Sweet Disposition

"You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved." --Ansel Adams

It's been awhile again. And I apologize. So much. When I went on my college visits during spring break a few weeks ago, I only brought my point-and-shoot. And for some reason I can't bring myself to upload the pictures onto my computer because of how the quality will turn out while sitting next to the photos taken by my dSLR. I guess while on the topic of photography, Picnik (an online photo editor) is officially closed. Forever. I used it for quick edits and placing my watermark everywhere, but now that it's gone, I had to try out something new. I went onto a new site to do edits, and I already don't like them. They made everything too bright and overexposed-looking. As for my watermark, I created one on my actual photo editing software on my computer and from now on will be using that. It's infinitely times easier, but I just fear that it'll turn out too inconsistent size-wise.

On a different note, this school year is finally winding down to the end. We've officially hit fourth quarter, and I am so glad that summer's on its way. In this past week, the weather was beautiful--hitting 90 degrees on Monday. It's finally shorts season, and I am overjoyed. I can't wait until this all becomes constant. I live for the heat.

The seniors in my school are going on their class trip to Disney World tomorrow! Every year, the seniors take a trip to Disney, and I'm so excited for next year. Just imagining being in Disney World with my closest friends makes me so happy. Roller coasters, nostalgia, childhood--all of that with no one but the people I love hanging out with. :)

Anyhow, in an attempt to make this post a little bit more interesting, I've decided that I want to list 25 facts about me. I feel like I didn't really get a chance to introduce myself properly on this blog, and I have nothing else to say about my life other than school is difficult as per usual. This is probably odd since I've had this blog for over a year now, but here goes nothing:

1. I collect key chains. I plan on getting one from all 50 states in the U.S. and at least one from each continent of the world.
2. I love painting even though I don't get to do much of it anymore.
3. Photography is something that I do on my own. My parents don't know I use the dSLR nearly every weekend.
4. I'm really into alt rock. And occasionally indie rock, too.
5. I can play the piano, violin, and clarinet.
6. I play tennis and run track.
7. I really wish I had a pen pal. Writing letters and getting mail are some of the best things in life.
8. I am a morning person. People think I'm crazy, but I can't stand sleeping in late.
9. I sleep very little. On school nights, I average 3 to 4.5 hours.
10. I don't enjoy watching movies. My friends have to drag me to the theatres. (Last year, I saw a total of two movies, haha.)
11. I love minimalist design. All of my blogs have very simple layouts.
12. Sushi, pho, and pasta are love.
13. Bubble tea, Starbucks frappuccinos, caramel steamers, chai lattes, mocha cafes, and strawberry kiwi lemonade are also amazing.
14. I plan on living in the city one day because this suburb lifestyle is too small for me.
15. I really like words like wanderlust, petrichor, and cataclysmic.
16. I'm Chinese and am (mostly) fluent.
17. I take French in school and am in love with it despite how everyone tells me it's a useless language.
18. I plan on visiting Australia, Brazil, France, and Italy as soon as possible.
19. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people use "amount" instead of "number."
20. Even though I'm American, I spell "theater" like "theatre." I find British English spellings to be more fun than the ones we have here.
21. I have a habit of buying things and never using them. Examples include Wreck This Journal, clothes, and review books.
22. I plan on buying a typewriter in the near future.
23. I think I'd love to live in Australia. The more I look into it, the more beautiful everything seems there.
24. Late-night thunderstorms will always soothe me.
25. I am softly spoken.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. ♥

Somewhere Only We Know

"I am not sad, he would repeat to himself over and over, I am not sad. As if he might one day convince himself. Or fool himself. Or convince others -- The only thing worse than being sad is for others to know that you are sad." - Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated

Some of my favorite books.

Hello, hello! It's been a few weeks since I last posted. And for once, a lot has happened.

First off, prom was on St. Patrick's Day (March 17th), and it was a mixture of awkward and fun. Prom only happens twice in your lifetime, so I'm glad I went, in a sense.

Anyway, because this week is spring break (it's about time!), last week I was suffocated with tests, quizzes, and papers. I don't know how, but I made it through all of the stress. And now there's officially only one more quarter left of the school year! It's crazy, but this year has really gone by so quickly. September feels like it wasn't that long ago, and here we are now, in April. But as nostalgic as this might seem, I'm wholeheartedly glad this year is almost over. I'm so done with the stress and sleep deprivation of junior year.

The perks of being chemists' daughter.

I'm just really glad it's spring break right now. Even though I plan on spending the majority of this week curled up with my AP books and working on my author project for English class, there are definitely perks to this week. I visited two colleges on Saturday and plan on visiting two more on Friday. (A post on that will be made as soon as I overcome laziness.) And last night, I went to my friend's house with a few other friends to just hang out and relax.--I just feel pretty content with life right now, and it's a good feeling to have.

Also, I forgot to mention that I got my driver's license about a week ago! I feel so much closer to freedom already, and I love driving by myself so much. I've been driving to school, and not having to rush when the bell rings at the end of the day is so, so nice. And I love being able to get to places now without having to ask my parents to drive me. ...Everything about having my license is better than I originally imagined.

Anyhow, I should get going! I need to go study and do some work before the NCAA finals today (go Kentucky!). Plus, I have a few pieces of artwork I want to finish while I still have the time. And I need to catch up on my daily reads here on Blogspot! I've been gone for so long that I'm behind with being updated on everyone else's lives.

Hope you all have a wonderful April!