This is dedicated to Hannah DeRegibus. I hope my words will live up to your high expectations.

Oh, and just to preface this post for anyone who may NOT be aware... I'm working as a performer at Sea World this summer as a synchronized swimmer. Now, let me begin...

In addition to my usual daily thought process about how much I love my job, I had a moment of "wow, this is a truly awesome job" this afternoon. As I was swimming underwater at the beginning of my second show today, I looked down and saw a beluga (I think it was Luna) casually swimming around underneath me. There's just something about being in the water with mammals large enough to squish me on the bottom of the pool even though they're sweet as can be. It's basically amazing.

My other fun moments from the day include hiding behind a column and peeking out at Martha and talking to Oliver, a baby beluga about a year and a half old (?).Oliver is really playful and likes to come hang out behind the stage between the last two sections of the show. Sometimes he stretches out on his side and waves with his side flipper, or pokes his head up and just kind of tilts his head... ah! it's so cute!

Anyways, that's what I've got for now. More moments from my summer adventures to come, I'm sure!

I was just thinking about how intriguing it is to me that a person can so easily be swayed in his or her opinion by another's perception of something. For example, one day I may view someone quite favorably only to find out that someone close to me has been hurt by this person; all of a sudden, that individual -- having done nothing to me, personally, mind you -- is cast in a negative light. Does anyone else find this phenomenon interesting? Perhaps I'm just thinking too much (as I tend to do quite frequently).

Last night, I watched the movie Vantage Point (which I recommend as a pretty sweet action, suspense film, by the way) and the different perspectives were really captivating. It makes you question what you know because no individual has the full picture, and only when you are placed in the audience with the omniscient point of view do you fully understand what has transpired.

This is true for me in a number of areas of my life, I believe. Obviously, I am limited in what I see and know as an individual who has much left to experience in life, but so often one person's opinion or point of view on a matter influences what I think about something. I wish that I knew a great deal more about so many things which would enable me to have stronger opinions on my own, but alas, I just don't know enough about so much.

Anyways, I'm not sure how connected and coherent those thoughts actually were, but I just felt like rambling a little bit to no one in particular. So, there's that.

Back to life away from the computer! :)

Ooh! Rediscovery of the world of xanga! Holy smokes, I haven't blogged in forever. I suppose I reasoned that not many people would care to read my ramblings which is probably true, but I don't feel like exerting the energy to clean my room, hence the computer has captured my attention for the time being and here I am pointlessly typing away.

The school year flew past. I mean, I really have a hard time believing that I'm a rising junior already. Yikes. I'm going to be busting my butt and applying to grad schools soon. That's pretty frightening if you ask me (which you didn't, but that's beside the point). A few highlights from this school year would probably include my victorious completion of running "the (dreaded) mile" for the first time in my life -- score for being a deprived homeschooler! lol; my incredible survival of classes and work in general without losing all sanity; my unbelievable blessing of friendships and socialization; and, finally, my bittersweet acquisition of my first personally-owned vehicle (the expenses which have ensued are less than fun, but I love the car!).

At the moment, I am quite exhausted from teaching swim lessons, so even blogging is taking too much out of me to continue much longer. I think I shall retire to my bed for some quality reading time. If anyone still reads this and wants further update-age, feel free to comment! Otherwise, I shall ramble more when the mood strikes (i.e. sometime next summer. haha).

Ciao!