Components of a Good Day

     Today has been a completely GLORIOUS day!!!!!!!!!!!! Here are the things that have made it so absolutely amazing.

1. Doing a decent job of playing my solo in Orchestra

My reaction when I was doing a good job

Mr. Price asked me a few days ago if I was okay with doing the 2nd violin solo for Corelli's Christmas Concerto, and while the thought terrified me, the theory of having a solo was enough for me to agree. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to play any of it, especially since I'm playing with the concert master, JT, who's amazing, and the principal bass player, SR, who is so talented. But I've been pleasantly surprised that I can hold my own! And today, there were actually some parts that I was playing correctly that JT wasn't! Not to be excited by someone else's shortcomings, but still. It made me feel good.

This is the "this guy's cute" look

2. Looking through old year books with AP
In yearbook, after we finished some write ups for our Homecoming Through the Decades page, AP and I looked through the 1996 yearbook together, and lemme tell you, that was a barrel of laughs! Everything you can imagine about the 90s was present in that yearbook, from greasy bowl cuts to outrageous lip-liner to grungy plaid and Mom jeans. And of course AP and I were each pointing out all the cute guys and giving each other the classic eyebrow wiggle.

3. Lip Sync music videos in Drama class!

I hope this is what we all looked like. 

For a few weeks in Drama class we've been practicing lip-syncing to songs in preparation for today, when we performed those songs in our groups. Me and my partners (DP and MH) "sang" the song "Story of My Life" by One Direction, and it was great. So soulful. I think we killed it. Then it was so much fun watching all the other groups get so into their songs, while we'd all belt along in the crowd. It was such a *moment*. Like I can't believe the people who actually got really intense about it! Girls that always act like they don't care about anything, pouring their hearts into "These Girls Ain't Loyal", and the cool jock dude singing like crazy to "Let it Go". It was amazing, I wish I could freeze that hour and replay it every now and then in my head when I'm feeling down.

4. Finally understanding a concept in Chemistry I thought I had no idea how to do

I FINALLY GET IT

Since I was absent a few times last year, I missed out on a key concept in Chemistry, and I had like three different people try to explain to me what I missed, but I just was NOT getting it. So last night in an act of desperation before today's unit test, I went on YouTube and found a video by ChemistNATE (he's great, you should check him out if you need help with Chem). After I watched his video, which was all of five minutes long, it just CLICKED!!!!! I was so grateful! And I think I got most if not all of them correct on the test today. Thank you so much ChemistNATE.

5. Feeling good about a timed writing for AP Lang
Thankfully for me, writing is my wheelhouse. Still though, I really abhor writing essays because of the strict format you follow (I am not the rule follower type if you couldn't tell) and I just think they suck the creativity out of you, especially when it's a timed writing and it's on a subject you could not care any less about. Somehow though, this one wasn't so bad. I understood the prompt fully, my argument was actually something I believe in and not just an answer I made up because it was required, and I finished everything I wanted to do in the time allotted.

6. The drive home was lovely, as per October

<3 <3 <3

As I was driving home from school, I had a hard time keeping my eyes on the road because the world outside was just so gorgeous! The same thing happened this evening when I was driving BACK to school. It's just the most perfect time of year. The colors on the trees are so vivid and lovely, and there's leaves all over the ground and the weather is chilly but tolerable and the sky is such a melancholy color of grey which just serves to accentuate the lovely shades of foliage. It's beautiful. I feel bad for people who live somewhere where fall isn't as pronounced as it is here in the upper east coast.

7. Listening to awesome '80s music when no one else is home
Of course because there was no one home when I got home from school, I just had to blast some 80s House jams! I even started a Spotify Playlist for some of them. It's honestly so crazy how fresh and catchy those old 80s party jams still are!! I love it! They're the perfect thing to head-bang to whilst sitting at my computer. Like this old gem that some of you may recognize from the training scene in The Cutting Edge:
8. Going to the Dig Pink volleyball game
After some deliberation, I decided to attend the Dig Pink volley ball game (where there's an emphasis on Breast Cancer Awareness) because MF was going to go, and I am trying to tell myself to go to things and do things I've never done before in high school before I have to leave and miss it all. I am So glad I went. I can tell it's going to be one of my favorite moments from high school. Neither MF nor I know anything about volleyball, so we just had fun bumbling around trying to act like we knew what was happening. After a while, we caught on. Volleyball is just so intense and fast paced that it's super fun to watch. Plus, MF caught a towel when they were throwing them into the crowd, so we took turns awkwardly twirling it whenever our team got a point. Even though we didn't win, it was still such an awesome memory. MF and I had a wonderful time just sitting together and talking about high school and how people have changed and trying to figure out what was happening and being contentedly awkward together.

This would be me if I were on the volleyball team.

     Hope your day was half as glorious as mine was!

-VaughnDL