Food. YUM.

I hate writer's block, so I'm just going to write about something that I, like I bet many other people really enjoy.  Food. With some of a narrative in it.

The sound of my alarm - a song blasting from my iPod headphones - wakes me up.  I stretch, yawn, and rub my eyes, then get up to find something I can make to eat.  I walk to the fridge and shiver in the cold.  I miss the comfort of my bed.  I grab the milk and pour it into a cup.  The milk splashes into the cup, but I quickly put milk carton upright before the milk spills over.  I return the milk to its spot on the the fridge door, and put the cup into the microwave.  "Beep.  Beep.  Beep." One.  One.  Five.  One minute and fifteen seconds.  I run to complete my morning routine before running back to the kitchen to take the milk out.  I scan the kitchen for something else to eat.  Cereal, no.  Not enough time.  Graham crackers?  Nope, too sugary.  Noodles? Not enough time to cook or eat either.  I glance at the clock.  The bright green light tells me "7:18."  Crap! Late again.  I take a few large gulps of milk, wipe my mouth, grab a bag or Ritz, and run out of the house, stumble to put my shoes one, then grab my bike as I run out and start biking to school.  I brace myself for the long morning ahead, and eagerly wait for lunch.

Every Monday, Tiffany and I walk to Togo's to buy the daily special: the pastrami sandwich.  We order our sandwiches the same way every week: "Two pastrami sandwiches, on Parmesan bread, with everything but onions."  The Togo's sandwich has lettuce, mustard, tomatoes, pepperonicini, and pastrami.  The mustard is somewhat bitter, but it adds to the Togo's sandwich taste that I love.  It adds just just the right amount of bitterness to balance out the taste of the sweet tomato, the bland but cold lettuce, the spicy pepperonicini, and the pastrami.  Occasionally, I get the meal with a bag of jalapeño chips and a wild cherry pepsi. YUM. :D

Whaat?!?!

I haven't experienced writer's block until now.  What happened?!?  Did talking about writers block and coming up with ideas for things to write about in class somehow?
I have quite a few ideas to write about, but I have been so sleep deprived this week, I even skipped out on my weekly youth group, because I fell asleep in the car on the car drive there from San Francisco, and I didn't want to walk in late (15 minutes late...).  I tried to write a few pieces of fiction, but I started a few, but I was unable to finish them, so I saved them and started to try to write something new.
Writer's block is so frustrating though.  I hate the feeling of helplessness as I sit in a chair on the kitchen table, and type away, as my mom checks on my screen once every while to make sure that I am still on task, and not on Facebook, chatting, or surfing the web.
I think one of the main reasons why I am so distracted though, is because I am distracted by Phuong on Facebook, and because the TV is on, but when I usually write my blog posts, and do all my homework, I am on Facebook, switching back between the tabs.  I usually don't write with the TV on though, but it is extremely distracting with all the interesting current events.  There are so many acts of violence.  Channel after channel, news after news, there are reports of how a police officer was accused of sexually abusing his three children, many channels discussing and showing the riots in the streets of Oakland about the Mehserle case, the sentencing, and even a interview and report about a man who killed numerous people, but walked out of the room calmly, claiming that he didn't do anything, and that the man in the many surveillance videos wasn't him.  There was even a mother of a daughter who was (most likely) murdered by him that tried to talk to him, telling him that if it was an accident, he could admit it, that it was better if he got the case off his back if he was guilty of killing her daughter.  He stayed silent for forty minutes before finally telling her that he was nervous about talking to her too, but that he wasn't guilty.
I'm still tired and ready for sleep.  So sleep is where I'm headed.  The TV is off, and all I have to finish is to shower, and finish my blog post. I've got one checked off!

Communication

I can no longer remember the days when I used to have to send mail or make a phone call from the house phone to talk to a friend or relative that didn’t live very close to me, or just meet with them face to face. 

When somebody asks or tells me to contact somebody, I immediately either think of facebook, texting, or emailing (although, emailing, not so much). 

What has happened to our communication?  I talk to people so much more on facebook or through texting than I do in person.  With my closest friends, I talk to them in person for nearly the entire day, but the people I’m not as close to, I text them to get to know them better, but we don’t really talk at school.  We acknowledge each other when we see each other at school, and sometimes have short conversations, but they are never deep discussions that make the friendship bond stronger.  They are just conversations that keep the acquaintance there.  Only with one person have I actually got to know them better by both texting and talking to each other at school.  Oddly enough though, with some of those people, I tell them my “secrets” or complaints, online or through aim or text, rather than in person.

There are a few people I know solely from meeting them off the internet only, and I have never met them, nor do I ever intend to, but I did meet one person on my way to school, and we still talk.  Not on the phone, but on facebook and through texts. 

Is the new way of communication between people good or bad though?

In some ways, it’s good, because it keeps people connected faster than old school snail mail, and allows people to still get a chance to “talk” and get to know people across the world without the hassle of waiting for a few days to weeks to get an answer to a question in a letter.

In other ways, its outcome isn’t as positive though, because teenagers do not talk to each other in person and build actual friendships as much as they talk to others through technology and an electronic screen.  When we teenagers grow up, we cannot base our relationships solely through electronics, but we need actual people there to talk to. 

I think that technology should still be used, but maybe just not as often.  We need to start to go out, get some fresh air, and hang out!

What do you think about electronics and technology?  Good or bad?  Helpful or what?  Share your ideas with me!!! :D

A Miracle

I longed for the familiar touch on my skin, breath on my neck, the brush of our hands, and soothing voice that strengthened me.  I remembered those special nights we had, hugging each other close against the cold, and deep conversations we had, pouring our hearts out to each other.  We would talk about our fears, our hopes, our dreams.  It felt like when we were together, the stars were aligned, and all the wrong in the world became right.  Things seemed perfect; all those problems disappeared, stress relieved.  Those moments grew shorter and shorter each time.  Soon, our conversations began to die off, and arguments began to break out.  We would argue about our faults, and how it was never our fault, but always the others’ for anything that went wrong.  The phone conversations began to dwindle down to nothing, and pretty soon, we disappeared from each others lives.  We still saw each other, but pretended we didn’t.  Occasionally, I could feel those intense, familiar eyes tracing the outline of my face, but when I looked in its direction; its attention quickly fell on the board.  As we grew older, we went to different schools, but the thoughts of each other never left our minds.

I went to college, and eventually created my own life on my own.  Date after date, each one seemed longer than the next.  Their voices began to sound like monotone, and before long, I lost all interest in them.  They always had the same stories: same block order childhood, education, same stories of their life and jobs.  Life slowly became more difficult, and as I improved at work, so did my salary and stress level.  Eventually, my only getaway was music–its soothing notes and lyrics never failed to center me, and remind me of my life and tasks.  My iPod and I easily became one, and inseparable.  By chance though, on my weekly shopping trips, I ran into a familiar person, though the appearance was more refined, but I could never forget those piercing eyes or strong hands that once held me so strongly.  We shared a glance, then a smile, but someone else came along, and they shared a moment.  I walked away east, they, west, and I continued hoping, that some miracle would happen.  

ASTI Size Increase?

Today, we had a PTSA meeting at school, and we came to the topic of the possible size increase for ASTI.  Mr. Fong talked about how AUSD was planning to increase ASTI's size to 400 students, but the grades levels would be from seventh grade to twelfth grade.  The students would not be at the portable campus only, but supposedly, we would have the seventh and eight graders at a different campus, and the ninth through twelfth graders at the ASTI and COA campus.  Even though it is somewhat a good and a bad thing to be able to increase the size of ASTI, I personally would like it better if we could keep the ASTI size the same as it is now.

As many of you know, there have been major budget cuts this year, and the Parcel Tax did not get passed, so a lot of the funding for schools has been drastically lowered, and we do not have as many funds to pay for textbooks and teachers.  Many of the schools have been planning to shut down soon and merge with another school, and grades for the school to be changed.  I heard that Encinal High School and Lincoln Middle School might shut down, or the grades in Alameda High or something would be changed so there are seventh and eight graders too.  Also, they have plans to shut down about half of the elementary schools in Alameda, I think.

Because many of the schools might get shut down, and most schools are losing privileges and teachers.  As a small school, it's a great thing if the AUSD still allows ASTI to be an early college high school without thousands of students, but I really like the small environment ASTI has opposed to the large size of other "normal" high schools.  If the school size is increased, odds are, we will be able to have a sports team and games.  We would use the college classrooms, and the seventh and eighth graders would be at a different campus, and the high schoolers would only be part time college students for all four years.  We would take a combination of both high school courses at the ASTI campus, and college classes at the COA campus. (This is what I heard from the conversation, but I don't have any official proof for it.)

Personally, I would like it if ASTI could keep its small size, instead of increasing the number of students, because then it would be able to maintain the small family-like atmosphere, and most of the students would know each other.  I really like that the teachers and students are all a very tightly knit community of families and friends, that we can all depend on.  I also like how because of ASTI's small size, it seems more exclusive, and it is easier for teachers to focus more attention for each student, instead of less attention for more students.

I'm curious what you think about the possible size increase for ASTI. Please respond by commenting and let me know what you think.