Ahh.  Good week, good week.  Granted, I struggled through two quizzes that should have been very easy yet were not due to my whole sleep deprivation (and refusal to take naps) situation, but I think I did well on both anyway.  And!  Math Team nationals was cool (4/6!  Finally!) and Math team locals went well (4/6... again?  OH YEAH!!)  I wrote down an amusing quotation from It's Academic practice today...

"The category is quotations from 1995.  I'll give the quotation, and you name the person who said it."

"Women are handicapped by having boobs."

Freudian overtones at It's Academic?  Never!

...well, it turns out "Ben Wright" said it in '95.  Remember that, people; it might come in handy someday.  (Yeah.  How??)

Also of note: "A relatively new two-word phrase that refers to a style of music often characterized by references to urban distruction."  [not written verbatim]

Give up?  The booklet of questions says to accept both "Gangster rap" and "Gangsta' rap"... *snicker*

We picked teams and I didn't get picked last, but I managed to contain my shock.  Plus 8 Vice Presidents where we must name the President each served under; Daniel versus the rest of the room, I got one point and he got the rest.  Go me.

*hangs head quietly*  There doesn't seem to be anything of note on March 22 and Mr McKenna has decided it was probably a mistake (but the tournament sign-up sheet was handwritten...) and March 25 is of note because if we do well enough on the 18th, we proceed to playoffs (or whatever they're called) on that day.

Aside from supremely fun questions from '95-'96 and ridiculously difficult College Bowl questions, we also re-calculated his age; Mr McKenna is 26 years old.  (Yeah... umm... don't ask... a number of references to, "Oh, I remember that..." during old questions and some random mention of the song they played at his prom in '94)

I uploaded copies of all my H: crap to a server I'll check from home... we'll see if I get anything done that way ^^

At Math Team today Ms Wheeler asked if I recognized the names of Blair's three perfect scorers, "Alice Li", "Michael Li", and "Randy Li".  After a split second trip into my mind about middle school, I said yes and assured her that no, they are not related.  (*snicker*  Could you imagine Randy and Michael as brothers?)

I completely freaked out when I was going over some of my old essays and there was a huge bang, it turns out that someone pushed a soda machine in front of the door, the jerk.  Everyone in the hallway insisted they didn't see who did it (how could you miss something like that?  Right...) but most importantly, I got scared.  Eek.  Sandy asked me "So you got trapped in there permanently??" after I told her what had happened (there is another door in the room so it wasn't a life / death situation or anything).  I don't blame her though, I was babbling very quickly and in a very, very panicked manner...

I'm grateful that I carry a small backpack so I was able to squeeze out the door despite being completely unable to move the machine.  And being short enough to do so, I guess.  (Not that I'm any shorter than very many of the people reading this I'd guess...)

We had flickering lights during lunch, a power outage from the end of lunch to a third of the way into sixth period, and the server remained fatally wounded for the rest of the day.  Nothing got done during CP2 but at least I did work for that class during Digital Art.  That is sort of good...

Whisper: I miss Mr Beach and Mr McKenna and I even marginally miss Ostrowski's class, if only that I want to redeem myself for the incredibly bad work I'd done for most of second quarter.  I hadn't fully redeemed myself (this is all in my head) for not participating during AP US or English and I cannot say things in Seabreeze or Sullivan's classes... for one, the classmates; for two, the teachers ;_;

An archive is very nearly due.

Meh.  The computer runs MetaCreations Painter and MSIE 5.*... what a discovery.  I'm shocked.

Well, mainly, I'm tired.  Woke up early and don't wanna be at school, I hate my schedule and I'm actually looking forward to my whatever number of quizzes as a break from stupid lectures and idiotic classmates.  I still want first semester back.

I still don't know how to use Painter... *sigh*

Login successful!

...even if it did take me the entire class period.  Oh well...

I know it's Chinese New Year (or less specifically, the lunar new year) so I'm wearing a new shirt.  Lisa seems to think it looks silly from the expression on her face today, but Phyllis didn't say anything (is it just me, or has she gotten shorter?)  That's about the extent of the people I saw at Lakeforest today... the sound quality's really bad there, but the lion dance was all right, if not very professional lookin' (it was done by little kids!  So I guess it'd only be appealing if you like small children or something...)

Last night I saw My Fatal Valentine at RM, and if you're reading this post then it's too late to follow my review and run straight to see it, since its second (and last) showing is starting in a few minutes.  However, it's a mad funny audience participation murder mystery comedy (ouch).  The ending changes depending on whomever receives the most votes (according to some random web page I found on Google) but I didn't notice much improvisation (I guess I can't pick up on it very well) while watching; maybe that just means the actors adjusted very well to any changes (slight modifications to the second act, or what?)  My personal favorite part was the guest readers' delivery of the romance novel exerpts... all done by teachers (and a parent?) with excellent timing... *snicker*  But why didn't anyone tell me Mr McKenna would be reading one of them??  I guess you guys know better.  (And I still say it was the best, most suggestive / explicit paragraph of them all, topped only by perhaps the sentence where the guy chews on that girl's glove...)

I found out more grades yesterday and they were very depressing but I'll get over it.

I have no feelings about the space shuttle except that it was 'unlucky' to commence the Lakeforest Mall CCACC thing with an announcement of dead people.  Stupid White Man.

Eek.  I bought $9 of chocolate to support RM's chorus (several of them?  I don't know) today, and I've eaten a little too much.  Aren't I going to collapse from the sugar and caffeine soon?  The rest goes straight into my lunch bag and to my brother when I get home, he can stuff himself silly with Mint Meltaways or whatever.

I got a 14/15 on my French quiz today!  An Awono quiz!  *cheers*  I studied very well during Digital Art.  'Course, that dedication didn't extend to AP US History; I sat in the media center reading Facts About the Presidents and noting down things like Madison's two vice presidents (Clinton and Gerry; Gerry of gerrymandering fame) both dying in office.  Good stuff, but I was actually supposed to be taking notes on how an imperialist businessman might convince McKinley in 1899 to invade the Philippines.

X-Men kid: Who the heck are S.T.R.I.K.E.?
Man in trenchcoat: The British division of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., young Iceman.  Just imagine me as a kind of real-life, Welsh James Bond and you're halfway there, eh?
Iceman: What the heck are the Welsh?
Agent Braddock: A quaint, little people just west of England, Iceman.  Picture the Scots without the sex appeal or the Irish without the laughs and you've pretty much got them nailed.

--Ultimate X-Men, Vol.3: World Tour

Digital Art; portfolios are less stressful than journals used to be
APUS; I used to dislike The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum, now I hate the technicolor movie.
Chem; she reminds me of my 8th grade science teacher ^^
French; Frissonner is when your body dances when you don't want it to
English; *stares at reflections prompt*  What...??

I don't like my new schedule.  I was really hoping they'd change it around... but it's stayed the same.  And hey, guess what?  I have Digital Art first period and Computer Programming 2 seventh period (see sidebar for full schedule).  Doesn't that mean updates twice or thrice a day?  Well, maybe.  I ought to be writing my Temperature class, but who can really concentrate at the end of the day??

I can't stay away from the IE window... wah... o_o;;

Yay for my Chem class with 31 students!  That's looking to be a decent class.  And Chapman, good.  But Sullivan, bad.  She seems always on the verge of laughter, but in a nervous, fake sort of way.  In the same way Ostrowski seemed so happy and über-caffeinated.  And speaking of PreCalc, Petulante!  She seems like she's a tad distracted by voices in her head, but she does know the material better than last semester.  And there was an odd joke-telling session where we learned that she's from Canada.  (Should we be surprised?)

Meg is going to give me that character list.  Aren't you, Meg?  And you're certainly not going to forget, once this reminder's been posted in both your page and mine?

I don't like Seabreeze's voice.  It's grating on the ears.  She's very nice, but I don't like her voice.  And to think, I feel mildly guilty about this.

I had this quotation from a conversation I had this morning with Sandy and Yubing over a teacher's adorable baby, but I can't remember it now.  It had something to do with Sandy seeing the family at Borders on Saturday... hmm... can't remember...

This is what my entries look like when I use Pitas:

<p><div class="entry">%%entry%%
</div></p>

<p><div class="music">currently listening to:
%%url%%</div></p>

<p><div class="datetime"><i><b>i spiral into oblivion on %%date%%, at %%time%%.. it's never too late to change the past</b></i></div>

<p align="left">
<a href="javascript:HaloScan('%%pagename%%');">
<script type="text/javascript">postCount('% %pagename%%');
</script></a></p>

<hr width="70%" color="#ff0000" align="center">

I think this will only work if you have your own Haloscan account set up, but I'll go looking through the rest of the code if anyone has further questions. (If you copy and paste any of it though, it's probably a good idea to get rid of any whitespace left over from me struggling to post HTML characters and such without letting anything be converted.)

Whee... I have truffles!!  Can't... stop... eating...  Chocolate... too... rich...

Sheila needs a GameCube.  Dude, you all need to remind her of this and maybe convince her parents while you're at it.

Min didn't seem to have much fun with all the scrunchie shenanigans.  I'm glad my scrunchie was put to good use.

I 0//|/|3D in Melee... admit it!!

Thank goodness that self-imposed isolation from AIM is over; I can live without the program but I dislike having so little human contact.  (Thus the unusual chattiness at the Library today and an increase in phone calls made.)

I read in the snow today.  You know, just because I haven't done that before.

I ate a nice lollipop today.

Super Bowl Sunday's tiring.  And I've eaten way too much sugar today.

Bored... feel like curling up and being alone but I can't seem to, so I'm sitting in the dark at the beautifully glowing computer...

And reading MIT open course ware, you get a prize if you correctly guess for which course I'm reading lecture notes...

You've got to be kidding.

No... it really was snowed out.

And I'm at home now.

*tries not to scream*

I HATE THE SNOW...

Holy fuck.  It can't snow now.  Not now!  I'm going to be on the damn roads tomorrow and I don't wanna die!

*cries  Please... make it stop snowing and clear all the main roads before tomorrow at 6-7 am...

Good god...

It's so cold outside.  When I arrived at RM I ran into Lisa and Nick right away (uh oh... mental note, use different staircases each time I go to school) and mumbled a few things about having to come for a few minutes then ran up the stairs, leaving Nick to explain to Lisa why I am rushing around making plans to go out of state.

The planned 10 minute meeting took closer to 20 or 25, but who really cares?  I'd just woken up.

'Twas exchange of home phone numbers (I feel really, really stupid-- I gave the wrong number... I mean, the one I gave works, but it's not the right one!!) and planning of how the hell 7 people can sit in a van for 8 hours.

"Oh and, don't forget to give them the certificates when we check in at the hotel."
"Certificates?  What certificates?"
"....."

Shame and disgrace upon other people's faulty memories, I did give him those certificates.  Good thing they were found.  Grrr.

"My home phone number is ***-***-****... please do not distribute, publish, or post on any walls..."

And oh yes.  We've been instructed to bring letters signed by our parents stating that he's to have all authority in the event of an emergency.  But doesn't the permission slip cover that?  Well, yes, but "it's good to have it all in one place."  Yeeep.  What's he planning to do, drive off the highway and into a river?

EDIT ~ I hadn't realized that I didn't mention I'm talking about MY SOUTH CAROLINA TRIP.

Clear enough yet?

This LJ has a very interesting default userpic...

You know what I mean.

I'm anticipating nearly all B's for my exams.

Meh.  My grades are dropping anyway.  It's a pity... if he doesn't take off any points on my short story journals (which should happen... because they're certainly complete and on time) and takes off only two points from participation (hey, I did improve a lot from first quarter) then I have something like a 90.0%.  But no, I think I bombed the final exam today.  I swear, if you counted the number of sentences and averaged how long I was in there (1 hour and 55 minutes, but I finished earlier than that, I just didn't feel like leaving) it comes out to nearly 4 minutes per sentence...

I really want someone's opinion (or preferably several different people's) of what to put on my new page-in-progress as well as how it looks so far.

Christmas music?  At the end of January?  Well... umm... yeah.

Chem and Math exams were both reasonable, neither were monstrous or anything remotely such, but I don't think I did very well on either one.  I'm projecting B's but I'm fearing C's...

Why do people keep claiming on RMT.com that Ostrowski's going out with Donahue?  And for that matter, who would really care?

I was starting to feel a little more secure about second semester but I've just heard a horror story about Sullivan losing a SAP Jr and refusing to admit it... goodness... now I'm terrified [I'll survive]... I'll keep taking exams, just don't start second semester, please...?

Stupid exams this year have been taking me nearly the entire 2hr block, 1hr45 for working and 1hr50 until I hand it in... what's happened to me?

Eating popcorn and wondering what to do next.

Is a war of attrition one in which everyone keeps fighting until enough people die?

Listening to The Traveling Soldier and stressing over exams.  I know I'm supposed to do well on tests but that's not comforting, that's just more pressure.  And then people start IMing me and demanding to know what my grades are, whether I've yet studied for this or that exam, and reprimanding me sternly if I haven't (I think you know the answer to that).  What business do they have yelling at me about my grades and my exams when I'm the one who helps them study and basically raises their grades (which aren't even that much higher than mine, hypocrites).

I'm studying (for the first time since 6th grade, thank you) and I'm taking exams semi-seriously.  And I'm probably going to fail an exam for the first time ever, or something.  I can't bring myself to care all that much.

[part of rant deleted]

And another problem is all the discrepancies between IB and MCPS standards... county standards seem to require some attendance and a bit of attention paid to the class (plus an ability to read the directions) while IB tests (from what I hear) require immense cramming of knowledge from the entire semester and superhuman retention of said knowledge.  Oh, the horror.

I want to study for Physics but I can't... (stupid conscience)

Oh yeah, I also added a couple of new links to the sidebar, go check them out... good stuff...

What subdirectory do I want in my URL at S-T.com?

I just woke up... ^_^, and have a few comments regarding my dream...

There was some big party that American Formalwear sponsored for some reason... I think it provided the tuxes (why were the guys wearing tuxedos?)  And people were there... Jai and Sam and other people... you know, the hallway at lunch... and others...

But there was this weird mini-cruise ship section after that, and it confused me... Mr Beach doesn't teach math, does he?  And why was he talking over this math thing with Gordon [C] at a table on the ship?  Is there a branch of mathematics commonly modeled with slices of cake?  (And things written on the icing)  And if so, does it look vaguely like trigonometry?  And if it exists, why did I understand it during my dream but I don't now?  And since it obviously doesn't exist, why the hell did I just dream about a teacher + a classmate + a cake?

This is why you all should be influencing my dreams by saying more sensical things before I sleep.  Don't leave me to come up with things like me distributing large stuffed toys and dolls to various little kids (during / after that party)...

I'm a little tired and hungry.

I ate dinner at New Fortune with my family, which means I didn't have enough food to eat... white rice + broccoli + Hunan chicken + baby corn only lasts so long... even if I did eat far too much white rice...

I barely read any AMSCO today but I did do 2.67 of my 5 English journal entries.  And I went to the library to check out books on South America but also grabbed one on flags and one on US Presidents (I'm nearly hooked on this) and I've been staring at but not memorizing my Vice Presidents list all day.

So my internet time is slowly dissolving just like Min's.

And down with affirmative action news/opinion-people on the tv right now.

Can't I write anything at all?  No... I'm sleepy.

I think I'm going to be hosted at S-T.com...

And other than that, I'm cramming for the AP US History exam by reading all of AMSCO.  I'm crazy, I know, and there must be some easier way to study for the exam, but I really do not know most of this material anyway.  And I've only read 6 chapters so far and there are three other exams... *groans*  Now I remember why my policy (until this year) has always been "Sleep lots and just hope for the best"...

I've completed my ninth(?) archive, and I think it's time for a few changes around here.  No, not in the layout of the page; I'm too lazy (and tired) for that.  My latest resolutions...

Spend only up to 1.5 hours on the internet each day (that's technically still a long time, isn't it?)

Make my writing in both journals a lot more concise, as to lower my general amounts of time spent typing.

"Lose my temper" (which amounts to quiet whining but not much else) less often when talking to my family.

See each member of my family less hours per day.

Procrastinate less.  In general.

Can't you tell I'm annoyed at them?  I don't know why all the pressure to be an overachiever comes from my peers and none of it comes from my family.  And I'm still convinced that they don't want me to succeed.  Aaaaand this is still my grouchy, sleep-deprived self talking.  Will go study now.