the rants and raves of the oh-so-radiant rachel

election reaction in one sentence!

2009-01-03T20:15:00.000-08:00

So you've probably all guessed that my election reactions aren't coming, cause I'm too lazy to write one. Oh well. I just want to say that though I would have preferred McCain as president, I do not think Obama will be bad. So far, he has done the right thing.
Next thing I promise (and might actually write!): Opinion on Road Trips xox, rachel

this'll be an interesting weekend to visit d.c.

2008-11-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

So this weekend I'm going to D.C. for The Gathering of Tents. What's that, you may ask? Last year my grade got a tent and painted it for refugees from Darfur. This weekend all of the tents are going to be on exhibit in Washington D.C., so some of my friends, a couple teachers, and I are going down to see them. Of course it happens to be the weekend after the election (my thoughts about it will be in a different post), so it'll be an interesting visit. I'll take pictures! xox, rachel
p.s. Go to http://www.tentsofhope.org/ for more information

that's right. i went to a sarah palin rally.

2008-10-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, I went to see Sarah Palin talk.
And guess what? She's not the idiot everyone makes her out to be.
I've always believed in the same ideas Republicans have believed in, so I really wanted to go to the rally. Three words: It was awesome. The whole thing was exhilarating, the idea that all of us gathered there shared one common goal. Sarah Palin was a fabulous speaker, for she connected with everyone very well. She even introduced her husband as 'the first dude of Alaska'. I left the rally full of ideas and excited for the upcoming election. xox, rachel

light as a feather

2008-10-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

away it sailed
downward,
drifting from one side to the other
as if it had lost its way.
in a way, it had.
no longer was it connected,
beside all the others.
it had been abandoned,
free to slowly descend through the empty sky.
all alone.
no one to stop the brown and the blues from fading into the night.
for it kept falling,
falling,
falling.

watch this. now.

2008-09-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o

i don't get it. at all.

2008-09-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

I've found that whenever I get back from a trip away from civilization I suffer from stomachaches and exhaustion. I feel like it's summer again and I'm wasting my life away doing nothing. I seriously do think they're side effects from my recent trip to Vermont. I came back to school excited to re-enter the fast-paced world I love, but after arriving home yesterday I feel like it's all been ruined. Everyone says that they love escaping to the country, but for me it's more like I'm being imprisoned in the country. Escape for me is going into the city with friends. Some may think it strange, but I honestly don't get how people can live slow lives. People I've met will know that I talk, walk, and pretty much do everything quickly. I suppose the point of going to Vermont was to be able to slow down, but I'm not like that. It just made me want to speed up even more. Perhaps it's because I've had a lot of leftover energy since I broke my finger and haven't been able to play soccer (long story), but maybe not. I feel like I'm rambling while I'm typing this, but oh well. I needed to get it out. xox, rachel

what are we, five?

2008-09-19T17:28:00.001-07:00

I'm so sick of this it's not even funny.
Lately I've been finding some articles online critiquing certain books that girls have grown to love. One particular one is The Clique Series. Though I have no problem with people saying that they're poorly written or whatever, I do care when people say that girls shouldn't read them because the books have shallow characters and apparently girls copy everything they read about. Honestly, I find this insulting to girls' intelligence. Sure, they may be in middle school, but that does not mean they're simply cells stuck together that need adults to make all of their decisions. Girls realize that Lisi Harrison, the author of the Clique books is really making fun of the snobs like those she writes about. It's not like they suddenly start saying stuff like, "Ehmagawd!" and pile on makeup just because they read those books. Adults don't do the things that they see on TV or read about. Teenagers are much closer to the intelligence and maturity level of adults than kids. Some teenagers have even surpassed their parents knowledge-wise. It does not make sense that these books are deemed bad for people because it's thought that others will emulate that characters' behavior. Seriously, we're not that stupid. xox, rachel

i'm sixteen, just like the chinese gymnasts!

2008-08-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

Or maybe I won't tell you all of it. I'm too lazy. xD Anywayyy, I feel like ranting about the Chinese Women's Gymnastics Team. I get that the Olympics are over, but I'm still mad. Honestly, does anyone with at least an ounce of common sense think that those girls are sixteen? They're just way too skinny. You can say that Shawn Johnson doesn't look her age, either, but in her case she is stockier than the Chinese. They just look short and extremely thin. I know that a lot of Chinese girls tend to be small, but it's unnatural to be that skinny and be eligible to participate in the Olympics. Some may say that underage gymnasts do not have an advantage over older ones, but au contraire. Studies have shown that younger girls are more flexible than those of an older age. Just listen to Béla Károlyi. He has the right idea. xox, rachel

i'd rather not.

2008-08-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

You know, I could bore you with stories about my summer. I could tell you about my adventures (if you could call them that) in Missouri. I could tell you about my quest to get my hands on as many fashion magazines as possible. I could tell you about the multiple things I've done to stay sane over the summer. I could tell you my numerous theories concerning the Chinese Women's Gymnastics Team. But I'd rather not. xox, rachel
P.S. I may not want to, but you know I will end up telling you all these tales.

i'm a robot

2008-07-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

When I was brought to life, it was not a stormy night like in Frankenstein. It was actually fairly clear. After nine months, I finally worked. Over the next couple of years, my creators programmed me to act like the perfect robot: To always obey them. As I wandered through my life, never really thinking for myself, I slowly felt myself slide away from my peers. As I continued to be obedient, others began to stray away from their programming. Instead of acting like the angels their creators wanted them to act like, they acted like normal robots would. Now I have finally begun to free myself from the hands that have controlled me all these years. I am no longer that perfect robot. I am me. xox, rachel

just the cherry on top

2008-07-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

What's the worst thing to top off an already pretty bad summer? A family reunion. Not just any family reunion, though. A family reunion in the middle of the Ozarks. A part of me says that a break from the city will be good for me, that maybe the nature surrounding me will help me out of my rut. Another part of me says that during this trip I will be forced to play babysitter while all the adults have fun together, leaving Rachel back in the cabin with their children. I'm not quite sure which side to believe. My parents have reassured me that I won't have to babysit for anyone, but I know better. I'm the only person in the 12-19 age bracket going, so who else will look after everyones' kids? Not them, of course. If this were only a few families going, say maybe 14 people, my tactics of either pretending to be asleep or just sprinting away whenever someone with children (or their children) approaches me may work. Not in this case, though. I'll have to think about new ones on the plane. xox, rachel

i'm a zombie

2008-07-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost halfway over, but it feels like it has been wasted. I wander through life, not really comprehending how I'm doing nothing. I feel like a zombie. I miss the fast paced life of all the seasons besides summer. I like the rush, the exhilaration. I feel like I'm missing out on something better right now. I just wish my life was more interesting and I didn't have to sit around all day. I wonder if perhaps I'm the one that is dooming myself to this misery, that I should have done something about it. If so, it's too late now. I'll just have to go through this summer as the undead do. xox, rachel
p.s. check out agornotag.blogspot.com

gymnastics camp

2008-06-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

I know the posts have been kind of slow lately, but I've been busy lately. I've had to wake up early (or early by my summer standards), eat breakfast, get in my black leotard, and be ready to throw a back handspring or two. Obviously we stretch beforehand, but still.
Instead of a love/hate relationship, gymnastics and I have an on/off relationship. I have been doing gymnastics since second grade, but there have been many breaks in between seasons. I first started at my local high school for a session, but soon grew bored and was no longer challenged, forcing my mother to move me to a different gym, one a couple of towns away. This time I found it a lot more fun, and continued with gymnastics until my mom was seven months pregnant with my brother and sister, which was a year and a half later. If I hadn't stopped then, I would probably be competing right now, for I had had a couple of offers to join a team at that gym. I waited a couple of years before going back to my local high school for a gymnastics camp, which woke up the gymnastics lover inside of me. I tried my hardest to join the team there, but it was no use. The team was already full. They had no room for me. That fall, I decided to take gymnastics at our local Boys and Girls club, which I enjoyed very much. Though it was not as intense as other gyms, I was still entertained enough to keep going. By the spring, though, I didn't want to handle three sports (soccer, softball, and gymnastics), so I quit. Fast foward another year. That's where I am now. I just completed a week of gymnastics camp at the Boys and Girls club, but I still don't feel satisfied. I know won't feel satisfied until I get good at gymnastics, until I can land my back tuck or be able to actually do a back extension roll. Though I know I have no time in my schedule right now to pursue gymnastics, I want to. Another side of me knows I'll never be good enough, that I blew it back in third grade, but I still feel the need to persevere. To prove to myself that I can do this. xox, rachel

our kiddie pool

2008-06-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

It was almost 98 degrees today here in New England, and unfortunately for me, I don't have a pool or belong to a club that has a pool. So I, being extremely desperate, decided to put on my new red polka dot Roxy bathing suit and go in my brother's and sister's kiddie pool. Though it was about six inches deep, it was sooo refreshing. :] Haha, good times. xox, rachel

my run-in with the goalie

2008-06-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so yesterday was my last soccer game of the season and it was probably the best game my team has played all season. We won 4-0. The highlight of the game, though, was me running into the other team's goalie. :] What happened was my friend shot the ball, and the goalie bobbled it, so I ran for it, and my right leg collided with the goalie will my left foot kicked the ball into the goal. :] Haha, good times, good times. I could barely walk afterwards. xox, rachel

i also have a love/hate relationship with summer.

2008-06-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

As soon as I walked down the pathway to my school today, a lump started to form in my throat. For most people, they would have quite the opposite experience. Perhaps a weight would be lifted off their shoulders, or a lump in their throat would clear. These same people would call me crazy for not wanting school to end.

I personally love school. I don't necessarily like the amount of homework I receive, but that's not the point. I just love feeling of accomplishment that I get when I do something right, and I love sharing this experience with my classmates. As my teacher would know, sometimes we share a bit too much, but what would school be without communication?

Fast forward a couple of hours. People are laughing and shouting, bright smiles spread across their faces. The last day of school is officially over and it is now summer. To me, it seems that everyone is fed up with school and ready to leave our old classrooms except for me.

If you still don't quite get it, think about it like this: Summer time. A time where Rachel gets to sit around her house with her three-year-old siblings for three months. On the rare occasion that they leave the house, it's to go somewhere for Rachel's siblings, like the zoo. Gone are the days of laughter, replaced with days of small children, their fingers sticky from popsicles clinging to Rachel 24/7.

That's not the only reason I dread summer. This year was probably my favorite year I've ever had. My class was amazing, and I'm sad to see them go. Many I won't talk to for months. The thought of us being split up is too much for me to handle.

I wonder, in years to come, will we still remember this year? Will we still remember our discussions we had about America's Next Top Model in the middle of math class? How about all the jokes that made us crack up days later? Will we remember the many miles we walked during Flex Week? Will we even remember each other in ten or twenty years? xox, rachel

flex week recap

2008-04-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

Isn't spring the season when it's warm and sunny? I guess I must have been confused, because it was raining and cold. Not my ideal first day back at school, you know? Before talking about today, I'm going to talk about the past two weeks.

The week before April vacation is called Flex Week, because the schedule is flexible. During that week, we don't really learn much. The first day wasn't all that interesting, so I'm not even going to bother mentioning it again.
The second day, which was Wednesday if you didn't know, was better than Tuesday. The first hour or so was sort of boring, but we got to hang out with our third grade partners for an hour or so and basically just run around the campus. We played the game Beckon for most of the time, which is, in a way, sort of like tag and hide and seek mixed together, and during the last game some girls (you know who you are!), including me decided to just swing on the younger kids' playground. Our teacher got sort of mad at us, but who really cares? :]
On the third day we just walked around Boston, which ended up being a lot of fun. We first walked to Faneuil Hall, and on the way there we say some other classes from our school, which was cool. Once we got there, our teacher gave us an hour to just hang out and go wherever we want. Of course, I sprinted to the Abercrombie & Fitch that was nearby. I tried on something, but I didn't end up buying it. My friends and I just walked around a little before going into Coach for like five minutes, and then going into Urban Outfitters. I got tons of funny pictures of us trying on really crazy clothing. :] At that point, we were late to meet the rest of our class, so we sprinted back to the meeting spot and found that our teacher wasn't even there yet. While waiting for our teacher, I got an awesome video of my friend Cody dancing and doing flips in front of Faneuil Hall. It was soooo funny. After we left, we walked to Boston Common to have lunch, where my friends and I took more crazy videos. I have this one video of two girls, Emma and Amanda, pretending to be backstage at a fashion show, Emma being the designer and Amanda being the model. In the video, Amanda is late for the show, so Emma flips out at her. At that point in the video, my teacher yells at them to cut it out and sit down, so yeahhh. Overall, it was an awesomeee day.
On the fourth and final day, our class walked to Harvard Square, stopping at Beadworks, and then continued on to Central Square. We ate at an Ethiopian restaraunt which was...interesting. Afterwards, we walked back to Harvard Square, got ice cream, and then walked back to school. The people with younger siblings had to leave earlier than only children/kids with older siblings, so I had to stay later. In one of the classrooms, they had on music and were dancing, so people from our class went in there. It was fun, but I was really tired and ready for vacation. :D xox, rachel