3 Wishes?

Out of anything I could wish for in the world at this moment, I would wish for the matching tee-shirts that Laura Slojkowski, Amber Breyer, and I created on Vistaprint.  The shirts are white with this car on the front.  On top of the car, there is an acoustic guitar which sits there somewhat awkwardly.  Around the car, there is a banner that has a combination of all three of our names on it.  The whole thing just looks pretty awesome.  We came upon this design one day while Laura was listening to Pandora radio in Online Publishing.  There was an add for reduced tee-shirt designs on the sight.  We all became really excited and designed a matching tee-shirt, which we wanted to buy.  Of course none of us have a credit card or way of paying for them off the sight, so our dream has not become a reality just yet.  It will happen though, eventually.  Another thing that I would wish for is getting into the college that I want to.  Lately, I've been under a lot of stress because of the uncertainty as to where I am going and if I will get in to where I'd like to go.  Hopefully I will get in to where I'd like to go and be happy there.  Another thing that I would wish for is the ability wish at any time for a minute, trivial problem in my life to be solved right away.  This could range from anything.  I could be really hungry one night around dinnertime but with no food in the house, and I would be able to wish for something really good to eat.  All my computer problems of the future could be solved with one easy wish.  It would free up a lot of time so that I could do more productive things.  Hopefully someday, my wishes will come true!

A Difficult Decision

It is next to impossible for me to answer the question of what my favorite musical genre is because I listen to such a variety of music.  My Pandora account is a complete mess because of all the radio stations that I have.  I cannot make a simple decision as to what kind of music I would like to listen to at one time and would rather listen to a big selection rather than one limited by its category.  I don't really categorize music by genre in my head, but rather into what I do and do not like.  For the most part, however, I probably lean toward listening to more Alternative music, rock music, or music with an indie feel to it more than anything else.  Lately, I have been listening to a lot of Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, The Shins, The Vaccines, and Neutral Milk Hotel.  These are some of my favorite bands, and are great to listen to while trying to relax or while trying to get work done.  In addition to these bands, lately I've been listening to a lot of Bon Iver, Matt and Kim, and Cold War Kids, which are all great bands.  I really cannot subscribe to liking one music genre.  I am also a big fan of a lot of female singers and songwriters in this group, including many from England such as the late Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash, and Lily Allen.  There are also many outliers of many different bands and singers that I like, but do not necessarily like the rest of their genre they are in.  These could include Tom Petty, Buddy Holly, Frank Sinatra, and others on the complete opposite of the spectrum such as Mac Miller, Lil Wayne, and Katy Perry.  One artist that I have always completely loved but have never been quite able to place is Jason Mraz.  All of his music is so diverse that it is hard to place into just one category.  I love it because the lyrics and the way he uses the words in some of his songs is so clever and beautiful.  I also listen to a lot of music from around the world, which just adds to the confusion of trying to choose just one genre.  Overall, I really just listen to whatever I feel like at the moment, depending upon what kind of mood I'm in. 

Spies, Sharks, and Cady Heron!

Out of all the great movies out there, my top three movies have to be Jaws, Casino Royale, and Mean Girls.  They're all really different movies, but they are all fantastic in their own ways.  Jaws is the classic summer smash hit.  It was the original summer blockbuster, which in itself is already pretty impressive.  Although it is an older movie and the effects aren't up to today's standards, it was artfully done and the effects are quite impressive for its time.  It leaves you on the edge of your seat, worried and wondering what may happen next.  Steven Spielberg is my favorite director, and this movie launched him into fame.  All around, its just a great older movie that continues to amaze me each time I see it.  Another favorite movie of mine is Casino Royale, a James Bond film.  In general, I am a huge fan of James Bond.  All of the movies are great, but this one is my absolute favorite.  I really like action movies, and this one provides a lot of it along with other strong components such as mystery, suspense, and romance.  In this movie, Agent 007 is involved in a high stakes poker game, and must win to thwart the enemy's plot for destruction.  His love interest in the movie, who he wishes to give up everything for, ends up being a double agent working for the enemy, which completely twists his whole perspective of things.  It's interesting to see not only the professional aspect of Bond, but the decisions he must make in regards to his love.  It's definitely a movie that everyone should see.  My third favorite movie has to be Mean Girls.  This movie, although very different from my other favorites, is fantastic.  It's so funny and can be related to several social situations one might have throughout their high school years.  In this movie, Katy Heron goes from living in Africa with her parents because of their jobs to jumping into the average life of a teenager in high school.  Along the way, she ends up becoming a member of "The Plastics," the popular group of girls at their high school.  While trying to take them down with her other group of friends, more and more lies and rumors circulate that eventually tear her down.  Overall, it's just a really interesting, entertaining, and hilarious movie that I could watch over and over again. 

My favorite book!

I have many favorite books that I've read and reread throughout my life, but if I have to choose, I'd say that my favorite book of all time is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.  I loved reading it for the first time in class, and over the summer I read it again.  I enjoyed it just as much the second time as I did the first.  It was a book that I didn't mind taking the time to read outside of class, as well as discuss it with my classmates.  I was actually excited to go into English the next day to read the next chapter or section.  Salinger writes it in such an interesting way, that it makes it unique.  It is very different from many of the other books that I read, and that is why I thing that it stands out in my mind.  The novel is about a boy named Holden Caulfield.  Holden is full of attitude and negativity. In the beginning, he is looking back on a past event from the prior year where he gets kicked out of Pencey Prep boarding school for failing his subjects.  Instead of waiting around until the break to go home and tell his parents, he decides to go to New York City by himself.  He spends a lot of time on his own at first, running into people he knows along the way.  He is on a downward spiral and wants to run away permanently, but decides against it along the way after spending some time with his little sister, Phoebe, who makes him come to many important realizations.  Throughout the novel, Holden tries to protect innocence and becomes increasingly frustrated by all of the corruption.  He finally realizes, through time with his little sister, that he cannot put himself in charge of protecting the innocent from the real world.  He must let them learn for themselves.  This lifts a large burden off of him, and may have even been key in getting on with his life.  It keeps the reader interested the whole time, and can teach them an important lesson on growing up. Everyone should read this book at some point!

Thanksgiving Traditions!

My family has many traditions for the Thanksgiving Holiday, although they are more unstructured than most traditions of other families.  Usually, my family gets up in the morning and eats a light breakfast together.  Then, we usually just relax around the house.  My Dad and I will watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade together for the first fifteen minutes until we get tired of it.  This is one of those things that happen every year that isn't really a tradition, but recurs anyways.  At around one o'clock, my family goes over to my Aunt's house in Lockport to say hello.  We don't actually eat here though, because they invite so many people that it gets chaotic.  We usually stop in for about an hour to say hello and spread the Thanksgiving cheer.  After this, we head straight to my Grandparents' house.  Here I am able to see all of the family that I usually don't get to see.  We are usually there for about an hour before dinner is served.  My Grandma assigns seats for everyone and puts a piece of chocolate next to the name tag.  It's best to eat the piece of chocolate before dinner though, because if a person waits too long, one of the younger family members will most likely take it or touch it, which is pretty disgusting.  Everyone then sits down to dinner and eats as much as possible.  My Grandma makes all of the usual Thanksgiving foods including turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, vegetables, cornbread, and cranberry sauce.  It is all delicious.  Everyone eats until they are beyond full, and then has a slice of pie on top of that.  After all of the holiday festivities, my cousins and I play Apples to Apples to end the night, which is my favorite game.  Overall, I think Thanksgiving is a great holiday spent with family. 

Christmas Time!

Christmas is by far one of my favorite holidays, not because of the receiving of gifts, but because of the overall feel of the holiday.  Christmastime brings joy to the cold, sometimes dreary beginning of winter.  The decorations make everything look a bit nicer, and add more color to the washed out look of the outdoors.  It is also a lot of fun to decorate the house and outdoors with my family.  Every year on a Saturday, my whole family spends the whole day decorating the whole house, inside and out, for the holidays.  My favorite part of the decorating process is the tree.  We always get a real Christmas tree which makes the whole house smell great.  I also love baking Christmas cookies and gingerbread at this time.  I usually hate to bake, but being able to decorate them after makes it worth it.  Usually, I bake gingerbread men and cookies with friends or family this time of year.  Although all these activities are great, my alltime favorite part of Christmas is being able to see my whole family on both my Mom's and Dad's sides.  This is often the only time during the year that I am able to see any of them.  It is great having a reunion at this time of year.  Usually, I will see them all on Christmas Eve at my Grandparents' house.  On Christmas morning, my whole family usually has brunch at my house after opening presents at their own houses.  We usually just hang out around my house until later, when everyone goes to my Aunt's house for dinner.  The whole day is family-based.  On the day after Christmas, we travel to New Hampshire to celebrate Christmas with my Mom's side of the family.  We all usually stay at the same place, and it's really fun being able to hang out with my cousins that I don't normally get to see.  Overall, Christmas is my favorite holiday because of the great times that I have with family and friends.  I'm really looking forward to it this year!