Today, I went on a class trip to the Tenement Museum in downtown Manhattan. It was an interesting trip. The whole neighborhood was somewhat ghetto. There were a lot of stores that sold things for cheap. My group went on a walking tour around the neighborhood. The guide explained things to us about the whole area.
Our second tour was of an actual tenement. It was interesting in that they created a different scenario-type thing in each room. We visited two flats from different time periods. Each room told a different story. The attention to detail was quite amazing. There was even a huge cockroach in one of the sinks! Walking inside warmed us up quite a bit.
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After the tours, a group of us went ice skating at Bryant Park. It was probably the best part of the many trips I’ve had over the past week. (I’ve been going on trips since Thursday, that makes 5 in a row.) I had never skated before so I didn’t know how to move around. Hell, I don’t even know how to rollerblade. My friend had to hold my hand the whole time. I still fell, though, and I had to keep grabbing the rail to gain my balance. The last time around, I was able to do it without falling or grabbing the rail. I did hold my friend’s hand the last time around, though.
A few things to remember if you ever go skating:
- Loosen up, helps you keep balance. Bending your knees helps.
- If you’re having a hard time figuring out how to move your feet, watch how others do it from far away.
- Stay away from the rails, you’ll want to grab on.
- Skate with a buddy who knows how!
So, Ramadan is over and we finally celebrated Eid a week ago. It was a fun day. I spent the day with Sudman and Rasidul. Nazmul also hung out with us for a while. At night, we went to my cousin’s house. Since his house is right next to my friend Einul’s, we hung out there instead. (It’s not fun in my cousin’s house.)
I had gotten a haircut the day before because I was tired of my long hair. As I’d expected, I had angered many of my friends. What I didn’t expect was the amount of comments I got from people who’d never said anything about my hair before. I guess change is good. It’s still hard to decide between keeping it short for a while or growing it out again.
Of course, the photo above is one of the first photos of my new haircut. I got back a roll of photos today and put them up on Flickr for your viewing pleasure. I’m actually surprised at the amount of photos that came out nice this time around. Hopefully, I’ll be getting my LC-A fixed sooner and have more than just indoor shots to show off.
What have I been doing lately? Well, I’ve been caught up in schoolwork. Junior year’s very harsh. Definitely don’t wanna slack off this year. It will hurt you. Of course, I’ve also been playing Phantom Hourglass. Although I really like it, the length of the game is disappointing. It’s way shorter than I expected. I honestly think Nintendo could’ve spent more of their time working on the gameplay than the little enhancements. We barely get to use all the little features they spent so much time on. That’s just what I think.
Also, In Rainbows is just awesome. It’s definitely something to listen to. I’ve had the songs stuck in my head since I got the album. I even went as far as putting the whole thing on my phone.
Summer is finally here and I’m glad it is. 10th grade has been a very strange experience for me. I think I’ve matured much more this year than I have before. A lot of changes took place, both good and bad. The importance of setting your priorities right is something I learned the hard way. Also, I ran to be my school Junior Representative for next year and I won. 
That’s something I thought I’d never accomplice.
Summer vacation has pretty much begun for me since I have no more school. I’ve been spending these past few days hanging out with friends. Skateboarding’s also something I’m trying to pick up. It’s actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I suck at doing tricks at the moment, though. I guess I should’ve ran more when I was little, my legs are weak.
My school’s leadership team recently set up a team to walk for WalkAmerica. I’ve always wanted to do a charity walk so I decided to sign up. We’re walking to raise money for the March of Dimes. In case you don’t know what the March of Dimes is, they do research to prevent premature birth. Premature birth is the number one cause of newborn death in America and it can cause many disabilities.
If you’d like to donate money, you can donate at http://walkamerica.org/cafenut I’m hoping to reach my goal of $100 by the day of the walk.
School is so hectic these days. I miss the easiness of elementary school. Being a sophomore is tough. At least I have friends who care about me.
One thing that makes no sense is when new kids are admitted into a school based on the amount of square feet available. There are way too many kids in my school now.
I haven’t blogged in a while. Why? I’ve been really busy and I’m almost always too tired to write. That’s why I’ve decided to post a list of things I want to say.
- I got two tickets to the Decemberists’ show in November.
- Recently, I got a lot of money because of the amount of hours I put into the after school program.
- The NYC subway system is an amazing thing. You get to see so many different kinds of people everytime you ride a train.
- It’s been super hot in New York these past few days.
- I helped design a blog for YoYoNation, where they sell quality yoyos.
- Jamba Juice is a life saver during the summer time.
- I just realized that I can look for a photo lab near work and drop my film off during lunch.
That’s it for now.
I’m working on a project that I should’ve started working on a long time ago. Reminds me of a night a year ago. I need to start learning from my mistakes.
I’m having hallucinations, both visual and auditory. There are thoughts going through my head, including of certain people. It’s crazy what happens to me when I’m sleepy and bored at the same time.
On another note, I now know what it feels like when you underestimate the power of the internet and you make a big mistake. Things you didn’t want happening start to occur and deleting things only prevent further damage.
I haven’t been able to go to school for the past two days. It looks like I have a virus. It sucks since I can barely talk. I’ve been waking up pretty groggy and at later times than usual. All I can do is take Tylenol and cough drops. This sore throat is getting a bit better but it hurts a lot.
I hope I didn’t miss much at school. I don’t know if I’ll be able to perform at the school’s talent show. I’m hoping I can, but I’ll have to wait till then to see if I feel okay enough. I also have to try and make-up a lab that my Chemistry class did today.
On another note, I find it pretty annoying that pretty much all of Death Cab’s music is done with a capo. I kinda forgot to buy one with my guitar, so I can’t really play their stuff.
Us NYC kids had the whole week off. That meant Sudman and Rasidul came over to my place. We had quite a bit of fun. I just wish I had done my homework while they were here.
I am making a promise to myself to never leave any homework for the last minute. I have to stay up late tonight finishing my homework. I also have to pray for a miracle so I can get away with not having finished my (extremely long and tedious) chemistry homework.
So, ever since I was in seventh grade, I would be tortured with the sight of high schoolers getting a week off two times a year. It is due to a special set of tests given throughout New York State. These Regents, as they’re referred to, aren’t really given to most junior high kids, so they still have to go to school. It wouldn’t be that bad if we didn’t have to see more than half the school gone.
If you’re in high school, you either have one test or you don’t. But either way, you get the week off. I have the Math A Regents on Thursday. I have to take a mock Regents tomorrow, for which I need to stay in school for periods 1 through 3. It’s the same schedule on Wednesday but I’m just getting the mock’s results back and reviewing the answers. The day of the test, I have to go to the school by about noon and they hold you for like 2 hours, even though you get 3 hours to take the test, I think.
I even get Monday off since it’s the last day of the term. Yay! Take this all you kids from other states who get their summer, spring, and winter vacations before us NYC kids!
