how a homebody says goodbye to June

Today I ate a bowl of cereal then took a short walk.

surviving your report card

Yes, it's early summer, bringer of indistinguishable weekdays, 4th of July anticipation, electric fans and...

END OF YEAR REPORT CARDSSSSS!!

End of year report cards are no different from regular report cards, except they're slightly worse.  This  brand of grade-listing includes every single exam grade, cumulative GPAs, and total everything.  It's all on the table - and addressed to your parents.  We children are presented with the classic report card situation, at this point, which may entail our obedience to the report card and its wishes.  We hand it to our parents.

If you're like me, this is kind of like showing your parents your paycheck.  It's my business, not theirs.  And yet, they're concerned for me.  They are my legal guardians, after all.  Almost everything that's my business is also theirs.

AND YET, it's like... it's like...

"Honey, do you really make this little money?"

"Would you consider maybe getting another job, to help you with your first?"

"I don't think your passions are paying off."

This metaphor mostly just helps justify my unexplainable anger whenever my parents are dissatisfied with my report card which, if you were wondering by now, is not really that bad.  Never once did I proclaim, "I've stopped caring" this year.

So why do we get so angry when our parents speak wearily of our grades, as if our failure was making them uncomfortable?  

Is it an independence thing?

Do we feel insecure about our grades, and plainly want others to not see them?

I don't know.  I do know that my discomfort on the whole situation evaporated after my dad left the house for a bike ride.  It's gone now, only to come again next year.  

I also know that in the end, my grades will effect only me, and though my parent's emotions cushion what hazy future lies ahead, the grades will determine more than anyone's feelings will.

metro solo

(My attempt at a cool photoshop collage like the ones in ROOKIE Magazine)

Taking your metro/subway system in stride and riding the train on your own is so empowering and SO MUCH FUN!  Throw a few friends in there, too - just NO PARENTS.  I was originally going to create an entirely new blog for the tween age group and center it around this very post, until I realized that tweens (typically aged 11-13) should not ride the metro on their own in fear they may be recognized as children.  That is why I am (kind of) accompanied by my dad in the collage above.  Until I scratched him out.  Because now I am METRO SOLO.

P.S. if you have been Metro Solo for a very long time and find the following information quite obvious, I'm sorry.

How to be Metro Solo (let the phrase catch on):

1.  Where to? (optional)
The train goes places, doncha know.  Use a set destination as an incentive to hop on the train with enthusiasm.  Go to a far-off grocery store, the mall, or even a new town with cool stuff in it.  Meet a friend who you'd have to drive a ways to get to.

2.  Mapping
You may have to walk an intricate path to actually get to the metro/train/subway station, and from that metro station you may end up at another metro station where you may hop on a different train.  It's complicated, and I recommend using Google Maps to get ya through it.  Type the address of your destination into the address bar, making sure to click the little train icon beneath it.  Directions will -tada!!- be provided.

3.  Gear
Why not take use of the handy bike lockers they have at your metro station and bike there?  Another system to get to know!  Also, don't forget a backpack with snacks and maps and phones and stuff in it.

That's about it!  You barely needed instructions.  Have fun mastering your land.  This is YOUR LAND!

fortune cookies in bulk

This year's summer getaway was a family reunion-type thing in the mountains of the northwest, which was just as satisfying (and confusing) as it sounds.  Part of this experience was getting to tear open a foot-and-a-half tall bag of fortune cookies, and reading every single fortune.

We were staring at this appalling product, purchased by my cousins TO EAT, when my Aunt B said, "I wanna open them all" or something.  Then WE DID.  

Bulk bags like this can be found in various grocery stores off the beaten path, and most likely on the internet.  I recommend giving this sort of activity a go, particularly for the snarky comments that are sure to be made about each fortune.

surviving summer

Summer can be (and usually is) a good feeling.  It's safe, comfortable, and expects very little of you.

Summer is not always a good feeling.

If you're like me, summer's debut has been BITTERSWEET, mainly due to hour-long periods of nothingness wherein I may analyze my worth as a human and it's meaning.  My solution?

I compiled a list of every single fun summer activity I could think of.  Then, I can kind of hurl myself (and you can, too!) at each activity with such force that I (you) may completely forget my (your) worries all together.

This, in a way, is a method of avoidance, so I would also recommend taking some time to tell yourself that you are certainly not expected to become a better person over summer break and what matters most is that you do not turn into a potato but really just try to enjoy yourself out there and also turn off your brain for a while.

Gee, Zoe, what's eating you?

I will be a Junior next year, and it's really bothering me.  When I was a freshman (which, by the way, felt like yesterday), I saw Juniors as the most well-adjusted of us all.  I idolized them and their confident social lives.  Over the past two years I have come to realize that 

(a) "confident" social lives are not for everyone, 

(b) a lot of people don't have "confident" social lives and don't really give a damn, and 

(c) Juniors are the exact same people they were as freshmen, more or less, they're just a little less bewildered.

So, before my brain came to realize all of this, I thought that over the mere course of two months (summer), I would flower into the Junior I was always meant to be, and everything would be perfect, and it would be all on me to make happen.

So yeah I was a little stressed out and needed a guide to escape my own anxiety.

THUS:

1. Bike to picnic
2. Tye dye
3. Make lemonade (REAL lemonade, the kind that you could totally sell)
4. Rollerblade music video
5. Fancy pool day - good swimsuit, towel, sunglasses, snacks, water slide n' all
6. Backyard campout (don't forget the s'mores bonfire)
7. Sew a pretty dress, skirt, or top 
8. Take METRO to: shopping in the city, picnic in the city, museums in the city, or classes in the city!
9. Hiking day!  Get in the GEAR!
10. Beach day (drive up to the nearest beach, swim the heck out of the beach, then drive back)
11. Water park day (same deal)
12. Eat out for breakfast 
13. Take an early (as in sunrise) morning bike ride
14. Paint on big sheets outside (I have not discovered a purpose for this yet, but have been wanting to do it
15. Buy a can of shaving cream and empty the entire thing into a bathtub, then play with it
16. Go to an Asian supermarket and buy neat candy/pastries
17. Host a dance party with all the best music
18. Go eat sushi 
19. Have the ULTIMATE spa day, no fooling around here
20. See a matinee
21. Try rock climbing
22. Have lunch with an old friend ("having lunch" is a very civilized and satisfying way to do it!)
23. Go to the thrift store 
24. Clean the house
25. Make dashboard cookies
26. Make a day-long video log ("vlog")
27. Make miniature shoebox dollhouses (put your Malibu Stacy in one)
28. Make an obstacle course
29. Make cute things to stuff in people's mailboxes
30. Spend a day reading nostalgic books of your childhood (Like Calvin and Hobbes or The Mouse and The Motorcycle)
31. Speaking of which, do all of Ramona Quimby's favorite activities
32. Make a painting outside (called "plein air" painting)
33. Make a water slide (lay out a huge plastic tarp over a grassy hill, then run the hose over it)

Have fun!

**note** it may not be wise to attempt ALL of these activities - perhaps pick a few favorites.

community moment: 5th grade graduation

             

One of my closest friends lives less than a block away, which might be why she's one of my closest friends.  Might this be a super awesome friend chicken-and-egg scenario?  Anyway, she's got these two younger twin sisters.  Er, two younger sisters who are twins.

These twins had a 5th grade graduation to attend.  Seeing as I've known them long enough to consider myself a distant cousin to them (or perhaps a weird aunt), I willingly hopped in the way-back of their family sedan to attend this graduation.

As a note, the top two images depict the twins as I first saw them, moments before leaving the house. The first (E) greeted me energetically at the door, as usual.  The second (C) appeared shyly from upstairs, a soft evening light glowing on her face in a pretty way.

The ride to WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS OUR OLD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (but ended up being An's high school) was very bubbly.  

Here, in the larger-than-our-elementary-school-gym auditorium, sat each fifth grade teacher along with a podium and some balloons.  Before we noticed this, we noticed the swarms of small pre-adolescents, decked out in glittery Target gowns and baggy tuxedos.  They occupied every inch of breathing space, vibrating like ions packed tightly together.  There was lots of nervous energy.

Some highlights: we spotted An's doppelganger, singing in the introductory choir.  They sang "Happy," by the way.

Around five kids then gave speeches on what they found to be the most exciting part of elementary school.  These speeches were well-organized... definitely proofread, but genuine.  C gave one, too!  Her's was the most unique: it was on how she met her best friend, a detailed account.

There was one particularly confident girl wearing only a baggy t-shirt and shorts.  She was fun to watch.

I'm glad to have gone.  I barely remember my own 5th grade graduation, but recall being a fantastically confident person.  I wore a boxy batik tank top and skirt that didn't match very well, but left the place with flair.  That flair would eventually die down, muffled by my lowering of self-esteem.  That's just what happens.  5th grade remains golden.

pottery shop people

I recently got my first job, working at a paint-your-own-pottery place.  It's great!  I feel accomplished on so many levels, as though sunshine is pouring out from multiple locations on my body.  Sorry for that image.  It took effort to get, though, so lalalalala.

I've only worked two days, but am already getting excited about all the interesting people I'll see each day.  I've sketched out some of the best "CHARACTERS" so far.

This is the impish older sister of a girl inside the shop, who NEVER came inside.  The whole time her 6-year-old (or so) younger sister was painting away, she hovered by the window in an anxious state.  Sometimes I'd look over, and she'd be in a different spot, but still by the window, and I'd get a little creeped out.  I think she came inside once, but only for a second.  

There was a man who stayed in the shop for literally three hours, working only on a mug.  He went all out with this mug, measuring different spots with a special ruler and tracing lines with pencil.  I'm sure it will be the most perfect mug anyone has ever made.  Meanwhile, children from a birthday party were zooming around his table in circles.  He stayed focused, but I later learned that he is a lawyer and likes to come here to relax and be creative.  His daughters are artists.

Last but not least, four girls came into the shop all wearing identical stretchy skirts of different colors.  It perplexed me, but others cease to be amazed.