the best day of my life!!!

so today, I turned 17 YEARS OLD! that is so crazy right? one more year and i'll be legal. i don't want to be 18 though. that means i have to be an adult and i kind of like not having any real responsibilities. but it's not the age or the fact that it's my birthday that makes it the best day of my life. it's how great averyone is to me because it's my birthday!

well, first off, it was friday and the day before halloween which means that everyone dressed up in their halloween costumes. i was a last-minute nerd (though some would argue that then it wouldn't really be halloween for me). so i came to school a little mad because we were late for zero period, but when i got my drum on and headed on the field, the whole drumline wished me "happy birthday", so i felt better. then at lunch, I got to jam-out some music with one of my buddies and i ate some great humus (not really: gag me!) but it was all great. then there was a football game, which we totally killed the other team, and i got to perform during half-time with the rest of the band. during the third quarter the band sang me happy birthday (not so pretty, but i still loved it) and then the cheerleaders shouted "happy birthday, lauren!" to me which i don't think they normally do. so all in all, it was the best day of my life!!!

"A Lowe High Affair" class of 1999 10-year reunion

i made it! i am the senior class president of the class of 1999 at Lowe High School (yes, the pun IS intended), Jamie Markson. In case you are reading this and have no clue what i am talking about, i am not taking on a new identity, or changing my name, or joining the witness protection unit...i made murder mystery! it is a play sort of thing put on by the drama program that is half-scripted, half-improv show where the actors play a character they portray and interact with the audience and everything. the crazy part is that the actors cannot break character and...some people are murdered! it's crazy fun and i am so excited because i get to be such a brat and it will be okay! it's very difficult, but that's what makes it such fun!!!

"oh the places [i]'ll go"

WOW!!! things have been so hectic with school, homework, band, drama, DRAMA...and everything! my life is like one big ball that won't stop rolling! not that that's a bad thing. i like it when things just keep going and going-i feel like i have purpose and it keeps me out of trouble...for a while. at least i don't have a job. can you imagine? my life would be too cluttered.

the reason i bring this up is because on friday, i began to apply for college. what a huge step in my life that is!!! i suddenly have to be an adult and make a decision that will decide the outcome of the rest of my life-nothing trivial like which pair of shoes am i going to wear today? it is really frustrating because people are always telling me where i should go, and then others are telling me that i should do what i want. adding that to the every-day stress of life (not that i have much) can be a little discouraging. i'll admit, sometimes i like talking about myself and my future. it's exciting, but also, it's a little sad. for some reason, the thought that in the very near future i will be leaving covina, upsets me. not that covina is the most amazing place in the world, but it has been my life for the past sixteen (almost seventeen!) years. leaving my life behind is something i can hardly wrap my head around. how on earth does one do that? answer: not easily, but when one is so motivated to create the best future for themselves, their past doesn't get to them and they make themselves successful during the present. i am determined to make that my reasoning for where i go and what i do with my life. i won't let anyone stop me...even if they are influential people in my life. and as Dr. Seuss says, "o, the places [i]'ll go" if i stick to that determination. i am a little afraid for that "waiting place" where i have to figure out what to do next, but if i take baby steps one-at-a-time, i think i'll be alright. so here's to the rest of my life...for better or worse.

p.s. in case you are wondering, i still have hardly any clue where i am actually going to apply/go for college!

i am TIRED!!!!!!

holy crap, who knew school could be so tiring? it's only the third week of school and i am so wiped that i don't know how i'm going to get through this blog, let alone THIS YEAR! how on earth do seniors do it? i am so stressed out and i have so many things to do for my AP class. i am about to pull my hair out. i have an essay that is due on WED. and i have no clue how i'm going to finish it by then. i also found out today that i have to write my own final for drama because i can't be in my friend's final this year. how am i going to do this? i already want to keel over or just quit...but i can't quit my senior year! all of that work over the past three years for nothing? i don't think so.

the "senior" first day of school

WOW!!!! i can't believe it, but i'm a senior now. i remember my freshman year when i looked at all the seniors and i thought that they were so cool and now that it's me who people look at like that, i feel a little like...woa baby i don't know if i can handle this. soon i'll be applying to schools and then i'll be living in a strange place and then i don't know what'll happen next. is my senior year supposed to feel like this? should i be so afraid to move on? maybe i'm not afraid, i'm just anticipating what's to come. i don't know...i feel like i've been a little lost in the whole "future" category. but it's good to be back. seeing friends that you don't see all summer, meeting new teachers, catching up with old ones, making fun of freshmen trying to find their way around campus...school's great! there are the downsides of the homework aspect of education, but i don't really mind homework. i am excited to learn new things and broaden my horizon-well, at least to how far Covina High School will let me broaden it. i can't wait to get new assignments, read Hamlet, look up new poems, be introduced to new authors and writers, etc., etc. school can be so amazing when you have a good attitude toward it. i may be leaving soon and high school will be over even sooner, but this year will be the best ever and screw all those other people who want to mess it up for me. this is it! this is my senior year! whoo...HERE WE GO!!!!

oh boy is it back

you got that right! it's only been two days and i'm already red! i've been "baking likes a toasted cheeser, it's so hot [there]!" i hate to sweat. i know it's supposed to make you cooler, but i don't feel a difference. i just feel the hot sun on my face being magnetized (if that's the right word) by like a thousand!!! and i can't wipe it off because i my hands are sticky from the stick tape on my drumsticks,my arms are already sweaty and dirty, and then my face and hands get even stickier than before!!!! it is so awful. and then i get baked. oh woe is me. my life sucks right? and my lips are chapped. oh, and not only do i have to put up with my own body malfunctions, i have to deal with the idiots in my section that make my life miserable. there is this one kid who makes it impossible for me to get a word in edgewise. i think it's just because he's mad that i'm his section leader and he thinks that he should be. stupid stupid stupid. i swear i am about to go insane!!! it shouldn't be this hard to be in charge of three other people...oh but it is.

at least i have my friends that make me feel better. my possie (however you spell it) is beginning to dwindle in numbers. well, there were only three of us, but now there are only two. however, two newbies have been added to the invite list. you see, almost all of the kids who are going to be juniors next year dropped out of band and so these two guys who were already sort of our friends need someone to hang out with. it's unofficial, but it's up in the air. i just hope they can make everything better.

it's back!!

i don't know how i feel about it, but band camp starts next week. i get to see my friends and play the drums: that's pretty cool. but i have to stand outside all day in the hot sun plotting the marching and sweating without so much as a water break. i think what i love about band is the friends. it might sound a little geeky, but some of these kids are the coolest!!! then again, some aren't...i won't name names (cough cough). but the kids are way cool and actually playing isn't that bad either. it's when the pressure starts coming to win. but you know what? i am going to do everything in my power to make this the best band season ever!!!!!