Happy 2012!

Should old acquantance be forgot and never brought to mind? I sure as heck have no idea.
But happy new year anyway!
Looking back, one word can be used to describe 2011: INSANE!
My entire life was kinda flipped over. And I'm cool with that.
Here's a basic review of my major highlights of 2011:
1. I Started College.
2. I got invited to the honors program.
3. I learned the value of having close friends -- you know who you are, thanks so much.
4. I reconnected with people I hadn't talked to in a long time.
5. I became more social.
6. I got more experience and advanced a maturity level. (LOL)
7. I started dating again.
8. I've really started writing better music, and am becoming more confident in my lyrics.
9. I got to know myself better.
10. I took my first honors classes.
11. I met people my age whom I could intellectually relate to. That means I'm not a freak, LOL!
12. I maintained good grades, even when schoolwork stressed me out to no end.
13. I had my first mature relationship.
14. I gained an understanding of the state of my emotional being.
15. I improved my teaching skills.
16. I learned the the town adjecent to mine is a filthy hole. Gotta love public transportation.
17. I learned the importance of emotional release.
18. I learned all about mental defense mechanisms!
19. I learned why Edward and Bella's relationship is NOT healthy.
20. I learned about things that I need to improve on.
21. I decided that, contrary to my previous plan, I'm actually gonna get as much scholarship money as I can and GET THE HECK OUT OF MY HOUSE!
22. I went to my first concert. Evanescence rocks! Thanks, Savanna!
23. My mom got pregnant, and I'll soon have a new younger sibling.
24. My church band started up.
25. I began to see myself as an adult.
26. I learned that sometimes it's just better to keep your mouth shut.
27. I learned that no matter how bad things get, no matter how much I hurt, no matter how depressed I am, I'm always gonna get back up, because nothing can keep me down. Over the last few months, as you have seen, I've been going through alot. I looked online for the diagnostic criteria for depression, and I defenitely do exhibit some of those traits. I don't think it's enough to be diagnosed with clinical depression, and if it is, it's very mild. I can't say I'm surprised. Depression runs in my family. I also looked up symptoms of PTSD, and I might, just might, have a very mild case of that. Now I know some of you are thinking "what could have happened?" Well, for the most part, it wasn't what happened. It was how I viewed it, how I reacted to it, and, because of these two things, how it made me feel. If I had viewed what was going on differently, it wouldn't be affecting me like it is. But I didn't view it differently because I didn't understand. I didn't understand that there was a problem with how I viewed it. I didn't understand what it could do to me, and to the others involved. But this experience has been good for me for a few reasons: 1) I now understand what caused this, and I can recognize when it happens, so I don't have to go through it again. 2) It helped me understand myself and others better. 3) It helped me realize that, in order for a relationship to work, SHE MUST NOT BECOME YOUR LIFE! 4) It has set me on a quest to establish myself as a fledgeling adult in this world. 5) It has shown me the importance of trusting myself. 6) (and perhaps the most important) It helped me discover an inner strength that I didn't know I had. I didn't know what was keeping me alive. Now I understand. If I'm beaten to the bottom, and I'm dragged through the asphault, I'm just going to keep getting back up. Why? Because I don't like to lose. I don't like to fail. Some people will keep going because they know it's the right thing to do. I keep going because I'm competitive. I'm not going to let something like this, no matter how much it hurts, ruin my life. This is MY life. God gave me my life and my right to live it. And I will live it. I don't have to be miserable. I don't want to be miserable. I have a RIGHT to be happy, and the only thing standing in my way is me. This has caused me to get back up and keep fighting on so many occasions. I mean, there are times where I've been in enough pain that I've had thoughts about developing some... nasty habits, we shall say. But I haven't. I decided that I wasn't going to. Because I won't accept that. I was born for success. I will make myself succeed. And no matter how awful things get, I'm never going to give up. To give up is to choose failure. And I hate failing anyway, when whatever I put in isn't enough, or when I botch up. The day I CHOOSE to fail is the day that hell freezes over.
Anyway, sorry about the rant. Yeah, I've got stuff to work out, and I may or may not explain in a little (but not much) more detail later.

Yeah, 2011 has been overall a good year. It's been a hard year, definitely, but it's been a good year.

Now on to 2012! Well, back to school in two weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my friends there. I'm taking abnormal psychology, trigonometry and Spanish. Yeah, that'll be fun. Good news is, this is my last semester of prerequisites! I was kinda behind on my math unfortunately when I began, since the lowest requirement is Calculus I. So I'm taking that over the summer. And then, if all goes according to plan, I'll be out of there and graduated with an associate's degree in 2014. From there, I'm hoping that I can transfer to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, either in Prescott, Arizona, or the location in Daytona Beach, Florida. Though I do love the west, and Prescott seems like a nicer location, Daytona Beach offers a degree in Engineering Physics, which is plain awesome! It's basically engineering spacecraft and stuff, and it involves space physics, and quantum physics, which are two really awesome fields. Of course, I might go into Aviation as well.
See, Embry Riddle is my five-year-old self's dream school. When I was five, I knew every part of airplane. I was obsessed. Most people don't know what ailerons are. I did, and I could point them out to anyone on any airplane. I was also obsessed with space, and with our solar system. I knew almost all of the information on the planets there was to know, except for all of the moons of the gas giants. I knew the major ones. All of the books said different things about how many moons there were.
If I can get there, I will, legit, be living my childhood dreams. AS CHIIIIIIIILLLLLDDHOOOOODDD DREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAMMMMSSS..... CHIIIIIIIILLLLLDDDHOOOOOOOODDDD DREEEEEAAAAAAAAMMMMMSSS..... CHIIILDHOOOD CHIIILDHOOD CHILDHOOD CHILDHOOD CHILDHOOD CHILDHOOD DREEEEAAAAAAMMMMSSSS!
Sorry. Got carried away with lyrical quotes there. Gotta love Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

The song is absolutely amazing. You should totally check it out.
TSO has a couple of really good songs. Here's another one that I found really really inspiring.

I was originally going to post the recording, but then I saw this.
OH MY GOSH.
Okay, Marco Hietala might actually have some competition for my favorite male singer. Might.

Yeah, kinda went off on a random tangent there.
Summary of the post:
1. 2011 had its ups and downs. It was a good year, but a very hard year as well. This is the year that I've taken some of my final steps towards adulthood.
2. Despite everything that's going on, I will get better. Not will try. Will. And I'm already putting that statement into action.
3. Looking forward to GETTING OUT ON MY OWN and hoping to transfer to the aeronautical university of my CHIIIIILLLLDDDDHOOOOOODDDD DREEEEEEAAAAAAAMMMMMSSSS! Okay, I'll stop now.
4. Trans-Siberian Orchestra is amazing!

Okay, I think that's about it.
And I'm actually posting semi-regularly-
OH MY GOSH, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
How could I have forgotten that? How was your christmas? Mine was amazing. I got to spend it with my amazing family. I got a humoungous amp, some really good microphones, a few funny T-shirts, which I will be wearing to school, a few CD's, Acid Pro (a sequencer/recording program of awesomeness), and loads of love and cheer and goodwill. I love my family. It was funny. In the afternoon, Banana and I spent a few hours sitting together and watching... her new lava lamp. I'm serious. A few hours. Lava lamps are addicting. Once you start watching them YOU CAN'T STOP. They are so intriguing. We just continued to stare at it and stare at it and stare at it....

Oh, just FYI, for those of you who haven't heard, I'm writing a new song, and it's actually semi-positive! You remember all of the stuff I said earlier about how no matter how bad things get, I'm not giving up? Yeah. I'm writing it about that. Kind of a "you can't keep me down" type song. So far, I like it alot. I need to finish writing the lyrics, but I like what I have so far.

Oh, and one more thing: my piano's kind of going out of tune now, and I'm TICKED OFF!
The C above middle C sounds muted, and, for said new song, I use that C alot. And it drives me nuts because, while most of the other keys have a nice, clear, resonant tone, this one has a dull tone. EARGH!
Oh well. We'll get it tuned again soon enough.
And I still need to learn the rest of "Lithium" by Evanescence. And then I think my uncle wants me to learn "Someone Like You" by Adele. I'll have to listen to the song. I may or may not learn it. If it speaks to me, though, I'll totally learn it.

Okay, that was WAY longer than I intended, but whatever.
Hope you guys all have a great christmas and an exciting new year.

Happy trails!
T-WAC