Pack Rats and a Bag of Memories

Alright, I wouldn't classify myself as an extreme pack rat to the point of compulsively hoarding every thing I ever owned. But I do like to hold on to random items that serve no purpose whatsoever.

I'm sure everyone is familiar with looking for one particular item and stumbling upon a treasure of past memories. Well, that's just what happened to me. I found some helpful items (like a pack of AAA batteries for my alarm clock) and some trash that I can't believe I ever got (like some figures of NBA stars that I bought out of a whim at a sale). I kept going through everything hoping to find what I was looking for until I stumbled upon a packet of papers. They were from some assignments I had in the beginning of senior year of high school.

I just get straight into the writing if it's an in-class writing assignment that serve no homework purposes. So I am assuming I am reading a class assignment about where I was in the college process. For those who do not know, I only applied to Syracuse University (early decision'ed). I'm reading through this and I see all the schools that I was going to apply to: Temple University, Seton Hall University, Ithaca College, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Albany, and Marist College. I don't even know where Marist College is. I think my guidance counselor was urging me to apply there. There was an "update" at the bottom of the page noting that I decided to early decision for Syracuse.

There was also a "letter" we were to write to a classmate about a topic we were to choose from. I can't even read this letter without feeling embarrassed I ever wrote it. It's not that the content is bad, it's just the writing style. Then again, it was an in-class assignment. The topic I chose was my opinion of the world. I'm glad to say I still hold this view three years later. 90% of what I wrote was unnecessary rambling so I could make the letter seem long. Two sentences basically covered everything up: "People are too dependent on technology" and "Technology is the very essence that powers humanity". I don't even know what I meant by "the very essence" but it sounds smart for a high school assignment.

Up next is a "life list" I wrote (technically typed up). "See a real hippopotamus up close". That was 3rd on my list. It's true that hippos are my favorite animals, but I still can't believe that landed as the 3rd best thing I could think of for what I wanted to do in my life. Number 9 was a lot better in terms of achievements. I wanted/still want to be featured in a film. One of my regrets of high school was not being a part of any of the school plays. Every year I went to watch the plays my school performed and every year I thought how fun it would be to be on that stage.

The rest of the papers included in this package were completely random considering most of them are English assignments. SAT scores, Syracuse tuition, AP scores, etc.

...and I just realized I never found my item.

Milk and Adventure Time at the Supermarket

I'm the only one in my family to drink whole milk (or actually regular milk). My sister likes to drink soy milk. My mom likes to drink Lactaid milk (she isn't lactose intolerant). My dad just drinks tea. That naturally means I have to go get my own milk.

The good thing about having a supermarket a block down (as well as it being on the way to the rest of civilization in my neighborhood) from where I live is that I don't have to make much of an effort to go out. I can just throw on some shorts, slip on some shoes, and be on my way.

It wouldn't be much fun just going to get the things I want, pay for it and leave. The days I'm not exploring the supermarket aisles for random things to get, I like to make up a game. I try to imagine the lives of other people based on what they're getting. An old couple is at the register with a bunch of raw meat, some vegetables, cooking oil, and some beer. They're going home to cook up a feast for their children and grandchildren who are coming over for the weekend. A mother and her two children are at the dairy aisle picking out milk. The mother tells her daughters to go get some bread. The kids are picking out their morning breakfast so they'll be energized for school.

Then there are the people who are pretty much impossible to predict. These are the people I hate waiting behind at the register. They buy every imaginable item at the supermarket all at once. Not only does it take forever for the cashier to scan and whatnot, but the customers usually take forever paying for it. It's either they're paying for everything in cash and they're having trouble counting or they just simply can't work the card reader (whatever that thing is called).

Amazing how a trip to the market for milk can be quite an adventure sometimes. But I can't go there for Oreos. Well, not that I can't but more like I refrain from it. Why? I finish a pack in a day and for a day's snack to be more than a dollar something is ludicrous to me.

Imagination and Elephants

The one thing I can look forward to this summer break is catching up on some reading. I never find the time to do so in school.

I just (well, a week ago) finished Let Me In. This was the fourth book written by a Swedish author I've read in the past year. Hmm...Swedish literature. Anyways, I do not recommend this book to anyone who just wants a good read. My biggest mistake was buying the book because I know I'm not going to be reading it again. Don't get me wrong, though. It wasn't a bad book. There was a point in the book when I couldn't stop reading it.

Let me clear up what I just wrote and rephrase it a bit. I do not recommend this book to anyone with a vivid imagination. I visualize everything I read in my head. If you extract what I am imagining while reading, you can make a legitimate movie out of it. This book was gross and horrifying. I cringed while reading it as I visualized the gore and pain. Sometimes I didn't even want to turn the page because I grew a bit too attached to a character and didn't want something bad to happen to them.

Aside from the grossness and horror, the book jumped around too much among the different groups of characters. You get used to it but it doesn't help when I want to read what happens to a specific character and the book jumps to another. If you want to read a book that'll scare you through your own imagination, then I guess you can give it a read.

I'm halfway through with Water for Elephants and I have been pleasantly surprised. I can't say much about it now since I'm only halfway through but I am liking it so far. The story is picking up. I would be reading it now, but I don't want to finish it too quickly. I finished Let Me In 10 minutes into an hour long bus ride. I don't like having nothing to do on public transportation.