Ode to Julliard Cafeteria

Ok. Ok. There really is no excuse for not blogging for the past 3 months. I'm sorry, but there's not. In my head, the post at the end of May would have said, "I've been just so busy with school!", and the post at the beginning of June would have said "School has just been so busy!" but now, I come to you a month into summer and school has been the least of my problems. So I really have no excuse now. I just suck.

But now that we've gotten THAT out of the way, onto more pressing matters. Like SUMMAH. And TRIPS. 

As many of you already know, I just very recently came back from a trip in New York. I think I may have briefly mentioned the Teen Ink Writing Program in a past post, before I was actually accepted. Well, using your wondrous inferring skills, I'm sure if you had not already heard, you realize now that I was indeed accepted and on June 23rd travelled up to NYC with the fam for the program. In case you hadn't already gotten the inside scoop, here's a quick recap:

SATURDAY JUNE 23
-obnoxiously long car ride
-eat nasty food in Jersey
-!arrive! at Julliard dormitory
-take two elevators to the 28th floor
-awkwardly arrive in a dingy hallway with 5,000 suitcases and bags and be stared at by everyone
-unpack and enjoy more awkwardness from stranger-girls and stranger-adults
-have first dinner in Julliard cafeteria, sit with stranger-girls and ignore awkwardness
-participate in a "Get to Know You" workshop and be scared poop-less with prospect of actually having to COMMUNICATE with people in a non-awkward manner, that of course ends up being awkward
-have slightly non-awkward conversation with suite-mates at midnight
-thank your lucky stars it's time to go to bed

SUNDAY JUNE 24
-wake up at the ungodly hour of 6:30 a.m.
-try not to cringe at state of toilet
-try to beat other 6 girls in your suite at getting one of 3 bathrooms
-succeed, leave bathroom for 5 seconds, and then fail
-cause suite to be late to breakfast, hope nothing was forgotten
-decide Julliard cafeteria sucks, especially for breakfast
-realize that wearing flip flops instead of sneakers was the thing you forgot to do
-awkwardly tell chaperon
-fill in a double decker bus and take a tour of the city with hilarious tour guide
-get smacked in the face with a branch
-finish tour, have lunch, and go to first class in a snazzy building called Macaulay Honors College
-enjoy class, go back to dorms and have 3 hours of writing time
-struggle to write and not talk
-end up talking
-try to finish homework at midnight

MONDAY JUNE 25
-beat other girls to bathrooms, mark territory
-have a less awkward breakfast
-go to class, return to dorm and have lunch
-have writing time outside in the Lincoln Center next to Metropolitan Opera House, next to Julliard, next to dorms
-sit on stone benches while facing odd rock-thingy in lake-thingy and watch the most pimpin' pigeons you've ever seen strut
-people watch with soon-becoming friends and laugh really hard
-write a little bit
-go back to dorms and get ready for Broadway
-see The Phantom of the Opera, and die
-meet stage manager and some actors from the show, and die some more
-realize back in the dorm your feet actually did die from walking to Times Square and back in heels
-mourn over the loss of feet

TUESDAY JUNE 26
-wake up, breakfast, class, lunch
-meet with guest speaker R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps
-envy man who says he doesn't know why people find writing "hard" and write over 300 books with only "this finger"
-walk to NY Public Library on killer blisters, be amazed and in awe of size and peace in library
-be disturbed by HUNGER
-eat dinner like an animal, writing time back in Lincoln Park

WEDNESDAY JUNE 27
-class, then walk to NY Times
-talk with four big shots in the NY Times in fancy building and appreciate the lovely exclusiveness of program and watch people pass on the street with envy
-EAT IN NY TIMES CAFETERIA AND DIE
-return to dorm and eat dinner, wish you could live in the NY Times, then actually die from food poisoning
-writing time

THURSDAY JUNE 28
-class, return and meet with author Alyssa Sheinmel
-writing time in Central Park
-get ready for theatre
-dinner, then walk to Love Goes to Press
-enjoy small theatre size and intimacy with actors
-enjoy show immensely
-enjoy talk with actors, get an autograph or two

FRIDAY JUNE 29
-class, walk to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and die because of heat and PAIN
-tour the Met with wonderful tour guide that belonged on a game show
-buy a gazillion stuff from gift shop
-have dinner out...get outvoted on choice between Chinese or TEA SHOP and have to spend next hour and a half miserable while sipping tea in 100 degree weather and eating friggin' SALAD
-writing time, continue to be bitter about tea

SATURDAY JUNE 30
-class, meet Heather Alexander from Penguin Books Publishing
-writing time, attend a Novel Writing Workshop
-dinner, go to Met Opera House for ballet and meet with ballerina
-watch Swan Lake
-be mystified
-be jealous
-be a bit bored
-be intrigued again
-wonder why the ballerinas come out for 5 encores

SUNDAY JULY 1
-decide to attend optional Catholic church mass
-finally have a long awaited Starbucks frapp
-attend a Poetry Workshop with poet Michelle Battiste
-enjoy immensely
-eat brunch
-return for more Workshop, then walk to Museum of Modern Art
-explore the MoMA, wonder how the heck a bright pink plank leaning against the wall is art
-become furious at canvas painted white and rip it from wall and smash it against the floor, go on angry rampage and destroy all modern art
-not really
-returned to the dorm, performed in Open Mic Night and read out a piece that was written during the trip

MONDAY JULY 2
-classes, go on subway for first time during trip and take it to Strand Bookstore, one of the largest bookstores in the world
-wonder how life could be better while exploring 4 floors and over 18 miles of books
-watch shopping basket get fuller and heavier
-hate life and consider suicide after no more room exists in basket
-sit in corner and cry while calculating cost
-feel soul ripping while taking out books from basket
-feel rebellious urge and place them back in basket
-reality slaps face and proceeds to push me in line with 5 books, 1 comic for dad, and 1 Star Wars clonetrooper ice tray for Nick
-return to dorm with empty feeling in wallet
-writing time outside until late, watch friends roll down grassy hill while being obnoxious and loud and lovely

TUESDAY JULY 3
-class, meet with guest speaker Vicky Dann, a screenwriter
-writing time, dinner then musical
-watch Porgy and Bess in half wonder and half disgust
-decide you will never put yourself through that torture again
-keep comments to yourself during chat with actors
-crash in bed

WEDNESDAY JULY 4
-wake up at SIX A.M.
-consider jumping out 28th story window
-take subway and ferry to Statue of Liberty
-shout "'Merica" and "FREEDOM" many times
-walk about Liberty Island and Ellis Island
-collapse on subway

THURSDAY JULY 5
-class, meet with authors Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, writers of the Nanny Diaries
-writing time, begin to pack
-dinner, and then theatre
-watch Wicked for the second time, enjoy and laugh
-sing songs in head for the rest of the night

FRIDAY JULY 6
-feel gloomy because it's the last day
-savor every bit of crappy breakfast
-reminisce on all the good times spent in cafeteria, trying to shovel down food without up-chucking
-final class
-pack-up time
-go shopping with friends
-participate in last Open Mic Night, and perform a choreographed, self-created dance-and-singing routine with friends, dedicated to suite chaperon
-almost cry
-console friends who do cry
-say goodbye


Well, there you have it. Those past two weeks have been the greatest and the most tiring, but mostly the most inspiring and eye-opening and full of laughs and fantastic friendships. What else can I say? I loved every moment of it and I thank my parents for allowing me to go on it and pay for it. I will never forget such an experience!

Hope you all are having a wonderful summer so far!

Love,
Danielle

Demon Teachers, Fab Birthday Parties, and Kissable Books

Howdy everyone!
So this is my official post-birthday blog, as well as the one where I re-live the experiences that I had spoken about in my last post. And, well, you know, whatever else I feel like ranting about today.

For starters, the past week has been one of the most awesome and most torturous week of my high school career. Funny, it seems like this combination occurs quite frequently in my life.

It was one of the most torturous because it was just one of those weeks when all my teachers secretly meet up and conspiratorially decide that they are going to dish hell on a little platter and force-feed it to me like Jim Carry in the Grinch while my hands and feet are tied over a piranha death-pit. You know what I'm talking about. And then they assign EVERY FRICKIN CRAZY LAST-MINUTE ASSIGNMENT they can think of and well, virtually say, "HA, SUCKS FOR YOU BOI!" all while cackling evilly and, I don't know, kicking puppies.

On the other hand, it was the best week because on Tuesday afternoon, I got to get out of school 40 minutes early with 2 of my good friends to drive to Bethesda, Maryland. There, we went to the Bethesda Public Library and got to meet our favorite author of all time, Rachel Hawkins, as explained before in my last post. And let me say, she is frickin awesome. Hilariously funny and all-round cool and I totally did not want to kiss my book after she signed it or anything. Psh.

So all that awesomeness plus my birthday on Saturday rounded out all the suckish parts in between. But trust me, they still sucked.

Another piece of news that I am very excited to share: I got accepted into the Teen Ink NYC Program for this summer!!! I am super psyched and so glad I made the cuts. More on that later!

My birthday, in case you were wondering, was a perfect balance between going out on the town with my gal-pals and, you know, shouting obnoxiously "SHOPPING SPREE!!" and "I TOTES LOVE YOU!", or whatever cool teenage girls do nowadays, and sliding down playground slides and giggling while pretending to eat mulch at a children's park. You know, the usual.

I also got a very special gift card to a very special clothing store that I am just ITCHING to USE LIKE A LOT.

Oh, and B T Dubs, on Thursday, I am going to the midnight showing of The Hunger Games. Shyeah. Be Jealous. And intimidated. You won't wanna mess with me come Friday.

Love,
Danielle

Thank you to everyone who called or texted or sent me something for my birthday! Much appreciated!

Leaping Day, Cool Stuff, and My Newspaper Debut

I come to you all today in the midst of trying-to-do-anything-but-my-homework.  I thought I would give an update on all things important in life: Birthdays, Books and Other Cool Stuff.

First up, birthdays! So, good old March is coming along tomorrow and do you even know how many March birthdays there are in this family? LOTS. It's like, the best month of the year DUHTOTALLY. In fact, there is one particular person who has a birthday in March that is very dear to our hearts. She is a magnificent person with incredible good looks, uncanny intelligence and a superb sense of humor. She may or may not be turning 15 or something. Yeah, I don't know her either.

But if I DID know her, she probably would have absolutely NO FRICKIN' IDEA what do to for her birthday considering she lives near a big city with tons of tourist attractions but nowhere actually cool to go to. NO I do not fancy another run of the Art Museum of Natural Boringness, thank you very much. Been there a gazillion times, DONE that a gazillion times. And every other place either decided they were going to hold no events on said birthday date or they were going to showcase the most awful performers or exhibits. AND NO FATHER, I WILL NOT GO SEE MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT SHOW, THAT WAS NOT FUNNY AND THE SONG YOU COULD NOT STOP SINGING WAS NOT CATCHY.

As far as books go, one of my most favoritest book series final installment is coming out on the 13th and I'm SO FLIPPING EXCITED ITS CA-RAZZY. The author is Rachel Hawkins, a.k.a the funniest woman alive, and the book series is called Hex Hall. Since the third book comes out on the Tuesday, serious preparations will have to be made to ensure that book is in my possession by 4 o'clock that evening (and when I say ensure, I actually mean IT MUST BE NO EXCEPTIONS DO YOU HEAR ME).

There are several things that fall under the Other Cool Stuff category, one being that my very first journalism article was published on the online website of my school's newspaper! Being in journalism means that I am learning about the stuff they do in newspaper, a class I will be taking next year. Journalism is a prerequisite, which also means that any stuff I write for journalism is just stuff, like any other class. But I wrote a feature article on Girls and Football (two topics I pride myself in being an expert in. What? Don't look at me like that. It's true.) and my journalism teacher liked it so much she gave it to the newspaper staff and they said OH YES THIS GIRL IS TALENTED LETS JUST CELEBRATE HER AWESOMENESS and put my article uppp! Anyway, if you would like to check that out, here is the link to my school's online paper and my article:

http://thehuskyheadline.com/2012/02/21/the-touchdown-for-equality/

While your there, why not check out some of the other articles up? Most are really quite good and funny as well. Show your Husky support or whatever.

Also on this list, is the fact that I have applied to something. Again.
I actually had completed my application a month ago, but now, seeing as I will probably get the admission results soon, I decided to describe my attempt at trying to get into the Teen Ink Summer Program.

Basically, this is a writing workshop type program that happens for 2 weeks in New York City. Yes, I said NYC. During the two weeks, you get to stay in Julliard dorm rooms with other high school teenage girls and get an awesome writing experience, as well as an opportunity to take advantage of New York City's amazingness. This description is quite vague for now, but if I get accepted I will elaborate for sure.

So? Has spring sprung yet for everyone? It sure hasn't here. Our weather is like a hormonal bi-polar teenager...minus the angst and acne. Ha. That line was HI-LARIOUS.

Oh, speaking of Hi-larious things, I also wrote a very hi-larious article for a journalism opinion assignment. And guess what topic I chose? You guessed it! Teen trends ;)

Well, must go back to pretending I'm doing my homework.

Love,
Danielle

Teenager 101: Your Offical Guidlines to Re-living your Adolecence the 2012 Way!

Missed me? I HAVE been gone for quite a while you know. Oh you...you didn't notice? Well...it was on the news...and..stuff. Everyone was talking about it...when? You know, that week...when that stuff happened...and..yeah.
So hello everyone, I apologize for the lack of Matta-ness lately but don't get all up in my grill (as my father says. Yes, he says that. I know) because a little thing I call HIGH SCHOOL sucks up all my time these days.

How is school you ask? (You are so polite today!) School is a fiery pit of torture and textbooks. My family? Jolly, as always. And me?

Well, let's just say that my life has not been the easiest the past few months due to the previously mentioned fiery pit. But there are some cool things that have happened. Like uh, perhaps a new baby cuz' being born? (a.k.a Joseph) And an awesome New Years celebration. And some other stuff I can't think of right now.

And of course some bad stuff. Like my uncle being sick (I love you dude! Haven't spoken to you in a while but hope you're feeling better) and my neck and back deciding to go on strike and dreaded MIDTERMS and such. The list could go on. And we all know that I could go on. And on.

But I come to you as a new and improved person. No longer the middle-school-edition Danielle, who complained about trivial things. No. Today, as a mature young woman, I have decided to discuss more important, worldly topics.

Like how much pop-culture and teenagers suck.

Think about it for a second. Teenagers and pop-culture go hand in hand, most of the time. Whatever the trend may be, them young'uns are following it. In the 50's, they were all Elvis Presley-ing and sock-hopping and adding a few feet through blowing up your hair-ing. During the 60's it was marijuana and go-go boots. In the 70's they thought it was hot to wear bell-bottoms and not wash their hair. I think you get the point. Every decade there is just some sort of trend that society- but mostly teenagers- follow.

And I don't know what the HECK is going on with my generation, but the trends are getting scarier each year. Let me enlighten you. Here is all the things you need to know to be a 2012 Teenager:

Rule #1: Ignore The Seasons
Winter got you down? The cold just not coordinating with your closet? Screw Mother Nature, wear whatever the heck you want! It's ok that it's below freezing and you're wearing the tiniest shorts you could find. Don't worry that it's snowing and your STILL wearing the same short-sleeved football jersey. The seasons have nothing on your underdressed self!

Rule #2: Animals Are All The Rage
It can get pretty boring being a human. No fur, no feathers, no opposable thumbs. (wait a secon-) Shhh! The only way to go is make every accessory and clothing piece resemble the south american jungle! If you wear a pair of feather earrings, a cheetah print shirt and some sort of oddly shaped furry jacket, you'll blend right in with the circle of life!

Rule #3: Contradictions Are Your BFF
No one likes someone who has an opinion and sticks with it. So why should it be any different with style? Feel free to wear your pajama pants with the tightest shirt you own, preferably one that you bought when you were six.  And don't forget to accessorize! You'll be the talk of the town when you wear your thick, ugly Eskimo boots the color of deer poop (now comes in blueberry vomit too!) and 'nerd glasses' even though you have perfect vision. And if you do actually need glasses...what are you doing, take them off immediately and pretend you're bumping into things on purpose!

#4 What Works For Everyone Else, Works For You!
Doesn't matter if you weigh 87 pounds or 300, because you are entitled to wear whatever size your best friend is wearing, no matter what! So don't feel bad squeezing into a size 00 skinny jeans (the skinny part was necessary, because obviously 00 wasn't skinny enough) or the cylinder tube of spandex your friends call a 'skirt'. Mi casa et tu casa, or something like that!

So there you have it. Here is your Teenager Diploma. Use it wisely. (Like drinking way too many Monster energy drinks and taking pictures of yourself in the mirror while nonchalantly flipping the bird.)

Love,
Danielle

THANKSforGIVINGus-aBREAK

Travelin'... :)

A Short Post Before A Long Weekend

Hello folks, how are you this fine Friday?
As I'm sure you all know, this is The Matta Connection's 50th post! Well, maybe you didn't know...but it is!  And for this special occasion, I will let you know that this particular post is very special.  I am blogging for the first time at school!
Now don't get your knickers in a twist, I am not being a bad child.  I am currently in journalism class, and since it is the Friday before the quarter ends, there is virtually nothing for us to do.  And think about it...I'm in a computer lab...in journalism class...with Internet access...what ELSE would I be doing??
Anyway, this weekend will be a four-day weekend (that is much deserved, may I say) and I will be LIVING IT UP by sitting on my tushy and eating popcorn and watching late Halloween movies. But first, French Club tonight and last football game of the season. That's right y'all. I'm a true high schooler now.

PLEASE TAKE ME BACK TO ELEMENTARY!!!!!!

Love,
Danielle

Rock-a-Bye Wrestling Team, On the Tree Top...

Hello everyone!
I actually have two very crucial things to mention in this post today.  And when I say crucial, I mean LIFE or DEATH crucial. I mean crucial-to-your-SURVIVAL-crucial.

An amazing thing happened today. It was a miracle sent from God. Just wait for it...it's coming...

BUT first, I have a question for you.

When was the last time you had nap time at your work or school?

Ah ah ah, don't look at me like that. Just answer the question.

That's what I thought.
Well guess what suckers?

I. Had. Nap. Time. Today.
Yes, that's right. I, 9th grader, 14 year old extraordinaire...was told to lie down, and close my eyes, and relax.
And the most amazing part: It was during P. Freaking. E.
The ironic part: It was punishment for my class who wasn't following directions while we were playing soccer.
So instead of making us do push-ups...or laps...or any number of torturous physical activities...My P.E teacher told us all to go to the mat room, lectured us...and then laid down the law.
Well, we laid down, anyway.
The lights were off...everyone was quiet...I was 5 years old again and not sweating and gross and lying down where I'm sure a hundred sweaty and gross males have laid before me while wrestling...
It was the best punishment ever.

Well, now that I've made you all jealous, I can tell you the really crucial thing that happened today...
My pants ripped.

Huh. Not as an amazing of a statement as I thought it would be.  Well, never mind then, this post isn't crucial at all! 

Love,
Danielle

Rain, Rain, Go Away, Please Don't Ruin My Homecoming Day

If you're wondering about the title, it's not that hard to figure out.
It never stops raining here. And tomorrow and Saturday are two very important days that I do NOT wish to be rained on. What is tomorrow and Saturday you ask?
HOMECOMING!!! Well, tomorrow is the Homecoming parade and football game, and then Saturday is the dance. I am very excited people!
But before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you guys what kind of week I've had.  There are been good parts...and predominately bad parts.  Most of the bad parts are due to one little acronym that some of you may recognize...
PSAT's. Preliminary SAT. (For those who do not know what the SAT is, it's pretty much the equivalent of the IB's. Or maybe the IGSCE's. I think. Anyway, let's just say its a major test that everyone must take to graduate and get into a good college.)
So the PSAT is the practice version of the real deal. You have the option to take the PSAT every year in high school until you actually do have to take the SAT. You could study for it if you wanted to, but it's not like there is a study guide or anything. It is mainly a critical thinking analysis, with English and math sections. There were five sections, each with about 25 questions, the last one with 30. For each section, we get 25 minutes and 30 minutes for the last one. So yes, the test lasted 3 hours, including 2 breaks.
Let me just tell y'all. It was a form of torture. It wasn't that it was so hard. I mean, don't get me wrong, there were some questions I couldn't even begin to answer because of the fact that I didn't know what ANY of the answer choices MEANT. And I'm a pretty vocabulary-savvy kind of girl. But overall, the test wasn't too hard.
The reason it was torture, is because of the time limit. If any of you remember, I had the same sort of problem with the TJ test last year. The time limit always kills me. Because I know for a fact that I would have been able to put down a couple more answers than I did, if I wasn't rushing like a mad woman through the questions. I mean, think about it! 25 minutes for 25 questions...that's a minute per question, and in the English sections (there were 3) they had HUGE passages that we had to read first before we answered anything! It must have taken 5 minutes at LEAST to read the passages and comprehend them, and good luck trying to make up for lost time when it came to speedily answering questions...because that was nearly impossible as well. I have never taken a test before where some of the answer choices are so similar to one another. This was pure. brain. torture.

Anyway, that was on Wednesday. On Tuesday, another exciting event happened. Well, two actually.
Let's just say that you know something is wrong when you walk into your school after a holiday and all the lights are off.
Raccoons. Raccoons are the reason our power was out, not only in the school, but also in some houses throughout my town. That was DEFINITELY an interesting morning.
And then a little later in the day, my school attempted to have a fun activity where if you paid a dollar, you could attend a thing called the Flex Games, where everyone piled into the gymnasium and watched students, staff and parents fight to the death. Or compete in relay games, however you want to look at it.
Anyway, during one particularly exciting game, called Human Bowling (where flat scooters are placed underneath big blue mats, and a person lies on the mat and the rest of the team shoves them across the gym and tries to knock over as many bowling pins set up there as they can.) a teacher, ACTUALLY PASSED OUT. Yes, that's right. During our stupid, stupid Flex Games, that barely anyone was watching or taking seriously, a teacher was pushed across the gym on her mat...and crashed right into the wall.  The funny thing is, she crashed into the part where padding is placed on the wall...but nonetheless, she knocked her head against the padding and freaking blacked out!
Also an interesting afternoon.

Anyway, despite the exciting and not so exciting events of this week, tomorrow is sure to be fun. I will be in the parade with my other fellow French Club Students (who have been busily creating a SUPER AWESOME FANTASTIC banner that we will hold up...can I say that I was the mastermind? I think I can.) and then after, we will all trudge out to the football stadium to watch us some good ol' American football, and possibly get rained on. BUT HEY. ITS ALL OR NOTHING WITH HOMECOMING, AM I RIGHT?
Except if our banner gets rained on. Then there will be heads rolling.

Love,
Danielle

Science Research Project: The Cause of My Doom

Helloo family! How is September treating you?  What about the weather? Good?
Not for us.
It's been rainging for two weeks straight.
Thanks, Mother Nature.

Other than that, things have been good in the Matta home.  Life goes on as usual, eat, sleep, work, eat again, you know the drill...
But there have been and will be a few events that are worth the mention, so let me catch you up...

Nick and I have been going to school for 4 weeks.  Which have literally felt like 5 years.  I have never been so stressed out in my LIFE.

A main cause of my stress is due to a little thing called SRP, a.k.a, Science Research Project.
I haven't told you all about this little assignment yet because it is has caused so much inner trauma in me that I wouldn't have been able to even explain it, even though I have been working on this for 3 months.

But school just started, you say. Well yes. And no.

Last year, when we were given the sheet to choose our classes for 9th grade, we had 3 options for science.  Earth Science Academic, Earth Science Honors, and Biology. Both Earth Science classes are for 9th graders, and even though Biology is offered to 9th grade students, it technically is a 10 grade class.  Another thing about taking Biology, is that the big science research project that every student must complete by 10th grade, has to be completed in one year instead of two. So for example, if I take Earth Science Honors, then I would work on my science project all of 9th grade, and then half of 10th grade.  If I take Earth Science Academic, then I am not required to do the project. 

But if you choose Biology as a 9th grader, then you must complete the project in 9th grade, period.
Don't be fooled...this is not your average, 'pick-a-topic-and-write-an-essay-about-it' research project.  This is an actual experimentation research project, where you have to create a hypothesis, create the experiment, collect the data, write several papers on it, and then present your project at a big-deal science fair and get judged by actual looney-tunes scientists.  This is no poster-board, last-minute thing. This is a MAJOR project.

And since I am taking Biology, that means I skipped the 9th grade course, where you do 8 assignments for the project, and the rest is finished in Biology.  So I had do complete those 8 assignments over the summer, on my own.  There were due dates and limited email communication with some of the teachers.  And there was stress. A whole lot of stress.

But now that school has started, the due dates are still continuing.  The project won't be finished until Feburaray or April or something, so there is still a lot of work to be done.

That, on top of all the other crazy school work I have to complete.

So yes folks. School has officially started.

How many days until summer again?

On the bright side, on Friday I went to my high school's football game for the first time as a Freshman.  I went with one of my friends, and met up with some of my other friends there.  It was a LOT of fun.  I mean, if you know anything about me, you know that I have no interest for sports, let alone football, at all, but it's different when you go with friends and you're seeing a bunch of kids you know, and you have friends in the band and know people on the team, and then your freaking high school WINS against the school that is a major competitor. 
I'm telling ya, the reason they won was because of me. I mean, duh. I INSPIRE people.  I'm sure the team was all like, "Grunt-Grunt Grunt-Grunt-OH HEY LOOK ITS THAT AWESOME GIRL DANIELLE!" "Grunt?"  "YEAH YOU'RE RIGHT, WE SHOULD TOTALLY WIN OR SOMETHING!"
What can I say? I just have that affect on people.

Also, the Homecoming dance is coming up soon, in October. Yesterday we went to the Tysons mall to do some shopping and also to look for a dress, which I did find! But I'm still stuck between two, so I'll let you know what I decide since you all obviously care so much.  And just because I know one of you will ask or wonder, I am going to Homecoming with FRIENDS.  As much as the football players adore me, this bird is flying solo.  You know, the lone wolf. Me, myself and I. Going stag. The solitary seahorse. Individual Iguanas.  The Unaccompanied Unicorn.
Yeah, you get the point.

Love,
Danielle

The Definition of High School, By Danielle

So tonight finally offered the moment where I could calmly sit down, collect my thoughts, and venture onto The Matta Connection to write yet another of my insightful and entertaining posts.  I meant to write more over the summer...but that didn't work out too well.  I meant to write one the day before school started...which also didn't work.  I even had the crazy idea that I would write a post after the first day of school...after the first week of school...but instead, I come to you on a Wednesday in September, for no specific reason at all.
Well, except to vent.
So as many of you know, (meaning A. You know me B. You read this blog or C. You can just tell) I am now a High Schooler. It's funny, because, at least in the American culture, high school is the place to be, at least you think so when your little. In all the movies, the main characters are in high school. In all the books, the main characters are in high school. (I'm using All in a very loose way here...I realize not all forms of entertainment surround teenagers in high school, but come on, a pretty large percent does. Look at Bieber. He's 17 and he's a "quote: singing sensation!" And even though there are tons of talented adult singers and bands, all you hear about is freaking Bieber.)  So when you grow up idolizing these older, cooler, amazing high schoolers in practically every media you turn to, all you think about when your younger, is how much you want to be in high school, be like them.  And really, the only image of high school is what Hollywood makes it seem to be.  So basically, I grew up thinking that when you enter high school, you're going to get bitten by radioactive spiders and become a international super hero, you're going to met your soul mate that's actually a sparkly vampire, and when everyone is feeling in the mood, you can stand on the cafeteria tables and belt out your problems in time to a catchy pop soundtrack while your classmates dance in unison around you. 
This may shock you, but high school is nothing of the sort.

For starters, if you even ATTEMPTED to try and stand on the cafeteria tables, I'm pretty sure you would get instantly tased and shot.  The only thing resembling vampires in high school are the slightly creepy, goth kids that glare at you when you stare at their triple nose rings too long, and the radioactive spiders are rare to come by. (Though I wouldn't put it past you if you got bitten by a radioactive stinkbug...)

Real life high school can be summed up in three words: BIG COMPLICATED CHAOS.
The school is big, complicated, and because of the complicated-ness, chaotic.  The student body is big, complicated, and, as suspected, chaotic. And the actual kids themselves are BIG. I was just in biology class today, when I realized that more than half of my classmates were two times my entire body.  I've never looked up so much in my life.

Basically, I better start growing rapidly fast, otherwise I'm afraid I might come home one evening with my arm in a sling and two black eyes.  "What happened Danielle?" My mom will ask.

"Early Dismissal."


(I realized that if you are not familiar with school, then you might not understand the joke. Let me slow it down for you.  When kids are told they can leave a classroom...its like a herd of elephants trying to squeeze through a 24 inch door at the same time.  Now imagine an entire school being dismissed from their classes early...yeah. Word of advice: Run.)

Love,
Danielle
Speaking of slings...Nick fractured his wrist on Friday. Which hasn't made much of a difference in his life except he complains a whole lot more and works a whole lot less. Injury my FOOT -_-