Relax

Knowing that a break is up and coming alway helps me step back a bit and chill, knowing that I have that time ahead of me to do what I need to get done and just chill is a relief . It provides the time need to catch up on all those things I'm behind in, homework, sleep, and all the other essentials for a healthy life as a teenager. Though the upcoming winter break may be an overwhelming experience in the terms of Christmas. Christmas is always a really big deal for my family, its one of the few times a year we all get together, and while I'm all for maintaining familiar ties, it makes holidays kind of a hassle. Holidays usually entail my family going to at least two or three different houses, for miscellaneous different parties. Finding time to relax may be difficult but I'm sure I'll manage, New years is mine to do with as I wish, for the second year now. Whats your resolution?

Priorities

In this year, I've made a number of not so good choices. I'd go as far as to say, I've made some outright bad choices. Perhaps this isn't out of the norm for a teenager, but my priorities have been in all the wrong places. Placing friends and parties over academic advancement. And now that I'm starting college up in the next few weeks, I really need to get my priorities straight. School first, Then worry about friends, relationships, and the rest of life. How I do in school determines the kind of life I can expect after graduation, I'd like to think my friends are important, and they are to me, but I really need to do better in school. I'm sure they'll understand this means less free time to spend with them, but such is life. If only there were more hours in a day.

The Color Purple

When we left off, it was with the color Purple. One might wonder, what exactly does Purple have to do with anything? Well, you see, when dying hair, each chemical has a certain time that it must be left in contact with the hair being colored, and a certain period for oxidation, Black for example takes about twenty -some minutes. Purple on the other hand takes just short of an hour. So when I say this decision started with Purple, it actually started in that period of oxidation. It's odd, where one's mind goes when stuck stagnant for a prolonged period. After a short time, my musings wandered to the future. What was I going to do with my life? Deciding to be a model may seem, well, a little weird. And it's defiantly not going to be my entire career, or life.........

And writers block has set in, that dreaded condition all writers fear, when words no longer come to mind. I had a delicious cinnamon roll for breakfast this morning, and am still nursing a cup of coffee. Six school buses passed me this morning, while I stood smoke my morning cigarette, waiting for my own bus to take me to school, the sun was just rising at this time, casting an odd orange glow to the world, it's weird. It's only four degrees out today, but it doesn't feel that cold. It's more refreshing, though I wish I would have had my hat, I wonder where I put it? My paper for Larry's class is due today, not that I'm done with it. I'll have to finish it this weekend and turn it in Monday, I wonder how many points he's going to take off?
Two weeks until Christmas, and I've yet to start shopping, but I'm not sweating it yet, It'll all work out. Things always do, if you wait long enough. Most problems solve themselves. Eventually.

I've decided to be a male model.

That's right, I've Decided to try for a job as a male model. I have no delusions as to being perfectly suited, but I have high hopes. So this morning I decided to dress myself up, toss on some make-up, and get one of the fabulous photographers I know to help make me up a portfolio. This decision hasn't been completely random, but was defiantly spurred by spending nearly two and a half hours getting my hair done yesterday. I'm ending this post with a poll, and a question.

The Poll: Would I be a good model?

And, Who knows a good place to start?

Growing up... To be a Model... The Beginnng

Originally, I had decided to tell the story of my life, but after composing the first chapter, it was really kind of dull, and seemed too much like a sob story. I've now decided to tell the story of my decision to be a model. As with all stories, this one needs a beginning, and in this story, that beginning is with the realization that it would be kind of cool to be a model. We start off, in a car speeding towards the mall, early on a chill Sunday morning, I use chill in both contexts, as it was kind of cold, yet also very relaxed. Upon arriving at the mall, I set about to complete my mission for the day, just a simple hair cut, yet it didn't stay that way. I've been going to the same hair dresser for nearly two years now, and have actually stopped having to decide what to do with my hair, and started trusting in the artistic design of my hair dresser, for the sake of this story, I'm going to give this mysterious hair dresser a name, Justin. Today was much like any other visit, except this one started with the color purple.

My Writings

I like to believe that I'm a proficient writer, I have a major tendency to over use commas, and to use commas in place of periods. Quite often my works are inspired by a certain quote, or ideal. This is exemplified by the posts: Elegies- Sextus Propertius, and Silver Opportunities. I think I also tend to be a bit wandering in my thought process, which reflects in my writing. I'd like to think that my writings are interesting for other people to read, as I defiantly have a lot of fun writing them! I think my grammar is usually correct, and I try to use correct spelling and punctuation. I'm not sure how much personality actually manages to get through to the readers, but I try to make my writings have as much voice and personality as possible.

The Student that I Read.

The Student that I read, manages to maintain a tone of writing that is serious at times, and whimsical when appropriate. Her writings carry a real depth of emotion that allows the readers a momentary glance into her life, as it actually is. For the most part the writings are grammatically correct, and appear well edited. The perspective audience of their blog holds an amazing range, and I feel that someone of pretty much any age group stands to gain some useful perspective in reading it. As a whole this Blog reads in a manner that is stylized, but not overly so, and is also full of a voice, that holds a large range of emotion, ranging easily from whimsical to cynical. I sincerely hope that this writer will keep up the god work, and I look forward to reading more.

Psychedelic Masterpiece

Psychedelic Masterpiece

Observe A White Silhouette Shimmer Vivid,

Dream, Surreal.

Smear, Chisel, Weld, Paint, Use.

Create, Break.

DAZZLE.

Bold. Hard. Soft.

Water, Wood, Metal.

IMPRESSION.

Scream of Absurd Passion.

Empty, Open, Investigate, Explore!

Language

I believe language is only in part something we have to learn. I believe it is also born into us, giving us an innate ability to communicate with one another. There is a portion of language that is taught to us through both "instruction" and cultural example. I realize that my us of the word language has become slightly confusing, I define language as the ability to communicate, transcending just verbal communication, and moving into both writing and body language.

TBC.

Elegies-Sextus Propertius

It's been some time since I've written a new post. Tell me, has absence made the heart grow fonder? This quote has been resonating with me lately, It seems so ridiculous. That five days should feel so long. I'm missing all of our beloved school a fair deal right now. And can't wait to return tomorrow! I've survived yet another Thanksgiving, only a little worse for the wear. As usual I over ate myself to the point of illness, this was of course encouraged, read forced, by those select members of my family that believe I'm far too thin, at near six foot and weighing not quite one hundred and thirty pounds, I'm defiantly on the skinny side, but no where near an unhealthy extreme. I wonder what has happened to the body imaging of our society if my weight is viewed as unhealthily skinny, I eat when I'm hungry, and stop when I'm full. That's kinda how it's supposed to work, right? On a more pleasant tangent, A tree has been erected in my living room, and the halls have been decked. That's right, Christmas is in full bloom here in my household. Currently I'm listening to The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and trying to get the more annoying carols out of my head. It's quite late so I'm off to bed, Guten Nacht.

3/?

Coming on the 29th OhGr will be at Station 4, in downtown saint Paul. It's unfortunately an 18+ show, but I'll be trying to go anyways. Station 4 is a small venue, with a range of musical groups booked, including a large concert starting on December 6, entitled The Next Big Thing, a compilation of up and coming bands, and singular artists. Station 4, while a bit on the small time is a decent venue, with a good location.

The controversies of sexual education

That schools are encourage, read mandated, you teach abstinence only sex ed, is completely ridiculous. I think it's fairly obvious that this system isn't working, just look at the number of teen pregnancies, and the rapid spread of sexually transmitted diseases. I'm not sure abstinence only was ever an effective teaching method, but if it was, it certainly isn't any more , this is one thing that really needs to change.

A Generation of Standardized Testing.

I view this generations dependence on standardized testing to determine achievement, as a major step in the wrong direction. Each student is going to learn something different from each lesson, and this knowledge isn't going to be reflected in a standardized test, which is sadly about one of two things, either how well you've memorized the random tidbits of information, or how well you can bullshit answers. I've always been good at standardized testing, not because I necessarily know the material, but because I can test well. Most multiple choice questions have two possible answers that can be eliminated almost immediately as incorrect, giving you a 50/50 chance of being right off the bat. Is it really fair to be assessing students on what could be compared to a chance flip of a coin? A student who knows next to nothing on the material has a chance of scoring just as well as a student that has actually put some time into preparing for the test. While a student with an in depth understanding of the abstract concept and it's applications, may not test well due to the stressful nature of these tests. Does this really sound like a good system of measuring achievement?

Post 2/?

In an attempt to make the events in the metro area, Minneapolis.about.com post a monthly calender, covering events and festivals upcoming in the metro area. While this calender is a helpful resource, it barely scratches the surface of whats going on, focusing on larger events that are already pretty well advertised, the upside to this is they post all these events in an easy to browse forum, giving you a good visual of the upcoming month.

Research Project Post 1/?

I have recently been assigned to dedicate some of my blogging time to a research project. I've decided to do this on the culture and climate of the St.Paul/ Minneapolis area. Even after living here for several years, the diversity of cultural scenes and events, has a tendency to startle me, and I always discover some interesting event, days after its completion. This is not to say that I'm a social hermit, it just indicates the sheer scope of social events. I've fond it impossible to stay on top of the social scene here, but it's been one hell of a ride trying. In the next few days, I'll be compiling any form of blog or venue site listing local events. My time today has been spent on Thrifty Hipster- Minneapolis and Saint Paul. A helpful little site listing other helpful sites for planning an evening out. Covering modes of transportation, event's, and resources for pretty much anything else.

Recent trends in hair care.

I've noticed recently that a new trend in hair care regiments is emerging, by this I'm of course talking about that group of crusty tweens, and neo-hippies, that believe leaving your hair unwashed is an acceptable method of styling. Unless your goal is to create a miniature ecosystem on your head, its really not working, for you or anyone forced to witness this travesty of hair care and hygiene, either wash it, or chop it off. The planet and its inhabitants will thank you.

Blarg

Yes, Blarg, always with a capital B. It's a word I've come to use to express a variety of emotions. In this instance it's being used to express my distaste in being awake at this hour. I've been laying on the floor of my room for the last hour, before that I had been asleep in bed, when suddenly... my mattress falls. I have one of those beds with the dresser-like setup underneath it, and the supports holding my mattress up ( a glorified series of 2x4s) suddenly collapsed, and have since resisted the minimal effort I've put into a late night fix. In addition to that, I was sadly disappointed by the art show I attended this evening. Though this disappointment did leave me with a sense of vindictive satisfaction, our beloved school by far trumps the examples I saw of art, and though I may be a slightly partial judge, I still expected better, especially consider it was over an hours drive, in rush-hour traffic. I've lost where I'm going with this little venting session here. So I'm just going to call it quits, and get some desperately needed shut eye.

Good Night/Guten Nacht, Hopefully tomorrow will make up for the happenings of this evening.

We'll see in a few hours.

Recent Happenings

I started this blog off yesterday with a brief explanation of the title. Today, I've decided on a rant on what I believe to be an issue of critical importance. Recently a large step was made in the removal of racial segregation, I'm obviously referring to the election of Barack Obama as our nations next President. This however is one step forward, for two steps back. The GLBT community has been losing ground, and California has ceased preforming same sex marriages, and it has yet to be see whether the marriages previously performed will continue to be recognized as legitimate. We have just elected a multiracial man as our president, and that is a monumental development. It is my hope that this election has set a precedent for minorities, and dealt a blow not only to racial segregation, but segregation and discrimination across the board. Perhaps one day soon we'll see a less biased nation presented to us, and I can only speculate what hand Barack Obama will have in making this future possible. Good luck President Obama, you have your work cut out for you.

Silver Opportunities.

In place of the requested introduction, I've written a brief explanation of my blog's title. The majority of the information requested in the introduction has been placed in my profile.

Life is full of Golden Opportunities, which I define as an opportunity for gain, with very little cost. Sadly, we don't always know what to do with these opportunities when they present them selves. These Golden Opportunities are often lost, meaning that through some turn of circumstance the personal cost has risen. It has been said that the best things in life are free, but I disagree. The best things in life may be without material cost, but it's the investment of self put into endeavors that make them worthwhile. These endeavors, these opportunities have a higher cost, but the gain is more substantial, I've affectionately come to term these opportunities as "Silver Opportunities".