Monday, September 20, 2004

   Gopherocious!
I got an A on my history paper! :D

Not only that, but Mr. Currie exemplified my work. He said that my paper was a great example of what the readers of the AP exam would be looking for when they grade the test. He really laid into how great my paper was, and he even read the majority of it to the class!!!! I was so very, very happy! ^______^

As he was reading it, my classmates were all looking around at each other, with the question in their eyes and just barely forming on their lips: "Did you do it?"

Of course, nobody looked back at me. I sit in the very back of the classroom, over near the door. Maybe they forgot I was there, or they just didn't expect something like that from me. Only Evan, a very laid back and popular guy in my class, made the connection. If it wasn't Chris, and it wasn't Matt or Joe...(Chris is one of those extreme students who pour every waking moment of their existence into their work and is a perfectionist. Matt and Joe are history buffs.) He leaned back in his seat and cast a covert look at me. I winked in return. He smiled and eased himself forward again.

Oh, geez. That was just the greatest feeling ever. :)

My school is putting on a magazine sale right now. We're supposed to go around to people we know (or don't know) and ask them if they want to subscribe to magazines, or renew their older ones. Ah, yes; we sell crappy music too, from what I understand.

I took the easy way out. Rather than go around the local neighborhoods, speaking to strange people I don't know and speaking to them, I simply stepped into the library at my school.

Our school library has subscriptions to many different magazines, and the only person to ever realize that they may need renewals was my sister, last year. She got a ton of sales there, but since she's gone, I just did what she did. ^_^

I had grabbed a magazine packet from the main office and signed myself in to the library. When Mrs. Thompson showed up, I asked her if the library needed any magazines renewed. She already had several forms filled out to renew them, and was just waiting for somebody to ask. ^___^ She affixed my name to each form and I got about $365 in sales. It took me probably less than two minutes of talking and a minuscule bit of effort, and I'm probably among the top sellers in the school. :D

I can't wait until work on Wednesday. The Groton Public Library subscribes to even more magazines than St. Bernard's does. I'm sure they'd jump at the chance to renew their magazines en masse. If I have the time (pfeh, right), I may hit up doctor's offices and the like.

Oh, the joys of wheeling and dealing. :)

I think that sufficiently covers things for now. I'll catch you all later.

Yes....catch you. Just like you were little pokemon... Ah ha, ha ha, ha ha! Ahahahaha!

>_>
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Sunday, September 19, 2004

Flibbertegibbit.
Wow. I have no time to do anything, it seems. v_v

Yesterday, as I said, was totally dominated by my trip to Six Flags. This morning, I expected to go to 8:30 Mass, be out by around 9:45, and have some time to do....you know, something.

But, alas. My alarm did not go off. I did not get up, and I did not go to 8:30 Mass. I was left with the alternative: 11:00 Mass. :o

Normally, I'd relish the opportunity for extra sleep and pledge myself to going to 11:00 Mass. Today, unfortunately, was not a good day for that. I was on the schedule to work today from 12-5 at the library. =/

My mom picked me and my younger siblings up and drove us down to the school/church. Coffee and Donuts were being served for the first time this school year, and there were a bunch of people sitting around the cafeteria talking. On my way into the building I saw Victoria, who was with my classmate Nadia, and Nadia's brother and sister, Victor and Melina.

I met them inside and...um...we hung out? -_o

My mom told me that my aunt would be waiting to pick me up outside at 11:45. When the time came, however, I had not yet received the Eucharist, which is the main focus of the Mass. So, I decided to leave just as soon as I had received. My mom urged me just to go right up to the front, as I was already late.

I objected. For one thing, I wasn't going to cut people in line so that I could receive the Body of Christ first. That just didn't make sense, to me. What self-respecting Christian would do that? =/

For another thing, she was suggesting that I do that because I was late for work on a Sunday, something frowned upon in and of itself. Something about that just didn't ring true to me.

So, I'm going to place myself ahead of all these other people so that I can receive the Eucharist first because I'm running late for work, which I shouldn't really be doing anyways.

Uh-huh.

As it turns out, my aunt wasn't even there. I wasn't picked up until about 12:00, and that was by my grandmother, who came in my aunt's stead. I was late for work for the first time. ;_;

Nobody really seemed to notice or care, fortunately. Today was a very slow day. There were hardly any books being returned, and the back room was fairly empty. Much of my five hours there was spent shelving half-carts at a time. I spent a couple minutes here and there helping patrons, too. One lady needed some books to be carried, and another needed help finding a book that was already checked out. =/

It was a very long, uneventful day at work.

But, I was graced again. :) my sister Jess showed up to take me home, and standing right next to her was Christina. ^____^

Apparently, Christina had been in the library for a while already, doing research for a Theology paper. How observant of me not to notice in the five hours I was present. >.>

Jess drove Christina home, and then forced me into the front seat before she drove me home.

"Do you want to sit in front?"

"No, I'm fine back here. Thanks."

"Get in front. I'm not your freaking chauffeur."

"Okay then. O_o" *scurries around the car to the front seat*

Heh. It was nice to see Christina. ^__^

I got home, and so far I've wasted about an hour and a half eating dinner, watching TV, and angsting over my lack of RPG posts. x_x

I've got to get a post in for hero, and W.H.A.T.E. has come too far to die out now. As it's my turn for both of them, and I've got no time for either, I feel awfully trapped. :o

Another Note: The weather is turning chilly again in Groton. My room was positively frigid. ^_______^

*blissful shiver*
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Saturday, September 18, 2004

   It rained until 1:00 and we all got wet.
That's a pretty accurate summary of my day. ^_^

Four Comments! w00t!

Mimmi: Had a blast! :D

Shinmaru: Universal is better anyways. >.>

ParnoidPerson: Had fun. Wet fun. :p

Solo: I was not particularly excited while at the park. The gray sky and frigid air sort of took it out of me. :p

The weather today was awful up until one o'clock. It rained hard and the wind was cold and blowing our umbrellas every which way. I had a t-shirt on, with my St. Bernard's hoodie on over that, and a quasi-fake-waterproof windbreaker over that. After the first half hour or so, I decided that if I was going to be wet, I might as well be wet, and have fun doing it. :D

So, my mom and I went on Batman. ^__^

I had planned ahead and put my wallet in a plastic bag to save it (and my monies) from the water. It was still raining when we got on the ride. I gave the wallet to my grandmother to hold, so that the plastic bag wouldn't have to be put to such a severe test. :p

Anyways. We get in the front seats, because there's hardly anybody else going on the ride. We slowly rise up the hill to the first drop, rain gently pitter pattering on our faces. We slowly go over the first lip, eagerly awaiting the excitement.

Whoosh!

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

We hadn't taken the rain into serious account when we boarded the ride. Neither of us had considered what it would be like being shot through little droplets of water at a high speed. As my mom put it: "They're like little needles!"

I covered my face for the majority of the ride, so as to provide some margin of cover. When we got off the ride, my mom and I were both totally drenched. The ride had forced the rain deep into our clothing; fortunately, I was wearing three layers. ~_^

I saw David there! He was with his girlfriend, though, and I didn't want to butt in on anything. ^_^;; "Two's company, three's a crowd."

I saw him a couple other times throughout the day, and it looked like he was having fun. Heh, cool. :)

I went on Superman twice, Houdini's Great Escape, and Nightwing. I think that's just about all I did, ride-wise. Not a lot of the rides were open, and I didn't feel like going on some of the few that were. I did spend three dollars on a shooter game in an Italian pizza place, though. The badguys were like undead Nazi skeletons, or something. I could destroy their helicopters with a single shot to the cockpit. It was interesting. Kind of like a crappy version of Time Crisis, where you had to shoot outside the screen to hide.


So, yes. It was wet, but I still managed to have some fun. Now I only need to worry about one thing this weekend.

When am I going to get my homework done? O_O;;

Today is gone. Tomorrow, I have Mass in the morning, and then work at the library from 12-5. >.>

Birthday in six days and about ten minutes. =p
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Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnddddddd.......
......I'm off to Six Flags. ^____^
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Friday, September 17, 2004

Just keep on rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'....
I got five comments! That calls for Comment Commentary!

Shyguy: Honors courses aren't always that much different from the regular ones. For example, French II and Honors French II are in the same class and the same period at my school. The Honors group is simply given an extra assignment to do every now and then.

Arcadia: I know studying helps. I just can't that through to the decision-making part of my brain. v.v

Mimmi: Actually, the Honors courses earn me more points per grade towards my class rank. ^_^ So a B in an Honors course gets me the same amount of points I would get for an A in a regular one. :D

Solo: Freshman year I was pretty paranoid about my grades, too. Heh. Ms. Gencarelli's Honors Biology sure snapped me out of that quickly enough. After a bunch of grades ranging from 50s-70s, I sort of got accustomed to things under an 88. =p

hEvN: My English teacher this year, Mr. Lamoureux, told us something like that from the start. He does not care about our grades. He doesn't mind failing us, just so long as we learned something. He told us not to expect high marks in his class, because it was likely we would not earn them. He was very emphatic about us learning something as opposed to earning a grade.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ah. Finally. The weekend. :)

Finally, a brief reprieve from the hellish nightmare that makes up my school days. :0!

Okay, I'm exaggerating. My days aren't really that bad. I'm just remembering and focusing on the bad parts of it. Not really intentionally, it's just sort of happening. *hauls out massive Psychology notebook* If I were looking for a biological reason for this behavior, I would say that I have low serotonin levels. It says right here in my notebook: "If serotonin levels are low -> anxiety, insomnia, moody.

So, hey, there might actually be a reason behind the madness. =p

Then again, maybe I'm just a screwed up little teenager. Just like in all the show on TV recently. Shows that I, by the way, do not watch and generally do not like to be forced to put up with.

*random subject shift*

I got my history paper done late last night. I had neither the desire nor the research to formulate a thesis for my English paper. I had already taken my contacts out by that point, and so I just slumped into bed. Blissfully.

I always seem to forget, before I get into bed, to set my alarm clock. Almost the second my head hits the pillow, I remember that it needs to be done. So, I sit up and flick on my light. I push back my blanket, get out of bed and walk across the room to my alarm clock. I set the radio volume to the max, and then make sure the alarm is set to radio. I give it a short test to make sure the radio is sufficiently blaring, and then set it back down on the ground. Back into bed I go.

First period today I had a vocabulary quiz. I think I got most of the question right, or at least close enough that Mr. Leone will accept them. The only vocab word I forgot about, though, was relativism, which is the idea that there is no set moral code. E.G. I can't tell you that it is wrong to kill somebody. Or, I can, but that doesn't make it true. Or something.

Then he gives us this huge assignment that's due next month. Quite a nice way to start the day, eh? A quiz, and then a massive assignment given out. Lovely. Simply lovely.

Psychology was fun, as usual. I got my quiz back from the other day; 90%. ^___^ I only got one question wrong. I like this class so far.

AP History with Mr. Currie was great, too. It makes me feel a bit bad, though. He's always trying to start up a discussion with the class, but we're not a very vocal group. Which is a shame, because he's an awesome guy and I hate to disappoint him.

I spent the first few minutes of my Off period writing up the Thesis for my English paper. I knew that I wanted to do something about slave narratives, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't just blindly stumbling into something. When I was finished, my classmates balked. I don't exactly know why, but.... -_-;;

A girl in my English class, Gillian, was writing up her thesis on the computer next to me. She at least gave a reason for her reaction. "Do you think you can get six pages out of that?"

I confidently replied: "I can get six pages out of just about anything." Which, I believe, is true. Given the time and motivation, I could write a paper on gummy bears. The paper has to be expository; explaining and clarifying the topic we chose. I'm confident that I can pump out six pages on the subject. Especially because Mr. Lamoureux makes us turn in outlines ahead of time, to help us formulate our papers. I think that approach will help my paper-writing extraordinarily.

Anyways, as soon as I was done, I printed out my single sentence thesis. Gillian and I walked to Mr. Lamoureux's room, and timidly handed out papers over. Gillian asked if we had formatted it correctly. He nodded.

"Excellent." He pauses, reading each thesis. "Excellent, very well done."

From then on I just sort of "In your face"'d any friends that put me down about the single sentence. Mr. Lamoureux had called it excellent, and that made me think I was off to a good start. =p

We left his room, and then Gillian brought up an excellent point. I should probably print out another copy of my thesis, so I had some idea what I was supposed to write my paper about. XD

I had given the only copy I made to Mr. Lamoureux. :p Good thing Gill was there to remind me. ^__^;;

So, I printed that out and headed to the cafeteria for the remained of Off. John and I played Yu-Gi-Oh. :0!

I'm using a Direct Damage deck now, for a change of pace. Generally, Beatdown and Direct Damage are the two deck types I generally use most effectively. Everything else I try works okay, but doesn't give me as good a record as these two deck types. Anyways, John and I traded wins back and forth earlier in the week. Then, yesterday or Wednesday, I made a slight adjustment to the deck. (I took out two cards that could only help in certain situations, and added cards to stall and let me get more damage in)

He hasn't beaten me since I made those adjustments. ~_^


Despite Mr. Baginski's assurances to my mom that I was in the right level of Physics, I wasn't particularly convinced after today. It wasn't so much that I didn't understand the material, it's that I didn't know it. I didn't have it committed to memory, and that sort of lent itself to hurting me. I'll survive, though. I understood all of the graphing he was doing today on the board; he just kept going too darn fast for me to keep up. He'd ask for an answer, and I'd still be puzzling it out. >.>

French is, I will repeat, a Godsend. Mr. Ayres is just so great. He spent the first fifteen minutes of class finishing his lunch and discussing fine cooking. I now know that I shall have to try capers on something....

We went over our homework, did one exercise in the book, and then we had a general discussion for the last eight minutes of class. The exercises we were doing involved us reading sentences aloud. Out of the six people (out of seven) who were present today, I think Gillian and I have the best pronunciation. Mine is a bit more constructed, but hers flows smoothly as if she'd been speaking the language all her life. Her accent, even, is perfect. She has a bit of trouble on some words, but it's pleasant to listen to her speak French.

Pre-Calculus was the last period of the day, and we spent the period fiddling around with our calculators. Mr. Pukstas was showing us how to graph equations and how to find the best fit for the calculator's window. My results usually came out different than his appeared to, but I think it's because mine is two levels below his. I really need to get a newer calculator. *makes a mental note to take Jess's*

I went to a brief fencing meeting after school. Basically, it was just to see who was interested and to answer any questions they had. None of them really had any questions yet, as for the most part they knew little or nothing about the sport. My friend Matt Donnelly was there, though. It'll be cool to have him on the team. ^_^ Mrs. Kainz saw him and said something like: "Oh! We'll have the twins fencing this year. :)"

That got a groan out of Matt and a nice roll of my eyes. :p

After the meeting concluded, I talked briefly with some of my Freshman friends. FINALLY! I hardly ever see them during the day, and even when I do, I don't really have a chance to talk to them. >.>

Talking to them for once was nice, albeit short lived. My ride was waiting outside, so I could only stay for a few minutes.

Wrapping this post up for now, let me just say that I may be going to Six Flags tomorrow. My grandfather retired from Pfizer some years ago, but they still invite him to the company picnics. So, he'll be taking my mom, me, Emily, and Michael to the picnic tomorrow morning; weather permitting.
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Thursday, September 16, 2004

Ben's theory of underlying ego...

If the following sounds depressed or like I'm putting myself down, ignore it. I'm putting things down as I see them, and am in no way emotionally involved. =p


Anyways. It is 10:19 at the moment. I have a 2-3 page paper to write for history, and a thesis statement to develop for English. Both are due tomorrow.

I just got a 2 out of 10 on an online Physics test. My mom returned home from Back to School night not too long ago, and my Physics teacher assured her that he thought that I was in the right class. He believed I could handle Honors Physics. "There was nothing yet" that showed any signs of me not being able to handle the course.

There were a few issues with the quiz that should probably be expounded upon, but I simply do not have the time. Let me see if I can manage to get across my "Theory of Underlying Ego" as it applies to me.

Me. I, myself. I would describe myself as apathetic when it comes to grades. If I get a low grade, I just sort of shrug and hope for better next time. If I get a high grade, then, cool; it balances out the low grade. In the past two years at St. Bernard's, I've gotten Second Honors, I think, every quarter. One quarter I got First Honors, but I think it was a fluke. My average was a couple decimal points off, or something.

Regardless. I've already told you all before; I don't study. Or, at least, I didn't. I was too lazy (or "busy") to go over material that I had already gone over once in class. It hadn't, or hasn't, sunk in that studying will improve my memory of the material. I'm sure it would, but I'm not yet convinced enough to put that surety into actions.

This year, my schedule is as follows:

Honors French IV
Honors Pre-Calculus
Honors English III
Theology III
Psychology
AP U.S. History
Off
Honors Physics

Everything on that schedule, other than Honors Physics, was there by my choice. And even now, I don't believe that I would switch out of that class. Why?

Pride.

I may not being doing quite as well as I could. Conversely, maybe I am.

If I'm not working to my full potential, which is the norm, I can manage a passing grade. Generally higher than that, due to some bizarre natural gift of mine. My grades are nothing to show off, and yet, I won't leave to an easier class to get a better grade; one that I can be proud of.

Why?

Pride. Not pride in the grades, but the pride in the fact that I'm surviving (or have survived) the class. I made it through the challenge. It was a very rough trip, and it shows in some places, but I made it. I passed. I absorbed the knowledge necessary, at least temporarily.

I don't show off my grades, generally. I do, however, point out the number of difficult courses I'm in.

"But Ben, you're not doing too well in them."

Well, that's because they're difficult. I made it in, you didn't. Nyeh to you.

I'm fairly certain that Freshman and Sophomore years, I did not change my schedule at all. I remained in the Honors Courses I was in, I stayed in the CP courses I was in. I went through the harder courses I was qualified for, and coasted through the CP courses I was stuck in.

Though I may fail every class, I do not think that I would switch out. I'd ride the storm to the end.




So....yeah. I ought to work on my homework now.
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Wednesday, September 15, 2004

fidhgfihgifh
First of all, let me clear up the whole "Hump Day" concept. O.o;;

Wednesday is called "Hump Day" by some, because they like it to a hill. After Wednesday, everything seems to be downhill until the weekend.

You silly girls, you. =p

Auditions for the play were last night and tonight. I wanted to at least try out, but I was working both nights, and I didn't have enough time to memorize a monologue. =/

Besides that, I don't know if I could handle a play in addition to all the pressures of Junior year, and then Drama would also overlap with fencing, which would be an awful mess. If I'm on the Tech crew, however, I can build my work schedule around that, and I can still contribute to the play.

And still be invited to the cast party. ~_^

If I'm very much lucky, I may be able to snag the Stage Manager position. For the past (probably) four years, the position was occupied by Eric, my large cynical friend who recently graduated. From what I hear, he did a darn good job. He also wanted me to fill in for him after he left, and Mr. Ayres likes me anyways.......

*shrug* I think that if I really wanted to, I could become Stage Manager. I only wish I knew what exactly that entailed, besides going to the practices and such.

I'm due to get another paycheck tomorrow, and this one ought to be bigger than the last. I've worked more hours this time around, though I'm not sure if this check is for one week or two. I've still not figured out how they manage these things.

Regardless, much of it will be put into the bank. I'll figure out some use for the rest of it. :p

I find it interesting when I discuss things other than my daily happenings. I have more freedom to write ideas down, instead of delaying them for a more suitable post. All of this daily-life posting has really got me rared up and ready for some original post ideas. ^___^

So, while everybody else in the Daily Posting Contest is all worn out of topics and such, I'll be coming in fresh and with plenty of ideas and inspiration. w00t!

Besides, nobody's quite like me. I'm sure I have all sorts of topics I could discuss that someone like....maybe....Shin.... couldn't. :p

We shall see.

Tomorrow is picture day, so I've got to head off and take a shower now. My dad had threatened severe beatings to make me retake the pictures about seven times if I don't smile. >.o

Now, if only I had a scanner; the picture might be worth something. v.v

Speaking of delightful pictures, I've got a vague sort of idea for Halloween next month. All I've got so far is that I'll use my fencing foil. If I could amass enough black cloth, I may even be able to go as Wesley, from the Princess Bride. :D

Any costume ideas to go with a rapier-like sword?
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Tuesday, September 14, 2004

   Oy.
You have no idea how much I'd like to just up and skip writing this post. v______v;;

But, I am determined. I will not let something like homework or stress or sleep get in the way of my victory!

Well...maybe sleep. ._.

So. Something to talk about....

Aha! Work today! The first thing I did was check the book drop. The book drop is a little slide that connects to a chute outside of the building. People can just drop their books in the chute, and they will fall into a small room with paddings on the ground to keep books from being damaged too badly.

One time, as I was checking the book drop, somebody put books in. O-o It was a frightening experience. Here I am, absently picking up books and putting them on a cart, when suddenly a book whizzes past my head and onto the floor. I flinch back and nearly fall, only catching myself at the last minute. Heh, it took me a moment to figure out just what had happened. =p

Good news concerning my job. ^_^ From now on, I only need to use tabs in Non-Fiction! Yay! So, in celebration of the new and special event, I only did one cart of Non-Fiction books. =p

I took a cart of Teen books, a cart of Mysteries and Large Print, and a cart of New books, other than the Non-Fiction cart. It took me about half as much time for each of those carts as it took me to do the Non-Fiction cart. v.v;;

Using the tabs, it takes me somewhere between 45 minute and an hour to get a full cart put away. Without tabs, I can get it done in about 30-45 minutes, depending on what books they are. New Books only take me about fifteen minutes now. Eventually, they expect me to be able to shelve a cart in twenty minutes. No problem, with experience, I should think.

I get paid again on Thursday, and I expect this check to be a bit bigger than the last one. This time, I've worked more hours, and I think this check will incorporate more than one week into its fold. It's just a shame that I'm not working on Thursday. :p Now I have to go back on my day off and pick it up.

Next week ought to be interesting at work. My position at the library is unique, in that I work in both Circulation and in the Children's Room. In my three(?) weeks of work, I've only ever worked in Circulation. So, I'll be getting on-the-job training again. w00t! Payment for learning! That's how school should be. :0!

Ergh. I've just finished a paper for Theology, and I've got a DBQ due for History on Friday. The thesis of my English paper needs to be turned in by Friday, as well. Tomorrow is Wednesday, Hump Day. Everything is supposed to be downhill from their. Well, we'll see. Picture day is on Thursday. That'll be cool, because we get to dress casually. And now that I think of it, tomorrow's periods will be shortened, because we have an assembly tomorrow morning.

Coolness....*munble* *mumble*

*falls asleep*
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Monday, September 13, 2004

Monday + Day G = v_v
"I'm thinking about doing that sometimes, along with the daily updates on my life (because just doing that would be against the code of honor for the Daily Posting Contest, of course)." - Shinmaru.

So, call me dishonorable. People like what I do. >:o

As is evident by my ever-abundance of comments. >.>

But for once I will comply. Sort of. Well, you'll see.

I detest Day G's. Even more so when they fall on a Monday. I think today was the first of the others to come, and I'll tell you; it was not pleasant.

You see, the way St. Bernard's schedule works, on a day G, I do not have my period G class. This is bad. Because, my period G class is not, in fact, a class. It is a lack thereof, often referred to as "Off".

So, instead of six classes and a free period to do as I please, I am faced with a seven period day, with only a meager twenty-two minute lunch period as a reprieve. Which is entirely too little time for what needs to be accomplished during lunch. Or, it would be, if I did not eat insanely fast.

It's not that I shovel food into my mouth or anything, I just take big bites, chew, and swallow very quickly. My friends just shake their heads in disbelief, and my parents give me warnings. I just ate a wrap from Subway in about three minutes. But that's just guesstimating. It could have been two, including opening the wrapper. I don't really know. I just know that it's crazy.

A couple of days ago, I watched a movie, called Glory. It's about the 54th Regiment; the first all-black regiment of the American Civil War. It's cast includes Matthew Broderick, as the Colonel of the regiment; Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Cary Elwes (the actor who plays Wesley in The Princess Bride) plays one of Shaw's close friends, Major Cabot Forbes.

Among the cast of black actors that play the parts of disgruntled soldiers are Denzel Washington, and Morgan Freeman.

Heh, I was looking over a webpage about Morgan Freeman just a minute ago, and I came across a list of his recent movies and his parts in those movies.


Big Bounce, The (2004)....Walter Crewes

Guilty by Association (2003)(V)....Police Lieutenant Redding

Bruce Almighty (2003) .... God

Not every actor can say they've played the role of God. Kudos to Mr. Freeman for being an exception. =p

The movie focuses on the hardships the regiment was put through. After about a year of harsh training under a racist Irish drill sergeant, the men are prepared for battle. They are eager to fight; to prove themselves. But, nobody trusts them in a fight. They're assigned to manual labor duties. That is, until Shaw (Broderick's character) blackmails a higher ranking official into finally sending them into their first battle.

One thing I found interesting about the regiment was: they were not paid. When the time came for them to receive their first payment, the amount to be distributed had been reduced by $3. Several soldiers move to accept the pay, but are stopped by a rebellious Denzel Washington. There was some sort of catchy line they kept repeating "No ____, no pay!" I think. Anyways, the men refused to accept wages. And so, Colonel Shaw likewise ripped up his payment notice. Nobody in the regiment was to get paid.

In the finale of the movie, Shaw's men have not slept for full days, having either fought or marched. They then volunteered to spearhead the assault on Fort Wagner, a role that would surely cost many of them their lives.

And....it did. The movie ends with Broderick and Washington being buried together in the same mass grave.

I've just watched Amistad this afternoon. This movie was filmed more towards the present, but is actually set further back in our history. I don't know if any of you have heard about the Amistad case, but it was a very controversial issue in American history.

As is concurrent with my procrastinating nature, I'll tell you all about it.....









...later.
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Sunday, September 12, 2004

   Ummm....rawr.
*yawn*

Mass this morning was the usual. Long, boring, and....um....yeah.

I was, however, called up in front of the whole congregation. Me, and a group of about ten other people. You see, we're all on this year's Parish Council. We stood there in front of the altar as Father Greg said some words and gave us a blessing. Then we all went back to our seats and slept the Mass proceeded.

Towards the end of Mass, the lights above the altar and around the outer region of the church, went out. They flickered slightly at first, then there was a snapping sound, and they just went out. The Church remained mostly lit by the ring of lights in the center of the Church, and the Mass ended as normally as possible.

So, I've been home ever since then. I've played a couple of games, and watched this clip a couple of times.

I dueled John with a crappy spur-of-the-moment deck and he beat me. The score was rather inconsequential though, as my deck was designed to give him Lifepoints. There's a card called "Self-Destruct Button." You can only activate it when your opponent's Lifepoints are at least 7000 points higher than your own. But when you activate it, both you and your opponent's Lifepoints drop to 0. The duel is a draw.

So, I intentionally gave up Lifepoints so that I could make that 7000 point difference. He managed to destroy the cards I was using to carefully manipulate the field, though, and wound up getting in a position to win. He chose not to, though, and in the next couple of turns I managed to attain the correct distance between us. I activated Self-Destruct Button, with the full knowledge that John had something that could stop it. I couldn't be sure he had it on the field, but guess what?

He did. :p

*shrug* It was still fun. ^_^

I ordered a couple of cards online yesterday. Tomorrow I need to go to the bank and pick up a money order so the cards will actually come in. I'm a little hesitant to get my parents' help on this, because I think they'd disapprove of me spending money on individual cards. I mean, they're not particularly thrilled that I'm so avid about the game anyways.

Meh. Hopefully I can get things sorted out.

I posted in three of the five RPGs I'm currently entered in that are still running. I put off posting in W.H.A.T.E. and hero because I thought the posts I do for them should be a bit longer and more thought out than I can provide for at the moment.

Other than that....*shrug*

"How are you?"

I'm still pretty tired. I got to bed late Friday night and last night, for no really specific reason. I was bored, but I just don't like to sleep when I'm bored, or something. Mass this morning didn't really help to spark any sort of energy in me.

My mom and I didn't go to the gym today, and I think it's for the better. My abs are still a bit sore from yesterday, and I don't like the idea of my whole body being worked out in two consecutive days. I'm pretty tired right now, who knows what would happen if the rest of my body was used up? =p

I may go for a walk later, though, just to get something done.

I'm pretty hungry right now. There isn't all that much around the house that I will eat. It's not that I'm being particularly picky, (well, I am, but I'm picky for healthy reasons, not frivolous ones) there just isn't anything healthy for me to eat. I made up some Crystal Light to drink, though, and that's...refreshing.

School

I did my Pre-Calculus homework on Friday, so all I really have to worry about for that class is the test on Tuesday. Which, really, isn't much of a worry.

I have a Theology "Reaction Paper" due on Wednesday. Mr. Leone gave us a newspaper article about a recent terrorist attack. In the paper, he first wants us to summarize the article, and then write what we think about the situation; do we agree or disagree with the author. It should be interesting.

I have a DBQ (Documents Based Question) due on Friday of this week, I think. Or perhaps it's next Friday. I'll be sure to find out. It's basically another persuasion paper. They provide a question, or statement. I have to read the documents that are provided, and then form an opinion or an answer and support it with the information they provide.

I'm supposed to take an online quiz for Physics, but I can't get to the site, and neither can my classmates. Results of that should be interesting tomorrow...

I took a test in Psychology on Friday, and I think it went well. I'd say low 80s-to low 90s, because I wasn't really paying attention to the scoring. :o Tomorrow, though, I'm allowed to take another, different test, to be added in the gradebook next to the first one. Or in place of the first one; I forget. Either way, I ought to take a chance at it. Which means, studying tonight.

Mr. Lamoureux suggested that our English class "take a look" at our vocab books, lessons 1 and 2, so I'll have those done by tomorrow.

Or else. O_o

Also, he said we should be reading certain stories in our Literature book, but he didn't say at what pace or when we'd be expected to be done with them. I don't even know if he expected us to really read them. -_-;;

My life is so full of uncertainties.

Hrm. I just had an idea. I borrowed the movie Amistad from the library yesterday. I ought to watch it.

See you later.

EDIT: Hey, my birthday is coming up in 13 days.

*half-grin-scowl-twitch*

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