Merry Christmas from New York

Merry Christmas everyone!

I have to say Christmas in New York is pretty exciting. Being the commercial center of the world, New York goes hard when it comes to Christmas. Streets are decorated with snowflakes larger than people, lights are everywhere, and a giant tree is put up in Rockefeller Center. We're criticized for taking the Jesus out of Christmas, but I honestly think that everyone of any religious denomination should be able to take part in it. It's just an all around nice time of the year, and if everyone can be a little bit nicer even for a short span of time, why not let everyone enjoy it? Also, I think Christ was really taken out of Christmas a long time ago when gift-giving became the main point of the holiday. I mean honestly, whose first thought about Christmas is Jesus? Nobody. And you know that's true.

I spent the day with my dad and grandmother, and in the afternoon/evening we drove up to see family friends. At dinner I was seated at a side table with two dudes aged 19 and 21. The conversation was sufficiently awkward, and I unsuccessfully tried to salvage it multiple times. Other than that, event was pretty fun, and it was nice when the crowd thinned out and the only people left were those I had known beforehand. Conversation got a lot easier at that point.

 Other than that, there really is not that much for me to talk about. Emma's party was fun, but it's not something that I could easily talk about, as no one would care and there was just a lot that occurred that's not interesting to put into words. I did not take any pictures because of that. Sorry.  I do, however, have some photos of Christmas cookies my grandmother made, and I will upload them later.

Again, I hope you had a great Christmas! Or if you're not religious, happy Tuesday!

Kaitlyn's Birthday Party

So today was my friend Kaitlyn's birthday party. I was clearly not able to come up with a more creative opening sentence.

I actually almost did not end up attending the party, as I've been sick with The Plague (not to be dramatic) for the past few days, at one point thinking I was going to die after tearing down my father's shower curtains before fainting in the tub. Luckily, today I only had a mild cough and figured I could attend the party without being scorned for the possibility of me infecting everybody there. However, I was criticized by one friend for not buying a present until last minute; but I have several reasonable excuses: I have been incredibly busy over the past week (which will be explained in a later post), and my ailment has prevented me from having the energy to leave the house to purchase a gift.

Since I always feel the need to tell all aspects of a story even though they are not important, I will highlight them as quickly as possible. My friend Marina and I bought our gifts for Kaitlyn at Barnes and Noble, which basically has everything a teenager will ever need. We later met up with our friends Emma and Yashar at Grand Central Terminal and took a train up to our friend Kaitlyn's house in Bronxville (which, by the way, is not at all similar to the common misconception of what "The Bronx" is like), which is about 20-30 minutes away. Her mom then picked us up from the nearest train station and drove us to Kaitlyn's house (side note-- Kaitlyn's parents are godsends. Our friend group consists of the most annoying people when we get excited, and yet her parents still always drive us home and put up with us with a smile, rather than killing all of us and making their lives much easier). Kaitlyn's birthday dinner was being assembled when we arrived at her house, so we passed the time by sitting in her massage chair and dancing embarrassingly to music. I now realize that some pictures probably would have been nice, but whatever.

Then, dinner. Now, let me tell you that Kaitlyn's father just so happens to be a teacher at the Culinary Institute of America. Let's just say the man can cook, very well. (I remember forcing Kaitlyn to share her lunch with me in 6th grade when I knew her father had cooked it--but you can't judge me for that; everybody sucks in 6th grade...) We were treated to an amazing Mexican-themed dinner with an ice cream cake afterwards. Yum. (Again, I now realize photos would have been nice, and I will prevent this issue in the future, I promise! I have Emma's party to attend tomorrow so I will surely remember to document that on camera). After that we left the table and proceeded to Kaitlyn's room, where all we really did was trap Marina in the closet, which she emerged from sporting an outfit constructed almost entirely of scarves.

Then, the party came to a quick end. Emma, who seemed to be fine throughout the entire party, suddenly had a serious allergic reaction to all the hair from Kaitlyn's dogs (Kaitlyn's room is apparently a hub for dog activity). Although Emma did not have to go to the hospital, her reaction ended the party as she had to be driven home, meaning we were all driven home. Curse her biological make-up!

At least the party ending early allowed me to have enough time to write this, so one good thing came out of the unfortunate end to the evening. Is that self-absorbed of me to say?

Fin.

Practical Uses of Purell

So I haven't written in a while, and I most likely will not have the opportunity to until late next week or so. However, that will mark the start of my Christmas break, so I will have a lot of time to explore and write for you, my loyal followers. While there are not many of you (in fact, there are none of you), one person from Germany did view this blog at some point, so I will allow myself to believe that I am actually writing for an audience.

Anyway, in order to temporarily quench your thirst for stories of my incredibly interesting life intertwined with witty and sarcastic commentary, here's a video of students in my Chemistry class lighting their hands on fire:

I like to think that I'm funny.

Chemistry is like French

In class today, we were told that Chemistry is like French: For pretty much every rule, there's an exception. Or two. Or three. I always thought science was straightforward...

Since I am writing a blog about what life as a teenager in New York is about, I guess it would only be appropriate to tell you guys what occupies most of my time-- school. I attend a private school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I can outline a few points on what school is like in general as well as specific classes I take in Sophomore year, with the names of my teachers removed as I would like to remain as anonymous as possible (that's why you may encounter awkward phrasings like "Teacher is really cool" instead of "Mr. Youcouldntcareless is a psycho")

Here goes:

• School is...exhausting (to say the least). Let's just say attending a private school on the Upper East Side is not exactly a cake-walk 
• US History: My teacher is a genius, and probably knows the most about anything that has happened in the history of ever. He's a brilliant guy, extremely nice, yet takes no prisoners when it comes to grading. 
• Spanish: I absolutely love languages, and I actually plan on teaching English abroad for a few years after I graduate from college. With that said, I obviously love Spanish. My teacher can be funny when she chooses to be, yet class will normally have more of a specific agenda and she makes sure to cover it all. I respect her a lot for not laughing at us when we attempt to read aloud and just come across as illiterate idiots. 
• Chemistry: My teacher is a pretty funny woman, and her Trinidadian accent just makes it much, much better. Her witch-cackle of a laugh will send the whole room into an uproar at times. She obviously loves Chemistry, making it a lot easier for us to pick it up.
• English: My teacher is one of the nicest men you will ever meet. While we all know when he jokes, he always makes sure to tell us just to make sure that no one takes it the wrong way. Unfortunately, some American literature can be quite dry, so classes can range from being interesting to a snooze-fest. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate literature, I just think Emerson could have spiced his works up a bit. 
• Math: I can't stand math, which is unfortunate, as I love my teacher. And, being blessed with the privilege of being in advanced math, I get to suffer even more. I absolutely hate math, yet I'm apparently pretty good at it. When watching Senator Bulworth have a mental breakdown in Bulworth, I thought: "That's pretty much sums up my experience every time I try to do math homework". Sadly, that is not an exaggeration by any means...maybe I should talk to someone about that.
• Theology: Taught by a woman who is hands-down the most interesting and hilarious person you will ever meet. Ever. One kid was told that God created Viagra so that Abraham could have a son with Sarah (because they were 100-whatever years old--obviously he would have needed it). We spend most of our class time discussing politics (yes, politics. We are very sad) or creating government conspiracies However, the teacher is brilliant, and extremely passionate about religion.

 Well there you have it. I'll see if I can snap some photos of the interior of the school sometime soon to upload here.

And I realize that none of you actually care about anything that I just said.

I'm out.

First

At 2 A.M. I enter the blogging world.


Long a fan of legends like "Hyperbole and a Half" and "The Oatmeal" (among many others), I eventually decided to dive into their domain. While I may not be able to create satirical prose or tell gripping stories the way they're able to, one thing is for sure--I love to write (Oddly enough, I don't enjoy reading as much as I should--but that's beside the point). There's something incredibly satisfying about finding and putting together the perfect words to express any idea, emotion, or thought.

While writing papers for school have never seemed like much of a chore, limits are always placed on your work. While you can write in your own style, you always need to stick to a thesis statement or write to please a teacher. Hopefully this blog can serve as a limitless platform for the purpose of my individual expression.

Now, all you avid readers may be concerned as to what this blog is actually about. Well, worry not. I promise you that this will not be a whiny, "oooooh why are we here, what's my purpose in life"  bogs with me somehow finding a way to complain about how hard life in the first world is. In fact, this blog is the opposite. I'm fortunate enough to live in New York City (hence the name "New York Urbanite"), and I plan to write about "adventures" I have and what life is like as a teenager in the best city in the world. I consider myself a relatively shy person, so hopefully this blog will serve as a way for me to come out of my shell a bit and further foster my love for New York. Of course, we all have bad days, so I may occasionally digress and complain here and there, so I just ask you to bear with me. I promise you that overall, the good will outweigh the bad. I guess that's all for now. Hopefully I'll have something of substance for you to read soon.

Cheers!