Wilderness Excursions

So I always start off my "vacation posts" with a little rant on how I hate writing them. I think I've figured out that it's because I'm too lazy to post the extra pictures and videos. Similarly, I don't enjoy writing play-by-play posts merely listing what happened...so here's just a little insight into my weekend in the Wilderness of Oregon with the family.

We wanted to go somewhere, we just didn't know where. Mom chose Welches, OR. Why? I don't know, but it's usually a common guideline to not complain after stating that you "didn't care." So we were off to Welches, OR to stay a couple of nights in what turns out to be...more or a less a shack (this might actually warrant a picture). I was a little apprehensive when I realized that there was in fact no wireless signal and the "wi-fi" that they claimed to have didn't really work (or if it did, it worked after the patient 15 minutes that I was willing to wait to see if google would load). Though I consequently decided that I would need to live in a larger, progressive city (like PORTLAND!), the secluded, quiet shack in the wilderness was extremely relaxing. Being surrounded by the trees, with one main room (that served as the living room, family room, kitchen, dining room, etc), the house allowed all of us to forget the troubles and stress of the real world. When we weren't hiking the beautiful trails around the lakes nearby, we were spending time together, toasting marshmallows, playing bananagrams, watching movies, reading, and just enjoying ourselves. Though I may have admittedly tried to access as much of my facebook as we drove through more populated towns, I was grateful for the limited access to technological interferences. I love the outdoors, and I love my family.

I'm headed to YMA tomorrow for counselor training, and camp starts on Sunday. Ahhh, I'm so excited and slightly nervous at the same time. Hopefully I can provide as good of an experience I had last year for my campers. Au Revoir!

Hiccups

Today I had the hiccups or medically speaking, synchronous diaphragmatic flutter SDF (thanks wikipedia). While a bout of hiccups may seems relatively harmless, I was terribly bothered by the hiccups today. They plagued me repeatedly for several minutes at a time. And each time I got them (for the most part), I had to stop what I was doing and try to remedy the situation quietly so as to attract little attention (note: this is difficult to do when your hiccups are uncontrollably loud and random). Why my hiccups are never cured by the average remedies (including but not limited to: drinking water, drinking water upside down, holding my breath, getting scared) is beyond me (curses). How could something so lame be such a monumental physical annoyance?! I found myself wondering why, why in the world would I have to get hiccups today, a day when I'm supposed to be in Portland shopping for yma-nametag-making materials with Andrew, or practicing violin for my recital, or watching a silent film (ok...not really, but the irony was hilariously relative to other daily activities)?

I type this during the "calm before the storm." The reoccurence of my hiccups is entirely inevitable, but I do find solace (or utter fear?) in knowing that this pest of an obstacle could have been much worse >> apparently Charles Osborne had the hiccups for a world record 68 years and still managed to live a normal (or as normal as you can get when you appear in the guinness book of world records) life.*

*I could have easily turned this into a "moral of the story" type of blog. Aren't you glad I didn't? Me too.

2010 NBA CHAMPION LAKERS

Thursday June 17th, 6:00pm

Lakers 83, Celtics 79

Officially the best worst NBA finals game I have ever watched.

Lakers shot 32.5%

Ron Artest for 20 pts.

Kobe goes 6 for 24.

Gasol for 19pts and 18 rebounds.

If you know me, or even slightly pay attention to my wardrobe, you know that I am a self-proclaimed die-hard fan. I've watched almost every game of the season (I'm pretty sure I can count the ones I've missed on a single hand), and it angers me when people who know nothing try to bandwagon into the Laker fan club. I know the roster and all of the reserves by heart, and I owe it all to dad. One of the things I'm going to miss most when I head off is cheering on the Lakers with dad at home (which usually entails of screaming, yelling, and occasional coaching at the screen in certain circumstances, I wouldn't have it any other way). This is why this nba finals game 7 performance was probably celebrated more enthusiastically than graduation (in my mind). In a game that looked terrible for 3+ quarters, the Lakers finally pulled it off(with a huge thanks to ronron's great performance, pau coming through at the end, and derek fisher's momentous 3 pointer) * and beat the Celtics (gah I hate you boston). What a storybook ending to my senior year. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

*interestingly, (i hate to do this...well maybe not) the lakers' season and outcome was very similar to that of the Sprague Camerata this year. Back2Back Champs. I'm not complaining.

GO LAKERS!

Commencement 2010 (as a mere formality)

Well, it finally happened. The even that always seemed so distant and untouchable...happened.

I graduated. Friday June 11th, 7:00pm at Sprague.

And though I wished I could have written a post about how Commencement concluded/summarized my entire high school career...I can't, because Commencement was a mere formality (that I may or may not have been willing to end at times). It seems like many people build up this anticipation that graduation night will be the "best night of their lives." Though it is a great celebratory night, I for one would NOT want things to go downhill from this night (best means it won't get better, right?). So if it wasn't the best night of my life and it wasn't that miraculous conclusion of all things, then what was it? It was graduation (nothing more nothing less). As I sat there with a surround sound of hissing (the beautiful noise of people blowing up ridiculous amounts of inflatable animals), looking out at disrespectful peers talking through speeches, and hysterically laughing at the fact of graduating, I realized that this would not be the moment to sum up my entire time at high school. Instead, this was the last "hoop" I had to jump through to move on to different things. Instead, I would cherish and remember those lasting friendships that I made during high school. I would remember that time Jenny lost our fractionally distilled (for the third time) Sludge test, that time Caroline and I made up a completely useless song on Roman rulers, the time I first job-shadowed at the hospital, the times we cram studied for all of our tests, the times we cried in orchestra, the state performances in orchestra, the battles in mythology, the conversations with burleson and mcelliott, the time the principal pulled into the visitor spot next to me and shooed me away, the hysterically chaotic chemistry class after my first ap test (apush), the woes of the research paper, writing college essays, and the list goes on. All of these memories, at least to me, are so much greater and more valuable than "commencement."

On the other hand, I do have to include one sappy memory from commencement.

7 years ago, I attended Tom's graduation (class of '03). And as a 5th grader, I wondered if I could be the valedictorian when I graduated (would i be able to? was it too hard?). I decided on that humid graduation night, that I would become a valedictorian. And I did. It meant less to me in terms of the actual honors than it did in terms of fulfilling a childhood goal that I had made for myself (one that I at one time thought to be near impossible). So here's to a commencement huzzah to contrast my earlier thoughts (though, I hope my earlier comments still stand...they do right? this is still my blog right?).

And with that, I will add pictures and give a little summary (maybe a video of the madness later).

Pictures up top...because I'm too lazy to move them.

Thursday morning awards assembly: Outstanding student in science award? what in the world? haha. I still thought mrs.koepl hated me...oh well. Overall the assembly was long, but I appreciated the opportunity to support all of my friends in their recognition.

Thursday night: Jenny comes over for no apparent reason (aka to get up at 4:30 in the morning to stand in line to enter the stadium and claim our seats for grad). We fall asleep to kor dramas and (fittingly or not) sleep through the alarm...Fidelis angrily calls us at 5:45 am. We grab coffee and speed off to school.

Friday morning: We stand in a crazy, essentially angry, mob-like line (or line-like mob) as we wait for the gates to open at 8. At 8, everyone rushes past (this was more violent than it seems...shout out to those who got trampled/lost shoes/fell, jenny was all of the above rofl). We managed to sit near where we wanted, but again...seating is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things (and I only participated in this granfalloonery for celebratory purposes).

Friday night: We graduated. Principal spoke. Student speaker spoke. Camerata seniors played Viva La Vida (by coldplay, arr. by vitamin c string quartet). Valdictorians and Salutatorians were recognized. Student speaker #2. Receiving diplomas (or, I guess, empty diploma cases). Move tassels. The end.

Saturday early morn': All night graduation party at the courthouse. I remember nothing (though I have vague recollections of sumo wrestling...and gambling).

Saturday morning: Korea wins its first World Cup game of 2010. Korea 2, Greece 0 (I will be following this for the next month, prepare for updates).

uhmmm...what?

I'm graduating on Friday?

what the mother?

unreal.

Frustrations and Volunteering

I can't believe it's June (mainly because it's still raining in beautiful Salem). Currently, I'm so so so so so frustrated/mad at myself for not practicing. Nothing seems to be going right (as it should be), but at the same time...none of my passages are getting better while the looming recital date gets closer and closer. Sometimes I wish I didn't care so much for music (I don't plan on pursuing it and by golly I won't be taking lessons at Notre Dame), but then I always stop and realize that it's just who I am. I love music (well, most music) with an undying passion. Poop. Hopefully tomorrow goes better because I've retired for tonight...probably a good thing.

On a happier note, I volunteered at Salem Hospital for the last time today. While things begin to end and I do "things" for the last time (the last orchestra festival, the last assignment, the last peanut butter and jelly for lunch, the last monday, etc) I'm always saddened with existentialist thoughts, but the hospital was a different story. Did I have some memorable moments in the trauma dept? yes, did I get another scholarship for volunteering? yes, but did I waste a ton of time? yes. There are certain volunteer jobs at Salem Hospital that either (a) should not be jobs for volunteers who for the most part are excited and interested in pursuing health care or (b) should be paid jobs...ie: filing, sanitation services, alphabetizing, vacuuming, "finding lost people," stapling, etc. I guess I can happily say that I volunteered for 300 hours at the hospital, but at the same time I vow to be much more aware of student volunteer treatment/torture when I'm a doctor. Many doctors around the hospital seem too busy to even look up and say "hello" let alone "thanks," and I'm promising right here and now on this blog that I will not be one of those.