Late December Adventures

Hi, everyone.

It's the last Friday of 2013, and the semester has been over since Monday.

Monday morning was practically rainy and generally yucky outside. My stats final (my last final) was scheduled to begin at 11:30 AM. Since I was coming from outside Manhattan, I decided to leave the house at 9:45 AM just to make sure I would get to school on time in case any train problems came up. Before I left, something told me to check the MTA website to see if there were any problems with my train. My heart nearly stopped when I saw that there were delays due to signal problems at a particular station. I automatically went into panic mode and told my parents that I was going to take another train line to avoid the delay. The problem is that the other train line has a greater number of stops so it would  take a longer time to get to Hunter. As I rushed to the station, my mind imagined all sorts of scenarios that all involved me walking into the final late and begging my professor to give me more time. Once I got on the train, I still couldn't calm myself down and silently prayed for the train to go faster. As we passed more and more stations, I gained back my rational mind back and realized I wasn't going to be late. I ended up arriving at Hunter 30 minutes before my final. I was so relieved but also mentally exhausted because of my dramatic morning. But I gave my all on the final. I had not come all that way just to do poorly.

After it was over, I walked out feeling free. That's really the best way to describe it. Once your last final is over, it's like somebody has lifted the chains off of your body. I know it's quite a dramatic way to describe it, but that's exactly what it feels like to me.

(Also, my cold from the previous week had largely subsided so I was finally feeling ok with things.)

Shortly after the final, I found myself at Barnes & Noble asking for a copy of Corduroy. My mother had encountered the book recently while teaching elementary school and fell in love with it. I remembered it from when I was a child, and when she brought a copy of it home, we "awwwed" over the cute protagonist. However, my mom never got around to buying her own copy. So there I was on a rainy Monday afternoon asking for this little book with the B&N employee smiling at me as she pointed to where it was. Great way to end the day.

Oh. I forgot to mention something else. Before I went to B&N, my friend asked me to meet up with him after my final. When he saw me, he opened up this Ziploc bag and asked me to smell. I couldn't figure out what I was smelling until he said it was chocolate from a market in Mexico! I couldn't believe it. This chocolate has been made in the same way for hundreds of years. He told me to go home and make myself a cup of hot chocolate with it. It was some of the best hot chocolate I've tasted. A unique aroma and flavor. Friends are awesome. :)

On Tuesday, my mom and I went to Kings Plaza Mall, and indulged in some good old-fashioned consumerism.

On Wednesday, I took the day off to just be at home and catch up on things that I didn't have time to do while school was in session.

Yesterday, we went shopping again. haha. Then, I went to my local library to return some things and pick up some books to read. (I finally get to read for pleasure!) I loved seeing that there were a lot of people at the library. Seniors playing chess, kids playing cards, adults reading the paper, and me browsing through my beloved "Young Adult" section. (I still can't get myself to check anything out from the "Adult" section).

Today, I was back in the city to run some errands. I stopped by at a place called "A Matter of Health" (on 1st Ave. b/w 72nd and 73rd). It's a health store that sells all kinds of organic food, beauty products, and medicines. It's a great place for someone who is into living a "clean" life. I wish all grocery stores and drugstores carried this kind of stuff so that everyone could have access to it. People hesitate to go into these stores because they're a bit pricier and people get intimidated by all the "health" terminology. If it became more widely available, people would definitely be interested in finding out more and living better. If you're interested in reading my mini-rant about this in one of my blog posts from this past summer, here it is:
http://macaulayhunterblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/gravity.html

We have four days left till 2014 comes and then…who knows what? Hopefully, it will be a good year in which all of us are more kind to each other on this planet of ours. That's all I've ever wanted.

S.

Below is a great song by an up-and-coming artist.

Song of the Week

I like being independent
Not so much of an investment
No one to tell me what to do
I like being by myself
Don’t gotta entertain anybody else
No one to answer to

But sometimes, I just want somebody to hold
Someone to give me their jacket when its cold
Got that young love even when we’re old
Yeah sometimes, I want someone to grab my hand
Pick me up, pull me close, be my man
I will love you till the end

So if you’re out there I swear to be good to you
But I’m done lookin’, for my future someone
Cause when the time is right
You’ll be here, but for now
Dear no one, this is your love song

~ "Dear No One" by Tori Kelly