One More Chapter
A twenty two year-old's view on life, death,
and Taylor Swift conspiracy theories
and Taylor Swift conspiracy theories
12/28/2014 1 Comment Looking Back and Moving Forward Pt. IIMoving ForwardThere seems to be much speculation as to what exactly it is that I am going to be doing with my life for the next few years. Well, I am about to lay it all out right now for everyone and then will just be able to point anyone who inquires about any of this, to my this blog post. SO...let's start. ADVENTURE #1: PARIS I am leaving Feb. 9th for Paris, France. There I will be studying at the Institut Catholique de Paris where I will be trying to finish my French Language minor and a few gen eds. No, I will not be taking the same twenty-seven credit work-load that I took this past semester. I will most likely be taking between 12 and 15 credits. I want to be able to have a chance to really explore Europe and make this trip as rich and memorable as possible. ADVENTURE #2: CANNES I am going to try and take my finals early while I am in Paris so that I can move down to Cannes, France, in the south of France during end of May in order to participate in the Cannes Film Festival with the American Pavilion easily and without stress. There I will be working with either a production company or PR company a few hours a day for the duration of my stay as well as attending the world's largest film festival, The Cannes Film Festival. My acceptance into the American Pavilion's program will give me full access to all events including any of the screening and panels that the festival provides. It will be another great opportunity to make connections, really expand my network and get some amazing experience for my resume as well as create unforgettable memories. ADVENTURE #3: New York City Hopefully, if all works out, I will be working at an internship in New York City during the Summer of 2015. So, my wonderful brother has given me permission to stay with him at his Brooklyn studio apartment and spend the summer there in order to make this happen. ADVENTURE #4: New Jersey City University During the Fall Semester of 2015 I will NOT be returning to the University of Massachusetts Amherst...yet. Instead, I will be doing a Domestic Exchange, which is similar to a study abroad but within the same country, and will be studying at New Jersey City University where I will be able to take more intense and in-depth film classes and stay near the city in case my internship goes well enough to maintain it into the Fall semester. I will be there until December of 2015. ADVENTURE #5: The Appalachian Trail OK, so here it is: the final adventure I have planned until I settle back in at UMass and finish my eight thousand degrees. I will be working a LOT (hopefully) between when I get home for winter break in December and when I leave for my thru-hike in the beginning of March, in order to help save some money for this hike - which ain't cheap let me tell you. I plan to hike to trail in about 5 - 6 months and (again, hopefully) be able to return again to school for the fall 2016 semester. I know there are some out there who love and support me and don't want to blatantly tell me how ridiculous this seems. And somewhat out-of-the-blue. But to that I have to say this: I have been wanting to do this for some time now and the only timing that really makes sense is to do it when I now have planned it. I don't want to wait until after college, because I will want to start my career and would have to wait a whole year before doing it, then set aside another six months for the actual hike, all the while having to start paying off college loans. And I don't want to wait until I have retired because I firmly believe that to be a strong writer you need to go out there and experience the world, so why would I wait to experience the world if it would bring me happiness and bring me closer to the person I want to be now? I have discussed the trail and these plans at length with my mother and father, who both wholly support me and understand that it is something I need to do. There is so much beauty in this wold that I have yet to discover, and I won't be able to find it sitting behind a computer or listening to my professors describe it to me. I have to go out and find it for myself. And that's what I am going to do. I have been starting my research and received a lot of reading materials for Christmas from my family, as I intend to be as educated as possible on the matter so that I will be able to do the hike as safely and efficiently as possible. I am also looking in to how I might be able to turn the experience into my senior thesis by bringing a camera with me on the trail and interviewing some of the other thru-hikers that I meet. but that is still a very tentative idea considering the added weight of a camera, what I could actually focus my thesis on, and the added unknown that will inevitably come into play while on the trail. And, I guess that's all there is to know for now. Thank you for reading, Amanda Lucille Song of the DayLife Support by Sam Smith I received his album, "The Lonely Hour", for Christmas from my Auntie Holly and Uncle Paul and can't get enough of it, it's amazing! Sad and depressing, but amazing! It's hugely inspiring for my writing.
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12/26/2014 0 Comments Looking Back and Moving Forward Pt. ILooking back:Last year, on December 31st, I wrote my very first blog post on this website. The article's title was "My 14 for '14" and it contained a list of the 14 things that I wanted to accomplish in the year 2014. First let me just say: Fuck. This year has gone by so fast and contained to many amazing adventures. It feels like literally (I would appreciate it if every time I wrote this word, you would read it in a British accent, it just makes it sound so much better) just yesterday that I was writing my first blog post. And I know that next year will only go by faster. The next thing I would like to address is my 14 for '14 list. I made these goals and said that I would get back to them in one year to see how many of them I accomplished. Looking back on them I am starting to realize that I should have looked back on my list to remind myself what I was trying to do or perhaps printed them out and posted them to the wall in my dorm or at home. But, here they are: 1. Write more. This is something that I have mixed feelings about. Yes, I did write more. A lot more. But not as much as I wished I had. My Senior-level Creative Writing class made sure that I was writing somewhat often. I finished two short stories that I am pretty happy with that just need a few more revisions and I got to do some spur of the moment writing during class that produced a few decent pieces, but I never did get back to that book I had started a few years ago. But I intend to do some work on it over this winter break...we'll see. But I guess, in the end, I did reach this goal, just not to the extent that I may have hoped. 2. Read more. YES! I did accomplish this goal. I think that last year I only read about 35 books, maybe 40 if we really push it. Right now, according to my goodreads account I am on book numbers 54 and 55 of the year. Not a drastic improvement, but definitely a step in the right direction! I read so many great books this year, most of them surprisingly non-fiction, and I think that I will have to do a post on the best books that I read this year to share the love. 3. Finish a video project.DONE! This one I can say with pride that I have done. Twice. I finished my "Say Something" parody music video, wich I was beginning to lose hope on. And created a 30th anniversary video for Chickee's Dance World. And now I am currently working on another project, but can't reveal it quite yet, but stay tuned! Here are the links to the two videos I made. I know that I really need to step it up, but in my defence it was a very busy year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAVHPuu32kQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsvey-4S4i8 --> (skip to 1:40 for the actual video) 4. Go to LA for the Film Intensive. DONE! Not quite sure why this was a goal. I think that maybe I hadn't applied to the program yet or something, but in the end I applied and I went and I don't regret a single second because it was heaven and amazing and it's leading me to bigger and better things. 5. Boost my self-esteem. This one is a bit complicated. There is a lot more to this and I am working on it little by little but for now let's just say I think I'm in a good place at the moment. I've got a long ways to go but I've come a long way also. Perhaps one day I will do a longer post about this whole situation. But this will always be a constant struggle, just as I suspect it is with most people. 6. Do something adventurous/take a risk. Not sure what would qualify as this. Maybe I meant asking someone out, maybe I meant bungee jumping, but I think that there are a few instances where this would work. I asked John Stimpson, a film director and fellow Princetonian to get coffee and chat to expand my network and had a great conversation with him! I took twenty seven credits in one semester and refused to listen to all the negative "you probably shouldn't do this to yourself" talk from several of my advisors, and it turned out wonderfully. 7. Be bold and express my feelings. Nope. Still needs work. I have yet to do this and I think that it will come as I work on #5 and realize that I really have nothing to loose. 8. Learn to speak French. This is also in the works, though I can definitely speak more than I could this time last year. And I plan to become pretty close to fluent when I spend three and a half months in France. 9. Stay Healthy. This one is also a bit complicated. I was incredibly healthy from January to mid or end of May. June through August was like my dark days and full of Dunkin' Donuts and Papa Gino's. There was a lot of making up for the past year or so and I got a bit carried away. Then September through December was a series of being really good about what I eat and then spending a day or two eating shit. But for the most part I was fairly healthy. Currently I am working on getting back to where I was at the beginning of the year. Converting to the Paleo diet permanently, but with a little more wiggle room then before. This way I can enjoy family holidays and such but still stay healthy when it comes to the day-to-day situations. I think. for the most part, I would consider my self a healthy person and I think that I am pretty proud of MOST of this year. Dark days aside. 10. Feel good in a bathing suit this year. Welp. Since the summer was during those dark days this wasn't a thing. But on the positive side, I was so busy this year that i never really had a chance to go to the beach or need to wear a bathing suit, so it never really came up as an issue. The only time I did was in April, when I traveled to Rhode Island for the weekend with my old dance studio and we swam at the hotel. Luckily I was still in my very healthy phase and felt pretty kick ass in my bathing suit. It was awesome. 11. Be happy and stay positive. again, a work in progress and always going to be. This year saw some pretty dark times, but I think that things are starting to look up. 12. Pay it forward. Sadly, I can't really think of anything, other than volunteering for a blood drive or acting nice to people as often as possible. I never took in a homeless person or gave somebody my car when theirs was wrecked like in the Haley Joel Osment movie Pay it Forward . Which I highly recommend if you haven't seen it. 13. Do a color run. Again, I should have looked back at this list. I did actually try to go to one, but the scheduling never worked out so it, sadly, never happened. Perhaps next year. But I have my doubts considering what my plans for next year look like. 14. Meditate. haha. All in all, this was a great year, despite any unreached goals. I think that I did fairly well. Here is a list of some of the highlights: 1. ED SHEERAN private concert, which my best friend Kate won tickets to on the radio 2. LA Film Intensive! Got to meet some amazing people, make amazing connections and spotted Ed Helms in the Sony Animations lobby. So that was awesome. 3. Hiking Mt. Washington, which is what inspired me to begin my plans for my Spring 2016 thru-hike of the AT. 4. Caribbean Cruise! 5. Had the best summer as Leader Director at Camp Harrington, a great way to end my 14 year streak. 6. Ran my first triathlon! Thank you to everyone who helped make this year possible! Thanks for reading, Amanda Lucille Song of the DayCoins in a Fountain by Passenger - SUCH A GREAT SONG! |
About This Blog:I started this blog as a way to challenge myself to write more over the 2014 year, but it has blossomed into so much more than that. I use it to let people in on what's happening in my life, talk about things I find important and to spread the news about amazing people, places and art. Archives
November 2017
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