Tuesday, April 29, 2008

i only feel Alive when i'm catching waves in the Pipeline

I'm a little cheesed off right now. But I'm going to take a moment to recollect myself before continuing with this blog.

...

I think it's awesome that the college kids have their own "youth group" to go to now. They need it because they aren't in high school anymore and they are dealing with different things so it's good that they are able to have something like that for their age group. I also like how it's given the seniors of this year an opportunity to step up in leadership. We aren't under the wings of the college kids anymore so it has forced us to be pushed out of our comfort zones. But what I do not like about all of this is that the college kids don't really inter-mingle with us like they used to, and vice versa. Yeah, there are still the rare hangouts when everyone goes to the Bee's or something, but it's definitely not the same.

I'm not trying to live in the past or anything, but I really miss those friendships that I have. I feel like I don't really know them anymore because they are always busy going to Busch Gardens or camping with each other, and we are busy with camp and Winter Retreat and missions trips. There's no connection anymore. And everytime I talk to one of the college kids, they all say that they miss hanging out with us.

So I've come to this conclusion: I think that Tuesday nights should be how they are, and so should Wednesday nights, but I think there should be a thing, not necessarily an official church deal, but something that gets both groups of students hanging out with each other so that connection is reconnected. Whether it be once a week, every other week, or once a month, there needs to be something planned that will make it so we can all hang out. An unofficial something, but something that is still organized. And I'm not talking about Beach Worship. That doesn't count. But I digress.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I miss my other friends and not hanging out with them as much. I love you guys.

peace, love, and new ideas.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Writer's Blog

I have been desperate to write a song lately. I don't know why, but I have had writer's block for a good two months now. My New Year's goal was to write two songs a month, but that's not happening. I don't know what's wrong with me! Perhaps my song-writing skills have taken a vacation. Or maybe they're on the back of a milk carton. Either way, I have no idea where they went. They could've left a note or something. Or a phone number I could reach them at so I could get a clue as to what to write a song about.

I have some ideas, but don't know how to start. Ideas:
-Something about how the bad memories are easier to remember than the good memories
-Something about graduating (without being cheesy) but not actually about graduating
-Something about not being able to write a song (kind of ironic if I actually write it)

So those are some things I'd like to write songs about. If you want (and I'd really appreciate it), send me a couplet or a quatraine to help get me started. Or even a list of rhyming words (hold the cheese, please). Thanks in advance.

peace, love, and writer's block

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Sweden Funds and Gradebooks

I must start off with a thank you to Tracy Vetesse (sp?) for asking me to house sit this weekend. I'm definitely starting to raise a good amount of money to get myself on a plane to Sweden, and jobs like these are really helping. Also, another thanks to Mrs. McNeal for asking me to do some things around her house for the summer. And, last but not least, thank you to all of you who have sent me checks in the mail or have asked for a container to put change in. I really appreciate it. More than you know.

I don't really have a whole lot to say today, but that's because I'm still new to this blogging thing. I want to get in the habit of doing it every day, or every other day, so that you can take a peek into the depths of my teenage life. Oh! Just thought of something...

Lately, my mom has been really getting on my case about the dumbest things. Typical mom stuff, right? Well, she's been really concerned about my grades (not that they're bad), and really practically yelling at me if I mess up on something. I guess that's because I'll be the first Riccardi to know for sure that they are graduating way before the actual graduation date. (My sister and brother REALLY slacked in high school.) So there was this AP English assignment that was due last week, and it was counting as a quiz grade. *Side note: There's this program called School Dynamics and it's basically an online gradebook for teachers, but they don't update it every day, and when they do, it takes twenty-four hours for it to show up on the website.* Well, I did this assignment on my laptop, but I couldn't print it, so I emailed my teacher. Apparently, when she entered the grades, she didn't check her email so she didn't know I sent it to her, so she put in a 2% as my grade for that piece of homework.

My mom checked School Dynamics and FREAKED out at me like she would have if she came home and I had colored on the walls with permanent marker and broken the sliding glass doors. I tried to explain to her what had happened, and I talked to my teacher about it and she then checked her email. Everything was fixed, but she still didn't believe me. I guess that's how parents are.

All this to say, I don't think it's right that my mom will trust me with anything else in the world, but not when it comes to school. I understand that she wants me to do well, and I'm graduating this year, and I have major Senioritis, but she needs to get off my back about everything. It's not right for parents to put that much pressure on their kids, even though their intentions are good. There are other ways of getting your kids to do well besides yelling at them. Oh well.

peace, love, and online gradebooks.
kaeli

Friday, April 25, 2008

Ok so, who doesn't own a cell phone?

I have conformed. Yes, it is true, I now have a blog (outside of myspace). Hopefully, I will be faithful to you all in updating this regularly, but there are no guarantees. Back in eighth grade, I had a Xanga, but I haven't really "blogged" in a while. "Blog" is a weird word.

First order of business. I need friends. Not real life friends, but friends on here. I have no idea how this thing works yet, so if you can offer any help in setting up links to other peoples blogs, let me know.

Second thing. How do I get a cool template/background/layout for my blog? I looked at the ones they offer on here, and well, I'm not a fan.

Numero tres. Smooches. Leave me comments.