Today is beautiful because I don't have class today!

When my schedule for the semester ended up the way it is (8AMs Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and no class Thursday), I was a bit skeptical and nervous and whatever because I thought the 8AMs would be so terrible it would cause me to just waste my days off by sleeping until four. But it turns out that I like being up to watch the sunrise every morning. And no, I am not being sarcastic. My Thursdays have been amazing; I wake up around nine or nine-thirty, and then spend the day reading, writing, watching movies, making videos, drawing, and painting. I try to get as much work done as I can on the days I do have class so that I can devote my days off to myself. I don't even like to make plans with friends on these days because being alone is something I enjoy more than is probably healthy, and it's a joy that I sort of lost sight of during first semester when I spent every free moment with other people. I've noticed that, now that I've made time to pursue my creative interests, I feel much better about my life and myself.

This week has generally been pretty awesome. Yesterday in particular was great because it was warm and springlike, so I wore a skirt, plus it was my friend's birthday and her parents told her they'd pay for all her friends to have dinner, so we had delicious Thai food and then ice cream cake. Plus I watched Insidious and Matilda.
On Tuesday, I had a trip with one of my education classes to a high school to observe classrooms. Now, I've been known to put down the education I got at St. Mark's, but that day gave me a whole new perspective. For the most part, the kids seemed to be fairly upstanding individuals. That is to say, I never felt like any of them were likely to pull a knife on anybody any time soon, but in several of the classrooms, kids were blatantly making racist and homophobic jokes, and the teachers didn't even attempt to discipline them. I don't know if it's because they don't think they can make any difference, or because they themselves are racist and homophobic and thus don't care about such behaviour. Probably a combination of both. The biggest thing for me though, was that the discussion level was far below anything I ever experienced in high school, even in the AP classes. One class of juniors was reading Of Mice and Men, and there is no doubt in my mind that my eighth grade class had a higher understanding of the text than these 17-year-olds. And I didn't get the impression that the teachers expected anything more out of them. In fact, the AP lit teacher openly displayed surprise when one of the students made an insightful observation, and later, in conversation with me, basically called her students stupid while they were in the room. So basically the day didn't teach me much about teaching, which I think it was supposed to, but it did lead me to realize that I am extremely privileged, and I have taken that for granted.


ALSO, I made a video today and you should watch it. Do it, you won't.

Today was beautiful because I received a free advanced reader's copy of a book (that I've never heard of, but still, I've never gotten an ARC before!), and the cute boy in my writing class was wearing hipster glasses today, thus making him even cuter in my estimation.

Today was beautiful because I saw Cloud Atlas and it was amazing. Cinematically, it had a few issues but the story and the writing and the acting were all superb. I'm adding the book to my depressingly long 'to read' list, because I know it will be even better. I probably won't sleep tonight either because I'll be thinking about my actions and how my life could be touching others'.

Also, after a week of single-digit temperatures, twenty-seven degrees felt downright balmy.

Today is beautiful because...

Last year, when I was at something of a low-point, I started this thing where every day I wrote at least one good thing that happened in my life that day. After a while, things got better and I stopped needing it, so eventually, the posts petered out and the project was over.
The thing about it, though, is that I love going through and reading those entries and remembering the little things that made me smile each day. I'd love to start up again, but as it turns out I've become terrible at doing things that don't involve the Internet, so I figured the logical alternative is to turn to the tried-and-true blog format. Plus, I'm desperate for attention and constantly searching for new ways that might garner it. (I'm mostly kidding.)
So anyway.

Today is beautiful because I watched a puppy video that made me cry and I skyped with Kim for three hours. We talked about everything and nothing at all and it was fantastic. I miss seeing her every day, and I am beyond excited for her adventures in England this semester. Her being there, even though it's barely been 24 hours and she hasn't done anything, is making me increasingly sure of my resolution to study abroad next year, and that's a good thing.