Tuesday, September 28, 2004

   *scoot* *scoot* *nudge* *nudge*
I have the 101st most popular MyO. One more ranking up, and I will finally breach the second page!! :D

Watch out Arcadia, I'm coming for you once again. ~_^

Hmm....what to discuss.

My day. [/default]

I was running reeeeeally late today, because my mom was dead-set on filling out orders for my magazine drive. Today was the last turn-in day and she wanted me to give a jump to my overall count. So, I got to school with about a minute to get inside. I went inside and turned in my magazine orders just as the bell rang. I got an Airhead as a reward for bringing in one order, and a $5 phone card for bringing in a total greater or equal to five orders.

I went upstairs and opened the door to my homeroom. I was about to explain to Mr. Ayres that I was turning in magazines, an excuse that generally would get me in with an excused tardy.

"No, no, no, no, no! You've got to sign in downstairs."

"I...but...!"

"No!"

*snatch*

Mr. Ayres grabbed the door and closed it right in my face. I stood there for a minute, a bit dumbfounded. Then I went downstairs and signed in on the "Late Arrival" clipboard. I asked Mrs. Gartska, the "Disciplinarian" of the school, for a pass to my first class. I figured that I would be late to it, as the bell was due to ring at any moment and I still hadn't been to my locker. She said no, and that if I had any trouble I should just come and see her.

So, I went up to my locker and grabbed my stuff for first period.

Schedule:
Honors English III
Theology III
Psychology
AP U.S. History
Off
Sociology
Honors French IV

Highlights!
I was in the library during the first half of my Off, and Mr. Ayres apologized for being so abrupt this morning. He had just received a special note from the administration telling the teachers to be more strict about late arrivals.

Fortunately for me, on my way to the library I had come across Mrs. Gartska. She asked me if I had any trouble getting into homeroom this morning, and I told her I had. Surprisingly, she told me to follow her to the office and she would straighten things right out.

This is surprising because Mrs. Gartska is reputed to be a nasty, vindictive sort of person. I know her to be a nasty, vindictive sort of person. On the way to the office, she told a kid to get a haircut by Monday or he'd get a detention. She took his name down and everything. She singles out kids in school and routinely checks them for dress code violations.

But me, she goes out of her way to help me.

Oddness, indeed. She got the whole thing sorted out, and my record is once again crystal clear. ^_^

During the second half of Off, I dueled John. I built another new deck last night. It's sort of a quasi-Dark Beatdown-Monster Removal-weird thing.... This one is sort of The first duel, he wiped the floor with me in a few short, painful turns. The second and third times around, though, I kicked the snot out of him. I guess I just got a bad draw the first time. ^_^;;

Anyways. After Off I had my first Sociology class! :0!!!!11!

Heh, (un)fortunately for me, they were having a test this period. ^_^ I didn't have to take it, but I was directed to go and make copies of someone else's notebook. I'm about four chapters behind. x_X I've got a lot of studying and making up to do.

But, I think it will be worth it. I'm no longer in Physics, so I'm not going to complain. ^_^

After school my mom picked me up and drove me over to the DMV to take my permit test again. I studied up to the minute they called me over, and then I passed the test! :D

I wish I could say I aced this one, but I really don't know. The employee just said: "You passed." No details. =/ So, now I can learn how to drive! :D

How scary is that?! :D

My mom drove me home, and I worked on my next hero post for a while. I've got about two pages right now, and I'm only about halfway done. =p Hopefully I will have more time to work on it tomorrow. It will be awesome, as all the other hero posts have been.

I'm just about done doing stuff for the night. I'll probably take a shower, finish up my homework, and maybe watch a bit of 13 Days.

Good night, everybody. ^_^
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Monday, September 27, 2004

Hey, yo, watcha' goin' do?
Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhh......

I went to bed late last night, after half-heartedly attempting a Physics lab write-up. Trying to do that only served to remind me why, exactly, I was dropping the course.

Other than the format, I didn't understand a bit of it. >_>

I got up to school early today, so that I could meet up with my guidance councillor and drop out of Honors Physics. On Friday, I had gone to the Guidance department to accomplish this same feat, but my guidance councillor had left early. v_v;;

So, I get to the department early this morning, but she (my guidance councillor) isn't coming in until 11:30! >:O

I was told to come in early on Monday morning to work out this Physics issue, and she's not even there!

Ergh.

Honors Pre-Calculus was first up on the schedule today. I kept Mr. Pukstas from noticing my homework was incomplete, and fiddled around with my calculator. I am becoming proficient at both.

We corrected a couple of tests in English, and we had a few questions thrown out after we successfully argued our point, or showed that the question was invalid. I think I got three wrong out of twenty-eight on one test, and then one wrong on the other. 'Twas a good couple of tests.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Fire drill. w00t. While we were waiting to go back inside, my friend Tom and I speculated on the reaction of a deaf person to a fire alarm. Presumably, the flashing lights on the alarm thingamajigs are supposed to be for them. What could have been a promising discussion deteriorated from the outset into something dumb involving a deaf person doing "the robot" during some slow song.

Oy.

I didn't have my assignment done for Theology today, but I did get the article so I can get it done after this.

I got my Psych test back today. I got an 83. ^_^ Considering I've never had her as a teacher before, and I didn't really know what to expect, Mrs. Bednarz thinks I did fairly well. Yay. :)

During lunch, myself, Tom, Tim, John and Joe spouted history terms and information at each other. Heh. It was much fun. ^_^ We were shouting at each other and correcting each other and stuff.

"Ostend Manifesto!"

"No, it's 1854!"

"Canada isn't a state!"

And then we took the test. :p

I waited in the Guidance office for all of my Off period, waiting for my councillor to show up. It was 12:18, and she wasn't there. x_x

At about a quarter of one, she arrived and then took John in to fix his schedule. I was left outside the office watching as the clock ticked nearer to 1:00, the start of my next class; Honors Physics.

When the bell rang, I panicked and asked the secretary what I should do. Should I stay here and wait to fix my schedule, or go to the class that I'm going to drop? She told me to stay in the office, and then started me on my way to switching out of Honors Physics. I had to get written consent from Mr. Baginski, my Physics teacher. So, I ran upstairs and wrote up a note. Then I walked into the classroom (a couple minutes after the bell had rung, signaling class had started) and knocked on the door frame. He was in the middle of saying something about people dropping out, and then stopped to sign my note. While he was affixing his signature, I stole a glance at the class. Gillian looked a bit shocked, and Evan was playfully crestfallen. The other night, he told me: "You can't leave this class! What am I supposed to do without you there for guidance?"

Heh. Yeah...

So, I went back down to the Guidance office. A couple people had lined up ahead of me while I was gone, so I had to wait even after John left. When I finally got into Sister John Bridget's office, (Yes, Sister John Bridget) we looked at all of the available courses in the two periods I would have free. Most of the classes I had either already taken, or I had no incentive to join. I couldn't do band, as I don't play an instrument. I didn't really want to go into Spanish, having taken French since sixth grade. And, Anatomy and Physiology wouldn't really be any better than Physics. v.v

We finally decided upon Sociology. So, come tomorrow, that is what I will be taking in H period. I've got a good deal to catch up on, I think, but Mrs. Bednarz saw no problem in me coming in this late in the year. All I need to get is her signature, and I'm golden.

So, I left the Guidance office feeling rather fulfilled. I was finally out of Honors Physics. I walked to the cafeteria, as there really wasn't any point in me going to Sociology for seven minutes. Lo and behold! Five of my good friends were there in that Off period!

John had switched the Off period we shared for a Band class, and so had this period Off instead of having Physics. John-Paul was there, as were Tom and Ryan. It looked like a pretty good Off period to me. ^_^

Oh, right. Five people. Amanda was there! :D She got up as soon as I walked in and said something like: "My savior is here!"

Apparently she wasn't too fond of her present company. So, I sat down with them for a little while until the bell rang, and then I walked Amanda upstairs and got my books to go home.

It gets pretty dull after that. Work from 3:30-6:30. Acquisition and consumption of dinner 6:30-7-something. Completion of this post: 8:05.

Homework: 8:05 -------->
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Sunday, September 26, 2004

Physics sucks.
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   Mad Money

I've got a little jar on my desk that says Mad Money on it. I use it to store any quarters I come across. AS of right now, there is $5.75 worth of quarters in there. Near the beginning of Freshman year, I think, I built a container out of Legos for any other random change I might come across. I don't have the time now to count just how much money is in it, but it's about halfway full of pennies, nickles, and dimes.

Just the other day I tidied my room, and now it's already a mess again. Nothing really has changed in terms of content, but I've shifted stuff around for whatever reasons. One thing that really makes my room seem messy is my Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Little piles of them litter my desk. A big pile here, a little pile there, a couple cards here, some more over there, etc.

They're just, like, everywhere.

When it comes to my cards, I find this quote quite apt in describing my situation: "They see chaos, we see things where we left them."

I can go through all of these stacks to find a card that I feel might be useful in a particular deck. I'll remember "Oh, it's in the pile with those." or "Ah, right. I left those cards over there."

I tried some time ago to actually organize all of the cards that I own, and I did it, actually. But then I tried to build a deck, and the whole thing just sort of tumbled apart. If only I didn't tinker so much with different deck ideas, I might be able to keep a relative margin of order. But, alas. I don't. =p

I really need to get to the bank soon. I've got a bunch of birthday money burning a whole in my pocket, and I still have the $200 that my parents paid back to me. With so much money in my possession, I get very tempted to spend it.

But, hey, I get paid on Thursday. And minor purchases ought to be covered by that.....hopefully. >_>

Thus far, I haven't worked in the Children's Room for more than 2 hours at a time. It's not my decision, it's just how things are scheduled. Honestly, though, I am not against those shortened hours. If I'm to be forced and work in that area, I'd rather not be there long.

Some of the older ladies in Circulation want to just let me loose on the children's section, fixing it up as best I can. >_>;;

Bleh. I've got English homework to be working on. *shakes fist* Curse you, Mr. Lamoureux!
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Saturday, September 25, 2004

B-Day = Busy Day

The actual day of my birth (read: Birthday) turned out to be pretty uneventful. Very busy, actually, but nothing particularly exciting or cool.

I went to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) this morning to apply for a learner's permit. My dad drove me over, we filled out the assorted paperwork, and then we waited for a little while until I was called. I whipped through the ten question test they gave me, one of the guys there corrected it, and handed it back to me. I had gotten three wrong, and in order to pass I could only have two or less. Bah!

Ever since I took a look at the sample tests, I knew that something like: "How far away do you park from _____ ?" would trip me up. Most of the rules of the road are common sense, just formalized into law. This technical crap, though, the majority of people I asked (who had licenses) didn't know or care. v_v

So, yeah. I can reapply on the next working day, which is Tuesday. More than likely, I will. And I'll pass, dangit. :p

I headed home for a little while, and then went out for a walk. It was warm out, and I was wearing pants. I had a wallet full of birthday money and I was looking to spent some of it. I went over to Benny's, very optimistic about buying a bunch of Yu-Gi-Oh cards for Benny's low price. Last time I went there, they had the newest stuff for about $2-3. Cheaper than everybody else. Alas, they had none in stock. So, I walked over to Fin & Feather pet shop and wandered around.

I still hold to the idea that ferrets are some of the niftiest animals ever.

I left Fin & Feather, and walked to Radio Shack. I bought myself a wireless controller for my Gamecube. I now have four controllers, which helped greatly this evening.

I walked home, and took a shower, as I was very hot and sweaty. I got out of the shower, got dressed and rushed off to work. The back door to the library (the employee only entrance) was locked, so I had to walk around to the front, and then cut through half of the library in order to get to the back section so that I could punch in. I was a minute late. >=/ I'd really like to know who it was that locked the back door..... *glares*

Anyways, I worked from 3-5. It was a pretty average workday, and I checked out the movie Thirteen Days. It's another movie Mr. Currie suggested as a good history film, and so far I've been pretty good at catching those films that he's mentioned. He said in class yesterday that he'd be showing Glory after school on Thursday for whoever was interested. If I'm not too busy, I might decide to go in and check it out. ^_^

After work, I hung out at home for a while. Then the whole family headed down to my grandparents' house for dinner. They had ordered Chinese food, and reserved some of it for me, the birthday boy. :p

I watched a little bit of Meet Joe Black before I was picked up by Tracey to go and babysit. I was watching her three kids, and three kids of one of her friends. So, six kids in total, in one house, under my supervision.

Yeah....fun. =/

I was payed well, though, so any complaints I had were put to rest. We played Super Smash Brothers Melee with four people, which was pretty cool. We set up a tournament which I, naturally, won. One of the four of us had never played before, the other two only sparsely, and then, there was me. I've played this game a lot. :p

Tyler and I played Yu-Gi-Oh at one point. It took quite a while. He had a card that gave him LifePoints every turn, and my stall cards kept both of us from really doing any substantial damage. I had to go through most of my deck before I got anything that was did and substantial damage. But, in the end, I won. ^_^

While I was still over Tracey's house, my brother Tim called me up and wished me a happy birthday. I've not talked to Tim in a while, since he's been away at college. As far as I know, he doesn't often come back to Groton, and when he does, his time is spent elsewhere. We had a great conversation about things in general; school, my job, comparitive salaries; heh. As it turns out, I get paid more per hour than he does. Only, he gets tips and I don't. I guess in the end it sort of balances out.

I was watching the clock at their house; watching the minutes past 11:00 tick by. I was so worried I'd be knocked out of TehSillyCircus2!

But, heh. Guess what?
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Friday, September 24, 2004

*mumbles and stumps over to the computer*
Bleh. I am tired. I've been tired for the past two and a half hours. :o

Today was, as I predicted, a day of Teh Lots of Test.

I had a French quiz/test first period. Then a Pre-Calculus quiz. Oh, remember the English "vocabulary experience" I was telling you about? We had an entirely different set of words.

Let me explain.

Instead of being tested on the two sets of synonyms that we've been studying for the past few weeks, we were given a test on about seven different sections. Of antonyms. :0!

Fortunately, the test will not be graded, but rather, it's an evaluation of our vocabulary comprehension as it stands. I got nearly all of it complete, and I was pretty confident about it. We'll see. :p

Following English was my Theology class. I've got a rather big assignment due next month, and a smaller, still difficult one due on...Monday? O_o I just now realized that I think I am screwed....

I was supposed to pick up a copy of an article before I left school today. X_X;; Without the article, answering these questions relating to the article may be slightly difficult.

Well, crap.

Psychology came after Theo. Another test! *false enthusiasm*

Let's see, after Psych...AP History! Yay! No test!

The test is on Monday. =p

But, we're getting another DBQ! (Documents Based Question) More persuasive writing! ^____^

After history I had my Off period. I spent some of it looking for John, because we both want to get out of Honors Physics. I talked things over with one of the guidance counselors and Mr. Baginski. If I hurry, I may be able to get into another class. After I got things tentatively set up, I found John and we retired to the nurse's office to duel.

As if the day were not quite tough enough, the nurse told us that at the last staff meeting, the issue of playing cards was brought up. Mrs. Irr says that she thinks the words they used were "gruesome" and "racist."

...

John and I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. Some cards in Yu-Gi-Oh are, admittedly, kind of unpleasant, but there aren't any that I would find racist. O_o;;

Now that I think about it a bit more, though, I realize that they could have been talking about Magic: The Gathering. A couple other people in the school play it, and some of the cards in Magic would definitely fit under the category of "gruesome."

Mrs. Irr has nothing against us playing Yu-Gi-Oh, personally. She just wanted to let us know that the issue was being discussed by the faculty. And in their eyes, Yu-Gi-Oh is just the same as Magic. If one goes, more than likely they both go. v_v

Bah. Anyways, I beat John twice. Both times I had several choices in how to beat him. I could activate this card to wipe him out, or maybe this one. Oh! Or I could do a combo between this one and that one!

Heh. Annihilation. :p

Side Note: The $278 I had the other day. $200 of it was money that my parents had borrowed from me. They gave it back, and I just so happened to have $78 on my person already. Because I r teh rich-ness. =p

I've got even more money now that my (family) birthday party is over. ^__^

I really need to get to the bank tomorrow, or I'll be forced to spend it all on something frivolous. >.>

Right. Yeah. I'm tired. DMV permit stuffs tomorrow, as well as work and babysitting in the afternoon. Wheeee.....
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Thursday, September 23, 2004

Teh Lots of Test!
Tomorrow, first period. French test. No problem, really. It's all on the present tense, and we've been reviewing for the past few weeks. It ought to be a piece of cake. A piece of cake that eats up less than forty-two minutes of my time.

....yeah. Cake...eat. I was going somewhere with that, but I lost it.

After French, I have Pre-Calculus. And, naturally, I have a quiz then as well. It should be fairly easy, though. We've been going over the problems for the past couple of days. He actually gave us a sort of "parallel" problem to one of the ones we'll get tomorrow. Meaning, it's just like it, except the numbers will be different. And knowing Mr. Pukstas, he'll try to trip us up somewhere. Bleh. I ought to be alright.

After Pre-Calculus is English. We have a "vocabulary experience" tomorrow. Besides "vocabulary experience" Mr. Lamoureux used a slew of other terms to describe what we'd be doing, eventually citing that "A rose, by any other name, would still smell as sweet."

In other words, we're having a vocabulary quiz.

After English, I have Theology. We'll be dividing up a twenty-page document (that I have yet to print out. >_>;;) about human labor.

After Theo, I have a test in Psychology. I've been preparing for it all week, so I ought to do well on it. I did only a little less than seventy-five flash cards today in class, getting them done just in time to earn extra credit. What's cool about this class is that Mrs. Bednarz puts the bonus right onto our quarter grade, not our tests or quizzes or whatnot. It's very helpful. Or, it will be.

After Psychology is History. We were supposed to have a test, but Mr. Currie had something come up that requires his attention this evening, and so he told us he wouldn't have enough time to run off our tests. So, he said he'd give us a quiz. By the end of class, though, he'd changed his mind and decided we'd do neither tomorrow. I've really no idea what we're doing that period.

My last period of the day tomorrow is my Off period. Having Off last period of the day is awesome; even more so when it's on a Friday. Tomorrow, John and I are going to the Guidance office.

We've both decided, we want to get out of Honors Physics. We're in over our heads.

I've been getting okay grades in the class: 80s and 70s, but I just don't feel right about it. I really don't feel like I'm learning anything. I'm confused on a regular basis, and the workload is overwhelming me in addition to all the other stuff I have to get done.

If I manage to get an easier class in place of Physics, I may try out for the vacant spot in the play. We're doing The Secret Garden, and apparently there weren't enough male volunteers to fill the male positions. A Dr. Something was left open, I guess. So, that'll be interesting.

I think I've got a better thesis for my English paper, so now all I have to do is write up a brief outline and I'll be all ready for school tomorrow.

Good night, everyone. ^_^ Wish me sense.

EDIT: I almost forgot. I'm having my family over tomorrow evening for my birthday party! :D

No word yet about a party for friends. >_>;;
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Wednesday, September 22, 2004

I am holding $278 in my hand, and I still feel like crap.

...

Now I'll leave you all to wonder why I have $278 in my hand. And how I got it.

Toodles.
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   Good old SBHS....
A lot of time during the year, there will be students who call the administration (or institution) of our school "stupid." Something happens, or somebody does something, and the students all just shake their heads and groan.

Yeah. Today was one of those days.

We had shortened periods today, because we were having an hour-long assembly. Some speaker was coming in to talk to the school about something. We had one period before we were supposed to report to the auditorium. I had Off first period, so John and I played Yu-Gi-Oh in the limited time we had.

I beat him the first game with my usual poker-face anti-poker-face tactics. At some points I'd give no hint of what I had waiting, and at others I'd make him indecisive about some of his moves. My deck's unique construction allowed for me to be ready in the event of just about any unexpected twist John played.

Unfortunately, in the second duel, I did not successfully play and of my stall cards; cards to keep John from attacking. Several times I deliberately and successfully manipulated him. Example:

John has two monsters on the field, one very powerful one, and one fairly weak one. I brought a monster even weaker than his weakest one to my hand. John assumed that the card I pulled would be the card I would play. So, on his next turn, he attacked first with the weaker monster. I had played a different monster, though; one that his monster could not defeat. And so, instead of attacking me directly, John had to attack a second time to clear my field. I stalled him in that way.

The final score of the duel was 100LP to 0. John beat me, but not without losing nearly all of his own LifePoints. It was very, very close.

Heh, then I came back and beat him for the second time today. By a large margin. >:D

Anyways, we had to end the period early to make time for the speaker. The bell rang, and the whole school filed into the auditorium bit by bit. Once we were all seated and settled in, Mr. Venditto, the Vice Principal, walked up to the stage. Turning on the microphone, he explained who the speaker would be.

Or rather, would have been. The speaker didn't show up. :p So, we were all sent back to class, at a regular school day schedule. The only period that was shortened was my Off Period. >:| That was unfair.

Tomorrow, I have no Off period. I have all seven of my courses in succession, starting with a test in Physics.

I think I smell Teh Lots of Test coming....

Period H: Honors Physics. Homework due. Test. Lab write-up due Monday.

Period A: Honors French IV. Regular lesson???

Period B: Honors Pre-Calculus. Probably just going over the work we did today while Mr. Pukstas was absent.

Period C: Honors English III. Going over the next stories in our book. Perhaps receiving a take-home test. Vocabulary is to be done by Friday, as is a high-level outline.

Period D: Theology III. Regular lesson???

Period E: Psychology. Working on flash cards for the test. 75 of them in total. Some work should be completed tonight. -_o;; Test on...Monday?

Period F: AP History. Finishing up the chapter for a test coming up soon.

Progress reports go out on Friday for those who are in need of warning for any class. >.>



Ergh. Busy. Busy. Busy. And I am absolutely exhausted already.

I mean, it's only 8:42 and I'm already tired! This isn't right....
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Tuesday, September 21, 2004

   *blip* *blip* *blip*
And I have now reached 2004 visits. ^_^ You special few who read this, you're awesome. Even more so than me. Which, if I am to take any of your praise into account, is really, really good.

Yay. :)


I've finally found a singer/band/teen sensation/music-related thing that I actually like. Like, to the point where I would acknowledge that I like them, and not give the lame response: "I don't really listen to music."

I am speaking about Evanescence. I know nothing about the group whatsoever, except that I like the only two songs of theirs that I have heard thus far. Perhaps it isn't a fair enough amount to base a judgement on, but I've been sitting here for the past few hours listening to "Imaginary", one of their songs. I'm actually considering purchasing one of their CDs.

I have never; not ever bought a music CD. The only two music CDs I own were given to me. One is an incubus CD that my friend Luke gave to me for my birthday, and the other is a burned CD of Coheed and Cambria songs that my friend Raine gave to me. I don't own any other music CDs.

So, yeah. Ben likes Evanescence.


I think I'm starting to get a hang of this homework thing. I've actually got all of my work done for tomorrow that I know definitively is due tomorrow. There's still a Theology something-or-other I have to do, but it won't take me long. Maybe a couple of minutes.

With my Physics schedule planned out ahead of me, it makes it easier to balance my subjects a bit against the time I have at home and my Off period. Unfortunately for me, this balance will be upset rather prematurely. On Thursday, my Off period drops out and I'm left with a full day of classes.

On the bright side, that leaves the last period on Friday for me to freely and utterly destroy John at Yu-Gi-Oh. >:D

Or, I could work on the homework I'll surely have for the weekend, and thus relieve myself from some pressure....

I will more than likely do the former. Not because I think it's the better choice, but because I know myself too well. =p

John is determined to beat my Burn deck before I take it apart. But at the rate he's going....heh; it may be a while before we see any change in my deck. That is, unless I get new cards or I just get so very tired of beating John on a regular basis. We'll see.

Secretly, I'm plotting to build an Exodia deck. I've only got one of the five pieces needed for the Exodia combo to work, but I've amassed a large sum of money with paychecks and lawnmowing. Not to mention my birthday is around the corner. I plan on buying the remaining pieces I need, and constructing an Exodia deck that John won't ever beat. ~_^

Heh. Most duelists dream about assembling Exodia. Few actually do. We'll see if I can join the elite cardholders.

Moving onward....




.....I can't think of anything else to discuss. Except that on Saturday, my birthday, I am working from 3-5 and babysitting for six kids later in the evening.

Yeah. School tomorrow. Same old routine.
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