After a productive and decent day yesterday, I woke up more motivated and excited to work. Then, during Italian, I received an email from my school saying that it’s unlikely that we’ll be returning back to school, and if we do, it will only be for a few days.
All of my friends immediately started texting, sharing screenshots of the email and completely losing all hope. I could barely focus on my Italian lesson; it all felt like a dream I was going to wake up from shortly.
In Ceramics, my teacher updated us and told us his thoughts about the email. He’s worried and sad for us all (mostly everyone in my class is a senior) and told us all how sorry he is that we may have to cancel prom and other fun senior events. Everyone’s microphone was muted, and when he was done speaking, no one responded. I think we were all either crying and/or about to cry at this point.
In Piano, after a lesson on minor chords and 7th chords, my teacher talked about how our recital will most-likely not happen either. Another disappointment that we can only hope turns out to be false.
It was really hard to get through my classes after that ominous email. It all happened so fast that none of it feels real. A week ago I was in school, happy with all my friends and teachers and attending clubs. I never thought that life would look like this back then.
Speaking of clubs, I’m on the executive board of the student council, and we decided to continue meeting every Tuesday and Thursday after school to make things feel a little more normal. While we don’t really have any urgent planning to do for events (such as the blood drive, which is most definitely not happening!), it still feels good to talk to everyone and discuss possibilities for community building… while quarantined.
But I haven’t given up hope completely. Nothing is official and nothing has been confirmed about school and/or events yet, so I’m going to live on that last little grain of hope until we’re given final answers.
Anyway, my piece of entertainment for today is a movie!!! I follow Kumail Nanjiani on Twitter, and he recently tweeted this which reminded me of his movie from a few years back, The Big Sick. I actually watched it for the first time last year, and it’s fantastic. Like, top-notch dramedy. If you need something to watch, I highly recommend this one which you can find on Amazon Prime.
I’m gonna try to get some sleep. Let’s all try to make tomorrow a good day. I hope everyone who’s reading this is doing well and staying inside as much as possible. Goodnight!
Music. It’s the only thing getting me through this all. Imagine if quarantine meant that we had to sit in silence and do nothing! I think I’d go even crazier than I already have.
So before I tell you about my day today, here’s a playlist that I made called Songs To Get You Through Quarantine. There’s no specific genre, but they’re all upbeat and/or calming songs I’ve been listening to a lot over the past few days. I’ll be adding new ones daily, so feel free to follow it if you want 🙂 I thought that I could post some sort of media, whether it be a movie, playlist, video, article, book, etc. each day in case you are in need of entertainment, so here ya go:
Anyway, last Friday was day one of distance learning. If you read my last post, you know that it was really hard and frustrating and sad for me. Today was day two, and while it still very much sucks, it was definitely a bit better.
I woke up at around 9:20, took a shower, and just made it to class for 10. (Somehow, even when school starts three hours later than usual, I manage to juuuuust make it!) Italian went really well, mainly because of how organized my teacher is. While it was still a little weird having to turn my microphone on to answer a question, I was able to focus much more than I did on Friday.
After that, I had ceramics. My teacher was back, but he hadn’t learned how to use the online program, so it was super glitchy. Nevertheless, many of us were able to speak to each other and talk about the plan for the upcoming week(s). Obviously, it’s pretty hard to do ceramics without clay, so a lot of the projects will be sketching and drawing things that we would make, which sucks for me because I can’t draw. But I’ll try to make the best of it, just like with everything else.
After “lunch” (which consisted of an everything bagel and Thin Mints), I had piano. My teacher switched platforms to Microsoft Teams, so we were all able to see each other and it ran a lot more smoothly. Of course, it’s not the same as seeing everyone in person, but it still made me happy. We were assigned songs to play from our piano book, so our homework until next Monday is to practice them and post a video of ourselves playing them to get checked off.
The classes are shorter than usual, but even so, they go by so much faster than they normally do. I think it’s because we don’t really have time to work on stuff like we normally would; if we did, it’d just be us sitting in silence over a video call. But that also means that there’s a lot more work to do outside of “class,” which, frankly, I am not used to at all this semester as so much of the work happens within the classroom. It keeps me busy, though, so that’s good.
After classes ended, I didn’t know where to start. I had a ton of work to do for each of my classes, and it all seemed super overwhelming. So I kinda went crazy for about an hour. I worried and stressed and procrastinated and thought of the worst-case scenario about all of this rather than doing any work.
I sat on my bed and stared out my window for a good five minutes as if I were a prisoner desperately longing for fresh air.
(Which I am not!)
So I went outside and went for a run, hoping that some fresh air may give me some motivation. I listened to The Beatles and ended up doing two miles which is more than I have walked since last week. It was tiring, and I wanted to give up and start walking probably 27 times. But I did it, and it felt pretty good.
After I got home, I began doing my school work whilst listening to The Flaming Lips. I just finished everything, including drawing three textures for ceramics and writing a *very rough* essay for Italian, and now I’m writing this. In about an hour I will bake my sourdough bread that has been proofing all day, and while I wait for it to bake, I will begin knitting my second sock.
While I’d much rather be in school, I am slowly getting used to this and am becoming a little more accepting of the fact that this may be my reality for a while. I’m doing my best to try and stay busy at home. There are lots and lots of negatives regarding this horrible situation, and they cross my mind every ten minutes. But I intend to keep busy, doing things that make me happy, even in a not-so-happy world.
I never thought I’d be writing a blog post with this title, but here we are. (I apologize in advance if this is rambly and overdramatic. But these are my thoughts.)
Yesterday my school announced that we would be closing for at least the next week due to the spread of the Coronavirus. I am fortunate enough to attend a school that has the resources and opportunities to conduct class online, so that’s what I’ll be doing for the next week(s) or month(s). Since I’ll have much more free time than I’d prefer, I figured I may as well write about it. After all, living during a pandemic is sort of a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.
Having to attend high school from home is a really hard thing for me to digest, and I’ve found myself in tears a lot over the past 24 hours. I know that’s an overreaction for some, but I love school, and I love physically being at school. I love my teachers, I love my classmates, and I love to learn. So it’s really hard to give that all up so suddenly.
On one hand, I feel so lucky that I’m able to learn and see my teachers from home; I know that there are hundreds of schools around the world that don’t have these resources. But on the other hand, I’m devastated that I’m not physically able to attend school during my senior year (of all years!). It’s only been one day and I already feel claustrophobic. I know this is all for the best, and I know everyone’s just trying to stay healthy, but I can’t lie and say that it isn’t a challenge.
My classes are all skill-based this semester: Italian, Ceramics, and Piano. It’s kind of hard to go to ceramics without touching clay, and it’s hard to learn about major and minor chords without a live demonstration (at least for me). It’s just frustrating because I love all of my classes this semester so much. It’s my last semester of high school, so I’d like to actually be at school and be able to practice my skills in these subjects. I know that closing the school is all for the best and all for good reasons, but it just feels like a waste of time that could be spent actually in school.
I also want to say that all of my teachers have been unbelievably positive about all of this, and they’re all doing the best that they can to make sure we learn as much as possible. I love my teachers and am so grateful to have such amazing ones, but all I want is to be back in the classroom with them.
Anyway, in case you’re curious, here’s what the first day of distance learning looked like for me…
I woke up and got out of bed at 8:45 a.m. I took a shower, made an iced coffee, and cleaned my desk before my first lesson, which was Italian, started at 10:00 a.m. Today was technically just the “test day,” so it only lasted about a half-hour. We used Microsoft Teams so I could see my teacher, but all of my classmates kept their cameras and mics turned off unless we had a question.
Halfway through the mini-lesson, I got really really sad listening to my teacher go over our work. I could barely focus because I thought about how much I hate that all of this is necessary. Just yesterday I was in class with my teacher, physically talking to her and all of my friends. It’s just so weird. I know I’ll get used to it, but for now, it’s really hard.
After Italian, I have Ceramics. My teacher is out of town this weekend, so we weren’t able to do a video chat with him. He posted an assignment for us to turn in which was to design and sketch a sculpture inspired by an artist.
The next block was “lunch.” I finished my sculpture (which was Keith Haring-inspired) because I wasn’t very hungry. Then, I had senior privileges which is when I typically go home for lunch. Since I was at home anyway, I began to write this blog post. And then I had piano, my favorite class this semester.
I totally lost it during piano. I couldn’t even laugh at the jokes my teacher made because I just wanted to be together with my class. It was so hard to focus, too. Yesterday he gave an awesome lesson on how to make a major chord, and today he taught us how to make a minor chord through a Youtube video since he didn’t have a physical piano to show us. I didn’t get anything from today’s lesson which really really sucks. I hope it gets easier.
Also, we found out over the group chat that three of my classmates who are boarding students are going home this weekend and won’t be returning for the rest of the semester, even if we go back to school. Yesterday was the last day I’ll see them, and I didn’t even know it.
It all just feels like a bad dream. I’d like to go to sleep and be woken up when this is all over when everyone is healthy and life is back to normal and no time ever passed.
I’m trying to be optimistic, but it’s not easy. All I want for my birthday this year is to be back at school.
The longest month of the year is finally over! Happy February, everyone. And happy Oscars day! I didn’t blog at all in January because it was insane! I finished my first semester of senior year which means I’m now, officially, in my final semester of high school. Crazy.
My final semester is very easy, and each school day doesn’t really feel like a school day. I got all of my credit requirements out of the way, so *technically* I could graduate now. But I’m sticking around and taking all the fun classes: Italian, Ceramics, and Piano. Yep: that’s my entire schedule. It’s really nice and I’ve had a lot of free time. Thus, I’ve been doing a lot of stuff I can’t do when I’m stressed and busy: cooking/baking, reading, doing crafts, and watching movies.
I got a Fandango gift card for Christmas and was determined to watch all of the Oscar nominees. As of now, I’ve seen them all except for Ford v. Ferrari and The Irishman. But anyway, I’ve had a lot more time to watch movies, and this month I watched eleven in total. I love Karsten Runquist‘s monthly YouTube series “what I watched,” so I figured I’d do something similar on my blog since I love hearing people’s thoughts about movies.
I kicked off the year (and the decade!!!) with Little Women. I saw it with my friend Meg on New Year’s Day, and the whole theater was completely filled. While watching it, we enjoyed popcorn and leftover Christmas chocolate.
I love love love love Greta Gerwig, and I’m salty she wasn’t nominated for Best Director. But regardless, this is a phenomenal film. I am really interested in color psychology, both in film and in literature, and I wrote a mini-article about her use of color throughout the film for my journalism independent study last semester. Her style is so nuanced and particular, and I can’t wait to see what she does next. This movie made me want to curl up in front of a fire, eat bread, drink tea, and laugh with my three imaginary sisters.
The second movie I saw was a rewatch of Cruel Intentions. My friend Maia and I watched it together while I was visiting her in NJ. This, to me, is the definition of a guilty pleasure movie — it’s really not great, but it’s entertaining. The soundtrack is also really good (anything with Aimee Mann in it is automatically wonderful), and Reese Witherspoon is a teeny baby! So that was that: I have nothing too profound to say about this one.
The next movie I watched was Scott Pilgrim v. The World. I love watching film analysis videos on Youtube and listening to any type of commentary about movies, and there seems to be a huge cult following for this one. It was recently added to Netflix so I figured I’d give it a watch. It’s not my typical type of movie at all, but it was a lot of fun. And this scene made me laugh for entirely too long.
Fouth, Rosemary’s Baby, and I LOVED IT. I mean, minus the fact that it’s Roman Polanski, this movie is so. good. and was quite the whirlwind. I’m a huge fan of 60s design, and the interior design & fashion in this one is just perfect. Oh, and the score is beautiful. I can’t wait to rewatch it.
Fifth, Kill Bill: Vol 1 and I still need to watch Vol 2! I’ve never been super into violent movies with lots of blood and gore, but of the few Tarantino films I’ve seen, I’ve surprisingly enjoyed them a lot. I think they’re just so theatrical and ridiculous that it’s hard to be too grossed out. But that’s just me. I’m curious to see how Once Upon A Time In Hollywood will do tonight. I’ve heard many theories that it will win Best Picture, so we shall see…!
Next is Frozen II which I saw with my friend Jordyn in the theaters, and while it was a fun time, the movie was not great. Ultimately, I think it’s because it really wasn’t necessary at all so it was super unmemorable. I loved Frozen and thought it stood on its own just fine…but then Hollywood had to go and ruin a good thing for us all. I mean, this wasn’t the worst thing ever, but I have absolutely no desire to see it again.
Ok, my seventh film is The Lighthouse and ohhhh boy. I so wish I had seen this in the theater, but since it was such a small film it wasn’t playing anywhere near me. But either way, I’m really glad I watched it, even if it was from on a laptop in my bedroom. Every shot was gorgeous, every sound was haunting — and I’m not usually one to pay attention to sound in movies. Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson were totally robbed — these were truly two of the best performances of the year. I can’t wait to rewatch this one, too.
Alright, number eight is Knives Out, and this is definitely in my top three films of 2019. My friend Reagan and I watched this from the second row of a completely-packed theater almost a month after it came out. That just tells you how big of a crowd-pleaser it is! I LOVED this movie!!!! I like movie/game Clue a lot, and this just felt like a modern-day version of it but ten times funnier and more visually interesting.
Ok, this one was during a weak moment for me. A few weeks ago, I randomly thought about Bee Movie and got the intense urge to watch it. I have so many memories of watching this movie as a kid, but I hadn’t seen it in so long. Every scene was so familiar yet so new to me, and there were a ton of jokes that went completely over my head as a kid that I found hilarious. It’s not a perfect movie by any means, but it’s certainly an entertaining one.
Ten is Get Out which is one that I’ve been meaning to watch for so long, and oh my god, I understand why it got all the hype a few years ago! Daniel Kaluuya’s performance is stunning and haunting and I thought about this film for days. Now I really want to see Jordan Peele’s 2019 film Us!
Alright, we finally made it to number eleven which is 1917. I saw this one with my friend Brooke in a near-empty theater. Everyone on the internet is loving how it was filmed to look like a one-shot, and I truly don’t think it would have been as effective if it weren’t. It was so smooth and made even the ugliest and most horrific situation look beautiful. This film also made me think about all the other untold stories and unknown heroes — not just in war, but in life — and how sad it is that many of them will never be known. This was a really special film, and I won’t be surprised if it wins Best Picture.
Speaking of Best Picture, I’m rooting for Parasite all the way!!! That was my favorite movie of 2019 and, I’d argue, the most important and socially relevant film of the year. I don’t think it will win, sadly, but it would be huge if it did. I’m crossing my fingers!
Anyway, those are the films I watched this month. I’m not much of a film critic, but I like sharing my thoughts and hearing what other people have to say, too. What were your favorite films that you watched this month? And what’s your pick for Best Picture?
This past Sunday, I went into the city again with two of my friends from school, Megan and Brooke. Meg had never been before, and Brooke had only been a few times, so I was so excited to take them and go to some of my favorite places for the day.
We left town at around 7:20 a.m. and drove to New Haven Union Station to catch a train to Grand Central. It was super empty for about three stops, but it quickly filled up and was the busiest I had ever seen it.
On the train.
After about two hours, we made it to Grand Central at 11a.m. Surprisingly, it wasn’t insanely crowded, but the line to the women’s room was still incredibly long, as always.
Holiday decor at Grand Central.
We left the station and headed for the subway. We took the 6 train to Astor Place Station and walked to Washington Square Park. Of course, I had to take them to my favorite spot in all of the city!
It was chilly, but the weather was absolutely perfect. I’ve been having such good luck over the last few weeks with good weather days. I probably just jinxed it, but oh, well.
Pigeons!Colin Huggins, the piano man of Washington Square Park, playing Choplin’s Nocturne op.9 No.2. Two people enjoyed his song from underneath the piano. I love this guy. He’s been here a couple times while I’ve visited the park, and his music makes my visit that much more magical. And his sticker, “This machine kills fascists,” is awesome.A close-up of the beautiful arch.A shadow of the World Trade Center.
After walking around the park for a bit, we headed down Macdougal Street and then went to Joe’s Pizza. It’s not the cheapest slice in New York ($3), but it’s my favorite. Meg enjoyed her first slice of New York City pizza and said that it was “good” as I interrogated her while she ate it.
Next to Joe’s is Popbar which, again, is another semi-pricey stop, but their gelato-on-a-stick is delicious and totally worth it. I got the same thing I always get: pistachio with a chocolate dip, topped with pistachios and chocolate sprinkles.
People-watching out the window of Popbar.
After that, we walked down Bleeker Street a bit and visited the flea market that was happening. We stumbled upon a store called Soapology which I had never seen before. They gave us a free hand washing with lots of fancy scrubs and moisturizers, so our hands smelled delicious until we took the subway again.
The two employees were super nice and very good at convincing people to buy things, haha. I bought a verbena and ginger soap/shampoo bar and a lavender massage candle which is the coolest thing ever. It’s made with soy instead of wax, so you stick your finger in the melted part and it acts as a moisturizer! Such a cool idea. I will definitely be back here.
Pretty hand-drawn wreath in the window of Soapology.
We stopped in a couple of other stores while walking down Bleeker Street. I was full from the pizza and gelato but had originally wanted to go to Magnolia Bakery for some banana pudding. I passed, but Brooke got some hot chocolate there and we enjoyed staring at the pretty cakes in the window.
Another dreamy apartment.On the corner of 8th Avenue and Hudson Street.
I have been following Myers of Keswick on Instagram for literally forever and had been dying to go, mostly to buy Cadbury Flake & Crunchie bars.
So much cool stuff in here.Handmade meat pies and pastries in the case & an insane amount of Cadbury chocolate. I can’t wait to come back here.
After that store, we began walking to Strand Bookstore, a spot I figured everyone would enjoy. I also wanted to look for some gifts, and that place is the perfect spot for gift-shopping.
En route to the bookstore, we walked by a man selling some prints of the city he had painted. He was painting one as we walked by, and they were just incredible. I may have splurged a bit on one, but he was so sweet and I love collecting art. Here’s his website.
The NYC AIDS Memorial.
Very moving art standing alongside the memorial.The most gorgeous hospital of all time. I am blown away by this design every time I see it. New York makes everything interesting.
While walking up 11th Street, we came across the Eugene Lang building of The New School! I was just here for a tour a few months ago, but now that I’ve been accepted to the school, it was so cool to see again. Here’s me posing in front of it.
Yayyy! Perhaps this will be my school next year :0
I showed Meg and Brooke the Parsons building on 5th Ave. They both fell in love with the city and want to apply to TNS now, too 🙂 I guess I did a good job showing them around!
Before heading to Strand, I spotted a Goodwill across the street and we checked it out. City thrift stores are so much better than the ones near me. I found four items of clothing for $36 in total. One was a J.Crew sweater and another was an Everlane sweatshirt! I was so excited to find them, plus I found the perfect pair of jeans that were UNIQLO brand. I know where I’ll be doing all my clothes shopping if I end up in the city next year.
I didn’t take any pics, but we went to Strand for a little while after Goodwill. I bought this book and a couple of other knick-knacks.
After Strand, we walked towards Union Square and found out that they were having a winter art market. It was crazy busy, but there were a ton of cool vendors, so we walked around for a few and checked it out.
Some of the vendors outside the park.
We continued to walk uptown, and while doing so, we came across ABC Carpet & Home which is another store I had been following for ages on Instagram. Absolutely nothing in there is within my price range, but I have expensive taste and was in love with the elegant couches and lighting. It was such a fun place to wander around and window shop. I will definitely be back!
Oh, how I love you, pink couch.I’ll take one of each, please.
After that, we continued to walk as we were headed towards Eataly. We passed by another one of my Instagram stores, Fishs Eddy, but everyone was hungry and didn’t want to look at dishes for some reason…?? Haha. Someday I’ll visit there on my own and spend hours basking in the glory of their dishes.
We got to Madison Square Park right across from Eataly and could see the Empire State Building all lit up.
I love how the moonlit sky tints all the windows blue.Right across from Madison Square Park, next to the Flatiron building.I watched the colors change on the top of the Empire State Building as we ate our food.
After eating, we went to Eataly to do some shopping. Voglio essere in Italia adesso! Also, so. much. panettone.
We hung out there for a while and then headed to the subway. I made the mistake of going in the downtown station rather than the uptown station, so $11 was wasted. But that’s alright. Surely it won’t be the last time that happens!
Once we made it onto the right subway, we were treated to a minute-long piece of entertainment. A man came onto the subway with a boombox and began to dance, telling a few people to move because he needed the space. He had a hat and was flipping it on and off of his head and doing flips on the poles. Meanwhile, a small white dog was barking up a storm at him, but it didn’t even phase him, and he kept dancing. At the very next stop, he got off and said, “Well, I gotta get off now. I’m too good for you guys, anyways!” in a lovely New York accent.
After that fantastic experience, we got off and began walking towards Rockefeller Center. I wanted to show Meg and Brooke a little bit of the touristy parts of the city, along with the less-crowded-and-much-cooler downtown area of the West Village. It was the Sunday before Christmas, so this wasn’t the best idea, but they both seemed to have fun regardless.
Insane crowds and blocked off streets near Radio City.
It took us nearly ten minutes to get through the crowds and walk up to the tree. It was pretty, but definitely not worth the pushing and shoving.
I LOVE the star!The craziest crowd I’ve ever been in.
We walked past Saks Fifth Avenue which was the worst decision ever. The lights were pretty for, like, five seconds, but as we attempted to walk back to Grand Central, everyone just stopped and we got stuck in the crowd for nearly ten minutes. People yelled and pushed and complained, strollers ran over my foot, and it was not. fun. But it was certainly an experience!
I’m so happy we spent time downtown for the majority of the day. Lots of people just go to New York for the big sights in midtown but never see the magic that surrounds it. And there were absolutely no crowds where we were earlier in the day! It amazes me how crazy it got as we continued to go uptown.
We walked back to Grand Central after that, tired and ready to catch the train. On the walk back, we had the perfect view of my favorite building in all of New York: the Chrysler Building. I took way too many photos; none are great, but here are two of them.
The Chrysler Building next to Grand Central.
I gotta say, I’m proud of myself for planning this day trip on my own. I came up with a whole itinerary and we stuck to it completely! Both Meg and Brooke loved the city, and I’m so glad! Now I know I’ll have friends to come to visit me if I end up here for college next year. 😉
Next time I’m in the city, I’m giving myself a challenge to only spend $10 throughout the day because I, er, went a little crazy on this trip. But to be fair, I rarely buy things for myself, so I’m going to treat my spending as a Christmas/congratulations-on-getting-into-five-colleges present to myself!
Minus train/bus tickets to get in and out of the city, I’m excited to see if I can survive on $10. I totally think it can be done. I’ll have dollar pizza or cheap bagels for every meal, avoid the subway and walk everywhere, and I’ll stick to window shopping. It’ll be easy! I’ll definitely do a blog post and let you know how it goes.
Anyway. This is the last of my New York posts for the year. Like I said last time, I always feel so inspired upon leaving the city, so I will definitely be writing more about it in the new year. I’m on break for the next two weeks, so I’m going to try and finish my extremely long “favorite things of 2019” post before the year is over…stay tuned.
Studio Josie 