The difficulty of blogging is finding a correct balance between retelling simple, day to day events, and finding deeper reflections from one's day. Since I last blogged I have done a lot of plain and typical things that just don't seem blog worthy. I did enjoy the last few days, but it just seems like they had nothing remarkably special to set them apart from any other time.
Yesterday two friends and I worked tirelessly to create a nice 'bro's pad' under a deck. It is complete with a mini fridge, massage chair, grill, lights, and music. This morning I had to be back at my house before 8, so I walked the two miles, just as the sun was poking through the fog. It's easy to forget how beautiful a peaceful silence punctuated only by birdsong, the rustling of trees, and the occasional car can be. As I was walking up a steep hill I saw a huge crow perched on a giant tree, preening itself. For some reason I was convinced it was smiling, and in any case it was the happiest looking crow I have come across. At the surprise party tonight there were some good parts, but I sometimes feel kind of awkward at parties where I am not close to some of the people. Awkward is not the word, but I guess sometimes I convince myself to feel a little out of place. It really bugged me how some guys keep bringing up the fact that I shoplifted stuff once. I felt ashamed and didn't know what to say or do other than go along with all of them. I hope Emily had a very pleasurable time though! This blog is slightly more rubbishy today than usual, and the song for now is All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix.

Tonight I went to Cafe Dolce. Earlier in the afternoon my parents and sister decided to abandon me. It was kind of unusual as they didn't even mention where they going or how long they would be gone (as of 11:53 they still aren't home). When they were gone I blasted music throughout the house and thoroughly cleaned my room, both satisfying tasks. In the evening Emily and Bryan came by to pick me up, and checked out my pad. At Dolce the waiter was really strange, but oddly comical at the same time. It cracked me up how he kept basically shitting on all the deserts even though he worked there. Sitting in the cafe and talking was good, but I enjoyed the car ride back just as much. I love car rides for some reason, especially when its dark outside. It felt like how a summer night should be to me, with the loud songs on the car's stereo, raindrops on the windshield, and the company of the two fine people I was with. For the next few hours I plan on reading Barack Obama's Dreams of My Father. I never make time to read during the school year, and its something I truly miss.
The song for the day, Music at Night by The Coral, sounds a bit cliché after writing this post, but its a brilliant song. Go find it in my playlist.

Long and hot summer days when you just sit at home and unwind are wondrous things. I hadn't been at my house since wednesday, and there is always a primordial feeling of comfort when you return home. I loved the thunderstorms of the afternoon, as I just sat on my porch and tried to take pictures of the rain. Tonight I have been working on (and just finished) a playlist, but it's a playlist with a twist. I tried thinking of as many bands that I like and I could only choose ONE song to represent them. It was really enjoyable actually, as it gave me an excuse to listen to music for the last three hours. http://songza.com/jhersh It's quite good I think.
This was my best day of summer so far, and ironically it was the day I've done the least. My mood can be summed up by the song Chicago by Sufjan Stevens. Now I am going to watch The Reader until late into the night.

I feel like such an asshole. Yesterday I didn't go to my sister's 8th grade graduation because she told me she would rather have me go out and have fun with friends on the first day of summer, rather than be tortured by her graduation. Surprised by her kindness I went out with some people and didn't do anything particularly fun yesterday. It was a kind of disappointing first day of summer. Still, the feeling of being free from school is a nice one right now. But back to my sister, 8th grade graduation is a joke, everyone knows it, but it was obviously still an important evening for her. Even though she is fine that I didn't go, my mum told me that at one point in the night she was really sad I wasn't there. I felt so ashamed when I heard that, and even though she had a great time yesterday, I would still consider myself for the worst brother of the day. She won the same scholarship award (Elsie Vaun Award) that Emily Friedman (shout outtt!) and I won, and I could tell she was so proud. There were good parts of yesterday too though, like swimming carelessly in a pool for hours. The song of the day is ABC by the Jackson Five, because it was before he went weird. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYx3BR2aJA4
Also please look at the picture of my sister in full size.

For the first time this month, the prospect of summer has started to sink in, and right now it seems so wild and filled with possibility. The best part of today was my bio final. I never expected to say that. I'm not sure why I enjoyed it, but it was extremely fun sitting there, clueless, filling in random answers. I am certain I didn't do well on it at all but it was great knowing that with each question I answered I was that much closer to being done with the class forever. I hated bio so much this year, and on my teacher evaluation sheet I most definitely let her know! I told her she's the worst teacher, she's boring, that I will walk away with nothing from the year (it was particularly pleasant underlining the 'nothing' several times), and my only advice being to 'drastically change your teaching style, as this year was an awful waste'. I was in quite the vindictive mood. It will be kind of odd tomorrow with sun and heat, a huge dose of compressed summer all at once after these meteorologically-curious past weeks. I cannot wait for lazy days by swimming pools and resuming my regular sleeping habits. The song of today is You, Me and the Bourgeoisie by the Submarines.

It's time to be so brutally honest about
The way we know we long for something fine
When we pine for higher ceilings
And bourgeois happy feelings

Finals are brutal. I just want to make them go away into hiding in the nothernmost caves of some distant island and for this day to draw to a close. The plus side is that instead of studying for bio I started making a really good playlist. I put more energy into that playlist than the combined effort put into my finals. I really need to (and will) change my work ethic/habits next year.
I think the problem with finals on the last week is that one has no enthusiasm at all, compared to the beginning of the year when you are excited to learn, which is the point of school in my opinion. I've been listening to Airbag by Radiohead constantly and I'm going to stop writing now because this blog is lacking today. I look forward to getting some sleep!
The picture today was taken a few days ago of this kid who was a master-backflipper and it reminds me of summer.

This is my cat, Mister Fred. Today when I got home from school, I thought my house had turned into a mental institution. As soon as I walked in the door, blaring music met my ears. In the living room my Dad was watching an exercise video at full volume and was following the steps with great gusto. The funny thing was that it was a exercises based on Bollywood movies, Indian movies with lively songs, ridiculous dance moves not meant for fifty year old men, and recycled plots. A little confused, I went upstairs to find Mister Fred exactly as he is in this picture. He conveyed a cattish shrug to me as if he was saying "I don't know what your dad is doing, maybe he is finally lost his mind". And then he rolled over and went to bed. I pictured him talking in a very dry, sardonic voice. I sound like the crazy one now, but cats are very expressive, especially when you are in the lethargic mood I was in today. I am not looking forward to taking my first final tomorrow which I haven't studied for. Oh well. Today I was listening to the song Mondayze by this band that I adore called The Reels. Give it a listen though, especially on a Monday. http://www.myspace.com/thereelsband