ayumichan

So I’ve realized that when you, well.. I’ve realized when I have nothing to do with myself, I resort to a few things. I think a lot, I listen to music too loud, or I watch movies over and over again. So that’s basically what I’ve been doing! I guess that thinking has taken over a lot of my summer because I can think and listen to music at the same time. So after 42 days of summer, I’ve realized a lot of things. I guess I’m doing a lot of realizing. On the mentally shallow end, I’ve realized where else in the world can you go and snowboard in Big Bear in the morning, ice skate at UTC in the afternoon, surf in Torrey Pines at sundown, and party in TJ at night all in one day besides San Diego. Not that I did that, because I haven’t done any of those things this summer, but that’s besides the point. I’ve also come to realize, on a somewhat deeper level, that we as humans need some sanity in our lives and I think that that lies somehow in what makes us the least sane. It really made sense in my head when I was thinking and then it didn’t really make sense when I typed it out but I think I’ll leave it there to see if I can remember how it made sense.

Something I learned this summer, though, was some friends come around because you can help them and some come around because they can help you. Best friends stay for both reasons. I think that this is something you could never simply realize.

This morning I woke up at around 4:45 due to gnar stomach pain. So I roll out of bed and attempted to puke many times to try and make myself feel better, but that didn’t go as planned. I dry heaved until about 10. I was finally getting sick of hovering over my whitest friend and not being productive so I used some advice I received years ago, (I think it was a joke then, but it really helped) and proceeded to brush my tongue with a electric toothbrush. Right then I puked. I was relieved until I realized I threw up out my nose and it burned due to throwing up only stomach acid. Anyways, I couldn’t figure out why I felt so terrible and I couldn’t figure out what to do so I drank some water and tried to fall back asleep. I finally fell asleep around noon and got up at half past one. By then my mouth was so dry and disgusting that I needed something to drink. I went to the fridge and I saw the half empty gallon of apple juice. For those of you who weren’t informed of my love, or my body’s rejection, of apple juice, I love apple juice but on numerous occasions have become ill from drinking more then a glass of it. That’s when I realized that maybe I shouldn’t have drank the four or five glasses of apple juice while cleaning my room last night. Just thought I would let you all know for shits and grins(:

I’ve been on a long, hard expedition to clean and somewhat revamp my room. After a couple hours of cleaning out my enormous bookshelf, I came across a bunch of my mom’s things. She went through them and found a letter my dad wrote to my grandma. Reading it was just adding on to the beauty of my day from our previous trek to simply get lunch. The last section reads:

I hope you enjoyed very much in Japan, to see Kris & a very good boy Takashi! I hope I can go to SD after my graduation. I have to save money or sell my great motorbike? Thanks for being very kind to me.

Now it’s cold here. We have kotatsu (foot warmer). Kris loves this. And my room is kind of dry, so I bough steam machine (?) to get little watery stuff.

I realize that this was a very good letter for anyone who knows English as a second language, but I couldn’t help but picture my dad writing this.

So yesterday, I would have to say, was the epitome of shit happens and life will go on.. and a touch of fuck it.

Like every other day in San Diego, yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day. My mom and I decided that after dropping off our checked out items at the library, we would go grab some lunch and maybe a frozen yogurt afterwards. Of course everything was going beautifully despite Scrips Ranch Library’s interesting parking arrangements. We dropped off our goods and started heading to Nijiya, a little Japanese supermarket, when we noticed a dragging noise as we got onto the freeway. Not knowing what to do, we took the next exit and pulled into a residential area to see what was wrong. It initially sounded like a flat but the tires where just fine. We didn’t know what to do at this point to we begrudgingly gave up and started to drive home when Mom remembered that the spash guard was coming loose earlier in the week. We checked that and, surely enough, that had finally given in and fallen half way off. After spending a few minutes rummaging in the trunk, I found a zip tie. We improvised and managed to tie the splash guard back to the car, so we started to drive to our original destination of lunch. Four fifths of the way there, the splash guard detached itself from the zip tie and at that point Mom and I where at the fuck it stage and we kept going. After our delicious lunch and refreshing frozen yogurt, we popped into the near by Target to see if there was anything sturdier then a zip tie to hold the car together. Walking down the auto aisle, Mom found a thick wire that was just laying there on a shelf and we decided that that would be the solution to our dilemma. After perusing a little longer in the well air conditioned Target, we paid for the other items we found necessary and went back to the car to see what we could do now. After putting the car back together, we journeyed home hoping that the splash guard wouldn’t fall again. Luckily it didn’t. Mom and I decided that we should open a mechanic shop where we fix everything with zip ties and things of the sort, including duct tape.

I had a discussion with my mommy last night about gay marriage after an even more fused talk about how much I don’t like people (I’m sure I like you, especially if you’re reading this). I’ve come to the conclusion that no, I don’t support gay marriage. But I also don’t support straight marriage. I say this because I support everyone’s right to love and spend eternity with whoever they feel like spending their time with. But I’ve noticed that the main argument being made for the support of gay marriage is that the people who are against it are only against it because it’s against the bible and that we must separate church and state. Well if we were to truly separate religion from our government, we wouldn’t have marriage as something that would affect our taxes and other things that can alter our lives to begin with. I believe that if you want to get married, go for it. Nothing should stop you from doing things that fulfill your life, but it shouldn’t affect how the government will “treat you”. I realize that I need more time to clean up my argument and make it make more sense but I thought I would just throw it out there before I forgot.

Patterns and the Golden Ratio: - |:

The sequence of the triangular numbers comes from the natural numbers (and zero), if you always add the next number. Square numbers, also referred to as a perfect squares, are integers that can be written as the square of another integer.

The Golden Ratio is a number approximately equal to 1.618. This number is represented by the Greek letter phi. Like phi, the digits of the Golden Ratio go on forever without repeating.

The Fibonacci Sequence is a sequence that when starting with 0 and 1, each new number in the series is simply the sum of the two before it. The ratio of each following pair of numbers in the series is approximately phi (1.618)

Exponential Rules: - (:

1. When multiplying identical bases, add the exponents.
2. When dividing identical bases, subtract the exponents.
3. When a power is raised to a power, keep the base and multiply the powers.
4. To change the sign of the power, invert the base and change the sign of the power.
5. When any base is to the power of 0, the answer will always be 1.
6. When any base is to the power of 1, the answer will always be the base.

Arithmetic and Geometric Series: - ):

An arithmetic series is the sum of a sequence in which each term is created from the previous one by adding (or subtracting) a constant. A geometric series is a series with a constant ratio between successive terms.

Quadratics: - (:

A quadratic is a polynomial that is represented by ax2 + bx + c. For a basic case, you will find two numbers that multiply to the constant term c, and add to b, the coefficient on the x-term.

(Because I can’t type up the formula here, I’m just going to say it) x equals negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four times a times c, all over two times a* is the quadratic formula used to find necessarily distinct, solutions, which may or may not be real, given by the quadratic formula.

Waves and Sound: - ):

A wave is a disturbance through space and time and usually transfers energy. While a mechanical wave exists with a medium, like electromagnetic radiation that can travel through a vacuum, which is without a medium. Waves travel and transfer energy from one point to another, often with little or no permanent displacement of the particles of the medium (which means no mass is transported) instead there are oscillations around fixed positions.

*

The House On Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros: - D:

In the first semester, I read The House On Mango Street with my class. This novella is a compalation of vignettes about a young Latino girl growing up in the barios of Chicago. This novella was a coming of age story for the young girl; she is easily relatable because of her age and situations. I had read this book two times before and the two previous times I didn’t enjoy the book whatsoever. When I read it with Jill, I learned new perspectives in the book and new meanings behind the vignettes which made me enjoy the book.

A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah: - (:

A Long Way Gone is a true story about a young boy named Ishmael who is forced to join the army to defend his home country from the rebels. Because of the struggles he endures and the harsh realities he faces, Ishmael is forever changed and his childhood is stripped away from him. When he is rescued from the war, he realizes that his yearning for revenge was only creating more problems. Although his experiences were atrocious and the things he saw where haunting, Ishmael was able to take his terrible past and turn it into something good. He shared his story at the UN in New York and was able to talk about possible solutions with other children who came from equally horrifying conditions. I really enjoyed reading this book because it was fascinating to read from the perspective of a substance abusing, blood thirsty teen, who slowly conquers his troubles through a gruesome rehab. This book really affected me because in a few months I would be going to Africa and possibly witnessing other orphaned boys.

First They Killed My Father, by Loung Ung: - |:

First They Killed My Father is about a young girl named Loung who, to survive the Cambodian Holocaust, splits up with her family. When she is five, her journey begins. The entire story is from her point of view; witnessing many horrible things, one of which being the death of her father. I was not very aware of the Cambodian Holocaust before I read this book. Even though I learned a lot of historical value from this book, I didn’t enjoy it. Reading this book made me appriciate my family and everything I have.

Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseni: - |:

Kite Runner is about a young boy named Amir who lives a very wealthy life in Afghanistan. Amir’s best friend is Hassan, whose father works for Amir’s father. They have been living together their entire lives, but as they grow older Amir is much more interested in getting acceptance and love from his father then from Hassan. After a terrible tragedy, Amir sends Hassan and his father away and moves to America. Parts of this book where interesting but many parts where really drawn out. I learned a lot about Afghan culture and lifestyles after reading this book.

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck: - (:

Of Mice and Men is a classic written during the Great Depressing in California. This book is about two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who are in search for a job to fulfill the American dream. Lennie is a large man, who most likely has a mental disability, because he acts like a child. George takes care of Lennie and has got him out of a lot of trouble. The story illustrates the discrimination between the elderly, women, race, and mentally challenged. I really enjoyed this book because not only did it pertain to the 1920’s but it still is relatable today. It is a sad story, but it is very important to know that discrimination happened not only in the south, but in California also.

Dear Zoe, by Philip Beard: - (:

Dear Zoe is a story about a sixteen year old girl named Tess, and her family. On September 11th, far from New York or Washington, they lost Zoe, who was three. Tess blames herself for Zoe’s death so she moves in with her unreliable, but extremely loving dad to attempt to cope with family issues. When she moves in with her dad, she finds new love, experiences new things, and grows up a lot. I loved this book because of how realistic it was. The emotions are dead on and the dialogue and thought process of a teenage girl was so accurate, I felt like I was Tess.

Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare: - (:

Romeo and Juliet is about two rival families, the Capulet’s and the Montague’s. From their family’s hatred towards one another, love is born between Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. Because of family rivalry, they can only meet in secret. Because of a string of unfortunate events, Romeo is banished from their town and causes Juliet much pain and grief. We compared this sixteenth century play to modern stories of teen love and addressed the similarities. I enjoyed this play, because similar to Of Mice and Men, even though it is not modern, it still was relatable to people today.

Second semester, Jill, my humanities teacher, had us complete the teen issues unit. This meant studying a specific topic that significantly affects teens today, writing a research paper on the issue we researched, and then creating a PSA to make the public more aware. My partner, Lila, and I chose teen pregnancy as our topic because not only are we exposed to it through the media, as teenagers we witness these statistics become reality every day.

This is our final PSA, which we sent to the lovely people at Planned Parenthood to potentially use on their website. The star of this PSA would be Chloe, my first cousin in San Diego.

I’ve realized that sleeping and watching re-runs of the Tyra Banks show was not fulfilling my goals for the summer, so I’ve decided to make and honest attempt (again) to blog. I’m dedicating my today to making my blog comfy for me and I’ll probably be adding odd things I did throughout my freshman year. Hopefully by tonight everything will be sorted out and I will write a legit post!