Chicago diary day 2

                                              (I will get pictures of the trip up eventually)
     Today we went to the Field museum and Shedds aquarium. First we went to the museum where there were all sorts of interesting things to look at but I enjoyed the aquarium more, must have had something to do with the fact that the aquarium was filled with LIVING animals some of which you could touch.
          At the museum there was the largest and most complete TREX fossil ever discovered! They called it Sue after the archaeologist but are unsure of the creature's gender. Sue would have been 9 tons during her life (they guess) and that was something to think about! I was amazed that such a slim skeleton could carry that much weight!
     The aquarium had SEA OTTERS! I'd never seen them in real life but they've been my favorite animal for a while now so I was VERY excited! They also had JELLYS! Which I was also very excited about.
   Did you know that sea otters will not sit still long enough to have their picture taken? I caught them just at the tail end of feeding time and got to see them play afterwards. I have researched them and knew they are active and curious but reading and seeing are two COMPLETELY different things! Those little guys just zip around and dive to the bottom of the exhibit and back and play and have a grand ol' time! I even got to watch them clean themselves which just made my day!
     I got to pet starfish and sting rays. Starfish feel weird, very lumpy but stingrays feel like a washed mushroom.

Chicago diary day 1

     I got to fly for the first time! I didn't care for all the noise but overall it wasn't so bad. Looking out the window was sort of like seeing an ice field in the middle of the ocean and having to look through fog (or at least how I imagine such things) because of how cloudy it was.
     While at the airport in Flint I made a friend with a nice lady who was chatting with us. I shared my speculaas (cookies) with her because we ended up talking about Belgian chocolate and I happened to have some in my bag!
     When we go to Chicago we found and checked into our hotel and went to Millennium park where there was a rehearsal for some music festival. After that I watched Ghostbusters for the very first time as part of Millennium Park's summer film showing thing.
  After that we got back to the hotel and SLEPT because after all that travel it was about time! All in all it was a good day.

Summer

     I am having the busiest summer I've ever had! Well worth it though. So far I've gotten to go camping and study! I've been trying to practice Dutch but my little book doesn't have many useful beginning words and phrases.
     I've gotten to watch Doctor Who and fall in love with the main character! When I haven't been doing anything else I've been learning a bit of German (who knows, it could come in handy) but can't spend too much time on it because I get a bit frustrated when I can't remember which version of a word to use. I'm rereading the last Harry Potter book and plan on reading the unabridged version of Romeo and Juliet and The War of the Worlds.
    I will try to update my blog as often as I can but if I don't please don't be all grumpy.

Feelin' teenagery

     Some days I feel more teenagery than others. You're probably asking "Jolie don't you feel teenagery all the time? YOU ARE A TEENAGER! What does that even mean?"
   When I say' "I'm feelin' teenagery" I mean that I feel like a stereotypical teenager. For example when I'm in a particularly good mood and am not worried about anything, when I feel young. I understand that I'm a young person and that EVERYONE  has gone through it and such I just feel that teenagers nowadays have something taken from them when they use "social" media instead of getting out of the house and being social.
     Well to me being a teenager means taking responsibility and also being young. Being a teenager IS making mistakes and suffering through trying to figure out emotions and trying to remember how to do the algebra homework. To me teenager is also staying up late to watch a concert streaming live just because its the TFIOS soundtrack and you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to watch it or you may just die of being a teen.    
     I used to think that being a teenager had a particular feeling and that being in high school started that feeling and that teenagers listen to one specific type of music. I now understand that teens are more diverse than very little children (or so it seems) and that teens listen to whatever type of music they want. I'm very glad that I get to experience "feelin' teenagery".

I love science!

Dear People who think I need a boyfriend,
     I am perfectly happy and am in a VERY serious relationship. That's right I'm in a relationship with science!
     Science is very smart and interesting. It can keep good conversations going and is always there to ask and answer questions. Science keeps me on my toes because I never know exactly what I'm going to get when I spend time with science, sure I have an idea of what might happen but sometimes the results of a study surprise me. Who knew that so many people write their eights in so many different ways!? Science is there to listen to my questions and encourage me to shoot for the moon, if I fail to hit the moon, there is always analyzing what went wrong and hitting it next time! Science is beautiful in the way it brings people from all over the world together to work for a common goal.
     Science may not be human but its all I need right now. Who needs a boyfriend at age fifteen anyway? If I'm happy with how I am I shouldn't be asked to change that.
                                                                                                                       Love,
                                                                                                                              Mrs. Science

Always?

     What is always? Can we guarantee an always as in forever? Just as everything ends so does life and does that promise of forever follow into infinity? Can we make a promise that out lives us? 
     I suppose we can, in a way, make promises that out last us. We can buy life insurance and that is a promise to our family that when we pass they get some money. We can make wedding vows and promise that we will never love (the same way) another person as long as we live. We can promise to protect a child and leave them in responsible care when we can't be there for them.
     Like every promise, these can be broken. You can stop paying for life insurance, you can get divorced, etcetera. If kept though they do last longer than we do and in a way its kind of like:

    

    Always

Is life unfair?

     As a teenager I find myself thinking about a lot of stuff during class. Things like:

• Why dose it smell like oranges in here?
• Who was that guy who sings that song that goes...?
• I feel small compared to the vastness of the universe. The Earth is spinning and orbiting and everything is moving, I'm beginning to feel a bit motion sick and unsafe.
• Who am I/ who will I become?
• What on Earth are we supposed to do for homework?

  When I get to thinking in class I wonder all sorts of things but I've decided the most unfair parts of existence are:

1. Knowing it will end. Everyone dies, everything that has ever existed or will ever exist will eventually cease to exist and there isn't anything that anyone can do about it in the long run. 
2. Not being able to know EXACTLY what people are thinking. You say you're fine but is that a fine like "really I'm ok" or "hug me, I'm being torn apart by emotions."? Do they really like me?
3. Not knowing what to do ALL the time and not knowing if those decisions were the best.
4. NEVER EVER being able to make other people understand and accept you if they don't care to listen.
5. Never fully understanding how you affect people.
6. Being stuck to a little blue marble floating in the vastness of the universe and being unable to control much of anything and knowing that to the greatness of the universe you are really nothing.

    Don't let this bum you out though, because do you know what? We have each other! We have people who love us and try to understand. We have radios and rocket ships and things IN OUTERSPACE. When we are gone, we won't truly be gone because our radio waves could be picked up by other receivers light years away and they will listen just as we listen for them. We have helpful body language and words to describe how we feel and like other people. We maybe temporary but that shouldn't stop us from enjoying our short stay.