Gatherings

Last night was a lot of fun. After government review session Alexandra, Carolyn and I went out to Red Robin to celebrate my birthday. I had initially asked about ten people if they wanted to come, but even with three people you can have a great time. Perhaps we even had a better time than if we were in greater numbers.
It was Alex's first time, and I think she liked it, even though she doesn't eat meat on Fridays. Carolyn hadn't been there for years, either, so it was a semi-new experience for them both.
I definitely fell for the, "Oh, I'm sorry, but I have to charge you for the next basket of fries," trick the waitress pulled (I haven't been there in awhile, either). Alex tried getting her back when the mud pie fell over and she said she wanted to talk to the manager, but you can't pull a trick like that when you're laughing.
I had a great time, and a great celebration. It was nice to get away from all this AP and college mess and just be able to sit and talk with friends. Carolyn and Alex are awesome people. We should have outings like this more often.

Notable Events of April the 26th

A number of note-worthy events took place today. First, though it's four days after my birthday, I got a birthday cake from my great friend Alexandra.
She actually brought it to school yesterday, but I was in Claremont visiting HMC so she was disappointed and had to keep it in a teacher's fridge overnight. And it was only that late because of the busy schedules that everyone around here keeps. Not that it matters whether I get a cake on my birthday, four days late, or even four weeks late. Cake is welcome anytime. (Keep this in mind when you have the sudden urge to bake something).

Second, I have made a college choice, which leads to the third notable event of the day, which is putting in a tuition deposit for said choice school. Which school, you ask?

This leads to notable event four: Rachael's blog readers explode with suspense.

I know, I know, it hasn't happened yet, but it'll be all over the papers tomorrow, I'm sure.

Then again, if that happened, I wouldn't have any blog readers at all. So I suppose I'll have to give in and tell you anyway.

I decided on Carnegie-Mellon. Out of all the colleges that accepted me, CMU is the best fit for me. It has a great engineering program, is situated near a major city with a good public transportation system, and I clicked with the people whom I met and and talked with there. Those among a variety of reasons, but I don't feel the need to give a ten-page analysis here. What is most important, I've heard, when choosing a college, is going with your gut. My gut tells me that CMU is the place for me.

And when your gut talks to you, that's usually a pretty good sign it's time to eat more cake.

Today is...

Today is a great day to remember the Earth you stand on. The following are only some of the things you can do to celebrate this day that should be celebrated every day:

-Pick up five pieces of trash.

-Bike or walk instead of driving.

-Take your car to a car washer instead of washing it in your drive way.

-Plant a tree.

-Plant some flowers.

-Send a letter to your Congressman telling him or her to support more environmental legislation.

-Start a petition in support of the Kyoto Treaty.

-Feed the birds.

-Take a shorter, colder shower.

-Eat cake :)

Happy Earthday everyone!

Back from the East

My dad and I got back home a few hours ago from our week-long tour of east coast colleges (Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, and Florida Tech). I can say right now that Florida Tech is out; the school doesn't fit me at all (ah, just saw the pun in there). Other than that, I can't say anything because I still need to visit Harvey Mudd next week. More details about the trip will be on the way, but first I need to get some sleep. I've been on the road (air?) since 1:30 this morning, Pacific time. It's about time for a nap.

Easter got Canceled

Sarah aus Deutschland sent me this picture. I could not stop laughing, so I thought I'd share it with all of you.
Happy Easter everyone!

Death Valley

This Spring Break has actually been eventful. Usually I'm one of those people stays at home during breaks, lounging around the house in pajamas all day while snacking, browsing the web, and keeping odd hours. This year my family took advantage of the precious vacation days to go to Death Valley, California.

Aunt Kathryn and Cousin Bert tagged along with us, so we had a full car. We didn't mind, though, because the inside of the car, no matter how full, was always cooler than outside. The weather was pretty nice for Death Valley. It was in the 90's most of the day, which I thought was livable. As long as you drink lots of water and take a siesta, you can survive there.

Here follows a long photoblog about our three-day trip. Text will hopefully be at a minimum, except for a few sardonic captions here and there. So wait for your browser to finish loading the photos, and enjoy!

...because it wouldn't be called Death Valley otherwise.

"Fine, take this air. Just because the law requires it."

Wildlife.

If you look closely, the thermometer reads 120. It wasn't.

This date grove seems so out of place.

What dangerous animal made these tracks?

Oh.

That highest peak is our goal (dunes, not mountains, silly)

Stopping for a taste test.

Bert and Kathryn decided to go up the face of the
huge sand dune and collapsed halfway up.

We are the champions!

Going down the dune face.

One of the few photos mom let me take of her. All of them turned out perfect.

Someone left a tribute to Mosaic Canyon.

Water!

Salty water...

Pup fish!

Yes. I got to drive the van along a dirt road with a lot of hairpin turns.
Felt just like the Indiana Jones ride.
No one was injured in the taking of these photos.

More wildlife. There was a whole pack of them circling the van.
Well, only three. Okay, and all they did was cross the street.

Artist's Pallette.

Lowest point.

There was a random mill in the middle of the desert.


On the way home, we passed a truck
transporting pigs. It was only notable
because a pig mooned us while we passed.