Harvest Festival

It's been quite awhile...
I am at University of California Santa Cruz!
Hellz yeah.
Yesterday, I went down to the good ole' UCSC Farm for the Harvest Festival with Courtney.
The same Courtney that went to high school with me. We basically couldn't stay apart.
Anyways...
I entered an apple pie into a pie contest and tried to win, but didn't. I also took lots of pictures and talked to some people who work on the UCSC farm.
Here's the day in pictures.

Sunrise on a Dome

Myself and Courtney

Last night, one of my nearest and dearest friends,  Courtney, and I hiked up one of central California's best kept secrets: Fresno Dome. We hiked up with our sleeping bags, pillows, bananas and chocolate bars and watched the sun set oh so magnificently over the tree tops.

Shortly after, we made a small fire and watched the stars appear. We didn't say much, I mean, in the midst of all that beauty...what is there to say? More so, there is just time to marvel and reflect in the presence of a good friend.

Around 10 o'clock, two more near and dear showed up: Dillon and Alex. The marveling stopped and the party began as there was much feasting upon baked goods and pizza that Alex had brought up. This was followed by discussion and drifting off to sleep to the sound of wind drafts coming up from the valley and over the dome.

5:45

5:45 hit and it was time to wake up. The sun was rising, children! Nothing gets me more excited for a sunrise, so I woke everyone up...much to their dismay.








However, they all enjoyed it in the end. Each on of us chose a spot on that glorious rock and sat and marveled once more in silence. Fresno Dome is perfect. It's an hour from Oakhurst, it's mostly left alone and you have a 360 view of lush green pines on the top. It really is magnificent and breathtaking and inspiring.

 Dillon, Me, Courtney, Alex

6:15, the sun rose up over the tree tops and clouds and the day began.

Summer's Ending: Let's destroy a t-shirt

So, all summer I worked at a summer camp called Calvin Crest.
I was in the kitchen, working amongst some of the best souls on the planet, cooking over an open fire for a more hardcore camp session for Jr. Highers called Outpost, getting burned on stove tops and cooking gluten free vegetarian meals day by day. Not to mention, cleaning out the "chicken sink" drain, getting 10 gallon igloos stuck in the dishwasher, baking pies and cakes late at night for the hell of it and stacking milk crates three high to reach that certain something on the top shelf. I survived week five is all I have to say: 10 kitchen staff and 8,000 meals in one week. Yes, it happened. Besides being the best possible way I could spend my summer, I did eventually come home after it all and, let's face it, after 2 days of catching up on sleep, I was ready to go do something again. This is the product. T-shirt destruction day.
Like most good ideas, this one came to me while showering. I was thinking about my stack of t-shirts I love but that are way to big for my 4'9" frame. Smalls are larges, especially when it comes to those club shirts and team shirts that you purchase online for 10 dollars apiece. It was time to actually do something about them.
I decided upon a thrift store shirt; no love lost if this turns out looking like crap.
To being, I had to find my sewing machine...which was nowhere to be found in the room I share with my sister. Like most families, when I leave, my room will no longer become mine, and in the 9 weeks I was gone working, this became true and the all engulfing question of "where the hell is Sophie!?!" took hold.
She was found stashed in the back hall. Of course...without the power cord...which was found in a box in the back hall.
So sewing machine and all its parts? Check.
Now for the t-shirt.
I haven't done this before...but it actually turned out ok.
Ok so first, we have the thrift store shirt that didn't fit...it's too baggy and nasty. But...it has potential! So, here I am wearing it...in all this picture's blurry glory and it's huge on me, right? Right. Gotta fix that.

So, I guesstimate how much I want off by pinching fabric on both sides and seeing about how many inches I want taken off. Of course, you can't pinch both sides and take a picture so...this is basically as good as it get for that.

pinnin'

sewin'

Then, I got myself a measuring tape and measured the distance between the end of my thumb to the nook of it, since that was about how much I wanted off. I know...I'm so measuring pro and precise... Anyways, after that....it was time to draw and pin! So, I drew around the seam of the shirt a one and a half inch away from seam line, because that's how long my thumb is. After the drawing and pinning, it was time to sew!The fun and easy part. Literally, it took like 30 seconds to sew each side.

cuttin'

 After trying it on and being satisfied, I cut the extra fabric out and one two three....a better fitting shirt!

Never Too Old For Summer Camp

I have graduated and moved on to bigger and better things.
It's called summer camp.
Calvin Crest.
I work in a kitchen.
My hands are scarred, peeling and cracked.
They make me feel like a badass.
In my spare time, I spend more time in the kitchen baking for fun.
I love food and kitchens.
Not to mention, the people I work with.
James, Jackson, Kelsey, Katy, Leah, Mary, Cathy, Elin, and Chris.
It is wonderful.
I could not imagine myself in a better place.
I love the kitchen, but I could work anywhere here and be happy.

Poetry Take 1: Hello

Hello

Hello.

Can you hear me?
I can hear you
sniveling, snieveling, snuveling
behind your snooty, snotty, snutty
lacy curtained veil.
You hear me, you ignore me.
I'm just trying to be nice.
Hello.
How are you?
Dearest in your moth eaten, beaten, reaten
coat of all coats
coat of the month.
Dearest with the skinny hands and skimetrical eyesin, nosin, lipsin,
How doth thou be?
Hello.
What time is it?
Man in the shirt
stain of ketchup, catch-up, look-up
the time on your time piecity-neecity
for me?
Please.
Hello.
You're my favorite.
Blued shirt, redded hat, crooked looked on your faced
what'd we do in biology
yesterdayed?
Hello.
On the phone.
Disconnect, re-connect
connect
tell me about the beachy -
is it peachy?
Hello.
Are you better?
You still look sick
Lyk whurds whith misspelings
awn paipurs bi ckindergaurdnurs
dun an thu furst dai uf skoul.
Feel better, nawt sik.
Hello.
Boy with twenty-many scars
upon your hand
makes me sad
you hated you
I like you.
You should, too.

Birthdays

I am terrible at birthdays...but...I want to get better.So, I decided, for no particular reason, to get better at birthdays starting May 1st.
And, so far, I have been better at birthdays.
I have baked a strawberry pie and a strawberry cheesecake
I have bought presents and wrapped them and delivered them.
Well...one of them.
One of them came from amazon...4 weeks later than expected.
Birthdays are important.
They're a celebration of "Congrats, you did not die this year and thus are another year older".
Facebook is helpful for this...except that I would like to be reminded of birthday's of people I like about a month in advanced, please.
So, I put all my favorite peoples birthdays into my phone and when I'm bored, I look at my calender and try to commit them to memory.
I have 5 birthdays memorized.
It's a start.
I just bought a present for someone online...
Whose birthday was a month and 2 days ago.
Happy Birthday.

Testing is Death

IB and AP testing is not awesome.
It is not wonderful.
It makes you want to cry.
It makes you want to tear all your hair out.
It makes it hard to have a social life.
It makes you feel like an idiot.
It makes you want to yell "F*** it" all the time.
Sometimes, you do just f*** it.
It makes you study relentlessly.
It makes you die a little inside.

Fresno City College Theatre Festival and its Champions!

Yeah. YHS Theatre is bascially the...
well, you know.
The "poop".

Chelsea and Jazmin!

Today was the festival at Fresno City College where you can perform a one act with your class or a monologue or just go for fun (me...hehe)
We never win anything....BUT
This year
This YEAR
We WON.
My good friends, Jazmin and Chelsea won best One Act as well as Chelsea winning Superior Actress and Jazmin winning Best One Act actress.
It was impressive and we cheared louder than any other school.
Because we love each other.

The Best

Mary and I :)

Very Much.

Last Show

Being a senior in high school, it was hard having to accept the fact that last night was the last performance I'd ever do at YHS.
How sad.
I'm really going to miss it, actually. I'm really excited to try theatre in college, but you know, it's the end of an era and it's sad.
Great job to the cast and crew.
The last show ever was beautiful.

The Actual Once Upon a Mattress

Once Upon a Mattress finally happened!
After being snowed out last Thursday, the show went on Friday night and Saturday at 1 and 7.
It went really well. People knew their lines and songs and it was beautiful!
This week, if you just so happen to be an Oakhurstian or close to it, the show will play again tomorrow at 7 and Saturday at 7. Tickets are 6 dollars for students and 8 dollars for adults.
The show is based loosely on princess and the pea and it is wonderful.

Princess Winnifred (Aubrey) and Knights in "Shy"

Prince Dauntless, Jester and King Sextimus before "Man to Man Talk"

In a land far far away, many moons ago, there was a kingdom where no one can get married until the Prince does. Aubrey Scott, who plays the lead role, Princess Winnifred, is a princess from the swamps who arrives at the kingdom to try for Prince Dauntless's hand in marriage. Prince Dauntless, played by Dakota Stump, wants to get married, but his over-bearing mother, Queen Aggravain (Kazia Hart), doesn't want him to. She and her side kick, the Wizard (Erica Grant), think up tests that are impossible to pass so as to fail every princess suing for Dauntless's hand. When Winniefred shows up, the Queen and Wizard try to think of a test that Winnifred will be sure to fail, a sensitivity test! It is therefore up to the mute King Sextimus (Alex Ratchford), The Minstrel (Mary Gomez), Jester (Natalie Neff...Me!), Lady Larken (Lacey Smith) and Sir Harry (Evan Ewert) to find out what the test is and make sure Fred passes so that the whole kingdom and expectant Lady Larken can get married and live happily ever after!

Garden part 2, Sadies with Dillon and Mamasita's Birthday



Needin' some weedin'
(Rascal's on my shoulder)

Yesterday,

Weeding

Filling up a wheelbarrow with weedy compost!

I cleaned up the community garden. Rascal helped, of course.  Mostly, he just ran around the garden, only to come back and take a nap inside of my shirt against my tummy. At one point in time, my good friend Briana (or, grandma) came and helped me. We weeded all the boxes (except that we left the cilantro and parsley we discovered in two of the boxes) and called it a day.

weedin'

Last box! (Rascal's the bump in my shirt)

Awww... Dillon!

Later, I went to Sadie's with my BFF Dillon.
Best. Dance. Ever.
Dillon and I dressed as "Team Zissou" and it was sweet.
We danced like crazy people to all the terrible music and took an awesome photo.
I have to take my hat off to him, it was a most wonderful night!

And today,
It was Mamasita's birthday!
Or, Emily Vigodoa, my AIM leader mama :)
Actually, her birthday is tomorrow.
So some of her friends and I went on a little hike by bass lake known as the flume trail.
We stopped about halfway through and ate a little lunch, then hiked back, drove back to church and sang her "Happy Birthday" and ate Carrot Cake.
Before we knew it, it was Sunday 6 and so, we joined the congregation and worshipped.

This weekend, simply put, was golden.

Rascal :)