Insomnia...

The solution is so simple.  So very simple.

Class Trip...

So I'm back!  I just returned from my senior class trip, on which only two of the participants were of my senior class; however, two-thirds of the senior class were on the trip.  (confused yet? ;)  It was a great trip!  It's hard for a trip to Fiji not to be great... unless you get sick, food-poisoning, stung by something, bitten by something, or eaten by something (or someone... cannibals used to inhabit Fiji).  Thankfully, I only got sick a little for one day and I was only bitten by a couple bugs and sea-lice.  (Sea lice are terrible!  You're happily floating on the surface of the warm water and then suddenly they attack you and try to eat you alive!  Feels like a swarm of little bugs biting you... which is essentially what it is, except they aren't bugs. x)
The trip was almost two weeks long so I don't know how much I want to recount here because it would take me awhile and I'm currently in the frantic process of picking up the slack I left in my schoolwork when I left on the trip.  I made some video blogs on my YouTube channel (very poorly made blogs, I might add... I'm more of a writer than a speaker) that recount some of my thoughts and feelings during my stay there.
The biggest thing I took away from the trip was the kindness of the people in Fiji, a kindness we don't have here in the United States (at least, not anyplace I've ever been here, and I've been around the country a bit).  Complete strangers will treat you in as friendly a manner as a friend, and many smiles and waves and simple gestures of acknowledgement are passed throughout the day.  This is something I want to try to continue here at home.  I am trying to make a conscious effort to keep a smile, or at least a friendly expression, on my face when around other people (I am told I can have a rather grim expression when I am concentrating) and always acknowledge another person's presence, stranger or not, with a smile, a wave, a nod, whatever seems appropriate (guys generally don't wave at strangers unless they, the strangers, are under the age of 10).
Fiji is a lovely place, apart from it's rather uncomfortable humidity.  Everything is so colorful and alive there, both in and out of water.  The jungles are dense and green, with all kinds of birds (and bats) in the trees and many plants I had never seen before.  My favorite plant was this thing called a "praying plant" (or something like that).  It's a bit like a small fern.  I was fascinated by this plant because of its ability to move.  I'm sure it's just some kind of biochemical reflex, but it is a thing of amazement to me to watch the plant fold up as though trying to hide when I touch or blow on its fronds.
No blog post is complete without at least a short rant of frustration at the end: I was very careful with my camera.  It survived two weeks in a very wet/humid/sandy/dirty/dangerous-for-electronics climate, and then I drop it as I step off the plane upon my arrival in Seattle, breaking the lens mechanism.  [facepalm] <-- if you'll pardon my internet expression. ;) oh, and while I'm complaining, I'm cold.

To Do...

So many things to do.  Part of my problem is that I like doing so many different things.  No, it's not the variety that I like, it's just that there are so many interesting things to be done!  Things I once did, things I want to do, things I'm doing right now.  Life never really stops being busy, and when it seldom does, I stop being productive, so I know that's not the answer.  I think I'm going to have to just decide what I want to do, what I want to keep, and what I'm going to give up.  It's such a hard decision, especially when I don't seem to be prospering in any of my hobbies... Perhaps I shall put off the decision to a later date.  Perhaps it needn't be formal or written at all.  Perhaps it need only be a thought and the decision will make itself.  x) If only it were that simple.

On another note: I heard a quote the other day I think to be quite important to remember:

"People will not remember what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel."

Vlogging...

So I started a YouTube account! =) Rather: I started using my YouTube account, because apparently Google owns YouTube now and if you have a Google account, you have a YouTube account. So here it is if anyone's interested: http://www.youtube.com/user/cjsiapco
I got a new camera and have been carrying it with me everywhere. I like the idea of blogging (as is obvious by this blog) and I like the idea of video blogging (because there are so many things I can do there that I can't here) but I'm still getting used to talking to a camera. It's awkward to stare into the eye of a machine and pretend that you're talking to someone. It just feels weird. At least, right now...

YouTube...

I've wanted to start making YouTube videos for awhile.  Watching other "YouTubers" inspires me. I think I'm going to start an account.

Weird...

My school went on the first ski/snowboard trip to Mt. Baker on Monday. It was far more enjoyable than I anticipated. I was afraid that I'd have forgotten most of what I learned last year and the day would be rough, but that wasn't the case. =) It was awesome! A bit cold, perhaps, but we're on a mountain, so what do you expect? (It was also mostly my fault because I took off the inner liner of my ski jacket because it was restricting my movement and bugging me.)
This last weekend, we went to California to celebrate my dad's birthday. He's a surfer, and so even though it was positively frigid, we went surfing. (Though apparently there are many dedicated surfers who are willing to go surfing in 40 degree weather.) It wasn't too bad though, because I forgot how cold I was when I was too busy swimming for my life. =) I'm terrible at duck diving (shoving the board and yourself under the wave to get past it) and so I got knocked about quite a bit. The next day (Sunday) was far less rough and I managed to catch a couple of waves. Whilst I was waiting for a wave, I contemplated the oddity of the fact that the very next day at about that time, I would be snowboarding. Aircraft are not exactly a huge shock to us anymore. Yes, we look up and stare for a little bit when a plane flies overhead, but it's not "weird." I realized that it IS "weird." Lots of things are weird. It's weird that we walk into a building that is filled with food, wall to wall, and we don't even see where it comes from. It's weird that it's not a huge deal if I forget to print my homework before I come to school, I can go to Google Drive and get it off there (if I remember to store it there, that is). It's weird that I can talk to someone miles away at the push of a button (or a few, if you don't set up speed-dial). It's weird that I can type whatever I like into this page and anyone who is interested can read what I'm thinking right now. Lots of things are weird. And they're a lot cooler when you remember how weird they are. Think about that today, if you happen to have read this far into my post. Think about something you're doing today, driving, checking the time, closing a door, flushing a toilet, and think about how weird it is. Then be happy you're doing it. =)

Surgery...

Yesterday, I woke up at 5:30 and drove to Skagit Valley Hospital and observe a surgery.  Dr. B let me go in and watch him do a C-section.  It was pretty amazing!  I learned more about human internal abdominal anatomy in 15 minutes than I had ever known before.  All the organized layers of tissue and the organs all neatly arranged.  I was surprised by how textbook everything looked.  Now, I was pretty sure I was going to feel at least a little bit queasy because I don't even like dissecting frogs or gutting a fish, but I found instead that, for some reason, I'm okay when it is living tissue being worked on.  The thing that did shock me that I didn't expect was actually seeing the baby.  I knew it was there, of course, but I wasn't "expecting" it.  One minute, the doctor is working on separating tissue and cauterizing blood vessels, and the next minute, there's a baby!  One of the nurses took the baby someplace else to clean him up and take care of him.  After that, they took out the placenta.  Look it up if you don't know what it looks like, because one side of it looks really cool.  The other side looks gross, though, so look for a picture with the side the umbilical cord is attached to, or you'll be wondering why I think it looks cool.  Lots of smoke from the cautery, a few stitches, and a bunch of staples (that was kinda weird too) to finish it off, and we were done.  The lady was awake the whole time, her vision obstructed by a sheet.  She had a spinal injection to numb her from the chest down, so on that side of the sheet, she could talk with the nurse and her husband and not have any idea that she has a huge hole in her stomach.  Very strange incongruity.