High School Ain't No Musical

As I'm researching universities (my list right now: McGill, Bishop's, Winnipeg, Wilfrid Laurier), getting all scared to make the transition from the safe, familiar hallways of high school to the scary, new classrooms (and dorm rooms!) of university, I've been thinking back to the time when high school did not seem so safe. I remember the first day, when I only talked to one person, a friend had gone to my middle school, and we ate outside because we were too afraid that the cafeteria would be like the one in Mean Girls. Once upon a time, high school was really scary to me. Now, it's just boring, and familiar, and almost bittersweet, as this place I once feared so much becomes a place I know I will miss so much. To that end, I wanted to write a little piece for all the future high school students. This is for all the kids who are in eighth grade right now, starting to tour high schools, feeling all intimidated by the the older kids, the scary teachers, and the foreign hallways. This is for people like me, who imagined high school would be a scene out of a teen movie. 'Cause trust me kids, it's not. High school is nothing like you think it will be and nothing like you'll want to be. Specifically, here are the top five lies that pop culture teaches you about high school, that are totally not true (at least at my school):

1) The Cafeteria is the Scariest Place in the world

Example: Mean Girls

Let me tell you, at my school, if you eat in the cafeteria, you are pretty weird. Sure, yeah, kids buy food from the cafeteria, but they always bring it to the locker banks upstairs to eat with their friends. There are certainly no "popular tables" or "jock tables" or anything like that. For that matter, there aren't even really cliques. People follow from friend group to friend group. Nothing is really rigidly defined, and people aren't grouped by hobby or race or popularity, like they are in Mean Girls. So trust me, the cafeteria is nothing to be worried about.

2) Football players and cheerleaders rule the school

Example: Bring It On

Yeah, okay. My school doesn't even have cheerleaders. And we don't really even have a football team. We have half a football team, that we share we another school. And no one cares about them. The two kids in my class that are on the team are not particularly popular. So you don't have to try out for the football team to impress people, and you don't have to be a cheerleader to get guys to notice you. None of it matters.

3) The SAT will rule your life

Example: Gossip Girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-6zqSSj1r8 (sorry, no embedding!)

In Canada no one writes the SAT. It isn't required (or even desired) by Canadian universities, so most people don't bother. A friend of mine is writing it, because she wants to apply to American universities, but she's the only one I know. So don't be scared that you'll have to be studying like crazy for the SAT. Quite simply, it does not exist in Canada.

4) If you mess up you'll have to go to detention. On a saturday.

Example: The Breakfast Club

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkX8J-FKndE (what is with people and embedding?!?)

Teachers don't want to waste their time outside of class! Trust me! They want to school to end just as much as you do! They don't want to give up their time to come in on a saturday! Also on that note, teachers don't want to waste their time marking extra credit assignments! They'll mark the real work, so you better do well on that. Because there's no extra credit to make up for it. Teachers don't have the time to mark extra stuff on top of all the other marking they have to do. Basically, teachers are serious about their time. They won't waste it on stupid stuff.

5) School dances are the best/worst moments of your life

Example: Life, Unexpected

At my school we don't even have dances. Apparently some kid brought a knife to a dance like ten years ago and tried to hurt someone, and ever since dances have been outlawed. So no, school dances have not been an important part of my high school experience. I've never even been to one!

So don't worry, all you young ones. High school is not nearly as scary as you think it's going to be. It's not like on Glee where you get slushied in the face all the time or get randomly pushed into lockers. High school is not nearly that exciting. You go to class. You come home. You do homework. Maybe you go to some parties on the weekend. Big deal. Trust me when I say this, high school is not the great time that some people say it is, nor is it the Worst Time of Your Life, as many tv shows and movies would have you believe. Your high school years will be hard. There will be highs and lows. Lots of drama. Lots of tears. Lots of hard works. Lots of rewards. Lots of friends. And tons of great memories. It will go by quickly, so treasure it, no matter how scary or challenging it may seem.

So good luck young ones. And good luck to me, as I prepare to leave the place I have come to love (and hate!) over the last four years.

My Top 5 TV Moments

Here's a little sunday night treat for you: My Top 5 TV Moments this week!

1) CHUCK AND BLAIR GET BACK TOGETHER...maybe

A full hour of sex and sex and then some more sex. I didn't think they were going to get back together. I thought it'd be one of those lame endings...much like the ending we almost got, with the whole "friends" things. Then all my wishes came true. God answered by prayers. Life worked out. The clouds parted to the beautiful, beautiful sunshine. Chuck just couldn't resist her. Chuck loves her. And she loves him. I don't know how long this is going to stick. Could be one episode, could be a whole season. I mean they have to break up soon, so they can get together in the season finale, or they have together now, so they can break up in the finale. There has to be a Chair cliffhanger at the end of the season, so that's really the only way it can work. Personally, I'd like a different kind of cliffhanger...like an engagement...or a surprise pregnancy. Fingers crossed.

2) Vanessa gets put in her place, by the Dean of Columbia

I hate Vanessa. I would say she is my least favourite character on Gossip Girl, except she has so much competition (Serena, Jenny, Juliet, Georgina, Nate's hair). So, I was SO HAPPY when the Dean called her out for her ridiculousness. She was trying to get Serena kicked out of school because she stole Dan (or whatever. I stopped paying attention to that story line a loooong time ago). She goes up to the Dean not at Columbia, but at the freaking ballet. And, understandably, the Dean is like wtf? Because you know, she doesn't want to deal with idiots who can't act to save their lives bothering her about stupid teenage problems with their boyfriends when she goes to see some pretty girls twirl so high on their tippy toes that their feet bleed. It's just not her idea of a good time. I understand, Deanie. I wouldn't like if Vanessa did that to me either. So I LOVED LOVED LOVED it when the Dean asked Vanessa "who are you?". I laughed so hard. I mean, it's totally true. WHO is Vanessa? She doesn't go to Columbia and she isn't friends with the Upper East Side crew. She isn't even dating Dan. Which begs the question...WHY IS SHE ON THE FREAKING SHOW?

3) Erica and Kai sleep together on Being Erica

What more can I say? It was epic. I love Kai. For most of the episode I really didn't think she'd go through with it. I thought Adam would interfere, sending Erica all his mixed signals (which he did...that guy is messed up). But Erica totally didn't care that the Irish guy was (maybe/kinda) jealous. She wanted to sleep with Kai, so she did. She didn't even let Dr. Tom's freak out faze her. GO ERICA! BOOYAH!

4) Scotty and Kevin get back together

The whole affair thing was a pretty bad contrivance, since it only lasted three episodes. The whole thing just felt like the show was spinning its wheels, running out of story lines. I mean, think about it. The affair had no lasting effects, at all. I'm sure, by next week, it'll be forgotten. The only part I enjoyed about the whole arc was the idea that when you cheat on someone, you not only (potentially) lose them, but their family. And in Scotty's case, that's a pretty big deal because: 1) His family sucks and 2) They're the WALKERS! Who doesn't love them? However, it was basically all a big waste of time. But I was still sad to see them apart. I am very, very happy to have them back. I don't love Kevin, but I adore Scotty so much, that I don't want to see him unhappy for one nanosecond. So I'm very glad they're back together.

5) The power of four conquer Juliet, and then go on to take over the world (well, that last part didn't happen. But one day...)

They're like a gang of superheroes, out to save (and/or destory) the Upper East Side (and then the world! Muah ha ha!). They all have a different superpower. Blair can scheme and manipulate people into doing whatever she wants. Serena can use her sex appeal to bed pretty much anyone, and make them fall in love with her, even though she's the most annoying human ever. Chuck can screw everyone's brains out. And Nate can...show everyone how to dye their hair really badly and act like a complete douche. All very useful superpowers. All they need is wicked costumes (anyone else see Blair as Wonder Woman? Huh? Huh?). They're like an incestuous version of the Fantastic Four! And this week they used their combined superpower to take down Juliet. Serena made her look like a fool. Chuck is sexing up Blair, so he stuck up for her, continuing the ruse. Nate slept with her. And Blair finished her off, with a banishment from Columbia. A perfect roast. Superman couldn't have done it better! Three cheers for the power of four!

5) Sam, Finn, and Tina imagine Bieste while making out

No, just kidding. That was the most disturbing story line of my life.

A good week of TV (and a great episode of Gossip Girl!). Very excited for next week.

Good night all. Sweetest dreams.

MEG CABOT ROCKS

So, still sick. Did I mention how much it SUCKS?!? I am soooo bored. I have watched so much TV that I don't even want to watch TV. I've done homework. I've felt guilty about not doing homework. I've felt guilty about not going to school.

So, seeing as I'm in such desperate need of entertainment, who better to turn to then the good old blog. Oh, bloggie, I love you. I also love calling you bloggie. And, I love to talk about books. AND, I love to make lists. So I was thinking...how about a book list? Ohhhhh....Exciting I know. As you'll remember from this post (my top rated blog post ever!!!!), I started a little adventure through my bookshelf, doing little minature reviews of all my books. Today I'm going to continue that little journey, with my second shelf. Here's the first half:

20) The Princess Diaries, Book 4: Princess in Waiting by Meg Cabot (2 copies, one hardcover, one softcover)

So we're back at the Princess Diaries. Well, all the other things I said about the series still apply. I LOVE THE PRINCESS DIARIES. This book is a little boring, in the beginning, when she is still in Genovia. But then, she comes back to New York and sees Michael, and all is well. The Princess Leia underwear. The limo door kiss. The homeroom visit. And, of course, the ending, with the Screening Room and the "of course I'm in love with you" thing. So all in all, a good book. When I was younger, this book used to annoy me because Mia spends so much time worrying if Michael is going to break up with her, when clearly, he's in love with her. He told her so in the last book. Duh! Now that I've grown up a little (or a lot. 8 years is a longtime), I understand Mia more. I understand the insecurity and the self-doubt and the idea that it is all too good to be true. Of course, I've never had a boyfriend, but, you know, I can imagine where she's coming from now. So this book has actually grown on me, if that was possible.

21) The Princess Diaries, Book 5: Princess in Pink by Meg Cabot 

This one is good too. Again, when I was younger I was little confused by this book. What's the big deal about prom? And why won't Michael go, to make Mia happy? Well, I still don't know the answers to those questions. I'm a senior in high school now, and my prom is coming up in May. I have no desire to go to it. Not because I won't have a date (which I won't, but that's okay) but because, quite frankly, I just don't care. I don't like dressing up. And I don't like dances. I mean, I'll probably end up going, because my friends want to. But it won't be my choice. So why is Mia so crazy about it? Does anyone feel that crazy about prom? WHY? Okay, enough with the tangent. Point is, it's a good book, even if I don't understand the prom thing. There's the seven minutes in heaven thing. And the actual prom. Both good moments. All in all, a good book. 

22) The Princess Diaries, Book 5.5: Princess Present by Meg Cabot

Ugh. This sucks. But it's only a novella, so I don't count it in the Princess Diaries lore, so it's alright. The whole ebay thing is so stupid. The whole book is pretty stupid. Just don't read it. 

23) The Princess Diaries, Book 6: Princess in Training by Meg Cabot

This one is about sex (or the lack therefore of). Michael is very different in this book than in previous books. But I understand him. And I don't really blame him for it. And it all ends well with the whole "one day, you will be mine thing". Good book, but not great. 

24) The Princess Diaries, Book 7: Party Princess by Meg Cabot

I didn't love this one. I hate JP. And Michael was weird. I really don't have much more to say about it. 

25) The Princess Diaries, Book 7.5: Valentine Princess by Meg Cabot

Another novella. Ugh. This one's better than the last one, but not by much. The whole present thing is cute. And the "I've never had a girlfriend thing" is a nice moment. But really, not worth the $10.

26) The Princess Diaries, Book 8: Princess on the Brink by Meg Cabot

NOOOOOO! MICHAEL AND MIA _ _ _ _ _  _ _. I won't spoil it for you. But it's big. A good book, but a hard book. You'll see what I mean once you read it. It has nice moments--the thing on the swings, part of the stuff in the hotel room. But brace yourself. You've been warned. 

27) The Princess Diaries, Book 9: Princess Mia by Meg Cabot

This one is hard to evaluate. I don't like anything that happens in this book, but I still don't think that is necessarily a reason to hate the book. The pacing is a little annoying and JP is the worst character ever. It's not a fun book to read. But I don't know if I'd call it a bad book. I'm still conflicted. 

28) The Princess Diaries, Book 10: Forever Princess by Meg Cabot

BEST BOOK EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The interview thing. The "And I'll wait" thing. The Central Park thing. The after prom thing. The book's not perfect. JP is a complete idiot (or, as the kids in my class would say, "JP is a complete douche") and Mia was an idiot for staying with him. And she really copped out on the racier scenes, with those awful excerpts from "Mia's novel". But who cares about any of that? Michael and Mia end up together! Nothing else matters. For ten years, I loved Michael and Mia. 10 books. Millions of rereadings. Lots of lending and discussing with friends. So much waiting, always wanting the next book. And it was worth it. I've never enjoyed a book more. The entire time I was reading I kept not wanting to read, because I didn't want the book to end. I would pick it up, to read a page or two, and suddenly I'd read 50 pages. It was like water, pure liquid, flowing through my fingers. No book has ever matched that feeling for me. And that's why Forever Princess is one of my two favourite books of all time. 

29) She Went All the Way by Meg Cabot

Basically porn. But good porn. Satisfying porn. God, grandma, please don't read that. 

30) The Mediator Series, Books 1-6, by Meg Cabot

Ghosts, ghosts, and more ghosts. Not really my thing. But, you know, it was summer. And it was Meg Cabot. And I wouldn't exactly say they were bad. Just not my taste. Oh, except for hot ghost Jesse. He was my taste (I love the ending to the sixth book!).

Wow, well, that was weird. All Meg Cabot books. And there's still more to come. I pretty much own her whole collection. So if you don't let Meg, tune out for the next post. Or forever. Because someone who isn't a friend of Meg's isn't a friend of mine (oh, I kid you. Mostly).

I love you Meg Cabot. 

I don't fell well

I'm feeling very sick (oh body, why must you betray me so?!?!?) and my head feels all stuffed up, and coherent thought is more than I am capable of at the moment, so I'm going to let it all dribble out, randomly...hopefully you can follow my train of thought (thought I highly doubt it).

I spent the weekend in the Big Apple (ha, god, no, I don't actually call it that. I'm not that much of a dork). Amendment (a word I learned from my Model UN days): I spent my weekend in NYC. I was there to cheer my father on as he ran his 21st marathon (shout out to dad! woohoo!), which is always fun, if not a little tiring on the legs (standing for hours on end) and the arms (trying to shove my way to the front of the crowd and then defending my spot against Grandma lady and annoying blond chick and ain't I so cute cause I'm a child and my dad calls me pickle kid). But it's all worth it for dad. Look at the giant-ass metal he got:

I got to go to some of my favourite food spots, such as Au Bon Pain (which, for the life of them, my parents cannot pronounce the name of) and Whole Foods (where my dad got an awful toothache). Yum, yum, yum. And I got to go to the Outlet Mall and buy a pretty North Face top and a nice Gap sweater, which also offered me the opportunity to fight with yet another Gap employee about the fact that their employer won't manufacture jeans in my size, even though I'm average height. And I got to Central Park, which I always love. And, I went to the Park with my dad and he managed to keep his mouth shut about how beautiful the park is, which was amazing, since he usually spouts on and on and on about how it is the greatest place on earth and how he has to move to New York just so he can come and walk his dog here everyday (actually, on second thought, he did do a little of that. But it was so much less than usual, so credit to dad. Yay dad! Good weekend for you. You ran a marathon and managed to keep quiet about the wonder that is Central Park. I'm not sure which is a greater achievement). Oh, and I also got to see My Big Friggin' Wedding (The Best Show. EVER.) on friday night in my hotel room. Laughed my head off at that one (a case where rofl and lol and whatever other stupid acronym that people type all the time without meaning it, is actually applicable).

Sadly, I didn't get to go the CBS store, which was my main goal on the trip. Apparently, it closed down do to some rent issue, which means I wasn't able to buy this t-shirt, which I have coveted for SOOOO LONG:

But, you know, that's okay. Because this week's episode wasn't very good. I love Sheldon and company, but last thursdays episode was just...bad. Terribly unfunny. Ack. Ack. Ack. I did not lol or rofl or lmfao once. Leonard was just awkward. Raj was stupid. Howard was annoying. And Sheldon, my dear Sheldon, was boring and out of character. Why would he give Howard a high five? He hates physical contact (though I did love that he used hand sanitizer right afterwords. That was very Sheldon).

Speaking of TV....where do I start? As I gushed on and on about in my last post, CHUCK AND BLAIR GOT BACK TOGETHER (We'll see tonight if it sticks). And Kai and Adam are going to come together to make the best episode of TV ever. And Hellcats was very nice too (Dan and Marty! Dan and Marty!). Cougar Town was a letdown this week (man, was it a bad week for comedy). As for the rest of the shows, well....I haven't watched them. But it's not my fault. They all aired on thursday night (plus sunday night, for Brothers & Sisters), when I was at a cheap hotel somewhere in upstate New York. And then my favourite online TV site crashed. Oh, the horror. Does anyone have any suggestions? Because if I can't watch TV illegally online, what will I do? Watch it when it actually airs? ARE YOU INSANE?!?

I did get to watch one thing on TV this weekend though, as I was packing up my hotel room. I'm not sure what it was called. BRB, I need to go IMDB it (I love how that has become a verb!). Here it is. Apparently was called The Ringer and it starred Johnny Knoxville (who is that exactly? The name sounds familiar..) and Katherine Heigl (who I recognized, of course, since I've watched Grey's Anatomy, seasons 1-3). Here's the poster, to give you an idea:

It was about this guy who pretended he was mentally challenged so he could win the Special Olympics, and pay back some guy named Stavi because he cut off his fingers (or something along those lines. I missed certain parts of the movie, playing hide and seek with all my belonging in the hotel). He had a crush on Katherine Heigl, a volunteer at the Olympics, but she only saw him as a sweet disabled guy. Stuff happens, not much of which I remember because it didn't involve romance. All I know is that they kissed at the end of the movie, which means that I must give this movie my kiss (ah!) of approval.

After all this fun, I came home last night at 2:00 in the morning and woke up at 8:00 feeling awful. Sick as a dog. Fast forward 10 hours (during which I read, tried to find Hellcats/Bones/Big Bang on the internet, felt sick, and then felt sick some more and then did a little drama homework), and here we are. It's the sweet life, I tell you.

Well, that's it. Have a good night. Hope you're feeling better than I am right now.

There are not enough adjectives to describe how excited I am because...

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!! THE WORLD HAS RIGHTED ITSELF!!! LIFE IS GREAT, AMAZING, EXTRAORDINARY, FANTASTIC, AND EVERY OTHER POSITIVE ADJECTIVE EVER INENTED!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!

Of course, only one thing could make me this happy. And if you've read this post or this post, you'll know what it is. Yes. You saw that right. You know what's coming. A Drumroll Please...

CHUCK AND BLAIR GOT BACK TOGETHER (! x infinity) 

I am soooooo happy. It's been so long!! I mean, yes, it was a stupid way for them to get back together. But who cares about how. I'm just happy that it happened. I mean look how cute they are: 

I know this may be only temporary. But I'll take all I can get. After a season full of Serena sabotaging (which they still haven't explained by the way, and it's getting ANNOYING) and stupid European girlfriends and Dan's fake baby (dear lord), I finally get my moment. After suffering through all of that, hoping for one little Chuck and Blair moment, it finally happened.

I'm just so happy. It's been a bad season for my favourite couples. Booth got a girlfriend, so Booth and Brennan won't get together. Erica's interested to Adam, not Kai, so nothing's happening there. Rebecca left Justin (and left the show!). I needed something good and there's nothing better than a good Chair reunion. You know I love me some Chair (or some Bluck--which ever you prefer). 

YAY!

Easy, Breezy, Katiegirl

Ahh....

Do you hear that? Yes, that's the sound of sweet bliss, as my life finally slows down, and I actually have time to both inhale and exhale, a luxury I have been denied in the last few weeks. Seriously, for the last month I've looked like this:

But now, finally, I can exhale, relax a little, blow off some steam. Of course, life can't just stop. I still have mountains of homework to finish and I have a bunch of social commitments this weekend. I am volunteering at my friend's race for Oxfam, and then I am helping to throw her a surprise party (hopefully she doesn't read this blog, or I just blew the big secret!). I have to leave by 7:30 to get to the park for the run, and I won't be home until 9 or 10 at night, after a long night of cake and presents and scary movies (which I hate, so I'll have to bring a book of some kind). Then Sunday is homework day. Yay, yay, yay!!

So, what shall we talk about today (anyone else notice the rhyme? Anyone? Anyone?!?)? Well, there are lots of things going on in the world. Hannah Montana's parents broke up. Penn Badgley and Blake Lively (aka Dan and Serena) broke up too. A frickin' idiot kid brought a BB gun to school, resulting in a 2 hour AFTER SCHOOL lockdown, where the police threw students against lockers and interrogated them (not me, thank heavens, but some people I know). My biology test went well (thanks for asking). Oh, and Toronto got a new mayor, Rob Ford. Everyone who lives in my neighbourhood and the surrounding areas absolutely hates Mr. Ford, so they were very upset that he won (VERY upset. You should have seen the Facebook status updates. They were insane!). And Adam rejected Erica on Being Erica, but hey, at least Lenin and Claire got somewhere. So, not the best week ever. But not the worst either. Average, average, average.

Me's be's very tired'ess (Sorry, I doubt you could understand that. But if you did, or, at least, you think you do, good on you). Me eyes be closing as me fingers type. Okay, okay I'll stop. I'm trying to think of something to write about. A good list or a good rant or a good something. Actually, I do have something. I saved it up from a really long time ago (way back when I started this blog) and I think I'll use it. It makes me laugh. Here, taken from urbandictionary.com (very funny site-CHECK IT OUT!) are my favourite definitions of so-called "urban slang", though I've never heard any of these ones. I should start using them, they are so cute.

1) Pen You In

2) Stoplight Party 
3) Pi Time
4) Lady and the Tramp It 
5) Reindeer Gaming
6) Face Base (oh Facebook, how long is left until you officially take over the world?)
7) jfgi 
8) Piglet Flu

I hope you enjoyed those. They made me smile, so I thought they might brighten your day, just a little bit. Lots of smiles all around. Easy, breezy, free from homework.

BLISS.

Love you always,

Katherine