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.