My friend and I are doing our AP Statistics project on whether or not the average American can past the current immigration test. This isn’t necessarily a new idea, but sometimes I can’t believe that people actually fail to answer certain questions. There are somethings I expect every US citizen to know. I would expect an American to know what race was brought to the United States and placed in slavery, wouldn’t you? Well, today I experienced several awkward moments when people simply did not know the answer to questions like these. How can you not know Africans were brought to the U.S. and forced into slavery? I also did not think the question what day Independence Day is on would be met with “I don’t know”. July Fourth is probably the most well known date in American history. I actually expect more people to be able to tell me what day Independence Day is on than Thanksgiving or even Christmas. There were several people that had a good understanding of U.S. History and Government, but for the most part, I think some people should work on reeducating themselves. There is no reason that someone should not know that Africans were put into slavery. Truly baffled.

I try not to spill that much into this blog about my eating disorder because (1) I barely think I have a problem, the only reason I acknowledge that I have a problem is because I have about four different doctors that all tell me I do. (2) I don’t want to be a burden to the readers of American Vintage. Usually if my posts are a rant/cynical it’s a good laugh so it’s okay. Recently though, I’ve felt a little isolated, as if I can’t always say what I want to anyone around me. I’m already a burden to my friends and boyfriend and I feel like sharing doesn’t really help. So, where better than my blog to put it out there! Gotta love logic. Lets start with the mini rant because, believe it or not, there are certain things you should never say to someone with an eating disorder:

01. You have the easiest problem in the world, just eat something.
If it was that simple IT WOULD NOT BE A DISORDER and I am perfectly aware of the tragedies of the world, I’ve made my life goal to help people in need abroad.

02. It’s not like you don’t have an appetite, you just don’t eat.
Way to state the obvious, do they pay you for that?

03. I’m sorry I don’t starve myself like you do.
I won’t even touch this one.

Recently I have been reading, Life Without ED which is all about one woman’s struggle to divorce her overbearing eating disorder. It’s a very impressive book and I highly recommend anyone read it, with or without a disorder because it made realize that maybe I’m not loosing it, maybe other people have these exact same thoughts! Maybe (no but really they do). Well, I’m going to acknowledge mine with a personal letter.

Dear ED,
I am beyond a little annoyed with your presence in my life, but I would like you to know that because of the effect you’re having on my relationship we’re officially at war. To be honest, you’re an embarrassment and manipulative. The amount of lies and secrecy I’ve had to manage to ensure that you stay safe is astonishing and I hate when you put me in a mood to the point where I can’t even function. I have coddled your strange tendencies for long enough and I am tired of your taunting side notes after everything I do. This is me telling you that your challenge has been accepted and I will be doing everything in my power to severe our relationship.

Yours Truly,
Lynn

Thought I’d change it up a bit with this instead of posting a blog. I couldn’t really think of a blog title, which is a first for me, so…

Speaking of clever, The Thought Catalog has a fun article that kept me laughing, you should read it and anything else you find on that site. It’s awesome. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

My dilema of the moment is scheduling study time for my AP Tests. English Literature and Composition is the first one up on May 10th and AP US and Statistics will fall on the following week. The problem you may ask? Well seniorities has knocked me a few weeks to May 24th when I graduate. In my mind, I just cannot fathom creating a study schedule, but I must so that I don’t have to take as many credits in college. So, I must ask myself as I do when I’ve reached a moment of impasse in my life, “What would Jackie O. do?” I have an incredible feeling that Mrs. Kennedy Onassis would look at this as a way to advance herself and study. She would also find an incredible study outfit and possibly listen a little Mack the Knife by Ella Fitzgerald. I’m sure this is what Hilary, Chelsea, and Michelle would do as well. Looks as if it has been decided, here I come AP practice tests. [only a month and a day until I graduate]

p.s. American Vintage is back on twitter! Follow all posts and upcoming changes here! I promise I won’t be annoying, it’s literally just for the site. I’m not a big fan of tweeting myself, but I think it may be useful for blogs, businesses, freelancers, etc.

As a senior about to enter college, I’ve quickly learned that despite what people may tell you, money does matter. Next year, my college will cost a little over $55,000. This does not include books or personal expenses (although I doubt I’ll have money for that). Even before I get there next year, there’s a prom dinner, limo, and ticket. Luckily for me, I got a free prom ticket and my school gave me a good amount of money in grants, but what if you’re not poor or rich? What happens to the middle class family that feels bad for telling their child they’ll support them no matter what, but there will be severe financial ramifications later on.

We had a career day speaker this year who was a psychologist and every slide contained something dealing with money. How much the average professional makes, how much the average psychologist makes, etc. Never once did he mention that he loved his job – compared to the woman that followed who made 55,000 a year and continuously repeated that you must love your job. Although I’d never want to hit the extreme of caring more about money than my job, it is necessary to understand that money does matter when choosing a career. I think it’s also important to consider where you’re living with your salary. Someone living off of 55,000 will do a lot better in the south, midwest, or west than someone in the northeast or in Chicago and cities in California. It’s just important to be aware that money does matter, and I don’t see that changing soon.

I want to encourage everyone to check out OXFAM! It’s an incredible organization that’s created unique ways for people to help development and international relief for countries in need. They’re quickly turning into one of my favorite charities so please look through their site and see what you can do!

It would be amazing if I could sit down at a desk, open a sketchbook and create something as amazing as these two drawings! They’re both by Stephen Wiltshire, an Autistic archietectural artist that can draw from memory after only seeing the location once. He’s amazing! I would buy one of his pieces, but I don’t have that kind of cash. Until I can have piece of his work to decorate my walls, these pictures can decorate American Vintage!

If you’ve noticed, there have been a few changes to the site: no more sidebar, links are to the left, and my page has changed. Everything should appear less cluttered now – or at least that was my intention. Today I cashed my first paycheck! Woot Woot – pretty big milestone! I’m working for the rest of the weekend, which I’m pretty happy about. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend and don’t forget to check out Oxfam!

I hope everyone had a wonderful easter! I’ve been bleh lately, but I’ll get past it. When I get in these moods, there are some things that make me feel a little bit better and I thought I’d share!

If my closet looked anything like MS. MOTH’S I would be quite pleased with myself.

I have a small obsession with CANDLES, when life really gets me down I like watching them burn until I fall asleep.

The macaroons above were from my 18th birthday. Instead of having cake I had strawberry, lime, and tiramisu macaroons.

The style blog, TOMBOY STYLE keeps me intrigued for hours sometimes…it’s pretty bad.

My college visit and overnight stay were nice. I was an ED admit so I wasn’t really there to decide, but just to get a feel of what the average day of a student is at the college.

Enough about me, for all of you who like lifestyle posts, I’m starting a new series called Out and About. It’s not like the 52 weeks project where the goal (which I failed) was to post more. It’s just for my own entertainment and maybe your’s too! So this Out and About is for Easter Sunday!

dress|easter eggs|flowers|shoes

02. I celebrated a year with the boyfriend, who has shockingly enough only been brought up once on this blog. Actually as I go through my post, very few of them are about my friends…we’ll fix that.

03. I started Out Patient Treatment for my eating disorder. My psychologist and dietitian are cool, although the latter is a bit zealous, but still fun!

04. I ONLY HAVE A MONTH LEFT OF HIGH SCHOOL! My graduation date is May 24 and I will share pictures with all of you and sing a happy song. Heck, I might even change this layout! (I think the layout will be change before then though. I need something new.)

05. I turned 18 on the 16th of March. My friends and I went to a lazer tag place and then the following weekend I had a surprise party. Woot Woot!

06. My grade has gone above and beyond to pull off some of the best prom-askings my school has ever seen. So far we’ve had a Marry Me by Bruno Mars changed to Go to Prom With Me, a mash up of Fly Me Away and Just A Friend, a poem read on the morning announcements, and a parking space decorated with chalk.

Now that you’re all caught up, we can refocus on the present. I go up to my new home (college) on Thursday for an overnight stay to meet more 2016 students and listen to seminars. I’m so excited! PLUS MAD MEN IS BACK! I’M SO HAPPY! Meaning has found its way back into my life (just kidding – wait, nope I’m serious).

This blog is a little weak, but a better one will come soon. It’s Spring Break and I’m determined to get a new layout up.

Over the years, I’ve observed that there isn’t just one type of “good person”; usually people fall into three broad categories.

01. The Good Person who wants you to know they’re a good person.
There always seems to be those people that are really nice to everyone and everything. They usually try to focus on the brighter side and are considered by most people to be selfless. As a result, they want you to know they’re considerate, selfless, and basically synonymous with Mother Teresa. They’ll often say things along the lines of “I’m a good person, and I’m always sincere towards others,” or “Sometimes it’s really easy for people to take advantage of me because I’m a good person who always wants to see the good in others.” Problem with these types of people is not that they “want to see the good in others” or even the fact that they’re nice. It’s the fact that they blatantly state how great of a person they are. Minus 5 for lack of humility.

02. The Good Person who doesn’t want people to think they know how good they are.
This category is for those people who would insincerely , never admit how nice they are. There’s always that fake sense of “oh, I didn’t know I was being so nice, it’s nothing at all”. In reality, they know, and so do you, that they want everyone to comprehend the goodness of themselves and their actions. Minus 10 for lack of sincerity.

03. The Good Person who is genuinely good.
The people who don’t even think about what they’re doing as nice, they just see their actions as what should be done. Most of these people are Martyrs in today’s society – Ghandi, the aforementioned Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., and crew. Plus 50 for being awesome.