Wisdoms and Realizations of a Graduate - pt1

As my last high school summer slowly comes to a close I've realized how much the things and people around me have changed. It's weird to think that my freshman year at Sparta High School I was that strange 'goth' kid who tried so hard to pull off a look that wasn't quite right. And to see the friendships I held dear weren't quite right either. Now looking back I know it's easy to regret certain parts of my past but it's better to just learn from them. I was never the out going person in high school and that's one thing I missed out on, but on the other hand, I know I was always a good person to those around me. So with the regrets there are always positives. Since Graduation my life has changed. I've been working a full time job, my relationship with friends aren't quite what they were, my relationship has gotten stronger (3 months away from a year!), and my stress levels have risen. However, this all part of my experiences in life. The decisions I make in my life will all be new experiences and something to learn from. And for me, that's what life is. A Learning Experience (how many times have you heard that phrase?). Whether life is long or short or somewhere inbetween it's always a journey filled with unexpected turns and forks in the road.
Life for me has be stressful, fun, depressing, maddening, histerical and everywhere in between. But with all of those ups and downs and twists and turns life is always Beautiful. Sometimes I think people forget the small things that make life what it is. So my advice to anyone who reads this is: Look at the things around you. The small things that you don't pay attention to until someone else points it out. Something as small and overlooked as a leaf or expression. It's easy to focus on the big events and things in the world but true beauty comes from those overlooked and unnoticed. So i challenge you to take a moment out of your summer day to step outside and take a good look at the world and see what it has to offer and where the beauty is for you.
Though I may never have had a full and lengthy conversation with the majority of my graduating class I do wish you all of the best in your lives. Just remember: Keep Your Head Up...The Colors Are Beautiful

Awesome documentary!

Food Inc.

Everyone should watch it. I know you won't, but you should.

"There is a time for everything.... a time to be silent and a time to speak" --Ecclesiastes 3

Just something I thought you'd be interested in...

so i have just found out about this awesome new thing (not new to the world, just new to me) called a print on demand service. let me explain: a few days ago i was reading a revising blog post from one of my favorite authors, maggie stiefvater, and she mentioned something about needing a sense of objectivity to revise something well, and a good way to do that was have a print on demand website print off the book so it actually looks like a book. just reading the sentence made my blood start pumping with anticipation. she specifically mentioned lulu.com, so i went and checked it out.

basically, lulu.com is a self-publishing online company. they will print out your book, short story, poetry book, or any other type of book you can think of for a low price and it will look like something you could buy in a store. you can just do one copy for revising purposes or for your own personal enjoyment, or you can go full out and have them distribute it to places like amazon.com and barnes & noble. that costs a lot more, but you'll have your book in a public place where people can buy it!

i just thought i'd let the CW class know about this because i know some of you would jump at this like i did. and WK, maybe you could integrate this into next year's CW class. or at least let them know about it because i'm sure they'd appreciate something like this! seeing as i don't have a full novel done yet, but i really, really want to try this out now, i fully intend to have a published, professional looking, basically a book copy of my latest short story by the end of the summer. complete with a custom cover. so what are you waiting for?? go check out lulu.com!! as for me, i'm off to morgan's graduation party in a little bit! :)

Summertime Book Nook!

Hey, here is a new blog I am starting for our book club activities: summertimebooknook@blogspot.com Just like this blog, I want everyone to be able to post, not just comment. Ergo, I need your email so I can 'invite' you to be an author. If you are interested... The Help in June and Tale of Two Cities in July... send me an email: ms_wyckoff@yahoo.com or comment back to this with your email.

What time is it? summertime!

Senior Pictures

Congratulation all of you new seniors. One more year to go. I know a lot of you will probably put off getting senior pictures taken until the end of summer or beginning of fall (I know I did). When you start looking, keep me in mind. I have an awesome camera, and I even took pictures for my friends last year. I take the pictures at a local park so they're all outdoor backgrounds. Twenty dollars for two hours and as many pictures and wardrobe changes as can be fit into that amount of time. If you and your friends want some pictures together and some apart, that can be arranged. I'll put the pictures on your flash drive for you and you can have them printed from Meijer or any similar place, so you have complete control over them. It's really fun and a lot cheaper than other places. The pictures I took with my friends turned out better than the ones my mom had a professional photographer take. Just e-mail me at aerithsprite@hotmail.com and comment on this post that you are doing so. That way I know the e-mail I got was from one of you. Have a good summer.

Here are some examples of the pictures I've taken:

Pics to post!

Oops

So after graduation practice, my friends and I went to a park down near Alpine. Nicole and I found two really cool flowers and picked them. According to the information she just sent me, they've been the State wild flower in Michigan since 1998 and oh yeah, they're on the "threatened" list. Oops.