So, anyways....

Man, I haven't been around here in a long time.

Let's see what's to tell: oh, yes!!! My return to skating! March 3rd, 2009 is the day. I ordered my board earlier this week and it's on it's way. I'm finally seizing the moment.

Also, the 24th of February 2009 marked thirteen months since my board was stolen (yes, my board had been stolen because my school doesn't know how to take care of others' property and they had to pay for it). I ordered my board that day. the 21st marked the day I stopped skating overall in November on the 21st because of the stress building up in my life. I couldn't function right. Now, I feel that I can function and balance my life at school and at home. The 20th marked Conan's last show on Late Night, and I was indeed sad. I went to bed at 10 and woke up at 12:30 a.m. that day just to watch Conan's last show. I'll miss him as he will progress to bigger things in California, but I think Jimmy Fallon will do a great job at hosting. He starts Tuesday morning at 12:30 a.m. and I'm looking forward to watching his show.

I got Facebook!!! Yeah!!! It's way better than MySpace because you don't have to worry about being friends with people that you don't even know, so thank goodness for Facebook.

March 3rd is just a few days away!!! I will skate again! And March 6th, 2009, codename 3/6/9 is a skate trip to Staten Island with my friends. I am so looking forward to everything that lies ahead of me. I have rose again!...

I'm Coming Back!!!...

My desire to take control of my life again has finally come into play. School is no longer a factor for me, and here's why:

• My English grade went up from a 75 (term 1) to a 92 (term 2), averaging to an 84 for semester 1.
  
• My Pre-Calculus grade went from a 67 to a 81, averaging into a 74.
• AP Bio went went from a 79 to an 80, averaging into an 80.
• AP Government (History) stayed at a 77 for both terms, meaning I have a 77 for Semester 1.
• Latin went from an 81 to an 82, averaging into an 82.
• AP Art grade went from a 73 to an 87, averaging into an 80 (not included in GPA).
• Senior Seminar went down, but by only one point, 95 to 94. At least it's a 95 for Semester 1 (not included in GPA either).

All in all, my GPA went from a 2.2 to a 3.3, rounding roughly to a 2.8 (I ranked at no. 17 out of 124 students for the first semester).

So what does this mean? I'm at a "I can do better but I'm content with where I'm at" level, and there shouldn't be a reason why I shouldn't be. I wasn't on track last term, and I paid for it. I made sure I did better this term to "even" everything out. I still felt that I could have done better, however.

The good news is that I can return to my normal life. I just have to take control of what needs to get done first, and what can be put on hold for later. But the even good news is that it warrants a return for skateboarding. When? I'm not revealing yet until...02/13/2009! Not far away at all!

Looking back...and looking forward....

I wanted to write this when I graduate in June, but I think I'll write this now:

The past three-and-a-half years of high school was an experience that I'll promise that I'll never, ever, ever forget. I've had my ups and downs, and I loved every minute of it, because high school taught me how the real world will be, not just college, but the work force as well. Now that I'm a senior, I only have five months before it's all over. Senior year was the most challenging year ever. Freshman year, you would be getting used to high school, and sophomore year is the same, except that you're now used to it. Junior year is when the challenge comes into play, and if you don't adapt to the challenge in junior year, then you won't be ready for it in senior year. Trust me, because I feel that I could have done better in junior year. I could have been in the National Honors Society, but my GPA wasn't good enough becuase I wasn't good enough. I'm not trying to be hard on myself, I'm not at all, but I'm just looking back to realize what I could have been. It may be too late to leave a mark in high school now, but it's not too late to leave a mark in college, probably becuase college for me didn'tm even start yet. If I do get into NYU, I promise to make sure that I'll accomplish everything that I didn't in high school. I'm not using NYU as a rebound, but I know that they would want to see the best in me, and nothing less. If I don't get into NYU, then I know that I'll be able to transfer, but only if I put myself to the challenge in my freshman year in college. I can still do this. NYU is not out of my reach. It's a far reach, but I can get there if I put myself to it.

The worst is SO not over....

I've almost finished finals. Congratulations to me. Things at school is getting much better. Things at home, eh, not so much.

I really wanted 2009 to be my year, but right now, it's not looking good. Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life. My mom and I had a huge argument and something almost ugly ensued. I'm not at liberties to discuss it, but I think a lot of people know the definition of ugly is when something happens between you and your parents.

I don't think I told anyone about the death of my dad, but if I haven't, I'll spill it out. He passed away in 2004, a day after my thirteenth birthday (December 18th, so his passing occured on the 19th). I really don't tell anyone about my dad, especially if they ask though.

My dad and I lived together for twelve-and-a-half years. He got sick in 2004 and I had to move in with my mom, and my life has gone downhill ever since. I've lost interest in the things I used to care about. My grades have slipped. I don't even know if I ever want to skateboard ever again. That's how much my life sucks. When you're a teen and don't want to socialize, then something must be wrong with you, and you're not a normal teen at all.

I remember one time my cousin, who's 23 right now, was told by his mom not to come to the house for the rest of the evening. This was sometime around last year, and he, along with both of his parents and an older sister and a younger brother, live under the same roof. He slept at his girlfriend's house for the night, so based on the severity of what went down between me and my mom yesterday (did I mention that my iPod and phone are gone?), I'm going to stay over at my brother's house for the weekend, and hopefully, she'll cool down, and so will I.

Congratulations to Barack Obama

Today we started off the day with George Bush still our president, but today will end with Barack Obama being our next president, and the first African-American person to hold the role as well. I wish him all the best.

Without a doubt, Bush did a hell of a job as president, but most of his decisions weren't right most of the time, which led him to having the lowest approval rate ever. We definitely needed change. People could have chosen Obama or McCain, as either way would be change, but I'm glad people made the right choice to choose Obama, who the country needs right now.

Former President Bush, thank you for your eight years of service. Current President Obama, I wish you the best eight years of service (assuming people choose to re-elect him, but I'll keep my fingers crossed).

Another "okay" week.

The second week of school went, well, okay. Things are slowly progressing for me but I'm still not at the level I want to be. My GPA last term was a 2.2 and I'm really starting to feel the pressure as I enter the last week of the semester. I found out that I have to get at lease an 89 in English, Math, History, Science and Latin to get a 3.2 average for this term, which will round off to a 3.0 for the semester. I keep telling myself that I can pull myself together, but I don't know if I'm pushing myself to the standard I want to be at. NYU does not like slackers, and I don't want to be one. Why, during senior year, does everything have to be so difficult?

Yesterday I saw an old teacher of mine, who left to be a musician in Tennessee. I was really happy to see her because she is one of the high school teachers I have that made me like English now, and I don't blame her, considering that NYU's Tisch has writing programs, even in Film and TV.

BTW, I already got an acceptance letter from Marymount (yay!) and a non-acceptance letter from Purchase (boo). I'm glad I got into a college, and I handled not getting into Purchase well, considering that it wasn't a major choice of mine. But what if I don't get into NYU? I'm really scared. I have until April until I know if I'm going in or not but I don't think I can handle the news of not being admitted to the college of my dreams.

Week 2 of 2009's school year is over. Week 3, here I come! (P.S. Reason to be worried: finals week!!!)

Off to a good start....

2009 is looking good for me. I'm making sure my grades are up and stay up there. But all in all, everything is going according to plan, and I couldn't ask for more.

I'd rate last week a solid 9 out of 10. I deducted a point because there's stuff that still needs to be done. However, yesterday, I would rate a 15 out of 10: I saw my "ex-crush" yesterday!!! She's in college now (goes to CityTech in Brooklyn), so I'm glad she's moving up in the world. She's still single, too (I'm really getting above myself right now, sorry) but is remaining single for some time. She can't deal with guys right now, and I can't deal with girls right now, either. I want to handle my business first before I think of anything else, especially girls, and even skating.

I'm still not giving any hints when I'm coming back, but wait until February 13th and I'll break the news then.

Happy New Year!!!

Yeah, the title's self-explnatory, but happy new year to all!

Hmm, 2009 is finally here. I want to make sure 2009 is the best year possible, and not follow a repeat of 2008, which was the worst year of my life. I promised a return to skateboarding, but I still want to make sure my grades for my first semester warrant a good return.

And I finally sent out my NYU portfolio! I applied to the Tisch School of the Arts at the Film and TV Division. I had to send a three-part portfolio: one part is a resume (although I let NYU know that I pretty much haven't done jack in my life); the second part was a short story called "Karma is Dead", which is about a kid who has something stolen from him, and the third pary was a dramatic short story of a life experience of mine titled "Back on Track". I pray to God that it arrives to Tisch in one piece and also that I get in NYU. If that happens, 2009 will definitely rock for sure!

That's all for now. Have a great 2009! 02/13/2009! (I'm still teasing my return when I'll announce my return to sakting.)

Judgment Day

So I finally finished my NYU portfolio...whoop-de-doo. I'm going to send it out tomorrow morning via Priority Mail so it will get to them by Wednesday. After all, how long should it take regardless for a piece of mail to get from Brooklyn to Manhattan?

Something juts hit me: why doesn't Tisch allow their applicants to submit their portfolios online instead of mailing them, like how the NYU application works? NOT eco-friendly after all, are you NYU?!?!?!

I'm not going to bust their chops right now about the issue, I'll wait for four-and-a-half months until acceptance letters start coming in the mail, and when I get accepted, THEN I'll get on their case.

I don't think I mentioned this, but my school gives students and faculty three weeks off from school for Christmas break! We got out on the 12th and will return on the 5th on next year! Other schools got out during the 23rd and only get ten school days off. Ha ha!

I needed this vacation: me and my mom are doing better, only becuase we had a big arguent this morning. The reason why I feel better about it is becuase I made her hear my voice, when usually I'm mute and just hold everything in. Not today. Although I did get emotional, I felt MUCH better.

So this marks the last week I'm on vacation. Surprisingly, I can't wait to go back to school. I have most of my homework done, and I feel ready to take on 2009. 2008 was indeed a very shitty year for me, and I'm not going to make 2009 a repeat. Without a doubt, I will rise again...and I'll be skating again. February 13th is drawing near....

Merry Christmas...

...and happy holidays to all!!!