I suddenly was struck by a realization of why Shannon's such a great friend (and roommate). Camille, her, and I were walking back from Val one night after dinner and we passed a guy that I used to harbour a small, extremely shallow crush on. He was walking towards us, and as he saw us, he called out, "Hey Elaine!"
I responded, "Hey. How are you?"
Without a response, the exchange ended. I wasn't sure if I was the only one who felt the ensuing silence a little awkward, and after a few long moments, Shannon said, "Fine, Elaine! HOW ARE YOU??" The three of us then giggled all the way back.

Such a little thing to say, but it made all of us smile and lessened my.. not exactly sadness, probably slight disappointment, at the anti-climactic nature of the exchange with very-good-looking-guy. Shannon always keeps talking to herself when no one answers her questions. It's really funny. If a lot of people are in the room and she asks an unanswered question, she talks aloud to herself about it until someone answers. Haha. Or when she asks people how they are when walking by, and people most of the time never answer, she says, "Oh I'm great! How are you? Oh, thanks for asking. I'm great too!" :)

In about ten hours, we shall usher in a new year, which is very strange. It doesn't feel like a big deal, just another day in the life, but we are almost done with the first decade of this millennium! 2008 was a great year, I must say, but now we're on frightening terrain. I don't think I've ever thought past 2008 and my 18th birthday. I didn't think it was possible for me to get any older than 18 , which is of course ridiculous. But even though I registered things like, OH LONDON OLYMPICS 2012!!!, there really was nothing more in the future than 2008. Olympics, 18th birthday, election, European Championships (football), college--life seemed to plan itself to 2008, and that was it. I really can't believe I'm already 1/8 done with my college education, even though I feel like I just got there. But the only thing we can do now is to stop contemplating about what will come and just be ready for it! To make this sound less disgustingly existential, which was not what I meant by any means, I shall add: Whee for life! :)
(Take that, Hemingway!!!)

MY YEAR IN REVIEW: 2008
-I spent the beginning of the year finishing college apps and awaiting in trepidation for my fate, which finally came in April. Amherst was actually the first school to accept me, and they sent me an email a week in advance to invite me to go visit them. Wow this feels like so long ago. Yay for schools that pay your plane ticket! :) I stayed in the same dorm that I live in now, in a room now inhabited by Simon.. Poor room.
-I accomplished a personal goal and got the exact same grades second semester of senior year as first semester, which means I did not slack off! Mwahaha! Yes, pathetic Elaine goal, I know.
-We made a bunch of very fun videos for a variety of classes: Spanish music videos, telenovela, and global video. Good times, which include many murder scenes, me shrieking, Yogin thinking he's gangster, Danielle the assassin fighter lady, and Danielle with the mustache. :)
-I fell in love with Gregory Lemarchal. Thank you, Vicky Ge! I can't believe I lived for so long without his beautiful voice, which I am listening to at the moment! RIP Gregory.
-We went to all the crazy dances at Troy, even winter formal, so I completed my goal of going to every single dance.
-Vicki and I went to Pasadena one day and spent two hours in Barnes & Nobles reading children's books aloud to each other. It was refreshing to know that I can do something so simplistic and really, silly, and still have so much fun, and I loved reliving the memories.
-Kathleen, Robin, and I went to Starbucks on an almost daily basis and fell in love with Brian Ian Adam (also known as Mitchell, to the deluded of the world).
-I went through all the Oracle strife and wanted to kill someone and came away with a plethora of stories that could fill a book. I should write them down. At Amherst, I then decided that I hadn't had enough stress and pain and joined the newspaper, which made me realize that, like cross country and other crazy activities, journalism is something you really have to love in order to do it, because otherwise it's just too much pain to be worth it. This means, I really do love journalism, a lot, which is terrible because the industry is seriously suffering. But this is a year in review, not a Elaine-worries-about-her-future post!
-One of the notable Oracle moments was when Amy Zhu, me, and Yogin left Sawaya's class (with his permission, of course) to do inserts all by ourselves because the staff consisted of a bunch of lazy pigs.
-Matthew spoke Spanish in our telenovela, and we realized that, after four years of Spanish, he can't pronounce "muy."
-I discovered Bollywood films. Saif Ali Khan!
-I practiced my German accent as Albert Einstein. :D
-I learned a lot from a relationship that was wonderful while it lasted.
-I graduated from high school, obviously!
-Europe and ESPN decided to give me a present and let me watch Euro2008, which was glorious! And my two favourite teams made the final, and SPAIN, with FERNANDO TORRES y XABI ALONSO y mucho más WON MOST GLORIOUSLY!! And Torres scored the decisive goal!!
-I played basketball almost every day with Connie, Jo, Stella, Sam, and Jeff! I miss the Australians!! Those days were so much fun and something to look forward to every day, and good exercise! Connie and I made random "WALL-E" noises all around the court and I bonded with my "sister" Stella, and of course, good old Con Con.
-Sarah and I went to Chicago and went crazy.
-Andy, Kathleen, and I explored LA and laughed over the most ridiculous things, such as Chagusto and Houman Mahboubi.
-Stella, Connie, Jo, and I went around as stalkers searching for Sam on his birthday.
-I moved to Amherst and met the wonderful people that are Shannon, Camille, Brian, Tim, Ethan, Greg, Trevor, Robert, Jaclyn, etc. Shannon is the best roommate I could have asked for and life is wonderful!
-Camille and I loved Pierre Pumpkin, and I started my crazy French-alliteration naming scheme. Pierre Pumpkin, Henri Hat, Cosette Cactus, François Frog, Marcel and Mathieu Monkey and more!
-Shannon and I played RISK for the first time and were soundly defeated after lasting for many hours against Greg, the Pink Dragon Emperor of Doom.
-Shannon, Camille, and I obsessed over "Bet On It" and Dream Street, amongst other musical groups of impeccable taste. :)
-I voted!!! And Obama won!!!
-Jorge, Brian, and I visited Vicky Ge and Boston over Thanksgiving Break.
-I went to CVS more times than I think I have in the previous 17 years of my life combined. Sadly, tis not over yet. That store is the only major one in town, sadly!
-I fell in love with a lovely boy.
-I came back home and realized that my friends at home are amazing and that despite the distance and the time apart, we come back together and fit like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS! (Just to make this post even longer)
-Blog more so I don't forget the lovely events of my lovely life.
-Get perfect grades.
-Spend more time outside of South first floor and get to know more people better.
-Become fluent in Spanish and learn French!!
-Exercise more.
-Be less attention-seeking.

That's it for now, people! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!