Invincible

We paddled our yellow raft down the cold Kern River, Ben, Aiden, Evan and I.  The smooth strokes through the freezing water were relatively coordinated, and our path wasn’t a complete zig zag. Aiden and Evan sat in the back, steering.  Ben and I sat in the front, supposedly moving us forward.  We looked to the left, and saw Alex, Sara, Conor and Gabe paddling their raft gracefully along.  Moving in  a straight line. They looked over at us, and saw us struggling to move forward, and struggling even harder to not hit the banks of the river.  

Ok, Ben, I said.  Ben, you and I, we gotta keep moving, keep paddling.  Aiden, Evan, you two just gotta get us to the middle of the river. Just get us there and we can have wiggle room.  Just do it, please? 

They agree, reluctantly, to do work. Before long, the four of us are cruising right along, making good time, with no potential crash areas in sight. 

And then BOOM. We hit something, a rock I think.  I couldn’t tell, I was disorientated. Up, down, up? I thought we were going the other way... And then I realized we were going down the river backwards, and heading straight into the rapids, unable to see ahead of us.

 What do we do? Ben yelled in my ear.

I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know! I yelled back.

Paddle! Aiden screams desperately, so we paddle. 

Aiden, Evan, turn us around! Do it do it do it! I screamed.

They paddled as hard and fast as they could, while we were tossed mercilessly around in our little boat. The water poured in over the sides, into our raft, and Ben nearly fell out as we hit a large rock, but I dove to the other side of our little bench and pulled him back to the relative safety of our boat. 

Evan and Aiden finally turned us around, so instead of being pushed blindly through the water, we could see where our fates lay. 

Paddle guys, paddle! Try to get around the rocks on the left, those look like they’d hurt, I ordered. 

They paddled, I paddled, we paddled as a team.  We missed the rocks on the left, and swerved out of the way of rocks looming on the right.  All four of us were breathing sighs of relief until we hear Ben.

Oh shit! Oh shit Oh shit! We’re gonna die! No way we’re gonna make it!

And then we see it, a row of rocks, unavoidable, lined up in front of us. And then we’re all copying Ben’s words, and I’m pretty sure we all believed them.

Our puny yellow raft hit the rocks, we were all holding on to each other, grasping all the life we could find.  We flip like a coin, over, and over through the air.  It can’t have been more than five seconds, because soon we were underwater. We popped up, amazed. 

Alive? Alive! Dude! We’re freaking alive! That was awesome! Dude! Let’s do it again! We rescue our boat, pull it ashore, and we truly are invincible. 

~molly

Return!

I feel bad. I abandoned this blog. And now I feel bad. There wasn't  a reason I did it, except for my discovery of Tumblr, which is blogging but requires less thought. And now I miss this blog, and I think I will return to it and attempt to regain my honor by writing stuff.
See, I'm already back on my A-game, using phrases like "writing stuff".

Hope you had a wonderful summer, and that your fall is yummy!

~molly

Hello

Wow!! It has bee soooo super duper long since i have posted anything on here! I was just so busy with school, trying to keep my grades up, which I managed to do relatively ok. A's in everything except a B+ in math, which i got an A- on the final and A+'s on the last two tests of the year. I guess that just doesn't make up for a couple of F's and D's on tests earlier in the year...
But WOW IT'S SUMMER AND I AM SO EXCITED. And grounded... So, since I am basically not allowed out, I have plenty of time to let the creative juices flow, or even doing some more analytical pieces (something I got pretty good at in English this year).
Hopefully I get ungrounded sometime soon, so I can see my friends at some point before my dad and I take our trip. We are apparently tackling the I countries, as last year we went to India, and this year, we are going to Istanbul and Italy!! I'm really excited, because I finally get to see Pompeii, which is something I have wanted to see since I read the Magic Tree House Story about it in Kindergarden.  And Rome, which has been up there on the list since I saw the Lizzie McGuire Movie (which incidentally was on TV earlier today). And Venice, since I saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Istanbul I expect will be amazing as well, though I don't know much about it. All I know is I am gonna have a great time.
Since it's summer and I'm grounded, my activities are limited to writing, reading, facebook, watching movies and cleaning the house, so I will probably read more books than I have really for the last year. Currently I am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson. I love it! It's the best book I have read in a long time and I highly recommend it to everyone who loves a good  mystery!
Hope your summer is great!!!

~molly

Free

The heat in New Delhi in July is oppressive. It traps you, it suffocates you.  Just walking down a sidewalk tests your mettle.  You’re surrounded by people, by noise, by smells, and muggy, smoggy air.  The world is chaotic, unorganized, and making your way through this strange land seems a daunting task.  

You can hide from the heat in a hotel, escape the crowds, and find shelter in the air conditioned lobby. But you can’t leave the noise behind you. There is a perpetual racket being made by car horns and the tuk-tuks that run on C.N.G that ceases only late at night.  But there is no quiet then either. There is the sound of the wild dogs howling and prowling the city at night.  And by the time this stops, it’s time for the sound of engines again. 

The Birla House, on Tees January Marg, is where Mohandas Gandhi, the father of India spent the last 144 days of his life.  This is the spot where the great man, who fought with his words, not his fists, and led India out of British control, was martyred. 

Beyond the white house, you follow Gandhi’s footsteps, the last he would take. You find yourself on a lawn, a large, vibrantly green lawn.  You realize that it’s different here. The heat has abated, and you can feel an almost breeze on your skin.  And the silence.  You’re suddenly miles away from the blaring horns of cars on the other side of house.  You’re in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world, and it’s quiet.  You’re distant.  You’re separate from the rest of the world, which goes on rushing by.  You feel free from it all, free from the heat, the noise.  

And then you feel sad.  Unexpectedly sad.  A life is such a beautiful thing, such a terrible thing to take.  But what can you do, against such hate and anger? You stop for a moment, and think.  This place, really, it is beautiful.  Its beauty isn’t just soft edges and strong colors.  Its beauty is in its freedom, it’s the release of a soul. It’s the ability to find beauty in an ugly thing.  It’s the capacity to shake the world, to make things better.  It’s the power of one life. 

You’ve answered your question.  Against the anger and the hate you can be strong.  You can keep on going, though your feet may hurt and bleed.

And then you’re back to the world, roused from the thoughts you were absorbed in.  A bird is perched on the spot of Gandhi’s martyrdom.  It chirps prettily, and takes flight.  You smile as it spreads its wings and heads into the warm, Indian sky, free. 

~molly

i need a puppy

I love dogs. I love them so much.  Sometimes, they are better than people, because they just listen. And then you can get the best hugs and cuddles from them. And they can at least pretend to look like they care, unlike cats...I want a dog so so so so so badly, but chances are I won't get one for a looooooong time.
But when I do, I am so getting two, and naming them:
Tybalt (pronounced tibalt).  Not that it's an especially great name, or that he is the best character in Romeo & Juliet, (that would be Mercutio) or that he has any really great lines, because he doesn't. No, it's the fact that its Tybalt, said tibalt.
How do you spell that? T-Y-B-A-L-T. Tie-balt? NO. Tib-alt.
Here Tybalt.. good Tybalt.

And doggie number two: Ganesh.
In India, somewhere between Agra and Jaipur, at a rest stop with giftshop selling overpriced merchandise, I found a comic book. It was called The Adventures of Ganesh: That Wacky Little Trickster.  How much I wish I had overpaid for it, you will never know.  The consolation I found was that hey wait! That would be a great name for a dog! So, doggie #2 will answer to Ganesh, and that wacky little trickster.



Shutter Island was great! I highly recommend seeing it. Actually, I recommend seeing it twice! I saw it with my dad and one of my best friends, and through the varying tastes in movies, we all came out impressed, yet slightly puzzled.  Hence the see it twice part! Hope your weekend is going good, and you have a good week!  Wish us luck in our first game this year in Valencia!

Sonnet

Sonnet for English Class

High above our heads dost thou swiftly rise.

Thou art a shimmer in the heavens blue,

But thy woe shows when tears rain from thy eyes.

We can’t fix thy problems, nor pay thy dues.

Far from grace did thee tumble to end here,

Stuck to spend this morrow edging the shade.

So thou climb’st up, and the light dost near.

The dark consumes all, but thou will not fade.

Thy foes pull thee down, but thou won’t concede,

Ne’r wilt thou follow them; bid them adieu.

Thou hast struggled, but won’t succumb to greed.

Thou journey’st hence, not so high as thee flew.

As night approaches, and dark surrounds thee,

Thy feet art grounded, but thy mind is free.

Notice the Shakespearian language ;D

~molly (:

movie star hair

smiling face, train to jaisalmer

Originally uploaded by NiklasPlutte

Movie Star Hair

Picture! Picture! Can I take picture? The little girl asks me with round, chestnut eyes.
Picture? Sure, of what? I reply, bending down to the girl, who comes up only to around my belly button.
Of you! She exclaims excitedly.
Me?
Yes! You! Picture! Please?
Ok, I say wonderingly.
The little girl runs to her mother who is wearing a green punjabi suit, and tugs at her elbow, points at me, and hands her the camera. She runs back to me, towing her mother behind her. She smiles at me apologetically, and I smile back, no problem.
The little girl takes my hand in her tiny one and smiles big at the camera. I look at her and her toothy smile (the second grade, I just lost half my teeth kind) and can’t help but smile in return. The camera clicks, winds, clicks again, and we’re done.
The little girl bounds to her mother who hands her back the camera. Her mother tells her something, and the little girl scampers back over to me.
Thank you! She says, beaming.
You’re very welcome, I say. But why do you want my picture?
You have movie star hair!
I can’t help but laugh at that, and she laughs too. I’m not a movie star, I say to her.
But you have movie star hair, she says again.
Come back, calls her mother.
She smiles endearingly again, and skips back to the picnic blanket where the rest of her family sits.
When we leave the Mother India Temple, and pass their family again, the little girl waves at me, with the most radiant smile in the world. 

~molly (:

to sum up a year, and a holiday

This holiday season was... interesting.
Boats, I still do not like them. Nope. I almost threw up the first night, but then the rest of the trip was good fun! My dad didn't have a good time, but my parade was not rained on, because I barely saw him for the next 3 nights. I made some new friends, had a jolly good time, and had a Titanic-like moment on the front of the boat. I also rode up and down in the glass elevator with said friends at 2 in the morning, and ate a couple gallons worth of soft serve.
I also realized how many flippin stars there are. When you are out in the ocean at 3 a.m, you can really, really see all the stars.  I had a very deep conversation with one of my newfound friends on the time it takes light to travel, and how we aren't seeing the present. It was beautiful beyond belief. It was endless.
It was also very cold. So cold in fact, that my Titanic-like moment was cut short, and back in side we went.  There was kareoke, and I don't know whose DUMB idea it was to put the Titanic song on the list of songs to sing, but yep, it was there, and that stupid little child was singing it.  Singing us to our doom.
But thankfully, we didn't sink, and Leonardo DiCaprio didn't freeze to death. So that was good.
I enjoyed Ensenada, mostly for the harborside park it had.  It was quite lovely on Christmas day, to see all the families there with their kids playing with their new RC trucks.  Good stuff.
Once back, I was herded off to my mom's, where I suffered for around 4 days.  I lacked internet there, as well as on the boat... That was sufficiently depressing.
And back I came, to have a relatively uneventful New Year's Eve, and to ponder the past year/decade.

2009:
Not to sound cliche, but this is really a year I think I will never forget.  It was a year of triumph and new experiences.  I travelled to the other side of the world.  I watched history go down as Barack Obama was sworn in. I made friends who I've become as close as can be with.  I got in a few fights, I did great on state testing, I discovered music that I love, and I made money.  I was introduced to my favorite movie, and discovered two T.V shows that I am now obsessed with.  I cried a couple times, and lost a couple friends.  I hurt when my Dodgers lost, and was euphoric when they won.  I made the school team, and my teams won championships.  I discovered my favorite songs, and tried out a few new talents. I even ate new foods.  All in all, it was a good year. (:

~molly