RUN.

Man, oh man. Today was brutal. First of all, I started a brand new term and my classes basically suck. I literally don't know anybody in my creative writing class. Greaaaat. Anyway, that is not even the worst of my troubles. Today I went running after about a 3 week (but basically a semester) long break from working out. I've been so busy with school and stuff, plus it doesn't help that I really don't like the nordic team very much. I decided it was high time to get my butt in gear and go running, and as good as that was, it also made me realize that I am extremely out of shape. True, we were running in the cold air which is harder on your lungs, but a got winded on a 20 minute run. Yup, you read that right. 20 minutes. NOT GOOD! My ab muscles (that were already pretty much invisible in the first place) are hiding underneath all those Christmas cookies I ate over break, and don't even let me get STARTED on those arms. I used to be able to lift a lot more weight, which is saying something considering the fact that I am pretty much a weak baby child to begin with.

Basically, my goal for February is to get my whipped into shape in time for track. I seriously want to run every single day for the whole month. Except tomorrow, because I already made plans to get coffee with my friend from college :) but EVERY DAY after that, I will be out working my tail off in the snow. Lord knows I need the exercise.

OOPS.

When I went to Chicago I had this grand plan of taking a whole butt-load of pictures to either A) go in my brand new room  (or.. future room I guess. It's not brand new yet) or B) make a video diary on my Tumblr. Fun, right?

Yeah, it didn't happen. I hardly took any pictures (even though I totally planned on it) on account of the whole touring colleges thing. I mean, you're walking around all day long and trying to pay attention to what the tour guides are saying, which is already hard to do because you're distracted by how they walk backwards and thinking about how much practice that must take so the whole taking pictures thing doesn't even cross your mind. Or at least, that's my experience. Sorry if you're disappointed, but you probably aren't considering how you're thinking "man, this girl needs to get off the internet."

Oh that's another reason I couldn't share about my trip with you all. I didn't have a computer. I'm seriously obsessed addicted to the internet and being without it for almost 4 whole days was torture.

Okay, anyway.. I really should get to bed now. Mostly, I just wanted to go back on blogger because I missed it.

CHICAGO.

So, I'm done with my APUSH final! YAY! It really wasn't that hard, but I studied my little tush off. Anyway, I'm super duper excited that I am done and can relax this weekend.
After school today, I am flying to Chicago (BY MYSELF!) and meeting my Mom there. I used to live in Chicago so we're going to go visit our old friends and stuff. We're also touring colleges (Northwestern, DePaul and Loyola) and hanging out in the city. What I want to do is take a boat load of pictures and hopefully find some that I can hang in my room! I'll probably post them on my tumblr because I want to sort of make a photo diary of my adventures.
So, if you get bored and feel like looking at pictures of me being dumb...
[Here's the link: http://gretamarie22.tumblr.com/ ]

FINALS.

Final noun
a. a deciding match, game, heat or trial
b. the last examination in a course
c. end of term, power study week, lack of sleep.
see also: HELL

Yeah, it's finals week at Wayzata High School. Fun, fun, fun. It's the week that I am supposed to be focusing, studying and getting all my work done. Of course, I choose this week to discover my new Internet obsession named Grace Helbig. She's on youtube and tumblr and she's absolutely hilarious. I also discovered Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, a video on youtube. Oh, and dearblankpleaseblank. And I made a tumblr myself. I decided I was going to use that to upload the pictures that I take because, as I mentioned, I want to get into photography more. Anyway, the moral of the story is that I CAN'T FOCUS THIS WEEK! Which is really bad, considering how important all these stupid tests are. But really, I leave for Chicago in 3 days. I'm almost 2/3 done with APUSH. I have 3 blocks left of math for at least a year. And, band switches to every other day. (Thank goodness!) I have a lot to get excited for, and when I get excited for things I start to lose focus. It's like a toned down version of the week before summer break. But instead of playing outside (well not playing, but... you know) I am stuck inside my house with nothing to do but the Internet, which, as I previously mentioned, is very dangerous. I don't really know what my point was of writing this (see what I mean about focusing? yeah, not happening. I can't even write a blog post for goodness sake!). Mostly I just wanted an excuse to go on the interwebs. So yeah, finals suck. I heart the Internet. The end.

PDA.

Alright, I feel like I've avoided the topic long enough. I think it's time to write about one of my biggest pet peeves ever: Public Displays of Affection, commonly referred to as PDA. I think part of the reason it drives me so crazy is because, I'll admit, it would be nice to have a boys hand to hold. However, holding hands isn't even what bugs me. I think that's totally cute and it doesn't make other people feel uncomfortable. I saw this couple the other day, and they were walking arm in arm and I thought that was really stinking adorable. However, when couples are hanging all over eachother, I start to get a little grossed out. The worst is when people decided it's appropriate to MAKE OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALLWAYS. Did you notice how thats in all caps? Probably because it drives me absolutely BONKERS! I mean, seriously? That's disgusting. Save it for after school or go to the creepy a-wing stairwell. I don't care WHERE you do it as long as I don't have to see it.

VAGABOND.

New favorite song: Vagabond by Wolfmother
Have a listen :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO91q9XpbiI

BOOKS.

I've pretty much always been a big book nerd my ENTIRE life. However, with high school and everything, I hardly ever have time to read anymore! I mean, I have APUSH and all my other classes. Then I have sports after school. Most days of the week, I have something else going on too, like dance or church. Oh yeah, and a social life. Basically, the whole reading thing hasn't been happening very much, which makes me really sad. That is about to change, my friends. Today, I went to the library and got a book by Nick Hornby. Why Nick, you ask? Well, Ben Folds has always been one of my favorite singers. On his latest album, Nick Hornby wrote all the lyrics and Ben put them to music. And let me tell you, it is freaking awesome. Probably my favorite Folds CD yet. Anyway, the point is that I now have a Nick Hornby book, which I am really excited about, and hopefully it will actually inspire me to read :)

PHOTOGRAPHY.

Remember how I mentioned that whole photography thing? Well, I was at Ikea the other day and I took a picture of this lamp because I thought it was kind of cool. Then, I messed around with it on picnik and... here it is! I hope you like it :)

UPDATE.

It's 12:45 on a Friday (well, Saturday) night and I got super bored so I decided to update the look of my blog! Why not, right? When I started this blog I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and I still don't, but I think I kind of have the hang of this blogging business. Anyway, my latest obsession has been black and white photography. Well any photography I guess. I have always LOVED photography and recently I've decided that I want to actually get into taking my OWN pictures. My point is that I am thinking that when I actually get around to taking the pictures, I'll post them on my blog. In theory, I want my blog to be "The Essence of Greta" so anyone who was looking at my blog could get a good idea of who I am. I'd like to think that my writing is very honest and personal. However, I think adding some other mediums could be kind of cool. You know the old saying: "A picture is worth a thousand words."

SADIES.

I've always thought that the idea of a Sadie Hawkins dance was really fun, so when the student council decided to make our winter formal a sadies, naturally, I was very excited. Then I realized that means that I am the one who has to ask a boy to the dance. To be honest, I'm kinda freaking out a little bit. Here's why:
A) Being a perfectionist, I have this intense fear of rejection, only intensified by all the stupid stuff that happened this fall. The idea of even asking a friend to hang out scares me now. It's really bad, I know I need to get over it, but that's what's going on.
B) Fact: I'm socially awkward around boys. Especially boys I like. Also, reconfirmed by Lieutenant Douche Bag.
C) The first date I ever went on in my entire life was homecoming this year with that stupid boy. The idea of going on a date to a dance has a lot of negative feelings for me.
D) Oh right. A boy. I need one of those. I don't even have any close guy friends that I could ask without it being awkward. Plus, I don't currently like anybody so that kind of takes some fun out of it.
That being said, I do really want to ask someone. I've always talked about how fun a sadies would be, and I'd feel like a hypocrite if I DIDN'T ask someone. If I had a good friend or liked some one or anything I would totally go for it. However, I am lacking in the boy department and I don't know WHAT I am going to do about this silly dance.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN.

Alright, I hate to go ranting about my pet peeves. I mean, I like to be positive and not complain. But seriously, this is called for. Here's the deal: every night for APUSH, I have to read and take notes from a college-level textbook. It's not impossible or anything, but it definitely takes a lot of concentration, and I pretty much need silence when I read if I'm going to retain anything. The most challenging part of the homework is finding a quiet spot to read. I generally prefer to sit in a chair with a hard surface for writing, like a desk or a table. Natural, right? Well, I've NEVER done homework at my desk in my room, and maybe that will change, but it just feels WEIRD. I mean, I SLEEP in there, it's not a spot to do homework, for goodness sake! Plus, there's TERRIBLE lighting in my room. My preferred spot is the kitchen because the counter is smooth for writing and the overhead lights are bright. The only problem is that the kitchen is kind of the community area in my house. People walk through there all the time, which would be something I could live with if my family would just be QUIET! It's one thing if people are just having a conversation around me, I can usually tune it out. The WORST is when I am OBVIOUSLY reading and concentrating and people feel the need to talk to ME!! I'm like, "Do you SEE me doing my homework??" I don't think it's a hard concept to respect people's quiet work time. I get that sometimes my parents want to "connect" or whatever. But when I'm doing my homework?? REALLY?? It drives me absolutely BONKERS! And it's not just my parents who irritate me when I'm reading. Even if I'm just reading a book at school, everyone asks "What are you reading?" And it's not like I want to be rude, but I honestly don't want to answer. People read to ESCAPE the world they're in, not to be bothered by it. I'm not trying to sound cynical or anti-social, but I think that there should be a little bit more respect for people who are obviously trying to focus and concentrate. Sometimes, you just want to be left alone.