Seventeen Muses

Hey folks, it's the last day of March (thank goodness)! So here it is in response to my March Resolutions!

1. Do not stress, worry, or break down before, during, or after a college decision Check!
Well, this was a hard thing to do (to say the least). I was accepted to 4/6 places I applied (including my Italian art school) and I am 99% sure I know where I'm going. It's a great feeling. Overall, I did a good job. Only a tear was shed when Stanford denied me.

2. Lose another 5 pounds Nearly Check!
FIVE? I could have sworn I put this at four... I lost 4.6 pounds this month. Close enough, right? 20 pounds down from Thanksgiving which is cool. Two people today noticed my weight loss and asked me about it. I've been dropping the weight faster lately. I might be able to reach my goal by graduation.

3. Finish at least 3 books Half Check!?
Well, I finished 2. But I am about halfway through both Watership Down and Grapes of Wrath. I love them both dearly and intend to finish them over spring break.

4. Blog more often Failed!
Well I flat out failed this one. No comment. End of story. Kthxbai.

5. Up my running intensity to 2 miles by the end of the month Failed!
Oops... I forgot about this one. To be perfectly fair, the weather took a turn and I haven't been able to go running in over a week. I can do 1 2/3 of a mile and I know I'm getting stronger and better so I think I'll do this eventually.

6. Keep my room clean Half Check!
I slipped once but I'm doing it now!

7. Get within 90% of finishing Nightingale Failed!
Hahaha... Ha... No.

8. Finish at least half of my senior project presentation Failed!
I really should print these out so that I know what I'm supposed to do. I'm reading this going, "What? I told myself I'd do this???"

9. Take more photographs Failed!
I took a few. Maybe more. Who knows. For good measure, we'll say I failed.

So much for my great, triumphant month. Did I accomplish anything great this month? I'm not so sure. But I'm somehow still optimistic about next month. New resolutions will surface tomorrow and I'll be printing them out and taping them to my headboard.

I plan on finishing Nightingale over spring break, like this pleasant little post says.

So here's my progress: I have from April 1st till the 11th--although I'm making it an even two weeks and I started working on the plans for it last night. I have 11 more scenes so if I knocked out one scene a day, minus the days I'm going to be busy, I could do it.

Problem is it usually takes me about a week per scene but I have some started and a lot of them are short (I hope). I mapped out the rest of the story and I'm hoping for the best!

So to answer your question: Yes, I am insane.

In other news, I'm not doing so hot on my monthly resolutions, particularly the book one. I am heavily engrossed in about 6 large, dense books now and I'm not going to be finishing any of them in the next two days. I will however, be finishing about three of them in the week and a half that follows.

Maybe I'm planning too much during spring break?!?!

Well, I got denied to Stanford, after all that. Surprisingly, I freaked out a lot less than I did during that little incidence.

I was also denied from UC Berkeley, which actually wasn't a big deal because I don't like the school, it was fourth on my list, and we have a hunch that they denied me because they can't afford to give big scholarships to people.

However, I was accepted into three fine schools and my choice is down to two: UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis.

The fact of the matter is, I'd rather go to Santa Barbara. End of story. The reality is, it's a day's-drive away from my folks. Transportation is expensive. I tried weighing the pros and cons of the schools.

UCSB and UCD are pretty evenly matched academically.
They both have 5 majors I am interested in.
They both have very strong biology/physical sciences departments.
They both accept about the same amount of people and have similar-sized campuses.
They are both awesome campuses.
They are both offering me amazing, and similar financial packages.
However, UCSB is in Santa Barbara, on the beach. I've also been in love with the school since fourth grade (I had a sweatshirt-who wears a college sweatshirt in elementary school???).
But UCD is a lot closer to home.

Why is this distance from home thing hanging me up so much? If it weren't for that, I'd be jumping over to Santa Barbara like it was no body's business. This shouldn't be the deciding factor. But I am so hung up on it.

Which is really funny because this was not going through my mind a year ago when I was visiting these schools. It was more like, "Yeah! I'm super far from home! I get to live independently!" And now it's like, "NO! Mommy, Daddy, who's going to do my laundry???"

And I have to keep asking myself: laundry or...



This decision should be soooo much easier.

Is it crazy that I'm planning on finishing Nightingale over spring break? I'm probably about 70-90% done with it (I think) but I have a feeling that I could wrap it up pretty quickly and start editing it.



That's a page from my senior project portfolio.

I already have plans to get Nightingale over to Office Depot and bulk print it for my senior project presentation (April 27th) so I have to finish a rough draft by at least then. After that, I can edit the hard copy and work it out to perfection.

No, I really don't know when I want to send this out to a publisher. Not yet. That's all I know. I think I'll know when I should. It'll feel right for the time. Now does not feel right. Write?

PS: Remind me to refrain from puns in the future.

Howdie world, I've been out of reach for a considerable amount of time, haven't I?

Good news always comes with bad news: my summer art school only gave me a little, tiny scholarship. Which means now I need a job to pay for this trip. The hunt is on!

I swear, the good news in that seemed better in my head...

So yesterday, Robyn and I walked around for a solid 2 hours, gathering applications (only 2 places actually gave them to us), and scouring the town for places that were hiring. Only two places actually were hiring so we went back to his house and I filled out the application for the more desirable one, and turned it on the way to pick up dinner. It's this cute frozen yogurt shop that serves delicious, low-calorie yogurt and they are hiring! It's close enough to my school that I could walk if I needed and it's near the bus route if I was coming from home. It just seems perfect.

In other news, I'm trying to sell my web designs now. My site (Sayarynth) will be going under construction soon and I'm going to remodel it. I'm very excited, to say the least. I'm hoping I can scrap together some money from that.

I also want to start babysitting (seeing as I live down the street from an elementary school) so I'm going to put together fliers and distribute them at some point.

How is it so hard for a teen to make a couple of bucks in this world? Luckily I still have virtually all the money I made last summer in my own personal hell at my summer internship at the chemistry lab.


I wish I could get a job with my cooking experiments.

I was accepted to the art school in Italy today! This is the single thing that my happiness has been riding on for the last week and today, the fateful email came. Fortunately for my sanity, they put the admission decision in the subject line (I think I would have died from my heart skipping beats if I had had to open it before knowing).



Everyone has been so supportive and I thank everyone who told me they knew I could do it. It feels great that I got in on my skill and not my academics. I didn't send transcripts. All I sent was an art profile, an application, and a lovely letter of recommendation from my amazing art teacher.



I am beyond words right now. I could not have asked for a better Monday. I am looking forward to June... Flying again, leaving this place for a month (although I will miss my friends and family dearly), and seeing the world for myself. I'll be staying in a youth hostel with five other art students. There are 2 days off in this intensive 3-week program of about 14 hours a day. I got the schedule and we will be travelling everywhere. I'm keeping a journal and will blog it all when I get back in July.

My next step is learning Italian. I have three Italian dictionaries, including one verb conjugating dictionary, a Standard Deviants DVD, the Internet, and an Italian-speaking mother at my disposal. I think I'm going to do well. I'm journaling my progress. I also have about 7 books on Tuscany and the cities within it, 3 maps of the areas I'm going to be visiting, and a Rick Steves travel book on the region.

I AM STOKED!!!

I've been reading Watership Down as one of my books for March.

It's about rabbits. And it's totally weird because I definitely really like it... This book about rabbits...

Allison reminded me that it was in Lost way back from another season. I sort of remember it. For the life of me, I can't find the scene but I did find what Sawyer says when he gets asked about it:

"Hell of a book. It's about bunnies."

That cracks me up but it really sums of the book nicely. There's not much else to say about it. It's well-written and it's about rabbits.

Recommended!

I new month, a newly refreshed list of resolutions. Some of them are a bit similar to February but I'm hoping by renewing them, they stay fresh. It'll do another follow-up on this one too.

Now this is a crazy month for me because while I don't have a lot to do, I start hearing back from colleges, starting March 8th.

1. Do not stress, worry, or break down before, during, or after a college decision


2. Lose another 5 pounds


3. Finish at least 3 books


4. Blog more often


5. Up my running intensity to 2 miles by the end of the month


6. Keep my room clean


7. Get within 90% of finishing Nightingale


8. Finish at least half of my senior project presentation


9. Take more photographs

This is going to be a great, triumphant month, I just know it. Mostly because Stanford's decision won't be coming until April to disappoint me. I'm going to run more, live more, breathe more, and love more.

Cheers to March 2010 and the coming months ahead!