December. and 2010 recap.

December:  I have officially gotten into college! i still have to hear from my other schools and all that jazz-but its really nice to know that a college actually wants me!
we also had some good snow this december. got out of school the last two days before break AND it snowed on christmas! that was super cool.
christmas was great this year. we watched a ghost adventures marathon christmas eve and the shining on christmas day. not the conventional way to spend christmas but nothing about my family is very conventional. there was like zero fighting this christmas and my tacky matching shirts went over well. even oscar loved his!
i have also done a lot of shopping this week which makes it a little more exciting to go back to school in a few days.. ugh senioritis is hitting hard! the thought of exams is killing me. but theres only six more months of highschool! its ridiculously hard to believe.
2010! Recap.
2010 has been a good year for the most part. junior year ended-always good. Italy was the best time of my entire life. i always look at those pictures and end up like almost crying i miss it so much. everyone should go on a trip like that if they are given the chance. so far senior year has been pretty chill. easyish classes and lots of time to spend with all my friends. it makes me realize how much im gonna miss everyone next year. well maybe not everyone... but a lot of people.
there were some super shitty parts to this year. no doubt about that. but the worst parts of my life are better than the best parts of many other peoples lives. the shitty things happened, and more will happen in the future, but all i can do is accept them and move on. hopefully college will be as awesome as im expecting and will make up for how crappy highschool is. seriously. people who make those cliche highschool movies should be shot. highschool was nothing like any of those movies. instead it was like a freddy krueger dream you couldnt wake up from. only a few more months til i get to wake up.. thank god.

I can't wait for all the great things in the year ahead: 18th birthday! graduation! college! and lots of things i cant even anticipate! new years isnt that big of a deal to me though.. at midnight it will just be tomorrow. hit me up when we survive 2012 though. thatll be something to celebrate.

SOO busy.

The last few weeks have been so busy! Visiting Arkansas, applying to schools, family crisis, thanksgiving and the beach!

Arkansas was definitely an experience. There isn't a lot to do down there, but the school was great. Hendrix is small but its tightknit just like i wanted. and they seem to have a lot going on to balance out the nothing that goes on in Conway. I stayed with a really nice freshman who showed me around everywhere. The girls dorms are super nice! but its so far away im just not sure that i could do it. especially because we had some family stuff going on at home while we were gone. i loved the school but i dont think that i could stand being away from my family when shit likethat happens.

I have applied to all my colleges though! one more supplement to do! and then its out of my hands. its really exciting to be done, but also really scary. although i definitely have a top and bottom choice, if i dont get in ill just take the year off like i had planned before. im trying not to stress out about it, and so far so good!

I just got home today from the beach with Caitie's family. It was so much fun. we took naps everyday but one i think, and went shopping at midnight of black friday! that was awesome. some of the lines were super long but i got 5 new pairs of converse for 60 bucks! it was awesome. i know have, i believe, 12 pairs :) its an obsession. oh well. while we were at the beach we saw burlesque and morning glory. morning glory was good but pretty cliche. burlesque however, was fricking amazing. i have no idea how christina aguilera sings like that or how any of them dance like that, but i sure as hell want to try. it looks like so much fun! i cannot wait to see that movie again. we also watched a life less ordinary which was super funny but unneccessarily weird.. the beach is one of my favorite places in the world! and it was the perfect place to be for thanksgiving!

:)

Halloween was so much fun! My outfit looked awesome, my friends looked awesome, Anna's halloween party for the youth group turned out great, and I finally got to see Caitie!
Now I just can't wait for Thanksgiving to get here so I can go to Rehoboth with Caitlin's familia. It will be so much fun, like always.
This weekend I'm roadtripping to Arkansas with my mom for a college visit. Should be quite the adventure seeing as I've never been to Arkansas. But I am very excited!!! The school looks great on paper so hopefully it's great in real life too!

Senioritis is starting to kick in way hard core. I just want to graduate and be done with highschool forever. Although, I actually will miss a lot of people from my school.... but the school itself I won't miss too much haha. It still feels weird to be a senior.. I don't feel that old at all. But soon I'll be a legal adult and living away from home and all that jazz. It is soo strange.

I went to church today for the first time in a very very long time. But it was nice. I don't really have classifiable religios beliefs, I just have my own special ones, but being in a church environment is so calming. The people are so nice and always happy to see someone new(ish) around, and its more time I get to spend with dumb dumb sister haha.

There is probably a lot more for me to write on here, but I can't think of it and I have a Latin postcard to make! wooohooo

halloween, winter sports, and some random stuff

So halloween is this weekend! yay! im dressing up as ke$ha for school on friday :) i cant wait. i bought a bunch of glitter stuff but i still gotta get my costume together. its gonna be so much fun! then on saturday im probably doing this volunteering thing at school, and then helping anna set up for her youth group halloween party. and on halloween im going to watch movies with caitie :) its going to be an awesome weekend. i love halloween!

wrestling starts soon which i am super siked about! although also kind of nervous because i dont even know how many people are actually on the team haha... we shall seee how that goes. swimming also starts  soon.. but thats not very exciting. i just do it to not be fat. haha. and we have a different pool this year so practice is 15 minutes earlier. and farther away. meaning i have to wake up earlier. not cool. hahah.

also i have decided, mostly, that i am not taking a year off before college, and ill probably go to a school that no one in my family has been to. im going to arkansas in a few weeks to look at a college haha. i hope i like it. cause it looks great online so i hope its as good in reality. arkansas is a really random ass place but that could be just what  i need.

we filmed the first scene of our dig vid group project today!! that was so exciting! thank you to all the extras who helped out. im sorry if you were tired or bored but you were such a huge help! i cannot wait to continue making our film. also today, i sound like a frigging fog horn haha. i have no voice. it sucks because i cannot sing and that makes me go crazy.

i have to go make bloody candles :) hahah this should be fun!

PEP RALLY

okay. so besides the fact that we didnt win, which was obviously a let down,there were some good and bad things about today.
pep rallies are supposed to be about school pride, but really all that happened today was people got angry and bad mouthed each other and the administration. (myself included. this is not a holier than thou post.) instead of building each other up, and being excited about the grades other than our own, we boo each other and wreck decorations. i know its all in good fun and stuff-and once again im certainly guilty- but its not really the point of pep rallies and school spirit week. oh well. it is fun at the start at least. like working as a class to decorate! which leads into my good thing about today.
our class has never been the most outgoing class in terms of spirit, and i was really worried about how we would be as a senior class. and even though we didnt win, we did a really great job of working together to buy supplies and decorate the commons. our class is generally very clique-y and those cliques certainly didnt just disappear, but the lines became much more blurred as everyone worked together for a common cause. i was very impressed to see how well we decorated, even if we caused safety violations and had to redo almost everything...
ALSO
we have the sweetest senior shirts ever. love them. its kind of countering what i said earlier because i think that, while pep rallies are supposed to be about school spirit versus class spirit, when you're a senior it really helps your class spirit more. having a senior shirt that almost everyone wears. and being the top dog in school is awesome. mw and i have our differences. and my class and i do too. but i still enjoy being unified for this one day.
SENIORS 2011. the chosen ones.

update.

so... fall festival was kind of a let down this year... maybe i just set my hope too high, although it lived up to them every other year, but either way it wasnt great. i had a cold, and all my friends were on different schedules of when they were there and if they were working booths so my group didnt get to be together too much.. but thats okay. i still got to see my friends who graduated last year!

tomorrow is our first pep rally as SENIORS!!!!!! CLASS OF 2011 WHAT UP?!
i hope that we pull it off as the best senior class so far!!! i bought some streamers and ballons and table cloths today. and im hoping the fact that my target was sold out of most things in blue means that someone already bought it! i got some blue tights too :) and our senior shirts actually got here on time! cant wait to get that in the morning! this pep rally is going to be soooo great. im really excited to see how our class does as seniors. and that we get the big section of the auditorium hahhaha so we dont have to be all up on each other all the time! I LOVE BEING A SENIORRR

Fall

i LOVE fall. i love cardigans. and pumpkin spice lattes. and fall festival. and halloween. and stepping on crunchy leaves. and my fuzzy blue slippers.

fall festival is this friday :) i cannot wait to eat all the yummy food, and watch the teachers get dunked, and the asl performance, and the teacher band, and just the entire atmosphere. if you don't go to maggie walker, it probably isn't very fun... its just a small school festival. but i look forward to it every year, which means a lot if I'M looking forward to a school function. last year, i bought a fish. i tried to win him but that didnt go so well so i bought him for like 50 cents or something instead. he died within like a week though.... sorry, freddie or eddie or whatever your name was haha. so i probably wont be buying any animals this year... but there is still lots of food and activities to spend my money on!!

i also can not wait for halloween! even though i never have a sweet halloween party or anything,caitie, my bff, and i have fun watching stupid scary movies and being awesome. im already thinking about the halloween cookies im going to make :) and i can't wait to see what all the little kids dress up as! i also love halloween because it kicks off holiday season. i love holiday season. it starts with halloween. then thanksgiving. then christmas. then new years. and then my birthday!  the weather gets cold enough to make fires at night, my family stays in and watches movies or plays board games (really its me trying to get them to do things, my mom reading a book and pretending to participate, my dad probably participating, and if my brother is over, hes just being obnoxious and adhd) but the idea is nice. my mom hates halloween. and she isnt american so she doesnt understand thanksgiving (not that it makes much sense). im not religious but i still love the commercialized christmas. and new years is pretty chill no matter who you are. but anna and i will probably do the halloween decorations, mom will still make the thanksgiving dinner-although ill be at the beach with caitie so i wont be here for that-dad and i always pick out the christmas tree, and my parents will most likely fall asleep before midnight on new years.  and this birthday is the best yet because 1) ill be eighteen!! and 2) i dont have school the next day so i can have a party with my friends :)
i am so happy the weather finally got cold and we can actually have fall this year. holiday season starts soon, and we are 1/8th of the way through senior year :)

Other People...

I think it is part of human nature to care too much about what other people think about you. No matter how hard you try, or think that you don't care, on some level you do. It's impossible not to. We are constantly subjected to society's ideal features, or this seasons styles, or the popular music. I could sit here and say that I don't care if you like the color of my hair, or that I wear converse with everyyythinggg, but I'd be lying. Even if I don't really like you, what you say will still effect me. I will second guess myself in the morning when I get dressed because I don't want people to talk about me behind my back. Even the most self confident and secure person will feel a sense of insecurity when criticized. There are, of course, ways to deal with the effect other people have on you, but you can't say that they don't effect you. This sounds so cheesy and cliche but I've been thinking a lot about it because for the last year especially, most of my emotions have been shaped by certain people and events. I don't want them to be. I wish that they weren't. But you can't tell yourself how to feel. Certain things I believe are mind over matter, but the brain is a hard thing to overcome with itself. The only way I have yet found to cope with this is to find role models that are great at being themselves, and try to follow their lead. It doesn't help in every situation, but it has helped me get a little bit closer to not being as effected. This is really wordy and rambly, and to anyone who read this I'm sorry but thank you. I just needed to vent. 

school web security

suckkkss. if you click log out you can go where ever you please. like to your blog. currently I'm in American pop culture working on a fantastically awesome group project... not. now I get to go to latin... yay

Invisible Children

Today the non-profit organization Invisible Children came to speak at our school. It was started by three young guys who went to Uganda because they liked making movies and wanted to see what they could find there. They ended up meeting adorable young children who had been forced to become child soldiers, and these men decided that action needed to be taken to help the soldiers. They made a wonderfully moving and heartfelt documentary that they brought back to America. Since this movie was made, they have started their organization and have raised a bunch of money to rehabilitate the schools in Uganda and thus, the children and society as well. Two native Ugandan women came to tell us their stories as well. This was the best done assembly I have been to in all thirteen years of my education. The stories were moving and personal, and they weren't trying to make up support their cause, but simply show us that one voice CAN make a difference, and whatever it is, we need to be passionate about something. Sitting in the auditorium, watching these guys, not much older than I am, being a part of historical peace movements, I have never felt more insignificant. What have I done? I complain about the school work I have when kids much younger than me are taken from their homes and forced to kill. And other children are dying. Or being forced to sell themselves to support families. This isn't just a Ugandan problem. So many children living in 2nd and 3rd world countries would give anything to be able to go to school. Or just to sleep in their own beds. Even some children in 1st world countries face these problems. During that assembly all I wanted to do was run out of the school, jump in my car, go to the airport and take off to some desperate country and make a difference. I had been thinking about taking a year off before college to travel europe, or roadtrip across america; but that time and money could be spent in a much better way. I feel like the most spoiled person in the world when my biggest problem is that all my cute clothes are dirty. Or I have "no" money. When we study events in History like the Holocaust, or the Rwandan genocide, we often say immediately "Why didn't someone stop them?!" the answer is because they are exactly like us. They saw pictures or heard reports, felt sad for a moment, and then went about their lives. It is smply human nature to assume that someone else will do it. Someone else will call the police, or breakup the fight or whatever it is. But someone has to be that someone else. I'm not saying I'm going to take a year off and fix the whole world. We all know thats not going to happen. And saving one child soldier, out of thousands, maybe didn't seem like it was that significant. But, after meeting Grace, who had to raise her sister's three children, and her own daughter, and her sick mother, in a war ridden country, and seeing that this organization was able to send her back to school and she will be going to college when she gets back from this tour, really opened my eyes to how significant it really is to save one person. Without the help of Invisible Children, Grace most likely would never have been able to afford schooling. Now Grace is going to study to be a teacher, to teach children how important it is to be passionate and active about something. This post is kind of rambling, but I just couldn't stop feeling incredibly insignificant and spoiled when I saw the danger those three guys put themselves in to help out others. Everyone could learn a lesson from this organization and the movie they showed us today, The Rescue of Joseph Kony's Child Soldiers. Thinking is easy. Acting, is a completely different matter. And from this point forth I hope to keep these thoughts in the front of my brain, and start taking action for things I believe in.

School

Nothing very interesting has happened recently... going to school, doing hw, etc. I went to another Clover Hill football game which was super exciting cause they kicked Cosby's butt!! And last night Anna and her friend and I went to get Vietnamese food which was freaking delicious. I can't believe I'd never had it before! I'm currently trying to get my homework done because it's premiere week! How I Met Your Mother tonight, Glee tomorrow, and Law and Order: SVU on Wednesday! It's gonna be a good week. I really cannot wait for Fall Festival though! It's gonna be so much fun! And Kenz is coming home that weekend :) yay yay yay! Too bad I have SATs that weekend as well... which reminds me that I should really start the whole college application process.. but oh well. I have lots of years ahead of me for college. For now I'll just focus on getting through each day, one at a time.

My Manifesto- American Pop Culture Assignment

American popular culture, to me, is everything that helps distinguish America from other countries in the world. It is the music, television, movies, and celebrities that shape America and its citizens; and I love it. I love that I could have a conversation with someone 3000 miles away in California about a TV show that I love, or a tabloid story that I’ve heard. And I love that when I’m bored I can turn on the TV and know that there will be episodes of mindless reality shows like Jersey Shore or Dr. Phil to entertain me. As I recently listened to a medley of TV show theme songs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i7u3fl-hP8, I was flooded with memories of watching those shows or singing the theme songs myself, and, how I have seen every episode of Friends, How I Met Your Mother, True Blood, and many others. I know every word to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme, and have many times been in a group where everyone busted out singing the whole thing. When I hear the Cheers theme I really do want to go where everybody knows my name. And I want to live in New York with my five closest friends that will be there for me through everything. Watching these shows, or watching movies, allows me to feel like I am experiencing these things from the comfort of my home. I could easily be best friends with Monica and Rachel and Phoebe if they were real. And sometimes it’s nice to pretend that they are.



Without popular culture how would people really get to know each other? One of the first questions people generally ask when they meet someone new is “what’s your favorite type of music/movies?” and your answer allows the other person to gauge what you have in common and what kind of person you might be. Without pop culture as a reference, people would have to ask questions about your view on a political issue, or something much less personal than your favorite band. Pop culture allows us to easily build new friendships or maybe “frenemies.” I love that “frenemies” has become an acceptable term for an enemy disguised as a friend. Thank you, Hills screenwriters. And that “oh yea I saw that on Facebook” is an acceptable reason to know something about someone you don’t even know. Some of these things, like our obsession with reality TV and the untalented people documented on it, Real Housewives anyone?, might gives us a bad reputation with other countries for being lazy, but we are who we are and this is what makes us stand out.


Certainly, there are things about our obsession with Pop Culture that are unhealthy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc; people seem to think that celebrities are God-like humans, who do no wrong, and are much “better” than we could ever be, when, in all honesty, they are simply people, sometimes talented, who got a lucky break. And when these celebrities do something wrong, they are criticized much more than the average person; Jesse James and Tiger Woods were plastered on magazines when their affairs were made public, but people have affairs every day, so why do they get in more trouble? And why do we get so invested in their lives? I couldn’t begin to tell you how many conversations I have had with friends about the girls on Teen Mom, or the newest tabloid story that came out, but our obsessions with pop culture provide a relief from the hectic lives we live. We can relax after a hard day of work by going to the movie theatre to watch our celebrity crush in action, or turn on the radio and dance around the house like a lunatic.


Music has always been my favorite part of pop culture. I have vivid memories of playing “teenagers” with my friends and my boyfriend was always Kevin from the Backstreet Boys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fndeDfaWCg&ob=av2e. And when we weren’t playing “teenagers” we were choreographing dances to “Genie in a Bottle” by Christina Aguilera http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIDWgqDBNXA&ob=av2n. Now, I try to keep my fake boyfriends in my head, but I will rock out to Backstreet Boys just as hard as I always did, and dance in my room to Lady Gaga or Katy Perry. And I will always remember the first real concert I went to, Justin Timberlake, when I was in seventh or eighth grade. Pop culture can be trashy and embarrassing but it is always there for us when we need it, and it enables us to relive old memories and take a break from the “real world”.

Tom Deluca!

If you ever have the opportunity to watch people get hypnotized and make a fool out of themselves, take it. This the second time I have seen one of Tom Deluca's shows, and they are amazing. Watching people being hypnotized is cool and somewhat strange; they are completely oblivious to everything that happened under the hypnotism. There were a few people who stood out of the group, including, "mike the spy", the "UR cheerleader" (who at one point decided the schools mascot was a goose and proceeded to run around the room squaking), the "stone-cold fox" and the "banana mother". It was honestly one of the funniest events I have ever attended. I think that being hypnotized would be so cool, and I want to know what it feels like, but I also want to see what happens because it is so freaking hilarious. My sister has promised that if he comes again next year she will do it. And I will make sure she lives up to that!!
After the show, we hit up Galaxy Diner for some deliciousss food! I am soo full.
Of course I didn't start my hw yet like I was supposed to. So I definitely have a somewhat busy day ahead of me... but... ONE WEEK OF SENIOR YEAR IS FINISHED!!!

Highschool Football

My high school, Maggie Walker, is much too small, and unathletically inclined, to have a football team. Marching bands, cheerleaders, and Friday night football games, to me, are something out of a movie. My school's homecoming game is field hockey...granted, the team is really good, however, field hockey doesn't have the same hype factor as Football. Sorry, girls. Tonight, I went to my third highschool football team in my high school career, I have been to one Benedictine game, and two Clover Hill games, and everytime is just as unbelievable as the last. The school spirit that these games produce is unlike anything I have seen at MW. Sure we have pep rallies and a student cheering section at games, but nothing like what I saw tonight. The stadium was roaring, the grills were fired up, the cheerleaders were pumping up the crowd, and the football players were playing strong. (and winning!!) Teachers, parents, students and friends were there all decked out in the school colors.
I have never gone to my zone public school, so the notion that, like movies, these kids have been going to school together since elementary school, and that they all are neighbors as well is unreal to me. It seems like such a perfect reality that I wonder if I really would like that better. Hollywood films have drilled the idea into my head that that is what a typical high school experience is. But, what is typical? Nothing. No one can really describe typical. And would going to a high school of 1100 people really be better than a school of 600 or 700. That's really just 400 more people that I can dislike. Or, maybe, like. Who knows? The odds of liking  or disliking people are probably the same at any school. Annoying is relative. And at least at a small school it is much easier to get to know most of the people there, or at least recognize faces. Everyone eats lunch at the same time, and teachers and students have more time to get to know each other. Clover Hill's football team was awesome. And I'm definitely going to more games this season, and I will still probably leave each game wishing that that could become my reality. But, in the end, it isn't. And there is no point in dwelling in that. Sure it would be fantastic if the city could improve it's local schools. And maybe one day it will. But it hasn't yet. And, despite the fact that I would love a "typical" high school experience, would it really be worth it if I'd had to have been raised in the county???

MONSTER BALL

Wednesday September 8

Anna and I went to see Lady Gaga in Charlottesville!!! We went to Pri's house and got dinner and then borrowed a bunch of stuff to get ready! We looked awesommeee. We got to the concert right before Gaga started-PERFECT timing! And then the security guy gave us better tickets! We were soooo close!!! Everything was insanee. The costumes, sets, setlist, everythinggggg. She had a broken down car which had a piano under the hood, the fame monster came to visit, her piano was on fire for speechless, she had a fountain with fake blood and costumes that moved themselves. The was nothing about this concert that was subpar.

Lady Gaga is one of the most talented people I have ever seen. She cares so much about her fans but couldnt care less about the fame and fortune. She looked at the stuff people threw on stage, she even wore a bejewled uva shirt someone made. Her concert donates money to a cause to help homeless LGBT youth-because their parents didn't understand that they were born that way! Lady Gaga is an inspiration to people of all ages and backgrounds. She is controversial but she stands up for what she believes in. She encourages everyone to love themselves more and be liberated by her concert. Lady Gaga is not a person I strive to be like, because she doesn't want that, but a person who's advice I try to take, and philosophies I try to follow. I don't care how cheesy it sounds, Lady Gaga did give me more strength to believe in my self and be the little monster I was born to be. Images will be uploaded once i get them from Anna!

First Day of School :)

Tuesday the Seventh=FIRST DAY OF SENIOR YEAR!!!!
It was great to be back and see all my friends again, and all in one place, and to see my teachers.
The senior commons is awesome :) and having a study hall is awesommeee. I love having time to walk around school and visit teachers. This year is most definitely gonna be better than the last.
It's still quite hard to believe I'm a senior, because I remember freshman year soo vividly. And I haven't started applying to colleges yet... but I know that U of R is my top choice, and I also know that I'm taking a year off to travel around Europe. I haven't picked out everywhere I want to go but I'm putting it together slowly but surely. For me, Senior Year is my chance to really get to know all the amazing teachers at our school, many of whom I plan to stay in touch with in the future. I'm also going to use this year to do more things that I like and experiment with new things like Photography and Digital Video. We are three days in! I haven't started my official countdown yet because I don't know how many school days we have this year... but its the last year!!! So, 2011, lets do this.

Reflections on Italy (June 24-July 13)-written right after we returned

The last three weeks of my life have become jumbled into a mess of temples, beaches, songs, naps, late nights, long weeks, mozzarella cheese and gelato. I can remember the first day as vividly as if it were yesterday, with french braids being the trend and the light rain becoming a thunderous storm as we climbed up the steep side of a mountain. The names and places run together, each hotel looks like the last, and each gelateria is the same. The bustling traffic and blaring horns followed us wherever we went. We napped on buses, in puppy piles, in museums, in Jake's bed, and occasionally in our own rooms. We turned our patio into a laundry mat. Infomercials and mtv became the norm. But no matter how tired we were, or frustrated or hot, nothing could turn those times into a bad experience. Everything was new and exciting. The blisters that cover my feet and the bruises on my legs are battle wounds that house memories of shopping, roman ruins, and waiting in airports. It feels unreal that this morning I woke up in Rome and stumbled into a van to head to the airport. I could easily be convinced that that happened a month ago. However, I could just as easily be convinced that last night I was sitting on a rooftop in Matera with ten of my new friends watching fireworks light the sky behind the duomo. I want to be back in my hotel room in Rome, or my cave in Matera, or getting cornrows in the lobby of the Sirene hotel, but the hum of my own air conditioner and the shadow of my disco ball in the corner make me glad to be home. Some of the friends I made I may never see again. And some I plan to see this weekend, but the lessons I learned in the last three weeks about myself and the world around me have made me into a more mature and cultured human being. As cliché and this may sound, this trip made me appreciate the simple pleasures in life such as the beautiful coastlines and natural landscapes all over the world. I would never trade the last three weeks for anything in this world and the memories of that trip will stay with me forever.

Hello!

so if you know my brother, you will probably have noticed that noone gives a crap about what i think. but, regardless, i decided a blog for senior year would be an easy way to keep track of exciting events in this monumental year! so many people have been instrumental in helping me get to where i am now, and my attitude has taken a complete 180 from last year. this blog will probably be random and somewhat sporadic but thanks for reading!