On Life, in General, but Also in Specifics

So, I recently spent what I deem to be way too much money in a personal endeavor. You see, I take a lot of photos. And they were all building up on my computer, and, as I flipped through them, I realized that if my computer were to crash (as it has been threatening to do for nigh unto two years), I would be sad to see a lot of those photos go. So, I thought What did we do before everything was digitized? Oh, yes, we had prints of photos! And photo albums! And, lo, many hours later, and with the organizing help of Asterisk, I have four photo albums full of pictures of my life, from baby Jazz to this summer.

Which was a very satisfying and surreal sort of feeling. I could, quite literally, flip through my entire existence. And, like my actual memories, the number of photos grew the older I got. Laying them all out like that, it was easy to see some trends.

Gandalf, Asterisk, and Ralph showed up the most out of everyone, followed by my family. I've done some pretty cool things (backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas, going to Disneyland, going to Australia, visiting parks and museums and plays, doing ridiculous things with friends). My hair has been coaxed into various unflattering styles, and a few neat colors. Since about the eighth grade, only my face has matured. Nearly all of the photos were taken during breaks in school.

My thought is: school breaks take up only about, what, a third of the overall year? Why can't I take pictures of the other two thirds? Oh, right, because for the most part, the other two thirds are pretty boring.

Which brings me to my next resolution: more fun during the school year. Seeing as I've got three more years of college (let's hear it for double majors!), and then, goodness me, grad school, I should have more fun and document it. There's no point in wasting 66.6% of the year just because I happen to be learning things during that time.

This is not to say that I never have fun during school. It just tends to be much more low-key fun. No trips, no costumes, no craziness. I decree that there shall be more craziness in the coming fall. Complete with costumes. Because everything is more fun in a costume.

The other thought that occurred to me while doing the photo album project is that I have a lot of random things I would like to be able to put in the albums in the future. As a result of my rather goody-two-shoes attitude (up until somewhat recently), my photo albums are relatively tame. Here is an abbreviated list of things I would like to put in my albums in the future:

• Jello wrestling. I've said it before, I'll say it again: it would be fun.
• One tattoo, one piercing. I don't even have my ears pierced.
• Comic-Con. It needs to happen. Period. With costumes.
• Spain, Scotland, England, Ireland, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Italy, Alaska, the freaking East Coast of the U.S., Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina.
  
• Playing at least one concert with NEIN Means No! (The slightly ridiculous variety band that Asterisk, Gandalf, Ralph and I have. We've recorded a rap song, and have around six others of different genres in the works. It would be part concert, part epic costume changes. Including a squid costume.)
  
• Road Trip. I have yet to take the proverbial American journey.

As I said, this is a shortened list. But if anyone wants to make any of these happen with me, let me know. (And what would make it onto your list?)

- Jazz