Oh hey...

I did not forget my sneakers! (Hi, Mom.)

Hey, I just met you
And this is crazy
But check out my medal
13.1 baby!

I will not forget my sneakers.

I've had a pretty busy week, with PSSAs (yes, again), homework, tests, my FINAL TRAINING WEEK (yay!) for the half marathon I'm doing Sunday, and trying to stay sane on top of all that. (My sister helps with the sanity part. How am I going to survive college without her? I'll try not to dwell on that.)

Now I have to pack for the trip this weekend, but I've decided I really hate packing (let me skip straight to the actual travel part any day). Why? Why do I hate packing? Because it drives me crazy. I'm the kind of person who panics as she packs, sure she's forgetting something, assures herself, no, if anything, she overpacked...and then inevitably forgets something.

Last time I went away for a weekend I forgot my sneakers. OOPS. *runs off to pack sneakers RIGHT NOW* That would be kind of very bad this time. And doubly ironic considering I just ordered another pair of sneakers so now I have two pairs of the exact same shoe (though the new ones are GREEN, like they-might-taste-like-key-lime-or-something-they're-that-green green) so I even have a pair to spare. Which is great, because I love my sneakers. They're like magic on my feet. Even if the rest of my body aches and is tired my feet are always like, "Hey, come on! We're totally cool down here. Run, girl, run!" And I have to listen because my feet essentially control my mind.

Well, not really. That would be strange. But when it comes to running it's effectively true. (Kind of like photons don't have mass, but they can have a sort of effective mass. Oh, wait. I'm done with that test. NO MORE PHYSICS TODAY.) This is why it is important to have my sneakers on my feet.

I will not forget my sneakers.

"They-might-taste-like-key-lime-or-something-they're-that-green green."

YA Lit Six

In case anyone didn't see the recent YA Lit Six post about new members, I'm going to copy it below. Those interested in joining should definitely send in a sample post!

We are currently looking for 2 new members to bring us back up to 6 members.

Requirements are much the same as last time:

-- You must be under 25.
-- You must be a writer. (Well, duh.) State of publication does not matter.
-- You must be willing to commit to blogging every week on your day.
-- It would be nice you wouldn't mind tweeting from the @yalitsix account once in a while since I suck at remembering to do that and I would love if someone did that, too.
-- That's about it!

If you're interested in joining, please send a sample post to yalitsix@gmail.com, pasted into the body of the email. No attachments. We'd love to know a little bit about you, but no introduction posts, please. We are looking to see how your writing style would fit with ours and get an idea of your blogging ideas.

Try to have it be somewhere around 250-350 words, but use your best judgement. Last, please list in order which days you would prefer to have. Monday and Wednesday are available.

Since it's March 31st today, we'll give you until April 31st (because nobody posts on Sundays) to send in your posts.

Good luck to all!

On the Lack of Reading

On average, it takes me about two to three days to finish a book. (Assuming this book is an average-sized novel I enjoy.)

Wait. Takes? No.

Took.

Now on an average week it would probably take me, well, the week, because I'd read very little until the weekend, and sometimes I wouldn't read very much then, either. This is because I have less time to read, and also because I'm a bit rusty--I no longer read for pleasure very often (by my standards), by necessity. And by "by necessity" I mean "for the sake of doing well in school."

Ironic, isn't it? I read less to do better in school.

Let me explain: I am the sort of reader that, when presented with a fictional world or story that is intriguing, likes to think about that world or story. The sort of reader that likes to analyze and learn from that world or story. And therefore, when I'm in the middle of the world or story, I find it hard to focus as much on, say, reading my physics textbook or filling in a Spanish worksheet. Because, to me, my mind is actively engaged elsewhere. This poses a problem when I have hours of homework to do, days on end.

For this reason, books are no longer an option, unless I either 1) am on break, or 2) forgo homework and/or sleep to finish the book before it disrupts the next day as well.

This also might attribute to the growing amount of TV shows (good TV shows, let me clarify) I've watched lately. While each series has an ongoing arc, the distinct storylines are over and done with in 45 minutes. I can sacrifice 45 minutes of sleep to get my fiction fix (yes, I am a junkie). Unfortunately, in eleventh grade, I can't space out reading a book in the same manner.

This is just a short explanation of why I no longer can read as much as I used to.