Sweet Tea and a Cloudy Sky

Can we seriously just talk for a minute about how angry this article makes me?

Gar-Field: Graduation ceremony remembers late principal

If you didn’t read it, at least pull it up in another tab for reference.
Now. Look at the picture. Look at the title. How are these two things related, except for the event around which they are centered? Why is there a picture of a couple kissing for an article about commemorating the dead principal?

Now. The people who wrote this article presumably do not know the couple pictured. There’s mention of their names in the caption. I, however do know these people. I found this article because of a link on Angela’s facebook page. The people that are being linked to this article do not care about the content, just the fact that “Oh wow my friends’ picture was in the paper!”

From a photojournalistic standpoint. I used to be on the yearbook staff in my high school. The same high school featured in this article actually. What we learned was not to include photos of couples, since there’s no guarantee that they’ll still be together. Well….more that, if the pictures are used, they have to be ‘innocent’ photos and the caption says something along the lines of ‘friends.’
It’s high school. There is nothing saying this is a good solid relationship. What if the inclusion of this photo caused drama and messed things up?

Now. The rest of the article. Why does it jump around so much? One minute we’re reading about Dr. Aiken, the next we find out who the valedictorian and salutatorian were, and then we’re hearing advice from Tara Wheeler.

I’ll admit, I didn’t go to the ceremony this year. I’m kind of glad, being around all those red robes would have made me mad. They were blue for so long…-sigh-. As someone who didn’t go to the ceremony, I would have enjoyed at least being able to read proper coverage about it. Where is the cliche copy about how parents eyes were moist, friends ran off celebrating, basically all the stuff that I didn’t get to experience at mine? WHERE IS THIS SAPPY STUFF?

I’m so mad about this. I bet it’s probably not a big deal to anyone else in the world. Just me.

Should I let my imagination go and think up futures? Should I allow myself to create my perfect world and think out how I want my life to be? Is it wise to let myself daydream and possibly be hurt if/when things don’t go my way? Is the risk of disappointment worth the satisfaction of getting my thoughts, desires and silly wishes down on paper?

I guess even when it seems like life is handed to you on a silver platter, you still have to find something to complain about.

I am intrigued by the girl that is watching us. She has been watching us all evening.
We've been writing papers and mingling, meeting, learning.
I wonder about her thought processes.
Does she want to talk to us? Is she watching because she wants to be a part of our community?
Maybe she's judging us.
She's giving us values and putting us into groups in her mind. She's organizing her social atmosphere and placing us at the lowest layer, the least important strata.
I find this hard to believe. If she wanted to disassociate herself from us, why would she stay so close for so long?

Today started out pretty good, but has gotten progressively worse, so the beginning of this post is going to be rather inconsequential ranting.

I went out to pick up some craft supplies in preparation for Valentine’s Day. In order to get to my car, I have to take a shuttle to the parking lot that freshman at my college are required to park in. This shuttle happened to be 20 minutes late today. By the time I got to the store, it had been closed for three minutes. Not wanting to have gone out for nothing, I decided to run by Safeway to do some grocery shopping. I found nothing that I wanted and completely forgot to grab more water bottles, so I still have nothing to drink in my house. Not to be outdone by chance, I decided to stop by Ruby Tuesday and grab dinner to go. Let’s just say that didn’t go to well, and I now have pasta sauce everywhere.

I’ve been trying to balance everything in my life recently. School and work have been hard to get used to, and I’ve already missed an assignment in a class. I’ve gotten interested in photography again, and am thinking about buying a new camera. I want a higher quality camera, but I’m not quite sure what to get. Ideas?