Sunscreen and Ferris Bueller

This is a song that has always been one of my favorites. I heard it for the first time today in a long time, and it just made me really happy. If you know someone that's having a bad day, send them the lyrics to this song. It's bound to cheer them up one way or another.



Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you
imagine. Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing everyday that scares you Sing Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours. Floss Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth. But trust me on the sunscreen…




I also watched the Oscars tonight, and saw this clip from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Cliche, but so true...

The Day of Rest

I’m already sort of failing on my new year’s resolution. Surprise, surprise. This was to really use Sunday as a day of rest. I think that everyone should do this; religion aside. Everyone, in the world, should take one day out of their week to relax, and to reflect. That is why I write on Sundays. I write all the time, or at least I like to jot down notes in the moleskin book I carry around. But I take Sunday as the day to sleep in, relax, but most importantly reflect. And I reflect by writing. The majority of Western society moves at a ridiculously fast pace. We will our schedules up with work, exercise, school, extracurricular activities, social events. It’s go go go go go. But if we all took time to slow down and digest it all, once a week, it might make us realize how fast we’re going. It might allow us to ask ourselves why we feel the need to go so fast. The mind can only handle and process a certain amount of information at one time. If we take no time to reflect on a conversation or an experience we had that week or that day, it might get lost somewhere in the cracks. We worry so much about getting from place to place, or from one event to another, that we forget to enjoy the process of getting there, or the time in between.

For example, let’s say I have a class at 9:00 on Monday mornings. I set my alarm for 8:00, I wake up, then I set it for an additional 15 minutes. I then find myself running out the door and walking extremely fast-paced to my class. By the time I get there, I’m panting, my legs hurt, and I have two seconds to grab a coffee before I go upstairs. Because of instances like this, I find myself walking fast all the time. The solution: actually wake up at 8:00. I need to be much more conscious of setting my mind to leave 5-10 minutes earlier. During that walk, I’m way too focused on being on time, making it to the ATM or making time to get a coffee.

At the end of the day, after class it’s different. I turn on music and I walk home. Then I realize how fast I’m walking, and I walk slower. I try to be deliberate and almost painstakingly slow in my walk back; anyone who walks behind me probably thinks “what an asshole, walk faster.” But it’s incredible how much more I notice. Tonight I was walking home from a friend’s house, and I literally decided to stop and look at the baseball field across from my apartment. And I smelled the grass; it reminded me so much of home and playing soccer and just being outside. Moments like that really allow me to reflect and just have a moment in which I can remember so many happy moments I've had simply by being near grass.



People hate sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, and while they’re in that transition period from one place to another they worry so much about timing. Think about it this way; there’s absolutely no way to control it, it’s an inalienable truth. So why not enjoy it? Why not look around at the different people in the cars, or just look at all the trees outside your car window, or hear all the birds or feel the breeze as you roll the windows down and listen to your favorite song?
Sundays are like the car ride or the walk home. They’re a transition period. If you’re in college, Sunday is most likely a recovery day from a good weekend, but then it’s also a day to do all your homework and studying. We end up staying up late, and then having an awful start to the week because we were up so late. It’s a vicious cycle. They’re just another day to get through, just like a walk or a drive to get from point A to point B. Instead, what I’ve tried doing is getting my homework done during the week, and yes, even on Saturday morning or afternoon, so I can use Sunday to do this sort of thing. It’s going to be 55 degrees in Philadelphia tomorrow, and I know that I want to start being outside.



I’ve really only done this reflecting/relaxing thing on two Sundays out of the past 2 months, but I’m getting better. I suggest you try it. Who knows? It might help you have a better week and a better, healthier lifestyle in general.