One of those places
Aug. 24th, 2003 05:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azuriteSan Francisco is one of those places, I've decided, that is nice to come back to. But you have to have been here before, have to have been GONE for a while (a few days at least). On summer days like this (SHOCK! It was actually 80+ degrees outside HERE in San Francisco. I ART SHOCKED!) it's nice to be coming over the bridge and looking at all the sailboats, the city skyline-- it's nice.
So then, that brings me back to the train of thought-- it's nice to come BACK to. But you can get pretty jaded living IN San Francisco, just like people do in their big cities-- Miami, New York, blah, blah... then suddenly you look at things from the point of view of a tourist-- why are places like this so cool? Because there's so many other places out there-- maybe you've seen them. On TV, on postcards, been there on vacation for a while. You can never really get USED to another place though, no matter how many times you've been there-- it's LIVING there that does it for you, and so tourists and their little actions might annoy you. It's why San Franciscans tend to cast a haughty eye at people attempting to read or understand those monstrous Muni maps. Har har, you mean you don't KNOW where this bus is going?
So I'm thinking -and this is an idea that was in my head a while ago- maybe I need to get away. All I do lately is complain, eh? Even if that's not true, things are just ridiculously tough. Hard to find jobs, most of my friends are either gone, busy (going back to school), or ignorant. Maybe a combination of two or all three. So... that's one thing. And then, Mom. She hasn't stopped being annoying. Getting a job isn't getting easier, ergo, neither is the fact that I need money and hate getting it from her. I realize she probably pays for a lot more than my dad does (medical insurance, prescriptions, application fees, transportation, food, blah blah) but ... I don't know. I hate taking sides between the two of them. So maybe it'd be nice to get away from BOTH of them.
Hence-- CSU Northridge. Not far from Baba and Grandpa's house, and lord knows I love them to pieces. And in that big house of theirs... well, Dad made it seem like I'd be welcome to stay there if I went to CSU Northridge. I'd be less than a mile away from a fantastic mall, not to mention close to Eva and Erin at UCLA and Rochelle at Mt. St. Mary's. And Six Flags, Disneyland, and Universal Studios Hollywood. And good jobs. Nice weather. ~_~ You can tell I'm swayed. But first I have to apply.
In any case, applications are confusing me now. How the heck do you calculate "cumulative GPA?" I figure there's two possible methods:
(1) Take all your semester GPAs and add them up. Divide that by your total number of semesters. (This might not work, since some semesters you may have more classes than others, so it's "weighted.")
(2) Take every class you took and assign a number value to them-- A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0. Honors or AP classes equal one more "extra" point. Add all your classes up and divide by your total number of classes. This is what I'm sure the method is, as many of my friends agree with me (and my dad, the teacher, too!) -- but then... what if you fail a class? That's a 0, but it's still a class. Or you got a D, and decided to retake the course, and get an A? So do you count the low grade? Likewise, if you make up a failure, do you average out the F+A to be a C? Or do you count both as separate classes, factoring in the F all the same? I HAVE to figure this out before I apply to CSUN.
Okay, so... this weekend. T'was nice. We didn't do much, really. We went to Farmer's Market, which was cool-- I missed that. So many fresh smells! It was warm too, and everyone was wearing tanktops or t-shirts. People had their food stands out, some kid was selling beaded jewelry... some booths had flowers, herbs, and candles. Some even had soaps! I got myself a Honey Stick, which is like, better than Pixi Stix! It's honey in a sealed straw, and they have lots of flavors-- I got Sour Apple! ~_~ Yum... and it was only 25 cents! We also got fruits and veggies, though since we had spaghetti last night, I didn't get to partake of any of that yumminess. *sniff* Hopefully Dad will save some for our road trip this weekend.
Also went to the Petaluma Market, but no baguette for Mer... *sniffle*. Maybe next time. Lots of places in Petaluma have changed, but some are better-- like Copperfields! I could stay in there for hours! I found so many books I wanted, and had to record their titles, author, and price on my cell phone (I hope they're still there) since I forgot my notebook. The cafe has since been changed to a taqueria though, and cut off from the rest of the bookstore. Most of that street (Kentucky) burned, so the back half is just building frames and construction warnings. Kinda sad, though. Marvin's is gone, too... only his lousy wife's bar is left. I liked going to Marvin's! But Dad made some thick blueberry pancakes Saturday morning, so I guess that more than made up for it.
Still never solved the various problems with his computer, so, despite Dad's pessimism, I really hope Microsoft gets back to him. I sent them a technical support letter... Dad's all paranoid that he'll get arrested for having "pirate" software. He did what I did-- he "mooched" from work, the same way I "mooched" from school. How else would I have Dreamweaver 4 and Office 2000 on here? ^_^ Sssh! =)
We went swimming at the JCC today, too! Good thing I brought my swimsuit... I was latched onto by a girl named Sara(h?) who was going into 3rd grade. She was cute, and we hung around and talked, swimming for a while. We even dove for rings and made fun of boys. ^_^; Man, beign back at the JCC was almost like a (excuse the cliche) blast from the past. I didn't get to dive though, stupid stingy lifeguards, unless you count that weird pencil dive where you just sort of PLUNK into the pool. @_@; I was all amazed at being down in the ADULT locker room-- heck, just at HAVING a membership there, still! Dad says I can go up there with my friends whenever I want, and if we go before September 7th or whatnot, it's FREEEEEEE and easy. I think it's free anyhow, but there's some weird catch if you have a Family Membership like Dad and I do; like you only have a limited number of Guest Passes or something. But Kathleen works at the JCC... and even if she quits, she can still "get even" by swiping a few extra passes, hehee...
Hmm, the America's Best College 2004 guide is out. $12.95 isn't bad, but maybe I'll find it at Border's or something and sit down and read it there.
Blah, chlorine in my eyes makes me sleepy... or maybe it's the pizza, soda, and trail mix I ate! Who knows... I think I'll log soon (after checking all my email!) and catch a few Zs. Or maybe I'll play Persona. Or Star Ocean 2. Or something.
So then, that brings me back to the train of thought-- it's nice to come BACK to. But you can get pretty jaded living IN San Francisco, just like people do in their big cities-- Miami, New York, blah, blah... then suddenly you look at things from the point of view of a tourist-- why are places like this so cool? Because there's so many other places out there-- maybe you've seen them. On TV, on postcards, been there on vacation for a while. You can never really get USED to another place though, no matter how many times you've been there-- it's LIVING there that does it for you, and so tourists and their little actions might annoy you. It's why San Franciscans tend to cast a haughty eye at people attempting to read or understand those monstrous Muni maps. Har har, you mean you don't KNOW where this bus is going?
So I'm thinking -and this is an idea that was in my head a while ago- maybe I need to get away. All I do lately is complain, eh? Even if that's not true, things are just ridiculously tough. Hard to find jobs, most of my friends are either gone, busy (going back to school), or ignorant. Maybe a combination of two or all three. So... that's one thing. And then, Mom. She hasn't stopped being annoying. Getting a job isn't getting easier, ergo, neither is the fact that I need money and hate getting it from her. I realize she probably pays for a lot more than my dad does (medical insurance, prescriptions, application fees, transportation, food, blah blah) but ... I don't know. I hate taking sides between the two of them. So maybe it'd be nice to get away from BOTH of them.
Hence-- CSU Northridge. Not far from Baba and Grandpa's house, and lord knows I love them to pieces. And in that big house of theirs... well, Dad made it seem like I'd be welcome to stay there if I went to CSU Northridge. I'd be less than a mile away from a fantastic mall, not to mention close to Eva and Erin at UCLA and Rochelle at Mt. St. Mary's. And Six Flags, Disneyland, and Universal Studios Hollywood. And good jobs. Nice weather. ~_~ You can tell I'm swayed. But first I have to apply.
In any case, applications are confusing me now. How the heck do you calculate "cumulative GPA?" I figure there's two possible methods:
(1) Take all your semester GPAs and add them up. Divide that by your total number of semesters. (This might not work, since some semesters you may have more classes than others, so it's "weighted.")
(2) Take every class you took and assign a number value to them-- A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0. Honors or AP classes equal one more "extra" point. Add all your classes up and divide by your total number of classes. This is what I'm sure the method is, as many of my friends agree with me (and my dad, the teacher, too!) -- but then... what if you fail a class? That's a 0, but it's still a class. Or you got a D, and decided to retake the course, and get an A? So do you count the low grade? Likewise, if you make up a failure, do you average out the F+A to be a C? Or do you count both as separate classes, factoring in the F all the same? I HAVE to figure this out before I apply to CSUN.
Okay, so... this weekend. T'was nice. We didn't do much, really. We went to Farmer's Market, which was cool-- I missed that. So many fresh smells! It was warm too, and everyone was wearing tanktops or t-shirts. People had their food stands out, some kid was selling beaded jewelry... some booths had flowers, herbs, and candles. Some even had soaps! I got myself a Honey Stick, which is like, better than Pixi Stix! It's honey in a sealed straw, and they have lots of flavors-- I got Sour Apple! ~_~ Yum... and it was only 25 cents! We also got fruits and veggies, though since we had spaghetti last night, I didn't get to partake of any of that yumminess. *sniff* Hopefully Dad will save some for our road trip this weekend.
Also went to the Petaluma Market, but no baguette for Mer... *sniffle*. Maybe next time. Lots of places in Petaluma have changed, but some are better-- like Copperfields! I could stay in there for hours! I found so many books I wanted, and had to record their titles, author, and price on my cell phone (I hope they're still there) since I forgot my notebook. The cafe has since been changed to a taqueria though, and cut off from the rest of the bookstore. Most of that street (Kentucky) burned, so the back half is just building frames and construction warnings. Kinda sad, though. Marvin's is gone, too... only his lousy wife's bar is left. I liked going to Marvin's! But Dad made some thick blueberry pancakes Saturday morning, so I guess that more than made up for it.
Still never solved the various problems with his computer, so, despite Dad's pessimism, I really hope Microsoft gets back to him. I sent them a technical support letter... Dad's all paranoid that he'll get arrested for having "pirate" software. He did what I did-- he "mooched" from work, the same way I "mooched" from school. How else would I have Dreamweaver 4 and Office 2000 on here? ^_^ Sssh! =)
We went swimming at the JCC today, too! Good thing I brought my swimsuit... I was latched onto by a girl named Sara(h?) who was going into 3rd grade. She was cute, and we hung around and talked, swimming for a while. We even dove for rings and made fun of boys. ^_^; Man, beign back at the JCC was almost like a (excuse the cliche) blast from the past. I didn't get to dive though, stupid stingy lifeguards, unless you count that weird pencil dive where you just sort of PLUNK into the pool. @_@; I was all amazed at being down in the ADULT locker room-- heck, just at HAVING a membership there, still! Dad says I can go up there with my friends whenever I want, and if we go before September 7th or whatnot, it's FREEEEEEE and easy. I think it's free anyhow, but there's some weird catch if you have a Family Membership like Dad and I do; like you only have a limited number of Guest Passes or something. But Kathleen works at the JCC... and even if she quits, she can still "get even" by swiping a few extra passes, hehee...
Hmm, the America's Best College 2004 guide is out. $12.95 isn't bad, but maybe I'll find it at Border's or something and sit down and read it there.
Blah, chlorine in my eyes makes me sleepy... or maybe it's the pizza, soda, and trail mix I ate! Who knows... I think I'll log soon (after checking all my email!) and catch a few Zs. Or maybe I'll play Persona. Or Star Ocean 2. Or something.
Eva's bit of advice
Date: 2003-08-25 01:10 am (UTC)Re: Eva's bit of advice
Date: 2003-08-26 01:21 am (UTC)