the hype

I will express what my summer has been like in pictures.

I am lucky that this summer I am not just laying around the couch watching mindless tv. Well I still am but for the last two weeks since summer has started my friends and I have been on a super sports hype. The awesome thing is that there is a nice big park right across the street from my house and I have just started finding out I have many friends who live very close by.

First it started with a couple of us playing tennis almost every day in the evening. Then one day I found a frisbee and we decided to try ultimate frisbee. Now when I first heard of ultimate frisbee I thought WOW SUPER LAME but man, I WAS WRONG!! That game is surprisingly intense and lots of fun. And lots of RUNNNNNNING. I haven't ran so much since pe in sophomore year. So we decided to have a big ultimate frisbee day and we played for quite awhile. Then the other day we had a volleyball day. My friend even bought a new volleyball set. But word to the wise, do not buy a volleyball set at Walmart for 20 bucks if you decide to playfully crash into the volleyball net because you will BREAK it. Yes that did happen but it was fixable. Today we played ultimate frisbee then SOCCER. My legs really ache. I can honestly say I have not had so much physical activity than I have had in these last couple weeks. But I really think exercising by playing outdoors with your friends really gives you motivation to be healthy and have fun at the same time. Without that competitive drive or the fun factor, I would end up staying inside for three months getting pasty and flabby! I love this sports hype!

Also since we graduated two weeks ago, I have attended multiple grad parties. And for some reason, at most of those grad parties or parties I have gone to, we have played rock band and rock band 2 numerous times. Since I do not own rock band, I was able to gradually go from easy to medium on guitar. Whoot to me. However my pinky SUCKS! The drums are not too bad either. Of course I rock at the vocals. Since I am tired of singing the same five typical songs (Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Move Along by American Reject, both paramore songs, Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers, anything by the killers, etc), my friend and I decided we should educate ourselves on all those crazy rock songs on rockband and youtube the songs and actually listen to them so we could familiarize ourselves with the songs. I am so excited for next rockband party because I really liked Celebrity Skin by Hole (Courtney Love's band). Though I realized when I finally listened to most of the songs, I recognize them because of hours wasted watching VH1's top rock songs or VH1's I love the 80's and other shows like that on VH1. VH1 has educated on the majority of my pop culture history that is prior to the 90's.

I realized what has also been missing in my life. LEFT 4 DEAD. The most awesome zombie killing game ever. I played it for three days straight. My friend and I were first introduced to it when we went to another friend's house after a grad party. The guys were just playing left 4 dead and we got hooked. Though I really suck at the whole two joint sticks (one for the direction of vision and the other for direction of your body) and the other five other buttons. Half the time I just couldnt figure out how to get out of the corner and around places. But I got okay at it. I was able to go through a whole mission by myself without dying in the first five minutes. Though I felt mentally drained after playing it for three hours. I do not know how guys can play games for hours at end.

Speaking of ZOMBIES, I read this book before the year ended called World War Z which was recommended to me by a friend. It was damn interesting. I have a personal love for zombie movies. This book seriously made me feel as if I should be prepared for a crucial zombie attack because zombies are the worst enemy because they are the WALKING DEAD so they already died and it is pretty damn hard to kill them again. But honestly this is great book because it narrates different points of views of the zombie war from all over the world and shows you how it spreads around the world. The author also does a great job of analyzing all aspects of the real world such as government, how humans interact with each other during a crisis, economics, etc. This guy is truly genius. There are rumours of it being turned into a movie and of course the movie can never measure up to the book but I would definetly go see it.

Oh and I have been sucked into watching that show I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of HERE because there is nothing better on television lately.

---christina.

being a little over average.

This morning I woke up to my father yelling at everyone to wake up. So we had a family "conference" and everyone was like half asleep while my father was ranting how we all live like pigs. I guess we had been taking advantage of my dad lately because he has been doing a lot of cooking and cleaning for the family. Well since my parents are done with the restaurant, I missed having my parents cook for me at home so I just got used to my dad just cooking for us whenever we got home. But I guess he got sick of being Mr. Mom after a month and said we needed to pick up the slack. At first I felt irritated because my mom started blaming me because I am in charge of the kitchen this week, but then I felt really bad. I felt bad for not doing my job and not doing enough to help my siblings or being a good daughter. Then my dad said I had become a little more than average and that made me really sad. My parents think I have gotten "worse" over the years with my procrastination and it really made me mad but sad also. It is my fault but I wanted to blame it on my parents too because for the last five years, they've been busy with work and never home and I've had to take care of the house. I started a cry a little bit but I didn't really say anything but yeah in the end we all got over it. I understood what my father was saying and I guess I needed to try harder.

I think the most thing that hits me emotionally is being seen as a little above average which is true. Because I know I am a little above average. I have no special talents. The only reason my GPA is a bit high is because of extra AP points but I mostly have B's on my report card. I don't play a sport. I haven't really shined in anything. I have like no hobbies. What makes me special? I know that is really hard to believe but on paper, I am just a little above average. I know my parents wish I was one of those super smart kids who would get free rides to college but I'm not. But at the same time, I am glad I am not because I know a couple of those people and guess what, their personalities suck. But maybe I am just being bitter.

So about the rest of my day. After we cleaned the house, we had a nice family brunch and it was nice. As a family, we get over stuff really quick so no one was really moody. Then we just all took a rest. At around 4ish, we went to the park. I played tennis with my dad and siblings. My mom (being pregnant and all) was walking one of our dogs around. I really suck at tennis. My sixth grade sister is way better than me. That is depressing. But it is just nice to play around and hit the ball back and forth. We played until it was dark and came home and ate dinner. It was relaxing.


So I talked about visiting my old house with my mom in this post and I found the PERFECT quote to go with the feeling I felt when I visited my old home.

" You ask me what it means to be irrelevant? The feeling is akin to visiting your old house as a wandering ghost with unfinished business. Imagine going back: the structure is familiar, but the door is now metal instead of wood, the walls have been painted a garish pink, the easy chair you loved so much is gone. your office is now the family room and your beloved bookcases have been replaced by a brand-new television set. This is your house, and it is not. And you are no longer relevant to this house, to its walls and doors and floors; you are not seen. "
- Reading Lolita in Tehran

That is exactly how I felt at that moment except this describes it much better. Even though it is just a house, it is sad to know that your thumb print and your mark is no longer there. And when you die, who will remember that you lived in that house?

So to lighten up this post, I want to post my favorite song that ALWAYS makes me feel better for some reason.



Perfect song for a Sunday.

--CHRISTINA