first [written] post in a good month. oh [snap.]

the mere fact that i've been snowed in my house for a hot minute had my gears turning to actually post something. because, honest to goodness, blogging is a tough job, and if you have something worth reading to post everyday then God bless you!

when the storm first hit i knew it was serious but didn't think much of it...until i lost power at 4am last saturday. i woke up freezing my arse off, blown like no other. but i thought, it really can't be that bad...it'll come back by tonight or something.

i was wrong likeeee.

sunday morning my mom was like we're getting up && out of here. so we crashed at a hotel in dtss for the night hoping for the power to come back on monday or something. and she was right. we were back in the house by then.

even though i thought that it was the longest weekend everr, i learned quite a bit:

1. family seriously gets you through things, no matter how small.

my dad is enjoying the heat across the atlantic, so i was with my mom, sister, and brother when we lost power. my mom was amped at first because this brought her down memory lane when she grew up (minus the cold) without electricity. so the portable gas stoves that every foreigner keeps in their home came in handy, and the fire was going strong! we kept each other company and kept our laughs going so we could somewhat keep our minds off of the cold and the snow and all that good stuff. it really hit me that if i didn't have them there, i honestly wouldn't know how the hell i would deal with it, or with anything at that matter. so i try to enjoy every bit of time i have with them, even when those times aren't that great, because i (we) honestly don't know if we will see them the next day, or if they will see me the next day. {rip uncle jeff}

 2. when the things you take for granted of everyday is stripped away from you, you realize how much you need it.

my neighborhood was reallyy lucky to get power back in two days. there are still some places in my area that haven't received it yet. i was so blown at the mere fact that the power companies were faking like no other, and that the county really wasn't prepared for this snow madness. like electricity is just an example, but this is just another way of showing me (or us) to not only never to take for granted the people we have in our lives but the things too (to a certain extent) because you never will know if it will be there the next day. so i definitely will appreciate the fact that i have shelter, warmth, food, {clean} water, and life's necessities because there are definitely those who lack that yet deserve it as much as i do.

well, that was my food for thought of the moment, sooo i'm going to shut up now. 'til next time. :-)

gnarles barkley: under rated much?

The College App Process: Is it Worth the Stress?

Once I stepped into the doors of my high school, I already had the reality of the college process in the back of my head. I had to strategize what classes to take, how many hard ass classes to take, what extra curricular activities to do within and outside of school; etc. in order to figure out how my cumulative GPA will pan out in the end for me to get into decent schools. I work madd hard in school since it's in my nature to do so (and I would get threatened to be sent back to the village if i did otherwise) so from that comes the usual stressing over grades and stuff. If I don't put pressure on myself on top of the pressure that is around me, I get lazy and slack. However, I can only do that for so long. And I definitely realized that when junior year came around.

That was the time when I started the whole SAT deal, the whole narrowing down which schools I was interested in, and when I was going to actually see some of those schools at one point. By second semester, the amount of stuff I had to take care of on top of the crap loads of work and track, I had no idea if I was going to make it through junior year with what I had hoped for. I had to get on my grind, and I did, despite that I had to ex out my social life and sleep to be able to finish the year out the way I needed to.

Even though it's almost December, and most regular decision apps are due in January, I feel that this process is a never ending cycle. I don't know how much longer I can write essays, study SAT strategy, keep myself from getting senioritis, and deal with the self inflicted pressure. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that first acceptance letter.

At the end, even though I forget this all the time, the other side of the coin is the fact that we all will end up where we're meant to be. What we think will happen will most likely not be the case. And the amount of work that we put in to be able to get where we want to be is on us. We can only do our best.

i'm on a war with san francisco knightsss.

photos from one of the dopest show's i've ever been to...on a school night. :-)

mi vida [pt.1]

So, the summer's winding down and it's starting to hit me. I am about to be done with high school. Like, seriously done. I have like a bittersweet feeling, you know? Memories good && bad pop up from the past three years. Daydreams of the future loom over me. (yup, I'm on that poetic/philisophical/deep tip) But I feel that the past couple weeks is all a part of ending this summer with a bang. My family threw my sister a dope grad party in my house. The bro & cuzzo DJ-ed, even yours truly got on the 1s && 2s! It had good vibes, a good mix of people, and great food.! haha But peep the photos & you'll see. I even add ones of me attempting to be fly the day after. =]