Day 13: Concerts I've Attended

Maroon 5

Adele

Civil Wars

Brandi Carlile

Sara Bareilles

New Kids on the Block

ZZ Ward

Matt Nathanson

Avett Brothers

Jingle ball- whenever Justin Bieber was there 

Madonna

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. My dad takes me to a lot of concerts, and it's caused music to be a big part of my life. I think that events create better presents than trinkets, because the memories will last longer than most trinkets(:

Day 12: My Views on Drugs and Alcohol

Well, at my age it's illegal, so I'm gonna go with that it's a bad thing. I understand that people like to get drunk, but the law is there because its bad for a developing brain to have that poision in it. 

I don't judge people who drink, but it's just not a choice that I choose to make at this point in my life. 

People that do dangerous drugs confuse me, like coke and meth. Those things are so easily addictive, and you hear so many stories of people who need rehab because it messes up their lives. 

In my mind, medical marijuana is okay because it's easing pain. 

In summary, I don't drink or do drugs because it's terrible for your health, and I prefer to remember my high school experience. (:

Day 11: Discuss The Single Life

Since I'm not in a relationship, I have the pleasure of discussing the pros and cons of the single life in high school

Pros

-You can spend more time hanging out with your friends and/or studying

-It's one less thing to be a possible cause of stress in your life

- It might make you happier in the end

-Most relationships in high school have an expiration date that could keep you from enjoying yourself fully 

Cons

-You get zero relationship experience for college

-You might be missing a chance to date someone who would be perfect for you and make you happy 

So the pros and cons weigh in about equally in my book, meaning that there are good and bad things in every relationship. 

Day 10: Top 5 TV shows that you like

There are a lot of TV shows that I've gotten into lately, and most of them are on netflix, so if you have time, definitely go check them out!

1. Grey's Anatomy

2. Doctor Who

3. The Office

4. Arrested Development

5. Saturday Night Live

Day 8: Something I'm Worrying About and Day 9: My Opinion on Cheating

I know I mixed up days 6 and 7, actually not quite sure how that happened.

Day 8: Something I'm currently worrying about

Going into my senior year in high school, something that's been on my mind lately is college and my future, and to be honest, it is something that I worry about almost constantly.

Although the idea of going off somewhere completely unfamiliar and meeting a lot of new people scares me senseless, it also makes me feel very excited, and I've made a "summer college checklist" to make sure that I don't get too overwhelmed. 

[ ] Find 2 colleges to visit in Colorado next week

[ ] Visit one local small school, local medium, and local large school

[ ] Find an area of study 

[ ] Look up scholarships and see what you have to do to apply for it

[ ] Write a common app essay draft or two

[ ] Make a "short list" of schools to visit/apply to

So that list is what's keeping me from going totally insane as a rush of information and letters from colleges comes my way at this time of year. I've literally sifted through a hundred college letters, all stating that "I would fit in spectacularly in their school" and urging me to "find my future" because "the college admissions process can be overwhelming".

Day 9: My opinion on cheating in a relationship

Cheating, to me, is completely unacceptable, and I don't understand what goes through people's minds to make them think that's okay. If you like someone else, go be with them, but at least have the decency to tell the person you're currently with. I've had a few friends who have been cheated on, and there's nothing worse  for someone's self esteem, because it makes them think that they just weren't good enough.

In short, cheating is dastardly.

Day 6: 5 Things that Irritate Me about the Opposite/Same Sex

Girls:
1. Girls that wear way too much makeup for their face so that, when you see them without makeup, you don't know who you're looking at.

2. Girls that are overly obsessed with fitting in, and will do anything to get a laugh, especially those that do so at the expense of other people's feelings.

3. Fun girls who act dumb around guys, even though they're actually very smart. Smart can be sexy, just look at Emma Watson.

4. Girls who try to manipulate people to get what they want. Whether that's guys, or getting to do things the way they want.

5. Girls who degrade themselves. Please, there are enough sexists in the world without girls bringing themselves down. BE STRONG LADIES!

Boys:
1. Guys that feel like they always have to be macho, because here's what I see. It really isn't that impressive.

2. Guys who are judgmental when girls eat in front of them. EVERYONE EATS, DEAL WITH IT.

3. Guys who don't respect the girls they're with, and don't treasure them. I just find that very disrespectful.

4. Not caring about the way they look. Well dressed guys are very impressive.

5. Any text that kills the conversation. I'm talking to you because I want to continue the conversation, not because I want to sit there and do nothing.

Day 7: iPod Shuffle Game

To those unfamiliar, the iPod shuffle game is kind of like a mad-lib, but to fill in the blanks, you shuffle your iPod, and the song title is your answer. 

1. What do people feel when they're around you?
Dancing Queen- ABBA
2. Describe your current relationship?
Much Better- Jonas Brothers

3. Where would you like to be now?
Why Georgia- John Mayer
4. How do you feel about love?

Bleeding Out- Imagine Dragons
5. What's your life like?
We Are Young- FUN
6. What would you wish for if you had only one wish?
Little Bird- Imogen Heap
7. If someone says "is this okay?", you say?
All You Need is Love- The Beatles
8. How would you describe yourself?
Radioactive- Imagine Dragons
9. What do you look for in a girl/guy?
Pretty Boy- Soulja Boy
10. How do you feel today?
Don't Stop the Music- Rihanna
11. What is life's purpose?
Earth- Imogen Heap
12. What is your motto?
Oxygen- Coblie Caillat
13. What do your friends think of you?
Free- Haley Reinhart

14. What do you think of your parents?
Home- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
15. What do you think about very often?
Viva la Vida- Coldplay
16.  What do you think of your best friend?
Hey there Delilah- Plain White T's
17. What's your life story?
If We Were a Movie- Hannah Montana
18. What will you dance to at your wedding?
The Show- Lenka
19. What's your biggest secret?
The Sound of Drums- Chameleon Circuit
20. What describes your childhood?
My Mom- Eminem 

Day 5: What kind of person attracts you?

Well since obviously I can make a list and it's completely reasonable to expect every guy to have every single attribute, let's go crazy (:

WANTED: A GUY WITH ALL OF THE FOLLOWING TRAITS
~ Honest
~ Smart
~ Witty and sarcastic
~ A good listener
~ Confident
~ Good singer or can play the guitar (or both)
~ Treats me with respect
~ Taller than my 5'5"
~ Able to laugh at himself
~ Strong (six pack preferred)

Oh, look, here he is now (:

Day 4: What do you wear to bed?

Well, usually I wear a little something like this, because I like how it fits my curves.

Kidding,  it's usually just shorts and an athletic tshirt, but sometimes my sock monkey pants when I feel like going crazy.

Days 2 and 3: Weird Things I do When I'm Alone & How I've Changed

Day 2: Weird things you do when you're alone

Well, when I'm alone, I don't typically do things I wouldn't do with other people there, but there are a few things I don't do in front of everyone. 

~ Listen to Disney music and sing quite loudly
~ Take selfies
~ Dance around the whole house (not being limited to my room)
~ Practice batting and pitching in front of a mirror to make sure i'm staying linear

Well that's just a few things I don't typically do around other people.

Day 3: How I've changed in the past 2 years

I think that over the course of 2 years, everyone changes substantially because of the people you meet. Two years ago, I was an innocent little 15 year old, and couldn't drive. Since then, I've made new friends, moved into our high school (we don't hold freshmen in the high school), learned a lot more about the world and about myself, and become more confident. 

The people I met in my high school have influenced me to be who I am, and not care who knows it. They've made me more confidant about who I am as a person, and i'll always be thankful to them for that. 

I've definitely been told more racy jokes since freshman year, and now I laugh at them instead of being uncomfortable, so I guess i've become more comfortable with myself, probably a side effect of finally finishing puberty (I hope). 

Day 1- Doctor Who challenge

I know this was supposed to span over 30 days, but that seemed like way too long when I could easily answer all of the questions right now (:

1. Favorite Doctor- David Tennant
2. Favorite companion- Amy
3. Least favorite companion- Martha
4. Favorite villain- Dalek, weeping angel
5. Favorite aliens- the Face of Boe, Silurian, weeping angel
6. Favorite special episode- The Christmas Invasion
7. Favorite season- 5
8. Least favorite season- 7 part 1
9. Favorite Master- John Simm
10. Saddest episode- Van Gogh
11. Funniest episode- New Earth
12. Episode that scared you the most- The Empty Child
13. Favorite theme song- Matt Smith
14. Character you like that everyone else hates- Rose
15. Most annoying character- Mickey
16. Favorite actor- Arthur Darville
17. Least favorite actor- Noel Clarke (Mickey)
18. Favorite actress- Karen Gillan
19. Least favorite actress- Freema Agyeman (Martha)
20. Favorite writer- Moffat
21. Favorite couple- Amy and Rory
22. Favorite friendship- 11 and Amy
23. Favorite doctor who spin-off- Torchwood
24. Favorite quote-

"Look at the sky. It's not dark and black and without character. The black is, in fact deep blue. And over there: lighter blue and blowing through the blues and blackness the winds swirling through the air and then shining, burning, bursting through: the stars! And you see how they roar their light. Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes."

25. Favorite doctor who catchphrase- I'm sorry, i'm so sorry
26. Favorite doctor gadget- sonic screwdriver
27. Favorite interview- I honestly can't narrow it down
28. Favorite gif-

29. Favorite guest star- Carey Mulligan (Sally Sparrow)
30. When did you become a fan of doctor who? When one of my friends showed it to me, I immediately got hooked, and have been a Whovian ever since.

30 Day Challenge

I'm going to be trying my hardest to post these every day, but forgive me if I have to do 2 a day because I'll be in the great state of Colorado next week, and Kansas in 3 weeks, so I may not have the time or internet access to do that. 

Here's what you've got coming for you:

1. Doctor Who challenge

2. Weird things you do when you're alone

3. How have you changed in the past 2 years?

4. What do you wear to bed?

5. What kind of person attracts you?

6. 5 things that irritate you about the opposite/same sex. 

7. Play the iPod shuffle game

8. Something you're currently worrying about

9. Your opinion on cheating on people

10. Top 5 TV shows that you like

11. Your current relationship, if single discuss the single life

12. Your views on drugs and alcohol

13. Concerts you've attended

14. A date you'd love to go on

15. The best things to happen to you this week

16. 3 things you're proud of about your personality

17. Things that make you scared

18. Disrespecting parents

19. Something that never fails to make you feel better

20. The last argument you had

21. Something you can't seem to get over

22. 10 things about you people don't really expect

23. Something you always think "what if..." about. 

24. Things you want to say to 5 different people

25. 10 ways to win your heart

26. Your religious beliefs

27. Talk about your siblings

28. The month you were happiest this year and why

29. A picture of yourself

30. Your middle name and how you feel about it

Finals

That post finals haze. When you're so brain dead from trying to recover the information that you somehow swept the cobwebs off of just in time to take the test. That time when you realize how close you are to summer, no matter how much it doesn't feel like June.

Side note- when its the beginning of June and the weather is still 50, cloudy, and rainy, it doesn't tend to inspire many feelings of summertime, at least not to me.... #thanksobama. 

In the spirit of finals season, I used all of the powers of the interweb (well, google) to find some information about all night study sessions.

According to UCLA researchers, increased study time does lead to overall better academics, but not when sleep is forfeit.

I admit to having my fair share of late school nights, although not always for academic reasons. One instance in particular I remember was staying up late to finish the new season of arrested development, which I convinced myself that I HAD to finish right that moment. I wound up hitting the hay around 3 am, generously giving my brain a whole 3 hours to recover before having to function fully again. The next day was hazy and unfocused, fueled by the diet coke I had to drink with breakfast to be able to walk out the door.

Oh yeah, and I had completely forgotten about the math final that day. I walked into math - I'm a good student, don't get me wrong- and started my final. I stared at problems for a few minutes before the problem would actually sink into my brain. Simple problems seemed x10 more difficult.  Needless to say, it wasn't my proudest moment as a student.

According to these same researchers, keeping a consistent sleep schedule and study schedule helps students to learn better and to stay more focused.

If you're in school, good luck with finals, and what are your best and worst study habits? Leave a comment and I'll be sure to respond. 

If you're interested in reading the article, here's the link!!

Http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/UCLA/cramming-for-a-test-don-t-do-it-237733.aspx

Music-

Hello, hello- Missy Higgins

That wasn't me- Brandi Carlile

Nobody knows me at all- The Weepies

Until next time, 

Yours,

Sami

Summertime Blues

At this time of year, there are actually a lot of reasons to be sad. If you're a high school senior, maybe you're saying goodbye to a lot of people you know you will never see again. Maybe that's something you're actually happy about. But if you're like me, a lot of your closest friends are going off in their own directions, whether that be off to college to continue their lives or off to summer camp, where they'll undoubtedly have the best time of their life, without you.

But there are plenty of ways to cure the summertime blues. You could make a summertime checklist (I refuse to call it a bucket list, because that's for when you're going to kick the bucket, and I don't plan to kick the bucket by the end of the summer, but i'd love to finish this list, incomplete as it is), and see who you can rope into completing it with you. The most important thing when creating a bucket list is make things manageable, and make a good amount of them things you can do for free (it makes it a lot easier to do them all). Also I don't claim to have made any of these lists, I found most of them on tumblr.

Or you could sit inside by yourself all day enjoying one of the following shows (all of which are on netflix).
~The Office
~Parks and Recreation
~Merlin
~Doctor Who
~Arrested Development
~Glee
~Heroes
~Saturday Night Live (past episodes)
~The Walking Dead
~Lost
~Supernatural
~Futurama
~Weeds





Lastly, you could read some of these books, they're all on my summer reading list so far.
~Looking for Alaska- John Green
~Sherlock Holmes- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
~ The Sword of Truth (series)- Terry Goodkind
~ Witch World- Christopher Pike
~ World War Z- Max Brooks
~ Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card
~ An Abundance of Katherines- John Green
~Will Grayson, Will Grayson- John Green
~The Hobbit- JRR Toklien
~Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister- Gregory Maguire
~The Wicked Years (series)- Gregory Maguire
~Delirium (series)- Lauren Oliver

Any other ideas for beating the summer blues? Leave a comment and i'll be sure to respond!