Astronaut of the Year

I'm pathetic.

It's been a month and a half since my last post, and Hannah has seemed to do a decent job at continuing with posts and such. But I have been quite the busy bee.

Let me begin with informing you that I took a lovely vacation to New York City about a month ago. It was absolutely divine. New York City will surely be seeing me again. VERY soon. Perhaps even permanently. (photos are coming. Fear not) There is something about that city that makes me forget myself and feel like I'm part of the earth. Part of the world. Part of something bigger than myself.
I have a drama teacher, the most wonderful man on the earth, named Mr. Johnson. We call him "J." He's my teacher, mentor, and very, very good friend. Before performing, he always says that being a part of a show is "an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than yourself." I never really understood entirely what that meant. Until I went to the city. And felt like I was a part of it. I haven't felt like I was a part of something in a terribly long time. Most of the time, I feel like an outsider looking in. And I generally prefer it that way. But in that city, with all those people, and all those lights, and all those pieces of gum, blackened and permanently stuck to the pavement, I was a piece of it. I wasn't a visitor, or an outsider. I was a part of something so much bigger than myself. And that city became a part of me. And I know I'll go back. I'll find an excuse to go back. I have to. Because I'm a part of it. And without me, it's not whole. Although, no one else would ever know that...

Less than a week after returning from the city that never sleeps, I took a vacation to the opposite end of the country, and found my self in San Fransisco. Wow. What a great thing. Traveling across the entire country in less than a week, that is. San Fran was also lovely. I wish that I wouldn't have slacked off my freshman year, or I may have had a shot at attending Stanford. The campus is absolutely beautiful. But perhaps it isn't really my scene.

This country sure is something. And someday, I'll leave it. And be able to say "This world sure is something." Oh, I have big plans after high school. Big, big plans....

Anyway. I've also been busy with various family affairs. And I nearly forgot about the blog, until Hannah Dearest informed me that my very favorite blogger, Meg, posted a quote that she found on our blog on to her blog. Though it is nothing necessarily notable at all, it was still pretty exciting to me.

And here I am.
Back on this lovely little blog Hannah Dearest and I started a few months ago.

I love blogs. They're sort of great.


Well. That's all aside from what I wanted to get to in this post.

What I actually wanted to say was that I have been inspired by a Disney Pixar film.
I grew up watching Toy Story. I've loved that movie for as long as I can remember. I actually haven't watched it for probably over a year. But my dear younger brother, Daniel, age 9, reminded me of the movie today.

In the best Buzz Lightyear imitation he could produce, he stood on top of the couch, in a Buzz Lighyear sort of stance, and said "Buzz Lightyear, to the rescue." And then he jumped off, and ran around, making flying sound effects. And then he said something brilliant. Something I'd never thought deeply about before. He said,
"This isn't flying. It's falling. With style."
I fell in love with those 7 words at that very moment.
Because I realized that we won't always fly.
In fact, we almost never will. But we will fall. We'll fall often. In fact, falling is generally part of everyone's daily routine.
But we should fall with style. Because that's almost better than flying. It's like the "fail brilliantly" quote by Tom Robbins that Hannah once posted.
Fail with Brilliance. Fall with Style.
Buzz Lightyear has a way with words, I tell you.
He's a brilliant man. And he's also an astronaut. What more could you want out of anyone?

I'm going to fall. In fact, I currently am. But I'm making the executive decision to do so with style.

Because falling without style is more terrible than not falling at all.

So fall. Fall often. Let yourself fall. But do so with style. And always pick yourself back up.
A stylish fall is only worth something if it is followed by a second try. Or third. Or fourth. Or eighty-ninth.


Falling isn't optional.
But style is.




By: Mallory