Ski adventure #1

I woke up with my arms in pain, my nose congested, and my throat burning--typical I would say...
I slept for a good 12 hours today, because I can. I'm surprised that my legs are perfectly fine,while my arms are sore. I think I caught a cold, but it seems to be minor so far. Overall, the ski trip turned out to be okay with few setbacks. Even though I was apathetic the whole day due to the lack of sleep, I now have a better appreciation and liking for "snow sports". I wondered why I couldn't have grown up with these sports. I imagined myself attending college in the North and recreate weekly, while hanging out with a gang of hobo snowboarders to throw fits about tourists. (Oh the influence of media)

So, here's a review of how I spent 2005 Christmas Day.

7:45- My mom woke me up from my 4 hours of slumber. I dragged myself out of bed and wondered why I have to go through this. My parents didn't tell me much about the trip except for "we're going skiing...in Michigan. It's 3 hours away". I found out in the morning that we're not spending the night as originally planned, and instead of it being a "family vacation", it was an "azn mob skiing day"(ie. our neighbors consisting of 25 Asians ) I was too tired to argue or complain, so I got into the car and slept.

11:15-We arrived at Swiss Alley in Jones, Michigan. The sky has been gloomy since morning, and it started to snow once we got there.. It wasn't very cold thankfully, so I only wore a Tshirt under my jacket as I changed into my ski gear. The mob congested inside the lodge and waited for our instructor to show up. Once he arrived, he lead us to the ski rental building where he explained to us the proper way to put on the bulky shoes. Those shoes actually gave me bruises after the trip, but part of it was probably that I got the wrong size and was too lazy to exchange.

We walked outside to the "Ski School" area where the lesson began. We started getting use to moving ,turning, sliding with one ski, then two. After an hour or so, the mob populated the beginner's area to practice on the hill with "the rope". I've never seem the towing system before, so it appeared to be pretty neat. It took awhile before we actually got to try out the rope. Because, well, we were the Asian mob. The adults were pretty ADD and weren't all listening to what the instructor was saying. They were randomly falling, sliding, and laughing like idiots. I could tell that all the "kids" were getting impatient and annoyed;so was the instructor.
Finally after spending an hour listening to him, we were free to roam by ourselves. I took the tow to the very top of the hill and was ready to attempt my very first ski-down-the-hill. I was nervous at the speed I was going as I stepped off, and I haven't really learned how to stop either. But the feeling was enjoyably refreshing, and I made it down without crash into anything/anyone or hurting myself.

2:30-As I skied down the hill more and more, the speed seemed to have gotten slower and slower. (marginal utility I guess) I was getting bored already, and I wondered if this was all that we're doing for the rest of the day. The adults decided to take a break and eat in the cafeteria. I ate a little bit of what my parents brought and laid my head down to rest for awhile.

3:30- My dad and I headed out to the intermediate hill by the rental building along with some others who were also looking for more adventure. The hill was definitely a lot steeper and longer. We got to use poles now(I really don't know why they don't allow them on the beginner's hill),but they were pretty useless. Oddly, I wasn't very nervous about going down, perhaps I had confidence in my so called skiing skills even though I still sucked at stopping. I stepped off with my dad, and he wiped out 5 seconds later. I laughed and went around him, stopping safely at the base.
Score.

It took a long time to get back to the top with the lift going slow and the occasional stops because people keep--- it made things less fun and the process tedious. I spent a lot of time taking pictures and observing others: there were a lot of snowboarders present, some pretty good and others just lame. I really wanted to try out snowboarding, and probably would have if we had stayed for another day. =
After 3 runs of the hill, I got bored again.
So I think I'm reasonably good at skiing now, why not advance? The next step was the 2nd intermediate hill next to the first one. It looked steeper by comparison but smoother. I took the lonely ride up the hill, staring at the back of some guy and his 2 sons in front of me.(to this point, my dad hasn't succeeded in going down the first hill without falling, so he gave up and went back to the beginner's hill). The top offered a nice view of the entire area. To the left I could see the "terrain park", which offered man-made hills/obstacles for tricks and other things. I actually thought about trying them out, but that would probably be pushing my luck too far. For the time being, I stuck with intermediate.
I crept up to the edge of the hill and looked down. This should be fun...

to be continued.
(because I'm really too lazy to finish this in one sitting)

Xmas Cheers

I'm not really sure how to describe this week. A lot of things had happened, yet I'm too lazy/don't care enough to elaborate on everything.

Finals went reasonably well. I probably could have studied more on some and less on others, but overall I came out feeling good about them. (Actually that's what I said last time, but they didn't turn out very well...) Thursday was theoretically the last day of school for the year, but I wasn't feeling the christmas cheers at all. I didn't want to feel miserable and bored on the first day of break (even though I should be worrying about my colleges applications that are due in a week), so I went to see King Kong:
Kong was a lot different than I imagined it to be. It was a decently good film, though Peter Jackson has his ways of making things overly dramatic and long...

On Friday, I reluctantly woke up at 10:30 for an appointment to the dermatologist. His name was Dr. Kuwahara, and the first thing he did was ask me about my "future"; I said I wasn't sure. He then went on assuming that I was going to be an engineer major at Purdue. I tried to say I haven't decided but gave in after awhile as he wasn't really listening. He then went on at showing me 2 magic tricks: one involving a quarter and the other a dollar bill; But I do say that kept me entertained.
"I like showing these tricks to engineers because they're logical thinkers."
I sort of just nodded and followed along.
When he finally checked up on the mole on my right arm, he said it had to go. So I plopped onto the surgery bed and watched him work his magic. The needle was the most painful part of the procedure.I couldn't get a very good view of my arm as I laid there, but I did catch a glimpse of the inch deep pink flesh being pulled out of my arm..fun.
The doc stitched me up afterwards. I felt really uneasy because..well, I couldn't feel anything at all. The last time I had stitches was when I was around 5: I busted my forehead on the edge of the bed headboard when I was jumping on the bed and slipped; I was rushed to the hospital to get stitches. They didn't use anesthetics, and I recall crying from the pain. Good times...

After my arm was taking care of, the doc proceeded to examine the birthmark on my back. The problem with it was the size: it's about 3 inches long. The doc said I have to get it removed by a surgeon. He ended up cutting out a spot of it for testing purposes; more needle fun on my back. The pain from the "surgery" kicked in after an hour or so. Both areas felt sore , and I ended up not doing anything productive for the afternoon.
I have to wait 2 weeks before getting the stitches removed. Theoretically, I'm not suppose to get the area wet before then, but I don't think not showering for 2 weeks is a good option.
----

Friday nights have been the same for the past few weeks. I wonder if I should be afraid that it might be becoming a norm. I pondered through many things over the course of the night: People's actions and decisions. It also triggered thoughts concerning my own actions and decisions I did/made in the past, and how it affected others. There were 2 things that really bothered me as I thought more and more about them, which probably deducted most of the fun from the night, but then again I can't say there were much fun to deduce from...


So today is Christmas eve, but I honestly thought that was yesterday...(Just to show how much Christmas love is around here). I guess my family is getting lazier about the whole christmas tradition. We sort of stopped buying trees a year ago. (A plus for me, since I'm the one who has to decorate) It doesn't bother me that much, because Christmas doesn't mean as much to me as it does for other people.
I'm spending christmas eve in my room working on blog entry and hopefully applications later.(Maybe colleges will pity and accept me because I spend my christmas eve doing apps?) Some of our neighbors came over for dinner; I got some chocolate and money from them, so it's all good.


I'm thinking back about my past Christmas eves. Last year was normal,and I refreshed my memory about 2 years ago through my past entries. (Amazing how I've forgotten everything that has happened).It was definately a lot more eventful then, and I wish I was reliving those moments now. I'm going skiing tomorrow, if that can constitute as "fun". I would be my first time, but I'm not looking forward to it extremely much.

As a closing note, Merry Christmas..oh wait, I meant Happy Holidays everyone! But you're pretty lame for reading my blog on Christmas eve.

Pre-exam night:

Mood: bleh
What's on: "Romantic Rights(the phone lovers remix)"-Death from Above 1979


I just took a nap out of reluctance to study. I laid down beside the computer on my bed; closed my eyes and dozed off. I had a series of short dreams, but I always seem to forget them 5 seconds after I wake up. Sadly, some of them would have been very story worthy. The part I vaguely remember from today went something like this: (I've omitted some details to make the story less creepy...)

Isaac Jones(and I have no idea how he showed up in my dream) was heading out of the apt. building where I supposedly lived too. I was on my way back in when I saw him talking to a random person coming out. Isaac was carrying two fishing poles and asking the guy for money; he got denied.I went up to him and said "Why are you so poor?" Then he went about explaining his alcohol/drug history or the lack of. (I couldn't hear very well, he was talking rather inaudible in the dream). Then I made a comment about the fishing poles by saying "Finding yourself dinner?" He then again started explaining in a long monologue...I woke up, or rather chose to.

I woke up with my stomach not feeling too well again. (It seems to be a trend lately). I'm still feeling it, but it's not as painful as other times where I wouldn't be able to focus on anything else other than curling up in a fetal position and trying to fall asleep.

----
Today has been a considerably good day. I was really happy to have received a gift from my Secret Santa. Subconsciously, I feared I was going to be the only one with out a gift since that's sort of the luck I usually get. But Lisa came up to me at the end of lunch and handed me an American Eagle bag. I got a beanie, which I had explicitly stated to Lisa that it was something I wanted.I also got a box of Ferrero Rocher, something I didn't ask for but nontheless a favorite chocolate of mine; so that made me smile. (I haven't actually figured out who my SS is, but Lisa seems to be the likely candidate)
As for exam cramming, I had study hall in 5 out of my 7 classes. I started looking over calc, but didn't get much done. I got a decent grade on friday's quiz but somehow not feeling very satisfied; probably because of the way Klumpe graded it. I really don't feel like studying for the French exam tomorrow, but I should to make me feel less guilty about doing poorly on it. (Though if that actually happens, I would cry)

Week in review

Mood: content
What's on: "Everything's exploding"-The Flaming Lips


I think I'm becoming lazy about blogging again. I've had things I wanted to write about many times during the week, but I didn't feel the least bit inclined to take the time to blog. In my defense, this week has been very hectic as I've predicted, and I didn't want to spend 2 or so hours on entries like I did on Monday's.

But, now that I somewhat found the time to write (time used instead of studying), I thought I would give a review of the week.

Tuesday
Nothing bad happened on this day, so a decent follow up to monday I suppose. John K. gave me a ride home; It was abit awkward when I saw his parents in the car, but still , it was better than taking the bus. I ended up not doing much when I got home and during the entire night mainly because of the band concert. We had to be at school at 5:30 to rehearse, which I thought was really lame. It surprised me that Christine didn't show up. She wasn't present during band class either earlier in the day, so I thought she might have been skipping, which would be rather bold of her. Mr. C then told us that she was not going to make it because she was "very sick"; that surprised me even more.
After we finished rehearsing at 6:15, we got free time to converse and change into our concert attires. At that time, I called Christine's brother, Kevin, to check up on her. To my surprise again, he did not know that she was "sick". He also has been out of his house since the morning for exams. When I asked if anything had happened recently between them, he said they had a fight and was reluctant to explain in details.(As I later found out through Christine, they did have a fight..literally. She had a bad headache, thus the "being very sick" part). But, whatever. The concert went great, Godzilla got a standing ovation which was awesome.

Wednesday
I was looking forward to the economist debate in econ., but it turned out to be really crappy, as in it was more of an interrogation from Mira then a debate. Robotics was enjoyable solely for the fact that no one bothered me to work on things.(Well, Mohit did, but whoever listens to him?) I spent most of my time playing with Alex T.'s camera. I'm actually pretty fond of it now, as opposed to my lack of interest from before.

Thursday
The fruit of my week's procrastination has paid off: I stayed up till 4 getting my college applications ready for teachers/guidance. I thought it would have been just as easy as giving them a few pieces of paper, but turns out, it wasn't just that easy. I know I was asking for it by procrastinating, and I got really stressed out over the course of the night. I didn't intend to apply to any school with the Jan 1st deadline, but I ended up filling out forms for 3. I'm not even sure I can get everything ready by than. I doubt I will work on any during finals week.

Friday
The day went slow, and I was dreading going to the French Club dinner. It would be okay if I just paid and ate, but the club is making the dinner for 90 people, mainly families of the members. We started cooking right after school; I was on the main entree committee and ended up preparing the Salmon dish.
I was surprised to find that barely anyone knew how to cook, even the general female population. It's rather sad in my opinion, or maybe I'm just not normal for knowing how. But does it take more than common sense to figure out how to dice eggplants and peppers? These poor souls needed guidance, and I took the role of leading. I did a lot of chopping, my least favorite being the shallots. After overcoming some problems, we succeeded in finishing up the cooking around 6:30. The dinner started at 7 and consisted of 5 courses: soup,salad,quich/salmon,beet salad,bread/cheese,and dessert. Overall, the feedbacks were great, which made me feel accomplished that I didn't screw up. In actuality, I've thought about becoming a chief at some point during high school. I do enjoy cooking, and I think it ties in a lot of my other interests. Though it seems like a rewarding job, probably not too realistic for me.

I skipped cleaning duties when we finished around 9.I originally planned to go home, but the night only began and made a twisted turn in duration. In all, it was decent minus the minor offsets.

Saturday
Saturday started out as one of those lazy days where I wake up at 2 in the afternoon. I pretty much just sat around the house: food, computer, tv. At 5, I went to a dinner party with my parents at my neighbor's; It was their kid's birthday apparently. (flash back of bad nights with annoying asian kids...) The food was good though, so that alleviated the situation by a good amount.
I left at 7:30 and walked around the pond in my subdivision for awhile. It was frozen, not to my surprise, but I chickened out at the idea of walking on top of it. After all, drowning in a frozen lake on a saturday night is not the best way to die.
Theoretically, I wasn't suppose to go out for the night as stated by my parents. But it's okay as long as they don't know? I probably would've gotten into a lot of trouble if they found out I was left and came back at 1:30, but I'm used to taking risks. (I'm just asking for it one of these days...)
I hung out with Clif at the union before crashing X's house for awhile. We watched SWAT until it got boring.(which didn't take too long) The rest of the night was spent playing ping-pong (or rather watching X and Navid play "entertaining" matches) and talking about random things.

Today
I woke up around 12:15 thinking it's already around the 1 O clock area. I originally planned to use my robotics time and do some christmas shopping, since my parents would not likely have let me out other wise. I was still feeling tired though and had serious considered not getting up (note laziness), but I made myself because I really needed to buy things, especially for monday's Secret Santa deadline.
My trip started out at Wal-Mart: "good values" and less time consuming than the mall. I ended up only buying 10 dollar worth of chocolate in the duration of an hour. Oh well, the main goal was to scout anyways, I'll probably go back sometimes next week since I still have a lot to buy. I headed to Borders next, because I had a general idea of what I'm getting for SS. I spent about an hour there too and ended with a gift card. =\ Oh well?
Afterwards, I decided to stop by JL Records to browse CDs. I use to enjoy doing this often before I moved (about 2-3 years ago). I was with usually with friends, and there was no where else to go in town than hanging out at Haisting's to look through used cds. (Of course, piracy has changed everything since then...)
At JL, there were cds I was very much tempted to buy, but paying $10 for used, $15 for new, or $25 for dvds did not justify the mean. I mean sure, they're probably not selling a lot because of people pirating, but selling at high prices would make people less inclined to buy. (And I would buy at borders just to piss off JL because of their sign that read "Buying from corporate stores, shame on you" or something like that). I also wanted to sell off my stack of cds, but the trade-in is only worth $2-3 a pop. So, no. I'm not that desperate for money, and I still enjoy my cds enough to not sell when I bought them for $10-20 each =
Overall
-I wouldn't give myself a high rating on productivity for the week. I told myself every night that I would work on homework/applications, study, and other things, but I ended up not doing any until the last minute.
- I did not eat in the cafeteria at all during the week. (It's not a big deal, but I don't think it's ever happened before)
-I parked on Meridian for the whole week.
-I'm looking forward to the after-christmas sale. For one I'm going to stock up on chocolate since I'm ashamed that I forgot to shop after Halloween.
-word count: 1483
-I should study.

blahness

Mood: =\
What's on: "Haunt you Every Day"-Weezer


I never thought today would end up being so horrible. I'm pretty lenient when it comes to judging Mondays, but I can't give any mercy to today.
I got up at the usual 7:30 range and left the house at 7:49. I've really been trying to leave sooner, but I always end up forgetting to grab something or what not before getting into the car.
Today for some reason, I decided to go the Northwestern way. I guess I've been getting tired of being stuck behind cars going 30 or just cars in general. On good days, I get to run down the Ufarm stretch of Salisbury around 50, saving me a valuable minute or two. But on bad days, it's just..bad.

I got to Meridian at 7:58, probably around the same time it would take going on Salisbury. Though there were no cars parked yet, I didn't bother trying the parking lots since it would've taken 5 minutes just to turn into it. Trying something new again, I parked at the Grant end of Meridian. I walked up to the school with a few minutes to spare, got to French on time: mission accomplished.
I don't think I've ever mentioned how worthless French class is. It is, even more so then study hall where I can actually get things done. I'm not hating on the language, just Eagin's inability to teach. I was observing the class today when she tried killing time by lecturing on irrelevant subjects. Basically, she started laughing at her own jokes at least two times through out the course of the lecture. I looked around the room to find none was paying attention (at least that's what it perceived to be). Everyone either had their heads down, working on other subjects, or just spacing out.
I use to enjoy French at least somewhat in Olhaut's class, but I've lost all appreciations for it now. Hopefully, half more years won't seem too long. (On a minor side note, I also found out during class that The Planeteers ended up winning the tournament in the controversial final rounds.I didn't really bother asking why since I already stopped caring, and it didn't really make me feel any better either knowing we were killed by the champions)

My day probably started degrading right aroung calc. I found out I didn't do so hot on the test (I made stupid mistakes as usual), but that wasn't what was really bothered me. I'm more worried about the future of my grade in 1st semester calculus. The test brought down my overall grade a good 5 points, and the test on friday will probably do the same. I really fail at trig, and that was how the beginning of 2nd sem precalc screwed me over. (I was able to recover later luckily)

The highlight events unfolded during lunch. After the band coordination rehearsal was cancelled because the Lageveens decided not to show up, I hurried off to the French club meeting hoping it would be over quickly so I can grab lunch. The meeting turned out to be really worthless, and it didn't end until 1:15. I assumed my stomach could fight it off with the 2 bites of Akey's Plain Slim, so I decided to load the band fundraiser fruits into my car now since I have an art club meeting after school. I walked down to Meridian and drove the car to the front entrance. Along with way, I noticed an orange envelope on the passenger window. Tucked inside was a slip of white paper with bold red letters that read "PARKING VIOLATION NOTICE". Oh crud..I thought it was only a warning at first, until I saw the $20 fine written on the slip.
"violation:headed wrong way"
Okay, so I was "headed wrong way" because I came from the other end of Meridian today, but how the hell was I suppose to know that was a parking violation? Maybe I'm retarded and passed my driver knowledge test miraculously, but I don't recall ever being informed that "headed wrong way" is a violation. I felt resentful at the time not because of getting the ticket, but rather the logistic of it all. It was my also my first ticket, a ticket I could've avoided.

I tried forgetting about it for the time being and loaded the 3 boxes of fruit. I drove into the parking lot to find it full. Great. I wasn't in much of a mood to park back on Meridian, so I drove around to Leslie to park in the 2 hour.(Logical since school will end in under 2 hours)
In the end I didn't get to eat lunch, but I hoped that was the end of my uneventful day.

In econ, Mira returned our stock papers with a displeasing forewarning; I ended up being among the people he described as "did not do so well". The grade I got was about the effort I put in, but again I'm more so worried about my overall grades. I'm starting to think that I won't score an A in that class, which would make me very sad.

---
I got out of Art Club at 5, during the time I realized I parked in the 2 hour areas; I was somewhat concerned. But I didn't think the nice folks down at the police dept. would give out violations for that, at least I've never seen any given out.
How wrong was I.
I noticed the bright orange envelope I've just learned to love on the first car I saw as I walked onto Leslie after Art Club. Ironically, this is the 2nd parking violation of the day that I've ever noticed during my entire career at West Side; I was more then somewhat concerned at this point.

I strode down the hill with nervousness. No other cars along the street received a ticket, so maybe I would luck out too? But with that luck of mine...
I took a deep breath as my car came into view. Left....right... there was nothing on the windows. Relieved, I got in and drove home. I really don't know and don't want to know how I would have reacted if the envelope did decide to show up; Myactions would unlikely to have been anything pleasant.

So that's about it. I don't feel as angry and before, but now I have to cry over the fact that I'm more broke then I already am. I left school feeling like I have a lot to do today, but I haven't really accomplished any tasks except for spending a good hour writing this entry. Yeah, I fail at school.

(Somehow Ifeel like I've wrote too much...blah)

sunday sunday

Mood: devious
What's on: "Butterflies and hurricanes"-Muse

Sunday never seems to be a day I look forward to. Today is no exception either.I was awake at 10 this morning and tried going back asleep; It wasn't very successful, and I lied in bed for about an hour thinking about falling asleep. My throat was hurting when I got up, probably because I was tired, but it went away after awhile.
I made myself an egg and had a cup of orange juice for breakfast/lunch. Afterwards, I left for robotics around 12:45. Not that many people showed up, but that's not too surprising around this time of the year.(I'm pretty sure I've ranted in previous posts about how IT sucks, so I won't elaborate today.) I ended up not doing anything as usual, but foremost I was waiting for the dodgeball tournament to begin at 2.
Oh dodgeball...did it even happen? the 5 mins on the court did not justify the $5 entry fee and the $15 crap tshirt. To put things in simple terms, we were creamed by the football players/The planeteers. (That's our excuse right?) Oh how I love whomever made the brackets.... (I actually do know, and that persons is pretty much a douche bag for lack of better terms. My opinion stands before the tournament, and today further proved the person's stupidity, and I think I speak for many people when I say "He's an idiot " ).
Whatever, the tournament was pretty worthless.

----
This weekend has gone by reasonably fast. That means all the homework and applications I was suppose to do have been put off till today. (and that doesn't guarantee the fact that I will do them...) I guess I could have started friday, since I got home early from my appointment and didn't go out at night either. But, who does homework on friday? ~.~

Exactly.

I went to the mall with the parents on Saturday. It's all good since I get to spend their money. But I ended up spending $50 of my own when they ran off to lunch. Nonetheless, I got some good loots...all for myself. I probably should have started Christmas shopping before the holiday frenzies, but oh well, need to indulge myself first.

Saturday night was an adventure in many aspects for reasons I shouldn't disclose over the internet. Though there were few implications that I did not expect, they didn't hinder the plan in too many ways. It was ironic actually; the reason I did not expect the implications to surface was because they happened out of the norm and happened on a worse day it could've happened. Maybe it was a forewarning of something "bad" to come that would have made me extremely guilty and/or regretful, but that never happened, so I guess god doesn't hate me all that much.

Happy December take2

It's snowing. I've proved myself wrong again today. Quoted from post 5 days ago:

Driving on snow sucks. Now I understand why so many people dislike snow. You actually have to focus, and that takes too much energy at night ....
Though I do wish it would snow 4-6 inches if there is going to be any. I mean, if it happens, be hardcore.

It started pouring snow during 7th hour today; I was pretty excited at that time-- Double the snow double the fun. I didn't think driving would be too bad, it's only going to be one more hour before I get out, so it's all good right? Today I really learned what it's like to drive on snow: it sucks. Not only did I have to make it home safely, I also was responsible for the 2 passengers in my car: Navid and John. My concerns began when I backed out from the parking spot; I was already sliding all over the place at 5 mph. Though It's fun doing that when no cars or obstacles are around(I can at least pretend to be a drift thug ricer no?), it's not so fun on the road when everyone else is not having fun either. I went on Northwestern since it's the faster way, but everyone was going 20 mph--- For once the school bus isn't alone. There was a congestion on the Yeager/Sagmore traffic light because everyone was scared to go fast, and the light doesn't stay green for very long either; We waited out for a good 15 minuites.

The 2 kids made it home safely, and I was on my way. You know how they say accidents are most likely to happen a mile from your house? I at my subdivision entrance, less than 800 feet from my house.

...Okay, I didn't get into an accident, but I did have fun missing the turn because my car decided not to break.

In the end, everything turned out fine, apart from taking 30 minuites to get home. I do admit I was nervous at some points, but I think Navid was more scared then I was. Driving was hard not only because I had no idea where/what I was driving on due to the layers of white, but also because my windshield refused to let me see. I had to constantly switch from AC and heater to prevent it from frosting up or freezing up. I still don't have the hang of it, but maybe I'll get better next time.
---

So I guess that's my adventure for the day. I don't really want to goto school tomorrow so I could slack off on my homework/projects/tests, but I don't really want school to be canceled either since I'll be missing 1/2 of it anyways due to a doctor's appointment. If you have to miss school, miss it 'in style' you know?

parade

Feeling: bloated
What's on: "Us and them"-Pink Floyd


Today pretty much sucked. The Christmas parade is a total downer to end the marching band season. I went to bed around 4 AM working on various tasks and woke up at 11:30. I dug up some clothing that would theoretically keep me warm. I was not very pleased with my christmas hat in the corner of my closet , which somehow is drenched with the smell of strong perfume . I didn't have the time to wash it, so I hoped it won't suffocate me or anyone else too much. I grabbed a quick breakfast/lunch and headed to school around 12:15. The snow was pretty much gone, so I didn't have problem driving. (Apparently the temperature will go down towards 6 tonight and stay around 10 through tomorrow...fun. )

The band boarded the bus to downtown around 12:45. I saw some of the Robotics advisors standing outside of the tech room as I headed out. I waved awkwardly and gave a quick greeting. I guess I feel guilty for missing a lot of meetings due to band and theater, and I'll also be missing the meeting next week(ie. kickoff) for dodgeball, something I really don't want to think about right now. Our IT team is sucking thus far this year, and it seems the suckage will continue. (see the connection with my lack of presence?)

Going back to the story of how today sucked... the parade. So it wasn't too bad standing outside for the first 20 mins., but then the weather made its advances, at which point, I couldn't feel my fingers nor toes nor been able to smell the hat( positive extranality I suppose). We ended up waiting for about 2.5 hours on a small street in downtown Lafayette. To be PC, it was a residential area for the hard-working non high-income Americans. There was this one guy around 30 that kept walking in and out of his house that was close to the band. We jokingly commented that we should go inside to keep warm, and several minutes later, he came up to some of us and offered us to come in...that's just creepy.

So what is the point of the parade? Sure, bring the community together, but who's watching it anyways? Parents clinging tight of their cams and camcorders waiting anxiously to see their kids on that whatever float. "yay there's my son...hey baby!" Out of all the people that didn't show up, I doublt most even knew there was a parade. So to summarize, the Christmas parade should be banned to save everyone some body parts and the worthless 4 hours.

Happy December

Driving on snow sucks. Now I understand why so many people dislike snow. You actually have to focus, and that takes too much energy at night. But I can't hate snow to its entirety either, since it's still a very amusing entertainment.(note snowball and maple syrup) Though I do wish it would snow 4-6 inches if there is going to be any. I mean, if it happens, be hardcore.
-----
I wasn't looking forward to this weekend, nor December in general. Thinking of all the things I need to finish makes me want to groan and scrap chalkboard till my ear bleeds.(Somehow the pain makes things better?) I tried starting homework Friday night, but I ended up going out. Lafayette feels pretty dead at night, but I guess the weather is part of the cause. Sadly, there're also no places to go around west side. Union is usually the place that comes to mind, but that's losing it's touch too.
But perhaps all is caused by my inability to enjoy going out lately due to my mind derogating from the 'fun'. I think about how screwed I am for procrastinating, how anal my parents are, how I could be doing something or being somewhere better, and many other things...
I haven't been in the mood to blog lately either. For instance, it's taking me awhile to write up this simple entry. I'm agonizing, trying to come up with material, because honestly, I really am not sure how I feel at the moment or how to express the least bit of what I know I feel. Hopefully, things will progress for the better. I would hate myself if I stopped blogging again, and so soon.

First time for everything

It was a feast in the cafeteria. There were no short of desserts, from apple pies to creme brulee, and I had a hard time choosing. I picked up a piece of rasberry topped brownie and set it on my tray---shoot, I already have 2 sides. It would be rather embarassing to put it back, but I didn't want to pay 75 cents for it either. After a moment of deliberation, I unfolded a piece of napkin and wrapped the brownie in it. It was my first time 'stealing' food from the cafeteria, but I couldn't resist the brownie. I considered hiding it in my hoodie pockets, but I don't need to act so cautious now do I? Nonchalantly, I typed in my pin and waited for the cashier/lunch lady to ring up the registered. I smiled, as she was having some trouble, but then she spotted my napkin in my hand. "What do you have there?"
Before I could answer, her hand was already on it; a piece of the brownie broke off and fell onto the floor. Uh oh.
She looked disappointed. Somehow I expected this to happen? Me, a good student like me?
"umm..." I stuttered as she sighed, "I'll buy it..."
"No," she replied, "you can't buy extra sides..."
What is she talking about? Of course you can, it cost 75 cents. I was puzzled by her response. Another lunch lady from behind answered "umm...you can." But that upseted the cashier even more. "No you can't alright!" She yelled out with frustration. I was caught in the middle of an awkward situation I never wanted to take part in; let it end now....
What time is it..? I thought to myself...Uh oh.

I woke up.


---
It was 7:45.I had a feeling I overslept again, but today I actually remembered hearing the alarm , as opposed to other days when I don't even recall it going off. I sat up in my bed and though, wow...I really don't feel like going to 1st hour today... But I debated; If I hurry, I'll only be somewhat late and don't have to worry about my dad complaining or have to deal with the red slip. But, because French is a really worthless class, it's legit to skip it. I've been good, I've only skipped French one time this year, so why not again?

I wanted to leave the house before my dad woke up, but that didn't happen. He sort of just laughed when he saw I was still in the house.
Whatever.
I left the house around 8:20, since dad thought I was just going to be 'tardy'.(ha, yeah right...) I drove around campus abit before parking on meridian. 8:40. Walk, enter, sit,study,2nd hour.

Just another monday.

:yawn:

Mood: Lazy
What's on: "24 ji"- Ajikan

So I finally checked my SAT scores today. I've been sort of avoiding this for various reasons over the past week or so. You know how when you think you did good, you end up failing? And when you think you did crap, you end up with something decent? Well, I think that's always been the case with my test scores, not only SAT, but also in classes. I'm not really sure how I felt when I came out of testing at the beginning of November. Everyone said it was easy, but I can't understand my judgments anymore. So, I contemplated about how I should think about my results: Maybe I should think negative, and that somehow will raise my test score--- but then that might pull another reverse psychology on me. Or I can just think positive, but then that might end up disappointing me even more.
It's complicated, the thoughts I had, I don't think I understand myself. To play things safe, I assumed I failed again (since that's been the case for the past tests). I wasn't too enthusiastic about checking my test scores because I didn't really want to know, more so, I was scared. I might as well forget about it over break and spare the emoness.

So what did I get? That's undisclosed info of course. ~.~ I got 10 pts lower than last time, but I'm actually semi-ly okay with my scores except for the math section. Somehow I really failed that one and dropped 100 points. It's kind of funny actually. I remember talking to John about SAT scores and how he did worse too. He didn't disclose his scores either, but claimed if he scored below 700 in math, that would've been very sad. That's what I thought too at that time... Jinx.
I'm pretty apathetic about it anyways. I figured it's not something I want to get depressed over since there're so many better things I can do so with. :shrug: I'm just happy SATs are over with, but college apps. are another story...


It's been another lazy Sunday with rain. I've been feeling tired all day as usual, procrastinated on homework, and napped a lot. I'm also really sore from dodgeball practice yesterday, partly because I haven't been exercising very much lately.
Poo.

Black Friday.

Mood: Not tired
What's on: The cure-love song


It's been a long day. It's been a long weekend. Where to begin? I woke up at 10 Thursday morning to prepare the food. I've been making Thanksgiving dinner for quite some years, but it's getting tedious. Fortunately, I only had to make the turkey and stuffing this year since we're serving around 40 people, and no way was I cooking dinner for 40 people. I dropped by Clif's house around 3 and stole some food. It was typical Thanksgiving dinner: Turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with gravy, pumpkin, salad, beans, etc. (No love for stuffing though) Ironically, he just downloaded Harry Potter the day before. The quality was surprisingly good for a theater rip. (Now I really want my $8.75 back). I went home around 6 and carved the turkey. The rest of the night was just..blah. I stayed in my study but random kids keeps running in and out, screaming, laughing, and all those other annoying things kids do. I didn't even want to bother, so I just put up with them for about 5 hours.
I decided to stay up till 5 after some careful thinking and planning. I had everything mapped out: Stores,items,prices, times, etc. My first destination was Circuit City...the line scared me. I met up with some friends who were already in line and waited. The door opened at 5, and the frenzy began.
People rushing, grabbing, hogging, running..it was a war zone in there. Alhough I thought I had everything mapped out, I forgot an important factor: check-out lines. Getting cheap stuff is not as easy as grab, go, and be happy. I planned to be at staples at 6, which is when the door opens, but I wasn't going to make it in time. So, I called up Alex and asked him to reserve a scanner for me, since he was already there.
I got out around 6:10 and headed for staples. The first person I saw when I entered was Alex; he didn't look too happy. "I can't find the scanner." Incredulous, I went to look for it to find them sold out. I also find out that the usb hub was sold out: How nice, the only 2 things I really needed was sold out. Mistake #2: I forgot to factor in the fact that there is a supply-demand trend. I was pretty depressed at that point. I have lost. I didn't want to continue my shopping epic, but I did.
I headed home around 10 when I finished at the mall. Looking back at the day's result, I have failed. I saved $5 at Circuit City because the cashier scanned the wrong item, but I lost $5 at Office max because I bough the wrong thing. (Instead of 60 photo paper for $1.99, I bough the 20 paper package for $4.99)
In my defense, this is the first time I really bargain shopped by myself. Hopefully I can learn from my mistakes and redeem myself after christmas. Word.

JooJoo

Mood: curious
What's on:Beck-Missing


I woke up at the usual 7:25 and rolled around in bed for awhile. After I got up and got ready, I debated on whether to wear more layers or not; I choose no... until I got to the stairs. I looked out the window and there it was, snow..lots of snow. I whined and ran back to my room for a coat. I was running later then usual at that point, and on top of the snow, it's not a good sign that I'll make it school on time.
8:01. I arrive at the school. Usually, there's no way in hell there would be any parking spots left, but, somehow, I had a feeling there was one, just one beckoning for my beautiful honda civics. I drove in and around... nothing. I was almost at the exit, and I felt crushed. Just as I was thinking about walking up the hill in the cold snow, there it was. I smiled and laughed at all the other cars that drove by; what can I say, my intuition wins. (I wasn't as lucky when I got back late for lunch, but that's beside the point of the story)

The rest of the day went pretty well. There was a percussion/symphony convo, but I didn't think it was as good as it could have been. At night, I went to see Harry Potter with Connie. It wasn't bad, but probably not worth $8.75. After the movie (9:20 ish) We drove to the Union to find it deserted: not a surprise. After some talk, we headed home.

So that's about the adventure for the day. I'm dreading tomorrow for various reasons, but,let's see how it really turns out.

Almost time

Mood: Content
What's on: Jane's Addiction- up the beach

I feel a lot lighter now that the econ paper is out of the way, but I probably should start worrying about college apps and finals. The week's been going well so far, just tiring as usual. (I was close to passing out in calc both days, not sure why =\ It's not as boring as French) I just realized how tomorrow is the last day for this week; how kewl is that. But I'm not too much looking forward to Thursday, considering my parents are slaving me to cook. I've cooked for the past few years, and it wasn't so bad. The turkey, the stuffing, the gravy, the mashed potatoe, the cornbread, the roll... piece of cake. But I really don't feel like cooking for 30 guests when I'm not even really eating dinner at home. I'll manage somehow; the big bird scares me.

So apparently Lisa didn't back out, and our dodgeball team "Instant Ramen" is in. I'm semi-worried about our member variety; no, I'm pretty worried. I don't know how things will work out, but my goal is not to get eliminated in the first round. We can't be that bad can we...?

econ paper= teh suck

Mood: Frustrated
What's on: Nothing

Waking up today wasn't as bad as last night even though I went to bed at 3 both nights. It was noon when I got up today, and I was reading a friend's old blog that I decided to look up. I had mixed feelings while I was reading about his personal life, and how everything can change in a short time frame. I felt happiness, anger, apathy, and sadness among others.

Friendship is pretty superficial. Does people really do the things they claim they would do for their friends? Friendship come and goes; There're plenty of people out there, why stick with one?
I guess I am an attention whore at times. But who wouldn't want the spotlight? What makes me so special that people would long and beg for my presence and weep and somber when it's not present? Isn't it a good thing that people move on and do whatever?
I should, but the guilt still has me. I can't simply forget and pretend it never happened.
That probably was confusing, but I can't be anymore coherent at this point.

---
In other news, I succeeded in my butterbraids delivery mission this afternoon. Unfortunately, I do not get awarded for completion. At 12:35 I left my house with a box of butterbraids.
Target: Ufarms and school. Time limit: 25 mins.
I wasn't too successful on friday night's round in Ufarms. 1 was delivered in the timeframe of 30 mins. reasons:
1) It was night
2) I hate driving around Ufarms
3) Everyone decided they would not be home at 6.

A lot of pressure was riding on this mission. I had a short time frame, there were chances involved, and I was out of gas...completely. I took the risk to assume everyone would be home today; fortunately, they all were. There were some minor delays at Mr. Mira's house, when he decided to answer the door 2 mins after I rang it, and at Melissa's house, when she decided she needed to take pictures of me for undisclosed reasons. But I made it out with 10 mins to spare.
Unfortunately, I arrived at school at 1:01. I blame it on the truck that went 30mph in front of me. (Why do they always ruin my fun?) But oh well, I'll pretend I got to school "on time".

Today kind of sucked. I'm stuck home finishing my Econ paper while my parents drove off to Indy to watch the Pacer/Rocket game. It's not like I wanted to go, but I wanted to get out.
Here's to a long night. How I miss thee.

Rumors?

Mood:Tired
What's on:Sick Sad Little World-Incubus

Well, the fall play is finally over, except for tomorrow's strike day: Four hours of fun mission:set-destruction. Overall, things went smooth. I do admit I screwed up at least twice, but it wasn't anything detrimental. From what I heard, everyone seemed to enjoyed it, more then last year's at least. (The crowd was better too fortunately) I'm going to rant about Hier Studt again, because he decided he wanted to run the show during the performances. It's nice that he advised the set construction and directed, but in all, the students should be the ones running the show. ie: Studt need to watch the damn performance instead of being in the booth. I understand he's probably nervous since it's his first production, but whatever happens happens. Honestly, I felt I was perfectly capable of being in charge of the sound by myself. Hell, I could've managed the booth alone. (Brendan and Calvin were both pretty useless anyways)Whatever, maybe I'll have another chance at the spring play, but I have no idea how that will work out this year.
The cast parties wasn't too bad either. They were less "wild" than last year's, which is a good thing. Compared to the cast/crew from last year, I prefer this years' for various reasons. Tonight's party was at Jessas, and we basically talked. We told stories, played 10 fingers, and "Talk, throw, or do"(I don't even know if there's an actual name to the game). During my turn of TTD, I was giving the choice John Ng, Mr. Klumpe, and Mohitt. I won't disclose my answer, but it wasn't that hard to chose. (Eh, if you don't know how the game works...it doesn't matter anyways.) But meh, the choices kind of sucks; I have my own list in my mind.X3 Studt involuntarily joined into the game later on. Since giving names of students and teacher wouldn't haven been very appropriate, we gave him celebs: Angelina Jolie, Katherine Zeeta Jones, and Merill Stref(play joke). He didn't explicitly categorize, since it's somewhat inappropriate for him as a teacher.Though he did say there are teachers he wouldn't mind throwing off of cliffs or do; I guess that says a lot.

I haven't been very productive this weekend mainly because of the play and blog. I still need to finish my Econ paper that I barely started today, get rid of the butterbraids, and shop for thanksgiving.
Ugh...I hate Sundays.


Interesting first: I got to school without getting any red lights for the first time. Actually, I've always wondered when that day would come, and alas, it's here. But I'm disappointed that I didn't get to school in under 5 mins. I got stuck behind a truck going 30 after the Sagamore traffic light. It's a bummer I tell you.

La Vie en Rose

Mood: :shrug:
What's on: 311-I'll be here awhile

I'm doing pretty well with this blogging dealy. I ended up only studying for the calc last and semi-worked on my English paper last night. (Somehow it seems like history will repeat itself today, except my paper is due tomorrow...)
I woke up at 7:11 this morning. That would usually be early, but today I was terribly late. As usual, I drifted back to sleep after cutting off the alarm, and wake up realizing how late it is. I made it to school "on time": 7:35---Calc test. It was pretty easy, but I made a very stupid mistake(as usual). After the 30 mins. test, I ran down to the French room. We didn't actually leave until 8:30, which defeated the purpose of us needing to be there at 8. On the bus to Chicago, I tried to sleep but couldn't; The seats were very uncomfortable. I had to change positions about every 15 mins to keep my body from aching or numbing.

The carbaret wasn't actually too bad until the end, when the singer started babbling. She( Claudia Hommel) had a very nice voice, and I enjoyed her singing. I was really surprised to hear Les Feuilles Mortes, which has been covered by Shiina Ringo in a 6 min mix. (and I really thought she composed the song herself...) Midway through the performance, she sang Milord ,and hitted on every guy in the room, including Monsieur: It's rather entertaining.
The highlight of the bus ride was probably the things we saw as we drove by: A couch falling off of a pickup on the highway, a school bus with "Latino Express" written on it, and a white house with a sign that read"Negro Lounge".

We got back to the school at 4:30. I stopped by home quickly to grab things and headed for theater. One more thing was added today to my list of things I dislike about this year's management: the Tshirt. How ugly they are. I can careless about the color, but the design...We look like walking flyers, and I'm pretty sure that's what Studt wanted.

----
I made some more progress today on project "BN revival". I finished rehosting all my pics on to Photobucket, since Angelfire is pretty worthless. As I read through some of my old blog entries, I realize Blogger has come a long way since my first post. How tedious it was to format every post with manually typed html(but the current blogger auto format is pretty annoying); how hard it was to edit the CSS; and how the comment system never existed.

Well I'm going to take this time and thank everyone who's still visiting my blog. It's appreciative and good for my counter :) I know my blog wouldn't last forever or even 5 years. (Blogger most likely will go bankrupt or make it a paying service...or I'll just quit) But the audience is everything right? Everyone gets their spot light now, and maybe even later. So thanks, whoever you are, just be glad you never visited Indianapolis' boonies.
(oct 25,03)

I'm almost half way there actually. Though it is true BN was created during the height of the blog fad, I felt there has been a lot emotions and memories etched into my past entries even though I claimed BN was for my "audience". (That's all going to change from now on ^_^ )
I don't know how things will be for the next 2 years, but hopefully I can look back 5 years from now and remember.

Good times, great oldies.

BN reconstruction

Mood: Tired
What's on: Weezer-Hash Pipe

My impulsiveness has got me again.
After the daily routine of my afternoon internet session, I decided it was time for me to edit the template. Why today? Just because I have theater arts rehearsal at night, field trip tomorrow, calc test in the morning, and an english paper due.
But you know, I can't really control it. It happens, so let it happen.

I did some minor tweaking when I got home around 10:20... now it's 11:42.

Oh well, at least I'm happy with the new layout, even though there's still a lot to be done. (I'm still pretty disappointed by the Haloscan comment. I checked Art's old blog and all the comments were still there =\ ) I linked some of my old banners. Apparently, Photobucket is pretty sneaky by auto generating alt tags to each image. "Image Hosted by Photobucket."

This post was made to express my thoughts at the moment(the subtle satisfaction) ,and me trying to post more often.
I should start homework now before I pass out.

: )

Hello Bazzooka.
It's been about 19 month since my last post. (The best record yet)
I really don't know what caused me to stop. Perhaps it was the dying blogging fad or my new busy lifestyle. Nonetheless, I've thought about 'reviving' Bazzooka for the longest time, but it never worked out due to some long term issues I'm having with Blogger.
But, for tonight, I felt it was time.
I planned to revamp the css before posting, but I feel that might take a long time or never happen. There're a lot going on in my life right now, and a lot have gone by, with feelings I've bottled up. I've never talked much about my personal life in-depth on Bazzooka, and I know exactly why.
I don't plan on spreading the word about my blog revival; I want to keep it as it is for now.
When I skimmed through some of my old posts, it made me smile; sometimes sincere and other times cynical. It reminds me of my carefree and perhaps naive self 2 years ago. Where everything was happy-go-luck. It's unfortunate my comments has been erased from Haloscan. Those were the best parts to say the least.