Paris

It's been a good few days since I've posted anything. This is an older picture, taken in Paris. I enjoy playing with the hues in photoshop :)

Seeing Double?

Today I skipped school (with parental permission!) and went downtown again with my mom and some of our friends. Surprisingly, it wasn't too busy considering the holiday season is literally just around the corner. We ate lunch in the Walnut Room at Macy's, formerly known as Marshall Fields. Like always, the tree was stunning, but I never managed to snap a decent picture of it. The hustle and bustle of getting to and from the train station made it hard to stop and take some really serious photographs, but I did manage to catch this reflection shot while the other women took a bathroom break. The city is beautiful this time of year. It was rather overcast today, so all the Christmas lights were aglow. Stunning. Simply stunning.

Apparently tonight we're supposed to get a big ice storm. Do me a favor and pray for a school cancellation. :)

Always Take the Snow Day

On Thursday a close friend of mine attempted to take her life. Luckily, she admitted to this, and she is now in an institution where doctors and psychiatrists can help her. The whole situation was horribly shocking; I never saw it coming, and I feel extremely guilty for that. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for kids 15 to 24 years old. That's so wrong. At that age, we still have our whole lives in front of us. I can't even comprehending having a desire to cut it short.

Yesterday was Friday, and around ten that morning I was sitting in English class. We were discussing Dandelion Wine, which has several characters who realize the magnificence of life throughout the novel. Fittingly, we started talking about how beautiful life is. My teacher made the comment that it is so great because it is so short. Think about it- the fact that we only have maybe 90 or so years to explore the earth and all it has to offer makes the concept of life seem a lot more important. If we lived for thousands of years, the idea of living would lose its luster. The fact that our time on this planet is so finite is what makes it so unbelievably amazing. As humans, we never know how long we have on this planet. Something could happen, and we may not be around to see tomorrow. It's so important to always live your life to the fullest.

"That's why," my teacher began, "you always take the snow days. A lot of the time the faculty and students alike complain that they're a hassle because you have to make them up in the summer. But the truth is guys, something could easily happen and summer might never come. Always, always take the snow days."

Galaxies