Twitter

I got a twitter. It will be so much easier to follow me there :)
Love, Applebaumnicole

Ni(neteen)cole

I just got a knock on my door because it's my birthday!!!
Yay!

Love,
Ni(neteen)cole

Today in St. Louis

Today. Whoa! So crazy.
Started my morning with math class. Then I was in a photo shoot for admissions. Then I had a quiz in chem and an exam in physics, among other things. I also found keys on the library floor between my quiz and exam, and found the owner. Yay for good deeds! I missed Jonathan Safran Foer since his talk was during my test. Oh well. I saw pictures. Apparently he is young and good looking. I went to the EnCouncil meeting and did some spinning afterward.
Long, good day. Stressing so so weird. I stress even though I know things will work out in the end. But I can't skip the stressing part. Ever. I have decreased the magnitude of my stress, but it's still present.
TBC,
ATT

PS. Next week is going to be nuts!
Tuesday: Chem test and physics lab;
Wednesday BME test and 100 other activities
Thursday: Birthday and chem lab!
Saturday: WILD (the concert)!
Sunday: The home plate, PLTL, PST!

Update on Life

I am doing well! Sorry for the super, super, way too long gap of not writing. There have been ups and downs here, but I love it. Nothing about my life is the same, but I am still me. More average than before, working harder than ever. I am proud to be here as me. There is so much to update, I can't even begin to start. I can't even SAY half of what I want to on the internet. I've met so many people. Some look like people I knew in VP, some have similar personalities to people I've met before... Some are way smarter than I can ever hope to be... Some must have slipped in. I used to resent those people who got into schools above their capability level. Now I pity them more than anything else (until they end up in my study group circle. Then it's another story).

I dream of driving off of campus, being on Lemon Street in Villa Park, and going to Rubios. All the time. I take morning showers. I exercise by "spinning." I need tutors for almost everything. Or at the very least, I talk to other people about my problem sets so much more. I am accountable for everything I do. I am in a campus bubble 98% of the time. Even on weekends. I am nervous I won't be able to get to Target before I start running out of stuff. This week, I have no class on Tuesday's after 10 AM, so I guess if I don't have too much homework, I will go to Target.

I am quieter in class. I listen more. I have to. I have much less to contribute academically anymore... Or maybe I have relatively less because everyone else has more. And that, well... That's just fine by me. I was tired of discussing things in class by myself anyway. Here, people discuss in class and out. It's novel. And while partying happens, and people get smashed and break glasses wearing tin foil masks and bright pink spandex shorts, life is filled with the rich promise that I, too, can do whatever I so choose. Last night I did multivariable calculus and partied. I went to bed this morning at 2:30 AM and woke back up at 7:30 AM to go share my love of engineering with young girls in my SWE shirt and green WUSTL hard hat. I haven't gained a pound since I've been here. It's all on me. I am owning up to my shortcomings, learning to cope, becoming an independent adult.

I love. I think I would love anyone who came within 10 feet of me right now. To those of you who are not able to come within 10 feet of me (my family), I have gained a new perspective on just how precious you are. Even the members who sometimes annoy me or yell at me for no good reason or make a point to bring me down. I have also gained a deep appreciation for snail mail. It's such a beautiful thing. I hope they keep it around forever.

TBC (sooner, hopefully, rather than later),
Nicole, who is almost nineteen(!?!?!)

Post 67 on Route 66

Orientation has been great. Yesterday after listening to Dr. Loomis and Dr. Quatrano (and other various planned seminars), I helped make the banner for the WashU Ultimate Floor Challenge (WUFC). Lien 2's flag looks bomb! I also bonded a lot with people and went out to dinner with them. Then we went to this floor meeting where we were directed to Graham Chapel to see a play about date rape. Girls and guys separated into separate discussion groups where we talked about the situation.

Then I got inducted as an Wash U Engineer! I am not sure if I am allowed to say what I did there, so I will just say I now own an Engineering Creed card and a brand new Wash U green hard hat (The engineering school is under a lot of construction!)! Then I went to bed. Yesterday was awesome in general. I met people and actually talked to and learned about them, so instead of "Speed Dating" for people's names, (Name? Major? Hometown? Dorm? NEXT PERSON!) like everyone was earlier, I am actually getting to know people. That is preferable, of course. Today is going to be crazy busy. I am always running around and rarely home.

Today my parents leave. Bye, Mom and Dad!

Love,
ATT

Getting Oriented.

Yesterday I moved in and was convocated. I met a million people. It was like speed dating for friends. Name, hometown, major, NEXT! It was a blast though! Light sticks, Ted Drewes frozen custard for free, etc. I like my dorm a lot. So neat and lush! I have had to make a few adjustments, but I like it overall. Today was fun. 8:30 AM engineering dean's mtg, peer advising/advising with faculty, overview of BME, etc. Then I met a nice girl who loves art as much as I do, and we went through the on-campus Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, which is a must-see in my opinion. I fixed my tech problems, too! Now I am still working on my printer/a few other lesser evils! Good times!

TBC! Love, ATT

Here!

Today was awesome! I woke up at 4:00 AM Pacific, headed to the airport, took a very short flight (or it seemed so) to STL, went to Panera in our rental car (or should I say Bread Co.), and went to the Knight Center. It is like, a 4 star hotel. So cool. Then we went to Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond for some stuff. Then we went to the Delmar Loop for dinner. Fitz's has great fries and chili. MMMMMhhhhh yum. I went on a WUSTL walk with my mom. Tomorrow is move in. : ) So exciting.


And here I am... MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS!!!

I officially call it my home. : D

(Shocker!)

Today I made a big long list of things to do. I actually did most of them. That includes writing my friend a thank you note, grouting the frame of my mosaic into place (which wasn't as terrible as I anticipated and only took a half hour), swam in my own pool (shocker!), rode my bike to mail the thank you note and buy stamps, stretched, tracked my shipments to Wash U. Very productive. Read my sister's birthday blog.

Here's a shocker: It's her birthday today. Happy Birthday to the coolest 24 year old in existence!

Countdown to the 25th... Well come on, it's the 20th. You do the math! I've got to get packing soon!

Love to all,
Nicole AppleBirthday!

Hunger games and beach day!

I stayed up until 2:00 to finish the hunger games. I read 3 hours on Sunday and 4 hours on Monday. It was amazing and addictive. I could write a review on it as long as the actual book, so just go invest a few bucks in Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games. The third book comes out on August 24, so I ordered it and shipped it to my St. Louis address this morning. : D

I was invited to the beach last night. I had a very nice time today at the beach. It was a less frequented part of Newport. I really enjoyed hopping over the swelling waves before they crash. Plus, I may not see those friends or that beach for a very long time. I started catching fire this morning. I am so excited to navigate the trilogy. I have at least read 3 books this summer. Not too bad, considering I worked a lot, learned a lot, etc.

Best,
Nic E. Coli

Pleasantness

Life is becoming more and more pleasant. I am excited for college! Good things are coming my way, I hope. Sometimes it's hard to be optimistic, but I chose to be anyway. : D

Hiatus

I didn't realize people had commented on my blog. So I took a hiatus. Today when I realized that someone beside my mom reads this, I decided to go for it again. This week has been boring. I have been having an internal struggle lately. Who am I going to be when I go back? It's not a question of whether I'll be Nicole or not. The question is which Nicole I'll be. People are so complex, made of up so many shades of themselves. Which shade of Nicole will I be? Will I ever reach my goals? Who knows. Not something to worry about yet.

I was getting antsy because so many blogs I read aren't posting new material three times a day. Or even once a day. So I thought to myself, HYPOCRITE! Hypocrisy at its finest. I mean, no one hangs on my every word, and honestly, the blogs I am waiting on are mostly picture-based blogs. But still. I realized that in order to feel better, I can't keep all of my Nicoles at bay. I have to go off of this hiatus.

I shipped some things to Wash U today. I caught up with some people, ran a million errands, walked, rode my bike, stretched... No matter how old I get, I will always regret not being a contortionist. Being super limber is so relaxing. To just be a noodle without the weight of the world (or a heavy backpack) on my shoulders.

I have a lot of wishes/goals right now. I don't know that I believe any will come true. I am not used to that...

Anyway. More to come. I promise

Nic E. Coli

Post 60

Friday: Symposium was awesome! Free breakfast and lunch. Then I went back to my lab, played cards, said bye to people, etc. I had $98.00 in meal points left, so I asked my lab if they wanted to have a dinner/spades night. We did, and it was a blast, until I had to leave to go to the City Museum. That was also a blast! I got back home afterwards, played Bananagrams for the first time (so fun!), and went to sleep.

Saturday: I went home. I was tired. I got some things done that I can't remember. I also unpacked.

Sunday: Exercised, caught up on TV, etc.

Monday: Opened B of A account since St. Louis and Wash U are owned by Bank of America. I also did a bunch of other random errands and then had my friends over for a night of Rubios (which I missed in St. Louis, but not as much as I thought I would), fun, and conversation. It was a blast.

Today: Going to do more errands and exercise. Sorry for the brevity!

TBC,
ATT

PS. Home is awesome.

Yesterday was chill. I went to work, took a FroYo/ spades break (the card game) after flow cytometry, and then showed my presentation to my lab. I then went to the arch's Westward Expansion museum, then up 630 feet (192 meters) in a retro futuristic space pod. I still don't trust the arch. It gets so crowded up there. But the view was really cool. When it is packed like a sardine tin, I don't feel safe. Plus you have to practically lay down to see out the windows. It's odd but very cool. We went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I was starving by the time we got our food. There were 3 parties of at least 20 people including mine, and a lot of other patrons, so we got our food at about 9:30 PM. It was pretty decent though. I came back home and chilled, worked on my presentation a bit, and went to sleep.
Today I am going to the lab lunch for the Jeopardy tournament. It is an Indian/Nepalese/Korean place. Should be interesting.

TBC,
The girl who calls an "elevator capsule" a "space pod"

The Rest of Monday, All of Tuesday, and This Morning

The rest of Monday, I took my walk. On my way home from chem prep before my walk, I captured the picture of the pink sky behind Wash U. So pretty! I made it my new blog photo. I exercised, did a bit of junk I can't remember, and went to sleep around 11:00 PM. At 3:00 AM, I was woken in my sleep by my roommate and some friends, who thought barging in screaming to steal her mattress so she could sleep in the room ONE DOOR DOWN was appropriate behavior on a work night. We also had an 8:30 AM seminar that morning and I had stuff to do before that. Needless to say, I was not pleased. I did get everything done that I wanted to get done on Monday! That made me feel good.

Tuesday, I woke up at 6:00 AM despite my roommate, did some stuff to make my day easier, and went to breakfast nice and early. I then got to the seminar early, enjoyed hearing the perspective of a female MD/Ph.D., and went to work. If anyone wants to know more specifics on the seminar, I don't want to bore all of my readers, so you can ask me later. At work, I did some prep for flow cytometry, passaged cells, etc. with my bench mentor. Then we went to the med school. I got so tired, I napped. We got back to the hilltop (main Wash U) campus, added the final images to my presentation, and today, I will present it at work.
I got off of work at 4:30 PM, went to dinner, made my own salad and had a fruit salad on the side, and watched The Lion King. It is a great movie. I love it more at 18 than I did as a kid, probably because I can appreciate Scar's ironic statements. Then I took a really fast, intense WUSTL walk. I could barely breathe. Before going back to the South Forty, I went to the DUC to relax a few and get some water. I got back home, did some various junk, mostly of the relaxing nature, and then went to sleep. I got up to go to the bathroom at 2:00 AM and could hear giggling next door. No wonder those kids look trashed in the morning. No offense to them, but they are like narcoleptics during the day, falling asleep EVERYWHERE (even at seminars. Kinda rude, in my opinion. And there really is NOTHING to do all night on a Tuesday or Wednesday. I promise.).

This morning, I woke up early, read some blogs, and showered. Now I am writing this blog, drying off a bit so I can get dressed. Have a good day!
Sincerely,
The-Applebaum-who-sleeps-alone-in-her-room-but-doesn't-mind-because-she-doesn't-have-to-put-up-with-her-inconsiderate-roommate-barging-in-screaming-in-the-middle-of-the-night-anymore : )

Schlepping

Today consisted of breakfast, lab, iTunes shopping spree (11 songs I think), med school, lab, DUC to get Dylan some lunch, lab, med school, ran back to lab to pick up a chemical, ran back to catch metro 5 minutes later, med school, lab. DONE! If you can count (I convoluted it, I am sorry), that is 4 schlepping trips, three of which were to the med school.

I finished everything for the day, went to dinner, went to Yaa's presentation (she is leaving for some compsci competition tomorrow), and went to chem prep. I did well on my quiz from last week! Yay! I can safely say I beat the average (finally!). I also practiced my presentation, and realized that I need to add pictures where my frog picture templates currently are. Haha. Glad I practiced. I can fix it tomorrow. I am about to go exercise if it isn't raining. Good day to you all!
-Nicole

Post Schfifty-Five! Weekend Update!

Friday was fun. Lab was slow. Thursday nights are when the engineers have their coed softball league games, so my bench mentor was really tired. I accompanied him on a Chinese food run, worked on my presentation, and edited my abstract.
After that, I went to a free, outdoor Sarah Bareilles concert at the Civic Center. She was really good. Since the FSAP kids had their last night on Friday, I went with them to the Loop to get FroYo, which was delicious (as usual). Then we watched an old TIVOed SNL. I went to sleep.

Saturday from 9:00 AM to noon I volunteered landscaping a preschool. It was a really nice, ritzy preschool. Apparently they give out financial aid. Haha. Too funny. After that, I had some fruit at the DUC. It was about 97 degrees and 100% humid during volunteering. I also got hit in the face by a wheelbarrow. Ow. Then I went home, showered, went to the library, and got a ton of stuff done. I hung out in the fun room. I was too sore to enjoy the City Museum, so I passed on going. My stomach was also very upset. : (

I love thunder and lightning. Before the bus ride to Tyson and last night as well, I just sat out and watched the storm under an overhang. I love the lightning! Such a novelty. The whole sky is encouraging epileptics to seize. I wanted to rave, but then it started to rain. When I say rave, I mean, dance in the storm. No psychedelics.

This morning we headed out 1.5 hours west to the Meramac River for our float trip. It was a blast. My raft was composed of very cool people, and I really enjoyed the picnic lunch. I had a wheat bread sandwich with hummus, cucumber, lettuce, and tomato. It was amazing. There was also a variety of chips, fruits, and cookies. So yummy! Thanks, Amy.
I got back home, got my storage bins, and packed them most of the way. I have to ship some stuff home soon, and I got my laundry done. Now I am headed to dinner in a few.

Hope your weekend was equally awesome,
ATT

Terrific Thursday and Beyond

I woke up, had a different breakfast than I normally do, and went to a conference where a BME who had gone into "industry," I.E. the business aspect of things, talked to us. He was more of a software programmer/ IT guy, but he was still really cool. He encouraged us to take some business classes, maybe get an MD/MBA (not for me, obviously), or a business minor. He said it is better to do it while you are still on your schooling streak than to try to go back to school later. He also invited us to check out his company and gave us his email. I picked his brains quite a bit.

I went to work, autoclaved, did some actual productive work, and talked with Dylan about my presentation. Unlike my abstract, he actually liked it. He said it was simple, effective, and the flow was good, and to just add the results and finish. We analyzed the results, emailed them to my laptop, etc.

I went to dinner, where I had a delicious chicken burger (so worth the longer wait. Burgers of any sort take way longer than Mexican food). Then it was chem prep time. It was so fast. I only have one more left on Monday. I have learned a lot about the WHYs of chemistry. Why we accept certain things as true, and the quantum mechanical Schrödinger's Cat situation.

I went from chem prep to the library. I was there for 2 hours. It felt like 10 minutes. I focused like a dream. Headphones on, one album repeating (so that you don't notice the music and hence don't feel time go by). I almost finished my presentation. Then I went home and actually finished.

It feels so good to be done. I know I have editing to do, but it is just... such a relief to have everything pretty much squared away.

Today I am going to a seminar about MD/Ph.D. programs. I think the point of SSBBR is to push us to be MD/Ph.D.s, but they don't talk about how ridiculously competitive they are. The nice thing is that you can research on humans. Many Ph.D.s do rat surgeries, etc. But MD/Ph.D.s do human surgeries and lab work. I think many of them teach medical school. Not sure though. It gives you so many options. But the speaker yesterday makes me think that industry might not be so different. Money make things happen, and money comes with strings attached, whether loaned or granted.

TBC,
ATT

Wednesday and General Life Changes

Yesterday was really cool. After work, I went to the Tyson Research Center. We rode on the back of trucks around this giant forest facility and looked at the different research projects. We were sitting on the sides of the truck cab leaning in to avoid falling off of a "speeding" truck (going 30 seemed like 50). It was really beautiful and very memorable. We went up and down hills in these trucks on off-road trails. There are over 2200 acres and tons of solar panels. The building we had our picnic in is called the Living Learning Center, which is nearly 100% sustainable. It's about half an hour off campus, and such a cool resource for Wash U students. On the bus home, we played a fun word/phrase game.

In general, my life is so different here. Yesterday, I sat and watched a rainless thunderstorm with Madeleine. I am no longer terrified of storms in close proximity. In my life, I have always taken night showers. Now I take morning showers. And in VP, I eat most of my food for the day after school. Now I eat my food more evenly throughout the day for energy purposes. I also have a new outlook on certain things.

Tata for now,
ATT

No Blog Blog #2

Monday and Tuesday. No Blog.
-ATT

"Have a Six Flags Day"

Yesterday I woke up early, ate breakfast, and went to Six Flags St. Louis, which is also a water park. It wasn't too crowded. We hopped on two rides fairly quickly. The first one was a kiddy ride. The 2nd was called Ninja. One of the cars leaving after I rode it got stuck, and so my friends who went on the car behind me couldn't get out of their train until they could pull into the platform. So we waited for them for a few minutes. Then we went on Batman, which we waited an hour to go on. The line was super windy. It was so much like the Silver Bullet at Knott's Berry Farm, because they are both made by Bolliger Mabillard (the famous roller coaster makers).Then we went to lunch at the greasy and heavy Johnny Rocket's. It was way too hot to eat that much grease. I also went on a wooden roller coaster (Evil Knievel?), a log flume, and waited outside with the worst stomach pains ever during "Mr. Freeze." Around 4:00 PM (we arrived at 11:00 AM), we went into the water park. The wave pool was fun, as was the kiddy stuff. So I just followed little kids around pretending I was with them so I could stay. Ahaha. Anyway, I got back home and had an excellent night, hammocking and watching a movie. The movie was so cute and beautifully made!

Today it is rainy with thunderstorms. Better than yesterday, which felt like 112ºF death! : )
TBC,
ATT

50th Post!

Quote of the day: "Good thing you aren't pregnant!" -Dylan, my bench mentor, referring to me working with certain chemicals.

More to come later!

My half-centennial post is very short... but I will make it good. Today, I realized that being here in St. Louis has changed my perspective and my overall view of humanity. Thanks, WUSTL and WUSTLians! WUSTLites? Who knows?

TBC,

Nicole A.

Yet another two day recap... and bagel weirdness

Wednesday: Woke up, went to lab, worked on stuff, went to the med school for PCR, met at 8th and Pine metro station for lunch around 1:00. Another undergrad (a rising senior) left her purse on the metro, which put a stall in things. Ate a bento box of delicious food at Jade (including Hao's tiger cupcakes!), went back to the med school to realize PCR had failed, went to lab, went back to med school to redo PCR, went back to lab, ate dinner, went to library, relaxed on hammock, found my roommate, went to sleep after a shower.

Thursday: I woke up, ate my bagel, went to a seminar, no speaker, went to work, prepped for autoclaving, ran around like a chicken, finished playing the tourney of Jeopardy at lunch (got 4th place! If I had gotten .5 of a point lower, I would have the girl who lost her purse buying me lunch instead... Not that I'd ever really SEE that lunch), worked like a dog on my project, and went to med school to do flow cytometry ("I'll always opt to fall down the stairs in the end" -Bobbing For Apples by Regina Spektor. Ask me later). Most of it worked better than we expected. We realized one of our important factors is expired... but not just passed its suggested date. It really works poorly. So we went back, made culturing plates, and are about to start with all new stuff. I left the lab, ate dinner, and was too late to go to the Cardinal's game. I found out no one went. Also, I ate dinner with some friendly FSAP kids who were really cool. It was nice to meet them. Too bad they are leaving in 8 days (the 24th). I found out at the seminar with no speaker that I am presenting on July 30th at 11:00 AM. Cool. Also, my suggestion for the Sunday night dinner, Panera (STL Bread Co.) was chosen as the winner. : )

I went to the library after dinner, worked in a study room with the FSAP kids reading a really good journal article on my topics of interest (they do things slightly different than we do). Then I went home, walked, went to sleep at 10:30 PM (so early!), woke up, showered at 6:50 AM, and here I am now.

Tuesday and Wednesday, I ordered cinnamon raisin bagels. Tuesday I got a jalapeno bagel (it was a slight shock), and Wednesday I got a blueberry bagel, which was pretty good too but not what I wanted. Thursday, success! I got the right kind of bagel! : )

Hoping for another lucky bagel day!
-ATT

SSE Snafu

So I had an awesome day. It was great. I will comment more on it later... but my lab had a streak of bad luck. It was Xi's birthday and Bastille Day, so maybe that has something to do with it. Who knows? More to come. Awesome hammocks at Wash U... : )
Awesome conversation.

TBC,
Nicole

Today kicked butt...

So pretty much, today kicked butt, as my title infers. Woke up nice and early, made my lunch, and went to see a seminar by Dr. Herzog, who researches biological clocks. He fascinated me. I had so many questions for him, I must have driven him crazy. Then I went to lab. Lab rocked! I got frozen yogurt after lunch, did flow cytometry, prepped cDNA for PCR, aliquoted, you name it. I ran around a lot. I was in lab until 5:45 PM, went to dinner, and went to the library, and wrote my abstract. I had a study buddy, which was very nice. : D

Later,
ATT

I am not going to lie to you...

This weekend was mostly uneventful, besides making some cool new friends and what not. I went to Dierbergs so I can make my own lunches now! :D Trying to be healthier. :D

Today I woke up, had a rad time in lab, and had dinner, went to chem, and came back. But I also am starting a project... my halloween costume. I want to get suggestions on it. I have these plastic pieces that the lab isn't using and gave to me. I have like, 150 of them, WAY enough to make a costume. So I want to be some sort of lego person. All I need is some fishing line!

TBC, and give me suggestions!
Love,
ATT

Two Days, One post.

Yesterday I went breakfast, then to a seminar, went to lab, and then went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens (Mobot). It was a great way to take pictures of people walking away. So I made a FB album. Go check it out. : )

Then I came back home, met my roommate in the pouring rain, and saw her palace of 3 connected doubles in Park House. They have mirrored closets, two toilets just for them, and a long hallway. Unfair. They are still trying to wine and dine kids at the ArtSci Weekends. They didn't roll out any red carpets for us. The ArtSci kids get to go to Ursa's too. We are stuck at the DUC. My Roommie is nice.
Today I had breakfast, went to work, and had a blast at work refilling micropipette tips. The plastic rig thingy is amazing, but the red tips are devils. I got to keep the pogs that come inside. I am going to needlepoint with them or make some sort of armor. I love my lab and my lab job. : D

After I ate a light dinner, I went to the student-run campus farm, the Burning Kumquat, and heard the epic story of how it started. They compost there too, so if you are guilted by the Landfill signs, go to the BK garden and compost your apple cores : ) I ate green onions, fresh tomatoes, stevia (sugar-like), chives, green beans. Just a taste of each. And every Saturday, WUSTL kids go to the inner city to sell fresh fruit at a Farmer's Market. They ride bikes with bike trailers attached. They also have a bike that generates current to run lights and speakers. So peaceful! The tour guide, Rob, was really cool.
Then I went to the FUN room and met some nice FSAP kids. Yay! Here I am now, thinking about exercising. Today was awesome. I love how kooky and quirky my lab is.

TBC,
Quarter Peachbush

7/7!

Today I woke up, got breakfast to go, and ate my cinnamon raisin bagel in my lab's break room. Then I did some analysis, compiled more data, and did some EB photography. I ate lunch, did more work, went to the med school, used the new FACS machine (which works amazingly well), and my bench mentor dropped me off at the DUC for dinner. I ate delicious food (yummy cinnamon raisin cookies!), went to my dorm, put on shorts, and got to my chem session early! Quiz went pretty well, but I ran out of time. Then I went back to my dorm, did my WUSTL walk, and then I talked to some people, played an online word game with them, and now I am here. I am having the time of my life!

I talked to my fall roommie and she is really cool. I might be seeing her soon, probably sometime tomorrow or Friday!

TBC,

Nicole WUSTLbaum

The new walk in the Applebaum family of walks...

Great day at work, free pizza dinner! DeliciOSO (I'm a bear now)!

But the best thing is that over the past two days, I have invented a new walk.

Applebaums know the Sycamore, Jocotal, Mesa, Cerro Villa, Mesa Villa, Ginormaloop, etc.

But I invented a new walk unlike any other: The Washington University Scenic Tour of Lollygagging, or the WUSTL! : ) WUSTL is also the school's initials. So I will call it my WUSTL walk, or my WUSTL double loop.

It is amazing. I listen to the song "California Gurls" by Katy Perry a lot. It is the perfect tempo for my WUSTL walk. I have done it twice these last two nights. I get a lot of exercise and learn the campus! Killing 2 birds with one stone! I also played a bit of frisbee with Connnie S. and Madeleine C.

Fun, fun, fun!

TBC,

ATT

The No Blog Blog

I can't even blog these past 2 days. I am exhausted. Too much craziness and folly. Good night world!

Love,

Folly Applebaum

July 3rd: Arch Festivities

First of all, happy Independence Day! I will blog about today after it happens.

Yesterday begin early... Germany vs. Argentina. I was really sad. I had a delicious cinnamon raisin bagel for breakfast and an apple and frozen yogurt at half time. The German speaking people in the fun room kind of scare me. They start screaming and kicking stuff when they get goals, and they stood up and sang the German national Anthem at the beginning. After the game, I hung out with Josh J. and met some more FSAP kids. Apparently some of them like to party a lot. Anyway, I posted a FB album, went to lunch, took the Shrewsbury blue line to Brentwood, and went to Target with Felipe and Edward. I got a new ace wrap and all the supplies I need for my hand. After, I played guitar on Guitar Hero in the fun room, but I played lefty so that my left hand only had to strum. At 6:10 PM, I went downstairs for dinner, and then we all gathered, went to the metro, and took 10 stops on toward Shiloh-Scott... Arch-Laclede's Landing was nuts. I posted pics on FB after I got back. 2 albums, 1 day! We were at a John Legend concert, sitting under the arch. Then we saw the fireworks, and crammed into a super crowded Red liner going to Shrewsbury. We had to switch to Blue line at the Forest Park stations, but the metros were all so full, I felt like a sardine. Not to mention, the cars were running super slow due to the massive weight load. It was fun though. I came home, watched Dane Cook tell filthy jokes/some murder mystery movie with girls in bikinis/Star Wars episode 4. That is what happens when there's only 1 girl, 4 guys and a TV. It was fun. Then I went to sleep.

The metro map is to help people figure out what I am talking about. : )

TBC,

ApplebAMERICA

Research Rockstar!

Today is the last day that the middle schoolers in the science camp upstairs will be living in our building. The checked out two hours ago! When I went to breakfast this morning, they took forever to get their breakfast and clogged up the whole cafe, so I went to the line and made my own parfait. It was kind of bad, but at least I got a cinnamon raisin bagel for lunch. I arrived at my lab at 8:45 AM, wrote some notes, and practiced micropipetting into my 96 well chamber, aspirating fluid, etc. I got to do the rest of my protocol from yesterday, imaging EBs, etc. I got so much independence! I got great results too! I felt like a rockstar. And when I was given a 50 EB sample, I got 35 out. Not bad! They stick to the pipette tips and are really annoying. I handled it well, and when I had to make a troubleshooting call, I made the right call! YES! Research rockstar moment #1! Then I helped Dylan passage his cells, grabbing him all of his reagents, putting trays in and out of the incubator, running to the cold room, being his right hand man. I finished my work, ate my bagel, and played spades. I helped Dylan "go NIL," but we lost the game overall. Apparently, newbies always lose for their team (I am a newbie). Dylan let me run my protocol on his cells and I think I did a good job. I will find out soon enough. I have to edit my typed protocol still, but it is coming along. I got to put on my iPod, and surprisingly, Dylan and I have similar taste in music for some part. I honestly just put on songs I didn't think he'd detest. Apparently, I was successful. I danced around the lab and had fun working when i realized it was 20 to 5:00 (PM). I got to do some aliquoting of EGF (he let me do sterile work on my own with reagents that actually matter!). Great day. We got SOOO much done. He says the rest of our days will be this busy. YAY! I thought today was a "WOW" day. As in, "Wow, I want to do this!" I didn't get the same vibe when I shadowed docs between 10th and 11th grade at NYLF. I left work, called my mom, bought some necessities at the bookstore, and went to the DUC for dinner. I played Rock Band Beatles edition and sang a lot, drummed a little. It has been an awesome night, and all of my room/suite mates seem nice. We are emailing. My roommate will be at Wash U the 8th through 10th of July, so we are probably going to meet up and discuss things. :)

Great day! I feel so competent, it is awesome. And I understand processes.

TBC,

The exuberant one

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday: Woke up, went to lab after breakfast, day dragged on, played spades, waited for scores and room notifications, called AP another 100 times, and left work, ate dinner, played Guitar Hero, and went to see Beauty and the Beast at the Muny. It was so cool to see in an outdoor theater, and the whole show was just adorable (and cheesy, like Cheese-ology). I got home, no scores or room assignment, and went to sleep.

Today I woke up and got my AP scores. I always have a heart attack during the phone's robotic slow talking suspensefulness.

AP Art history 5

AP Lit 5

AP Macroecon 4

AP Gov 5

AP Physics C mechanics 4

There it is.

I am not posting where I am going to live. That's dangerous, but it is a modern double. : ) In a good location. In Brookings Residential college.

I went to a seminar on career options with a cool prof. Then I went to lab. I wrote my own protocol down. It was cool. I did that protocol, and then I went to a lab lunch to celebrate Hao passing her quals in order to stay in grad school. We went to Chuy's and had a delicious meal, played scientific abstract mad libs, and I had amazing vanilla ice cream afterward. Then I went back to lab, met the lab tech (finally), and then did some more runs of my protocol. I had dinner, gen. chem prep class, and then I came back to blog... Good day! Ate way too much, but it was delicious. Peace and love!

Brookings Baby

Cheese-ology

Today I woke up, had a parfait, and called the AP number 100 times throughout the past 3 days. Seriously. Give me my AP scores! Then I went to a seminar on plant evolutionary biology at 8:30 AM. I kept nodding off even though I was taking copious notes in tiny handwriting. Then I went to lab. I had to kill my stem cells because my bench mentor made me reuse a flask so he could use the last 2 ones that were ready for his stem cells because those are more important than mine. I was so sad to see the bleach turn my cell media from pinkish orange to dark purple and then to clear... So much work for nothing and no more work for me to do now! : (

I went to a grand opening of a fancy macaroni and cheese place called Cheese-ology on the Loop. I had Santa Fe style, with Mexican cheeses, chicken, corn, and black beans. It was spicy and delicious and a perfect size, but slightly overpriced, like any novelty store. Also, I had Fitz's root beer there (it was my first time trying it). I liked that too. Cool glass bottles (again, overpriced). Then I went back to lab, did some immunohistochemistry, and talked to my PI, Dr. S-E. She is nice. Then I went to the bookstore after lab, bought some gum (an embarrassingly large amount, and bought a shirt at Bear Necessities at my mom's urging. It is cute, so I walked the few feet back to Beaumont and put in on along with some shorts. I then had dinner in the fun room (make your own salad rocks!) and played the drums in Guitar Hero for the 1st time. I usually sing, but I did pretty well on easy levels. I am back here now. Having fun. Cheese-whiz!

TBC,

ni-Cheese-ole

Everything I Touch Turns to Poop

Everything I touched today turned into a snafu. I woke up with some lovely zits... must have touched my face over night. Then I registered for classes. I realized my schedule is nuts... and I am taking the minimum amount for a BME (16 units). There she is!

FL2010 - Schedule Grid
Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
9:00AM	L24 Math 233 01	L24 Math 233 01		L24 Math 233 01	L24 Math 233 01
9:30AM	L24 Math 233 01	L24 Math 233 01		L24 Math 233 01	L24 Math 233 01
10:00AM
10:30AM
11:00AM	L07 Chem 111A 02		L07 Chem 111A 02		L07 Chem 111A 02
11:30AM	L07 Chem 111A 02		L07 Chem 111A 02	L07 Chem 111A Q	L07 Chem 111A 02
12:00PM	L07 Chem 151 01			L07 Chem 111A Q
12:30PM	L07 Chem 151 01			L07 Chem 111A Q
1:00PM	L31 Physics 197 02	L31 Physics 197 D	L31 Physics 197 02	L07 Chem 151 E	L31 Physics 197 02
1:30PM	L31 Physics 197 02	L31 Physics 197 D	L31 Physics 197 02	L07 Chem 151 E	L31 Physics 197 02
2:00PM		L31 Physics 197 D		L07 Chem 151 E
2:30PM	E62 BME 140 01	L31 Physics 197 D	E62 BME 140 01	L07 Chem 151 E
3:00PM	E62 BME 140 01	L31 Physics 197 D	E62 BME 140 01	L07 Chem 151 E
3:30PM	E62 BME 140 01		E62 BME 140 01	L07 Chem 151 E
4:00PM				L07 Chem 151 E
4:30PM				L07 Chem 151 E

Notice it is entirely math and science. Then I went to my lab and struggled. And felt like I had taken a giant leap backward. Yay! : (

Then I had a chem quiz and bombed. : ) No grades though. Now I will remember how to do everything for when I actually take general chem in fall. Then I went on a 5 minute jog... The South 40 is all fenced off for construction, so I ended up not getting very far. Oh well. Today was exhausting and I am getting fat... Not really, but low cal options here are minimal over the summer.

TBC,

elociN (snafu version of Nicole)

Hurt Paw/ Etruscan Claw/ Happy Birthday, Ma!

I woke up, had vanilla frozen yogurt for breakfast, and watched sadly as Germany beat England in the world cup. Then I tried to find quarters to do my laundry. I got one from the cafeteria, went up to the vending machines by the fun room, and changed my ones for quarters. I ate my delicious chicken burger for lunch. I was back in the fun room when my bench mentor, Dylan, called me into the lab early. I passaged my stem cells and was back out by 1:15 PM. I then went to BarnesJewish Hospital to get my finger x-rayed. I now am down to a right hand and an injured left paw. I am typing half a word a minute. : P Not really, but it is like only having one finger on my left hand. I have claw usage only. My friend helped me do my laundry. I am like the Etruscans (crab people) from AP art history. I had Qdoba in the big floor lounge with my entire group of 20. Qdoba is super delicious! Then a tornado decided to roll in, so here I am now! I want to give a special birthday shout out to my mom! Happy birthday!

*Please excuse any mistakes, as this took me forever.*

Love,

Claw Paw

Forest Park

Today I rode a bike all around Forest Park. So much fun! Ice cream for breakfast, Sno-cones, sunshine, good meals all day. Lovely people, lovely places. SLAM (St. Louis Art Museum). I could predict so many of the artists. I curated a bit. : ) Today's soccer game was sad. : (

TBC,

Nic E. Coli

Today in St. Louis

Today I woke up at nine, had vanilla frozen yogurt, and took it upstairs to the FUN room to watch soccer. Then I played a round of pool.

After, I went to my lab at 12:00 PM. My bench mentor had a ton to do today, so he let me run around and do a lot of things on my own. It was so great to feel like I was actually helping him instead of slowing him down. We zipped down to Central West End (a yuppie neighborhood) to the med school. While my mentor was running tests in the flow cytometry center, I obtained him a locker. He was happy. He made me pay him for all of his help in beef jerky. Yay vending machines! Right now I am having some delicious peaches while talking to my friend Ishaq W. Good day!

TBC,

ATT

Aujourd'hui

Finished my book! Did a full protocol without having to throw anything out and start over. Checked out the library. Lots of good stuff. Napped in the FUN room. Watched 2 soccer games. Good day. Chem tutoring was awesome! Dustin was so cool. Great teacher!

Getting Better

Today, I woke up, exercised in the Athletic Complex, showered, picked up my package, and bought lunch. I met up with Josh. J and his friends in Cafe Bergson, and then I went to the fun room where we had a blast watching the US v. Algeria game and Slovenia vs. England game. I also watched the longest tennis match in history, which streamed into my lab. Lab was awesome. Getting better is awesome. Thank you Dylan M. for being so patient with your new baby duck (me). I know his last baby duck was an "all star" from the get go, but give me time. I'll get there.

Med school Campus: Free Ted Drewes

Lab today was long. I got up, ditched my exercise routine, had breakfast, went to lab early... and my mentor showed up 50 minutes later. I got a lot of my Reluctant Fundamentalist done, and I am up to page 82. Then I worked, including going to the med campus. We got free Ted Drewes frozen custard. Delicious! Long day, some annoying schlepping, etc. Oh well. Turned out for the best. The puzzle looks fantastic. We are about 1/3 done, in my very quick approximation, but it looks great. I will post pics when I am done.

Peace and love,

Little Miss Nic Nac

Catalogue

Today, I started in the BME lab. Lots of lab stuff. I read literature, learned to autoclave, met people from the lab, drenched myself in flammables, and worked by a fire. Apparently, if you catch on fire, the flame is clear, so you don't know that you are on fire until you are already burning. Super!

Anyhow, I am having a great time. Food is getting kind of repetitive since nothing is open over the summer. Puzzle is coming along. So is The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the summer required reading. Loving life. Sorry for the list. More to come. So busy!

Life is good!

Started my book and my candy puzzle. Bought stuff at the grocery store after navigating the metro. Almost got to go swimming. Good weekend.

South 40 Living

Today was a rough one thus far. First of all, I got up to go to breakfast. I left a 7:45 AM, where it was pouring. I loved the rain but got soaked to my skin. So after visiting the athletic complex and having breakfast, I took the almost 10 minute walk back to my building to change. It started raining again as soon as we left, and we were barely on time to lab. Lab was fun. I had to go back to my building at lunch to get some stuff, barely had time to eat. After the long day in the lab, I had dinner that I wasn't hungry for. I had to read a paper so I went BACK to my building AGAIN. Then, I decided I'd read later and go to the gym... So I walked 15 mins to the gym since the one by my building is closed. After all of that, my pass doesn't work. So I got sent home. : (

I only got a 30 minute brisk walk. Now I have to go to this 7:00 PM meeting, but I am not fit for public exposure.

People here are not quite what I was expecting. I don't feel like talking right now or being around a big group, so I am finally blogging away. I am trying to see the bright side of things. There is so much beauty all around me. It's amazing. But I still am missing something. I just need to think on it, I suppose.

TBC,

N

My 27th Post

Today is my 27th post, as you may have noticed if you are a title-reading type of person. It is also the day I am supposed to graduate from high school. But I have my cap and medallions here with me in St. Louis.

Yesterday was so much fun. I love SSBBR so far. The lab, the food, the basketball, the swings, the scenery, the friendly faces, the laughs and nods. It is great. I learned how to use a micropipetter, did gel electrophoresis, and all sorts of stuff. Ligating! I also learned how to plate bacteria.

TBC, and GOOD LUCK, VILLA PARKERS at graduation!

Love,

Mademoiselle Nicole

Safely in STL (Drop the Pressure)

Michael's CD is awesome. The Starstrukk Mix and Drop the Pressure are FontanesiTASTIC! Thank you so much! It kept me energetic, awake, and entertained. Today I woke up at 3:30 AM. I got ready... Couldn't stomach any food... But um, my friends who surprised me at 4:15 AM... You rock! Love you guys!

Safely in St. Louis. So happy. I got drenched in rain when I was unloading my stuff. It was pouring so hard, I was soaked to the skin. The day ended up being great. Showered, got ready for dinner, had dinner, group meeting. Tired. Long day. So much fun! My power heels were pretty fun. Things are looking up. I am trying to drop the pressure in my life... I love the CAMPUS!

I learned about WUPD (whoop-d) and WUFI (WU's Wifi). Haha! So cutesy! Love it!

Someone today said to me that I run on enthusiasm. So that I will do. My alarm is set for 6:00 AM, and that is 4:00 AM Pacific. AHHH! Oh well. Not too bad. It is only 11:00 PM-ish here now and I am pretty tired. 7 hours should do! Everyone is fantastic.

Until tomorrow,

Coco

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane

Today I woke up freakily early, as is now usual. I packed. I got testy. Sorry mom. I am nervous as all get out. Then I walked, went to Target, filled my first prescription, got groomed (yes, I am a dog : P), and went to the dentist. The dentist took two hours, and now I have some random prescription junk I have to use. Not fun. So I went back to Target, got the junk I was prescribed, went to Panera, and realized that I hadn't checked in for my flight yet. It is Southwest, and I want an AISLE seat. That is where I sit on a plane, bus, etc. The aisle. On cheer, my bus buddy Chelsea S. is a window person (thank goodness), and knows that when we have any type of drive, she slides in first. I am hoping to snatch an aisle. Other than having to fill my various prescriptions... good but stressful day.

In 12 hours, I have to wake up to go to the airport. : )

See you in St. Louis (or not, depending on whether or not you will be there too)!

Love,

N

Bad, Better, Baccalaureate, Basking

Today started out... okay. Dragged on since I last blogged. Leftover Cuban food for lunch, massive argument over clothes. Oh my gosh. I was just playing my piano, minding my business, listening to my sisters and my mom yell and gnash their teeth. Then the whole argument got blamed on my Baccalaureate and then my existence. It cleared up, but the behind-the back-whispering was annoying. Baccalaureate was fun. I had a photo shoot of sorts, but the polyester gown was hot as all get out. Horrible. We sat in the sun and baked to a speech about FAILURE. Very uplifting.

Then I went home, uploaded my pics, went to Alex's party, said goodbye to Elysse, etc.

Good night! Fun. Even if earlier the arguing was painful and awful, it made me realize how important compromise is.

Less Than Two Days

There are less than two days now... Yesterday the pronkers got shorn, I got some clothes, and went out for Cuban food for dinner.

Here are the pictures of Paco and Nacho before and after:

Paco before...

Paco AFTER!

Nacho before...

Nacho AFTER

Due to having to run to my own haircut, Nacho has less pictures after. Love you, boys!

Today is Baccalaureate... and Target runs/packing for St. Louis

TBC...

Love,

Little Nic-Nac

Speaking of Twos...

My 2 alpacas (Paco and Nacho) are getting shorn today. It should be interesting. I will post before and after pics later (maybe, if I feel like it). I guess all 3 of us are getting our hair cut today!

Also, I think I am going to take a bike ride (my bike has 2 wheels! :P ) I haven't gone on a bike ride in a while and don't want to try it again for the first time in St. Louis. Last summer, I took long bikerides almost daily. Now my mom is a little gun shy about letting me out, and I am never allowed to go alone again (even though I am an adult and technically do not have to listen).

Adventures in Arabesque-land continue! My quest to play Debussy like Peter Schmalfuss is going to take a long time, no doubt. Why are there so many different notes in that song? : P

In 2-3 years when I can finally play both hands of that song, I think I will take on Arabesque No. 2. Unfortunately, I won't have a piano in my room anymore, so it will be harder to just walk out of bed in my PJs and play.

TBC. I love writing so often!

As I write this, my mom is making me a liar. "Nicole, you can take your bike for a mini spin by yourself." WOW! It only took 11.5 months to get the green light.

Love,

Your favorite Nilla Wafer

Lots of Twos Today

Today is June 12, and there are two days and 22 hours until I leave for St. Louis, so I changed my blog title to "Meet Me in St. Louis." I thought it was cute.

I am getting my hair cut today and possibly using my Nordstrom gift card, probably on some shorts. I am typically not a shorts person for a variety of reasons. I have noticed that my friend, Tammy S., looks great in shorts of any length (or lack thereof). I feel is if for me, I would rather air on the side of longer shorts. I mean, my scarring is going to show either way, don't get me wrong. I have accepted that. I have fretted over it for far too long. Honestly, I don't think I am as upset about the actual scarring as I am about the accident. I try to wear my mistakes and blunders with pride. I remember the first day of school this year, putting on my cheer skirt for the whole world to see all of the pink and purple mess (it was worse then than it is now). I was a bit of a wreck. Now I feel as if it my scars are a reminder for me to not take anything in life for granted. Last night I looked back on my June 22, 2009 blog and realized my accident was nearly a year ago. I must have still been in a bit of shock during that entry. I called it a "bike [malfuction]," which was so not the case. I try to be brave and smile for the world sometimes... but I sort of wish I had been more honest and real about it.

So now, nearly one year after my bike spill... after questions, comments, gagging noises (thanks for that!), and "are you going to fix that?!?!" I am here to say,

No! I am not going to "Fix That!" I say that for emphasis, because I have come to believe that there isn't anything wrong with my legs. Why would I suffer more pain (and possible skin tightening when my skin there is already too tight over the bone) for it to look marginally better? And I don't like the idea that we as people have to erase all of our flaws. It makes me real. I am over it. Can everyone else please be too? Wish me luck on my hunt for something cute and my new hair!

Love,

The Youngest (and Tallest!) Applebaum

Last Day of High School Part Deux

I got to school nice and early after forgetting to eat breakfast... I figured I'd eat a lot in school, but that didn't end up working out so well for me. Before zero period, I picked up my beautiful light blue cap and gown. I got an extra cap to take to St. Louis with me! Thanks, Jostens! Zero I presented/watched my video project, which Michael F. edited with Jennifer P. It was hilarious! Very nicely done. It kind of made fun of me the whole time, but in a sweet and semi-flattering way. I make the worst faces when I am grossed out.

In first and second periods, I signed yearbooks. Third period I danced in Mr. C's class to some house music. Fourth period was presentations and a bit of a love fest, fifth I left to go home. I cleaned out my locker. My stuff in my locker weighed more than I do. I could barely carry it all in two trips. Holy moly! I disliked gravity at that point. I came home to work on my Claude Debussy piano song, Arabesque No. 1, and I learned another hard part. Now just to sneak that left hand in there! : D

Then I went to a yearbook signing party with laughs, cries, dancing, cheering up, reminiscing, and talk of late night infomercials and Club Starz (trashy!).

Then the cheer inductions with my white nondress dress. Frolic fest! :D

Dinner with family minus E started out shakey, ended up fun. And here I am now!

Great day! So many hugs and kisses! Thank you for helping me invent a new medium, APAH!

Love,

Apple #3

Last Day of High School

Every day I have been waking up earlier and earlier... I guess my body knows that I am going to be on central time soon. I usually wake up at 6:00 AM. The last few days, 5:50, 5:40, 5:20 AM.

Last night I thought, OH my goodness! What is the last way I want people to remember seeing me? What should I wear? And then I realized I don't care. People know me. Today won't make a difference. If I wear makeup or look super snazzy... People will still remember me how they've remembered me forever. My mom wants to give the outfit her seal of approval.

The last four days, I haven't had much to wear since my stuff is already in St. Louis sitting in an office waiting for me, so I have used the cat dissection as an excuse to wear sweat-type clothes. But today I should probably look nice. I am not jumping in the pool for Senior Dip Day, nor am I wearing a tank top for Austin Sanders tank top day... I just want to exit my school with grace, class, and dignity. I am not going to see anyone for a long time, so I don't think I should wear mascara in case I cry... Though I never cry when I think I will, Murphy's Law is too present in my life to risk looking like a raccoon all day. I haven't gotten everyone to sign my yearbook, nor have I finished all of my unfinished business here. I can't wait to go (IE, I don't plan on looking back). When I was a little kid on the balance beam, my coach would talk about how falling off of the beam was because you wanted to. I maintained that my balance was off, or I was scared, but she believed that it was somewhat intentional. "Look down, fall down," she would say. If I don't look back... I don't think there is as much danger of me going back. Everyone is still pretty sure that I will hate St. Louis weather and be back in California after a few years... We shall see, but weather is not that big of a deterrent for me yet.

Yesterday, due to Senior Parties in school and my Dad's birthday, I had 4 pieces of cake. The scale says I weigh even less than I did last time I weighed myself. I haven't had a hearty appetite in a while. It was pretty awesome. Carrot cake is delicious. I quite enjoy anything with carrots, but in a CAKE!?!? FANTASTIC!

I will share how today goes later on. I have the Varsity Induction tonight for cheer... Although I am being "outducted." SO weird that my cheer days are over...

Peace and TBC,

Pomme Numéro Trois (Apple # 3)

2nd to last day of school...

Zero: I dissected the last of my cat. It looks sort of like my cat and the smell makes me sick. I mean, it is really strong. I am not typically a fainter, but I lost all my coloring and almost... lost it.

First: I shared my potential future life with my classmates. They said it sounded boring and depressing.

Second: Party with cake/ helping in the library/ helping Robbie with his project.

Third: Yearbook signing.

Fourth: We had a gallery tour of our final projects. My graphing enlargement project is a replica of Frederic Lord Leighton's "Flaming June."

My second piece was a replica of a modular nine panel painting by Roy Lichtenstein. My video presentation on him went very well too!

Fifth: Yearbook signing

Sixth: Home

Good day!

Soul Piece

"Soul Piece" by me. Acrylic on Canvas. Not for sale : )

Mi Amore

I have found my love! Mi Amore. I have been waiting a long time for this to come! My art pieces are coming together. Mosaics=done. BEAUTEOUS! Such relief. I presented my senior project mosaics today. Kind of anticlimactic, but seriously, the amount of stress in my life is half of what it was just two or three days ago.

My AP art history Lichtenstein tribute is mearly complete. Also beauteous. For AP Lit, I painted my soul. It came out so well! I am very excited. And I painted my soul so easily and quickly. My soul, I guess, sort of fell out of my hand and onto the canvas. I would like to dedicate the piece to the person that inspired it, and no, I don't mean myself. I love you, inspiration. You— and your art— that is my love. I have looked at your painting every day for a while now, and it makes be struggle through the frustration and finish my own art. I don't believe art should have a due date. But it does for me in high school. It is a reality of life. I am so thankful to have such a cool original painting right in my house. So my love, your love for art (but unfortunately not your talent) has shaped mine. Thank you! I wish I could have said it to your face. You are in my painting and always in my heart! I am going to cry!

I would like to dedicate "Soul Piece," done in my favorite colors, to mi amore. I wish to be as talented as you some day. I wish I could show you this piece right now and get a big hug!

Good night. No one reads this but you... maybe! ; )

Spelling at 2:00 AM

So apparently I can't spell "existent" correctly when I am off-the-charts tired... : ) More to come later on...

Epiphany

I wonder sometimes why I kill myself to do so much... especially when it comes to school projects. I am adhering my tiles, but I needed a back break. Hence my being here. Here is how I got to this point today... Or yesterday, as the case may be. It is now Sunday.

So here is the rundown on my Saturday... I woke up at 6:00 AM with no alarm... gotta love that! Ate breakfast, walked several miles in the hills with my mom, danced, sang, played piano, worked a bit, played a bit, you know. It was fun. I talked to some friends, etc. I knew all VP kids would be busy tonight... So I worked on my mosaic, showered and got ready to go to the DSC, and worked the Grossology member's event with my mom. Very fun. Apparently we are creepy. Same everything... except I have my dad's pale genes. : ) Then we went to dinner at CPK and ordered the same entree and drink. Creepy, we are. I went to Barnes and Noble around nine PM. Got Wuthering Heights to read this summer. My AP Language and Comp teacher from last year, the awesome Mrs. Hall, highly recommended it. So there it is, right smack on my reading list for this summer! I got home and started back on my mosaic. While grueling, the labor made me think... why do I kill myself being such an overachiever for these crazy projects? Why am I still stressed in June of senior year?

Then I wondered about the old expression, "publish or perish." I.E. Don't be a lazy bum; produce something that proves you are really working. I think I had an epiphany, but I am too tired to tell. I kill myself so that I don't die... Complacency, I think, may be the closest living experience I have to death... Being smug and satisfied with mediocrity has never worked for me... It just doesn't fly. While I am ashamed of being up so late, it is not because I intentionally procrastinated. It is because I need sleep and this is taking way longer than I expected. Plus the fumes are not so pleasant.

Lately, I have been digitally socializing with Wash U incomers and insiders, and it has been really neat. I feel really optimistic. The requests for me to comment on how I feel about others has lulled a bit, thank goodness. I love showering people in love during a lovefest, do not get me wrong... But I feel as if finding beauty in someone leads to finding more and more beauty until all that I have discover is beauty... When that is not necessarily reality. I am trying to strike a balance. I want to achieve inner beauty by finding beauty in everyone and everything. I think I have gotten pretty close, but my inability to be complacent leads my search to some pretty ridiculous conclusions, which I quickly dismiss. However, I think I might be onto something with this whole complacency business. I try to be smug on as few occasions as possible... I believe that no one has enough friends to alienate or lose any. But to be smug, even just for or to myself, is just... Not me. I am always going to keep my ambitiousness. It is the core of who I am. Complacency and not trying my absolute best are not in my vocabulary. I like to ask people, "If you are not your best you, what you are you?" It sounds lame and confusing, but it helps me stay motivated... Like right now, when it is 2:00 AM and I can't decide if I should go to sleep and rest so I can hit the ground running tomorrow, or if I should power through this... When I compare it to a test, and think about all of the stuff I need to do tomorrow, I think I should sleep. It is not worth it to be dead tomorrow when there is still so much more (beside my mosaic) that needs to be done...

My plate is never empty. No room for complacency anyhow. Rest is fine though. Off I go! : )

Peace! Until tomorrow, nonexistant readers!

Love, Apple #3

Candy Day!

Today I woke up at 6:00 AM as always. I got ready lightning fast... Last assembly today. My 20th assembly, the Blowout... Bye Bye seniors! I was so touched by all of the kindness! The courts got announced, so I got to wear my tiara. I feel special with it on. Not that I am a spoiled princess or anything. Then I performed a GAGAlicious routine with a lightning bolt on my face, because I am a SENIOR and SENIORS on varsity cheer got lightning bolts on their faces. I wore mine all day. Then I volunteered at a carnival at a lollipop tree! So fun! Lovefests rock!

TBC and peace out!

Love, Nicole

A Touching Day...

This morning, I put on a blue dress that makes me feel genuinely girlie. I knew I was going to a luncheon to receive a scholarship and that I wouldn't have time to change beforehand. School was pretty grand. In zero period, I answered a lot of review questions so that I could score my Writing Group some candy for our final session. I got plenty. Unfornately, my Gobstoppers exploded at one of my group members (sorry, Brooklen) and my teacher, who would probably normally get mad, cracked up over the whole thing. Our pieces to each other were touching, and Betty's envelopes she made for us were gorgeous. I was genuinely touched by all of the kind words.

After that (but still in first period), the senior edition of the Oracle (my high school's magazine) came out. It was just wonderful. The Spartan of the Year article kind of broke me down a bit... So sweet and just... I don't think I have ever received as much kindness in my life as I have in the past month. What a way to end my time here in Villa Park.

Third period my presentation went well... The luncheon was great. Great food, great dessert (yes, that is separate), and great company. I got to say goodbye to my mom's mah jongg friends, and I won a flower basket centerpiece in the raffle. What a day! So much love everywhere. I finally got the guts to put up the post to tell people how I feel. I love the lovefest, so now I am joining it!

Peace, and TBC

Love, Nicole

New Direction... Literally and Figuratively

I am leaving for St. Louis in 12 days. So soon! As I embrace this new move, I find that I am more able to appreciate and enjoy my last few days in Villa Park. I am slightly relaxed, if anyone can believe that. My blogging has been more than sporadic, so I changed my color scheme to reflect my love of Wash U, and I am focusing my efforts two things:

1) The close of my time here in Villa Park

2) My clean slate at Wash U

I am so thrilled to be able to research as an incoming freshman. What an opportunity! The other day I sent 3 boxes of things off... Now I have a barren wardrobe, so I am wearing old T-shirts. I don't mind though. They are comfortable, and I am painting and cutting tiles all the time. So many art projects as of the current! I could never be an artist. I lack the talent and I find it really frustrating. It is hard to undo a mistake. In math, I can erase or grab a new paper and retry a problem. In art, I am not always so fortunate. I am really enthusiastic about going to Wash U. The people seem so genuine and nice. I am not nervous. I am ready for my big break from my parents. This seven week trial run will be an awesome way to adjust to my new life. The weather is supposedly killer in St. Louis. In my life, I have done a lot of things that are considered to be "killer," and so far I am still here. Knock on wood. I think with good company and mentally challenging tasks at hand, the weather will be less of a burden than anticipated. Hopefully...

Anyway, it is getting late and I have the hives. Go bears! It's weird not to say spartans.

On writing an unread blog.

I thought I wanted to write a blog to inspire people... but I guess it's more for me than anyone else. Time for some honesty.

On honesty... I am starting to wonder if it exists. If people believe what they want to believe, is that the truth? Maybe there is no truth at all. I don't know much about anything, but I know that the mind is just a tool. We tell it what ideas to perpetuate and what actions to do. Our mind, for the most part, only does what we tell it. People choose to perpetuate hatred, love, wrath, anger... anything. But I think one's happiness and resilience are strongy related to their mind. Our truth is only what our minds make it and our attitudes control how we think. If you have a good attitude, you are on your way to having a happier truth.

On beauty and fishing for compliments... Beauty is random and unfair. Why do some people get all the looks and others don't? You are who you are. As much as I'd like to say it's easy to get over insecurities, it isn't. I know that firsthand. But here's the thing: if you fish for compliments, it doesn't change the way you look. You still have to face yourself in the mirror. I don't like forcing compliments out of others. My favorite compliments are the spontaneous ones that you can't see coming. They tend to rare but the echoes of them last longer in my mind. Being physically beautiful is a transient thing. Some mornings I wake up with indents on my face from my pillow, but I try not to fret over not looking perfect. I'm not perfect at all. I might be the the least perfect person I know. But I'm happy, and that's the biggest battle right there.

I think the trick is to look at yourself more wholistically. Everyone has their strengths and talents. Everyone knows something that you don't. Everyone has something to teach you, even if the lesson you learn from them is completely unrelated to their literal words. Maybe they will help you learn to appreciate the little things in life or how to say "I need to use the restroom" in German. Who knows? People are cool like that. Being happy and interacting with others is beautiful. Not having to worry about appearances is beautiful.

I guess that's enough of me for today.

To my nonexistent readers, I love you.

-Applebaum the Third

Starting over and dreaming realistically.

My life is so drastically different from the last time I used this blog, I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll start over. First of all, all of my high school dreams have all come true. I guess that's a good place to start.

My unsolicited advice... If you feel ennui, change your life. Change your attitude. You only have one life. Do with it what you can.

Last weekend:

Ten months ago:

Things are different. In the green grasses, it was just a dream. Tradition is good. I took the same picture walking away. But I also took a picture walking back in the snow. I'm moving there in six months.

Keep walking down the path. It will be worth it one day...