This be the twenty fifth entry.  Fear the power of the archives.

Last night I remembered why I live at school- except for yesterday, I rarely see my brother or say a single word to him.  Yesterday I was to study for my AP US History test on the Nineteen Twenties, Great Depression, and WWII.  As with all of our tests, it's nearly impossible to get an A unless you go over this stuff in your free time, which I tried to do yesterday but couldn't; it was just too noisy.  Next time I'm running to the ice cream shop down the road and shivering and studying there instead.

A person who shall remain anonymous was telling me how Mr Beach is sooo cute and, well, I think she must have been speaking rather loudly because Ms Holdahl was walking by and loudly agreed, "Mr Beach is cute!"

Someone gimme earplugs or rip my ears off for me...  I did not hear an old lady comment on one of my teacher's looks...  *cries*

All of today sucked (into a seemingly endless black hole, no less) but as soon as the 2:10 bell rang, the sleep cloud lifted and I could think once again.  (Yeah, that does mean my English presentation was excruciatingly slow, I really feel sorry for my classmates.)  We tried to have practice directly after school but all of room A1 was staring intently at the NC vs UC game, some of them even had money on it.  Isn't that nice.

There is a tournament at Langley on March 29.  You know, Langley VA?  Yes, that Langley, the CIA Langley, at least I think it is.

The three teams we lost to ultimately placed 1st, 2nd, and 6th.  Two of the three teams that we defeated qualified for the playoffs (top 8 teams).

I am going to choke the next person who tells me that 9th place was an abysmal disappointment for RM.

So... that It's Ac tournament at Blake HS today.

I'm happy with our team performance.  I mean, our record's 3-3, but I thought we played well, except maybe against those insanely frightening schools (complete with uniformed t-shirts!  Oh, they scare me), and also against Blair A.

Personally, I really swept the math questions in the first round and got a number of them right in later rounds.

Yes, I'm very happy.  Very.

We're going to do so well in two years, aren't we?

Humza's bringing the buzzers back to RM intact.  OR ELSE... (hmm, what seems fair?) ... we could try out one of those creative punishment-for-Jeremy ideas on him?

I didn't do anything with lunch or after school?  Ooh, I'm such a slacker.  Actually, I spent it talking to people, which is just fine.

I had to confess my French grade very dramatically to someone, anyone, but I felt as though I were getting some strange looks for it.

I've given up on this whole cramming thing.  No more will I read to memorize, I'll just talk myself into enjoying it, since it always works better that way anyway.

I was sleepy today, and I mean all day long.  I probably looked like hell too... but, hey, I wore green!

Franklin D. Roosevelt wore a kilt!!*

* : Only when he was younger... under 8 years old, -ish.

Oh, but there's more, last Wednesday's fortune cookie proclaimed that "The best teacher is also a student."  Of course, it's a fortune from a fortune cookie, so you know what to add...

EDIT: Besides that, at 8:31 pm today, I've finished 22 out of my 31 textnotes.  What a relief.  Should I go do all those others right now?

News: Starsky & Hutch is being made into a video game!  It'll be for the PlayStation 2 and it's compatible with the steering wheel and gun.  Translation?

"You can steer with one hand while bustin' caps on suckers with the other."

Thank you, Game Informer.

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession.  I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."
(Reagan, March 2, 1977)

I.  Hate.  Fridays.

I'm miserably plodding through Campbell's 213 Lightning Rounds; the only reason it's going miserably is because I know I'm not retaining a shred of it.

I can take the product of polar coordinates (is that what they're called?  Those numbers like 4(cos53º + isin53º) and Stuart painted George Washington's likeness that appears on our one dollar bill, but what good is that going to do me?

Just in case, I have a few historical events for March 18.

Pin-Yi's been teaching us all Morse Code, one letter per day.  (By "all", I mean she's teaching Sandy and me, and whoever else is nearby.)  Poor Pin-Yi's limping around, she really needs crutches or a visit with a doctor.

Poor Jeremy Kim, he's going to be lynched by It's Ac if he doesn't get those buzzers back from Banneker...

I hope the team did well at Beltway.

I helped prepare for PHAT Club's Hunger Banquet but didn't stick around to see how it turned out, I think I already did enough considering that I'm not technically in the club and have never gone to a meeting before.  It felt a lot more welcoming than some other organizations I've visited...

I read that letter and I can't quite join the fight...  I could take the easy way out and just say that they've already brainwashed me, but I really don't think yet another attack on public education will solve the problem.  Funding for education is especially important to me, not only because I'm currently sucking up quite a load of taxpayer money with 7 hours every weekday, but also because I'm afraid of the prospect of living in a country without free education available to all.  I'm afraid of the fanaticism from extremists of every point of view ruling the country; if done right (at least in theory, I'm not saying we can necessarily do this), public schools can help counterbalance the bias in the words children hear.  Each set of parents can hold their own set of beliefs and knowledge, but how will their children hear the opposite point of view?  And no, television alone doesn't count.

I guess this frustration with private and home schooling comes from a fundamental distrust of people.  I know most parents embark upon raising a child with no actual knowledge and no experience; they aren't necessarily going to do it well.  The people we hire to teach aren't perfect either, but they are supposed to be able to separate their personal lives from the task of exposing children to the world.

Erk... I lost my train of thought...

I don't think the IB program at RM is perfect but I can't imagine my classes otherwise.  The last time I've been in regular classes was mortally (morally?) discouraging, and I really, really do not want to do that again.

Personally speaking, I must 1) study the Great Depression, 2) study for French VDS 6, 3) cram world leaders in general, 4) cram all of French culture and history and art.

I felt as though I were everywhere at once today, people that I normally see once or twice in hallways were waved at five or six times.  Today should have been a quieter day, and I apologize to anyone who got in my way whilst I realized that it was turning out really, really loud.

When I'm in college I will not room with anyone.  One could not pay me to tolerate this sort of temper and inanity in my own home ever again.

Ha, I know how Calvin Coolidge averaged 10 hours per night: he kept a copy of Milton's Paradise Lost at his bedside and read a few pages to help him fall asleep each night.  The Great Book strikes again!

I'll be sure to bring it to school sometime.

And the one thing that I think I forgot to mention yesterday: we ate lunch at Subway, and I'm told that you should never order the roast beef sandwich.

Profuse thanks to Felton & Fowler for teaching me that Victor Hugo wrote a sentence in Les Misérables that is the length of my Chem essay draft (823 words).

Sincere thanks to everyone who tolerated my immense panic through this Saturday morning.  Bonus points for anyone who helped me study.

I realized today that it's not particularly efficient to study one category too in-depth, and it's a good idea to spread expertise among many categories, especially since we didn't know Art history.  (Interlude culturel readings in French?  Retain information?  Never!!)

Oh, you want to know how we did?  Jeremy, Xiaofei, Steven [L], Michael [S], Abe, and I formed the C Team (or as I think of us, RM's very talented leftovers) and all things considered, we did well-- we scored a respectable number of points and we qualified for the playoffs (where we got promptly slaughtered by Sidwell Friends A).  Especially for us four sophomores, it was very reassuring to put up a decent fight in a real tournament before we're off to the freshman-sophomore tourney in just over a week.  Cram time, anyone?

I caught a glimpse of Famous Swaney at Subway today.  Hee hee.  He's kinda funny looking.  Looks like a vaguely good coach, though.  MBHS sweatshirt, talk about team spirit.  For RM's spirit, some doofus had the embarrassing idea of doing that hands-in-a-circle and chanting and cheering thing that um, football players do before a game, thank god this wasn't televised or recorded in any way.

I had a number of anecdotes floating around my head that I don't feel like typing up.  Talk to me in person or on the phone (or in IMs, I guess...) to here me babble excitedly some more!

I'm kind of suspicious.  I've just been given temporary (under 24 hours) custody of the RM buzzer hub, along with the lamest excuse I've heard from anyone of any age in recent memory.  "I don't have enough room in my car."?  This thing is light as a feather and measures 8 x 8 x 3.5 (yes, I measured it.  Hush...)  I'm curious as to what the real reason is, other than tempting me sorely.  (To break it so that we buy new ones... what else could you possibly think I meant?)

The prize for Best Way To Cheat At It's Academic goes to Laura: "I can't come, but you guys shouldn't have to play with only three people at a four person tournament.  I know!  Mr McKenna can dress in a t-shirt and jeans and play as one of the students!  He looks about our age anyway, don't you think?"

The danger is, of course, they'd ask where our teacher sponsor is.  "Oh... somewhere over there... *points vaguely in random direction*"  But no, we're not doing that, we have Jeremy Kim on our team, I think.

And thus, my Friday afternoon / night is resigned to be spent at this page.

Efficient... sort of.

Chem and Math hw is discouraging to do every day.  That's why I save it for nighttime...  I missed a question about demophobia today!  I need that stupid chocolate to loosen up on the buzzer a bit the way normal people could use alcohol.  Gimme more of that Track team spirit... I'll support anything RM if I've got money with me.  Read this page.

As Seth said, "If we don't know it, it must not be worth knowing," but I'm curious-- what's the name of President Dubya's pet dog?  I'm told that he has one...

I got a 14/15 on the French quiz and so did Shagun, but it was Chong who screwed up our potential grade curve with her 15/15.  Don't kill our poor freshie!  I think Jessica scared Derek a li'l... ya think he's used to people squealing "HE'S SO CUUUUUUUTE~~~~" during class?  I think not.

Math Team finals and Debate Team finals were both today at Wootton... I think Ms Wheeler is putting my name down for an invitation, but I'm not really sure... if she does, I guess it'll make me feel better for screwing up the AMC 12 so badly.

I want a ride on Saturday morning pretty badly, but not that badly.  Goodness.

Wonder if common sense is going down the drain?

I estimated a 24-28 / 30 on the AP US unit test (foreign policy, Progressive era, WWI chapters) and I got a 26 / 30, aren't I good?

English and Math have left me feeling rather defeated, but at least I did my Calendar class.  It's done... or is it?  Who cares, I'm sick of doing this.

There are some bugs but it works for all the important years.

*sulks*  The poetry thing made me panic far too much.  Let's find out which teacher came up with it and stone or lynch him or her, whaddya say??!

Ms Sullivan: "...and Mr McKenna's class isn't meeting tomorrow due to the MSAs, so the poetry assignment isn't going to be due till Wednesday."

My class absolutely adores him for this.

Of course, I'm finished with mine except for writing down what I think about the Whitman paraphrase, but I have plenty of time for that today or tomorrow.

Math team after school Tuesday and Wednesday... *cries*

I loathe English class.  So.  Very.  Much.

Which OS are You?

Isn't it obvious?

I wish to confess, Windows 3.11 is my favorite operating system, if only for nostalgia points.

Mm, spaghetti.  Mm, cake.  I made quite the decision in picking that leather-bound book, didn't I.  Min should have Vol.4-6 and Amelia should have Vol.7 right now.

I'm sorry that I couldn't stay the night but to be honest, I don't feel very good right now.  It was fun while it lasted.  And damn it, I want a home theater of my own... plushhh couches... ahh.

I must have a copy of Wise Or Otherwise.  Oh my, my, my.  Collection of the best proverbs ever... obscure enough that I doubt it'd help for It's Ac, so I can't justify it that way, but it's really great.

I did my homework today and illustrated one of Whitman's poems plus paraphrased a Frost poem and wrote part of my "brief essay" explaining what is lost in the translation; yes, my utter productivity astounds even me.  So anyway, since I made both the Frost and Whitman drawings on the computer, I uploaded them to the nice server and you're obligated to look at them and shower with me praise.

Or not, it's technically up to you.

Frost drawing, Whitman drawing

Know that AP US History test yesterday?  I think I may have gotten an A or a B on it!  Maybe.  Considering I failed that other test (right before Winter Break) despite a generous 4 point (13%!) curve, this one may prove inspiring.  Then again, it may not-- I got a 29/35 on the Math quiz without realizing it.  It's okay.  Know why?  I finished the Chapter 24 textnotes!  Woo hoo!  I did them 5 days ahead of time.  What can I say... I couldn't sleep last night and woke up bored this morning.

Min-- go log in to HaloScan and delete that duplicate comment I accidentally made.

I got a 13/24 on that practice from English class.  Conclusion: Sharon can't read.  While I worried about the test on Monday-Tuesday aloud, I was assured that there is a considerable curve and I will most likely pass the test.  Okay.

There was no practice today but then all after school activities were cancelled, so it really didn't matter.  I don't think I've actually done anything this week, have I?  Ms Bridgett pointed out the simple errors in my Date class so I didn't end up doing that for myself.  I think I may have screwed up the AMC 12 a little bit but I can't say that directly to anyone who's taken it; if you did better than me I feel bad, but if you did worse, I feel bad too.  I should just stuff the paper in the back corner of my mind and forget the whole affair.

I took two history tests today, one in French and one in English (the language, not the class).  I think I may have done better on the French test.  Then again, I studied for it more than 3 days ago, so I probably screwed that up too.  Just like my 29/35 on my recent open-note Pre-Calculus quiz... who gets a B on an open-note quiz, anyway?  I mistook a scalene triangle for a right triangle.  Even given a 93º angle.  Wow.

I took the AMC 12 this morning, did you?  Talk to me individually to whine about specific questions, since we happily were allowed to keep the booklets.

Whitman's poetry most certainly is a load of pretentious vocabulary list bullshit.  How am I going to illustrate it for English class?  I try to hold some shreds of respect for our two teachers but they come up with some of the worst assignments.

I need... something.  What is it, anyway?  I don't think it's sleep; besides, I was practically born with circles under my eyes so napping wouldn't make them go away.  Keeping busy's human nature, someone even wrote in Washington Post: Outlook about snow shoveling and its instinctive roots.  I need...

To study for tests.  Oh good lord... I can't remember how to study...

*absentmindedly picks an assignment at random to work on*

I typed something then deleted it because I couldn't figure out why I was saying it.  Just some long tirade on HaloScan's frequent downtime, nothing much over which to mourn.

I'm working on the Whitman poem drawing but I have no ideas right now and I don't really like the poems we have.  This is one...

A Noiseless Patient Spider
A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detatched, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.