnic of bagels and cookies. We even saw Sara there! we traipsed around through the stream, which something tells me we're not supposed to do, and got really close to some ducks and minnows. Lol.




That evening, I went to see Jersey Boys on Broadway with the Marching Band! It was SO AMAZING. I would highly recommend it O: As in, go see it. Now.



Friday was my last day here. I had my last dance lesson *cry* and I gave Victor my college address and a Pikachu doll. After that, I got my last bubble tea from Kam Man. I still haven't been into New London and haven't found out if there's a place that sells it here. But I could make it... Then, I had to call my grandparents, and they generally wished me luck, and my uncle came over and gave me some money [hehe] when Mum wasn't looking.

THEN IT WAS TIME TO GO! After a long drive, we got into NYC and I got to see SWITCHFOOT IN CONCERT. Everyone should know how much I love them ♥ ♥ ♥ . During "This Is Your Life," I almost started crying. I love seeing them live. They also played my favourite song, "Gone," mixed with "Crazy in Love" and "Umbrella," but I accidentally deleted the video!!!!! AAAAUGH! That, too, almost made me cry ;___;

I was fortunate enough to see the aftershow. Jon played a lot of songs from the new album, Hello Hurricaine. ♥



We left the city at 12 and got in around 1am, at which point we went to Viggi's house and kidnapped the poor guy. I made him sign my yearbook, lol. When 2:30 - the curfew his parents gave him that night - rolled around, we left for his house, but instead of saying goodbye, we chatted for about half an hour just sitting in the car in his driveway lol. I was very sad because this was the last goodbye, and he's such a good friend. Of course, it's more of a see you later, but things are never going to be the same.