Thursday, April 1, 2004

My PM count on OB is 666. Frightening, no?

If someone could aid me in the acquisition of an acceptable button, I'd be most appreciative. The one I have currently doesn't really say: Ben. :p Which is what I was going for, but after seeing Shin's, heh, I decided that I need to get me something like it.

Tomorrow is Friday and I have Off last period! ^____^ Then the Fish Fry tomorrow night, with possible dueling at both school and the Fish Fry. :D

And I may get to stay with Christina and Victoria again. :D What has been very helpful for me, in many ways, is that they want me to stay. They have begged my dad to let me stay, they have begged my sister, they have pleaded with me.

Tonight, when I mentioned that I would probably be walking home, Victoria spoke up and asked her mom if they could drive me home. I declined at first; my house is only a few blocks away, and the rain didn't particularly bother me. Victoria was almost hopping up and down, though; she wanted to be with me just for those few minutes that it took for me to get home.



It's a wonderful feeling to be appreciated. ^____^



I realized sometime this evening that all of the exertion this afternoon had a noticeable effect on my...eh....fragrance. So, yeah...shower time. :p
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Another wonderful afternoon.
Today at school can be discarded as irrelevant. There were lame April Fool's day jokes and the usual stuff in all classes. You probably don't want to hear about it. :p

Ben's Yu-Gi-Oh Report

Since John wasn't here today, and Matt and I conveniently had the same lunch period, we dueled a couple of times. He beat me the first time, but only slightly. The second duel he beat me on his second turn. -_-;

He had played no monsters on his first turn, rather, he played a card that destroyed every card in his hand. Those cards included several powerful monsters. I attacked him directly with one of my monsters, taking a way over a quarter of his total life. On his second turn, he played two reviving cards to bring back his monsters, and then played one from his new hand. He equipped them with Spells that brought their attack power way, way up. Enough to utterly destroy my monster and I.

Grrr.....

I decided that I could not beat Matt by overpowering him; the cards he has prevent that fairly well. His Deck has improved significantly since I made a few suggestions. O:-)

So, since I couldn't overpower him, I decided to build a new Deck. I just finished it a little while ago. It's designed to hit him directly; to bypass any monsters he has and survive any Magic or Trap he plays.

I've tried something like this before, but with several variations. We'll just have to see how this one bears up.
________________________________________

I spent the afternoon at Sacred Heart. From roughly 2:45 to 8:00, I was there. I hate to say it, but I was pretty much "hanging out". I loathe the expression, as it conjures up images of punks and mall rats in my mind; but it describes what I was doing fairly well.

I really do love to be with Christina and Victoria. That's what I was doing for the whole afternoon. We played cards, I helped them with their homework, we talked, we played wall ball and tag, and then we did some random stuff after everyone had left.

While Victoria finished her homework, Christina and I kicked a soccer ball against the wall, making a point not to miss. It was a nameless, unofficial sort of game.

Then we played soccer. It was both of them against me, and we had goals about the width and height of a double-doorway. The score by the end of it was about 8-1, in their favor. It's not that I wasn't good enough to take them both on.... ;p

After a while of that, Cub Scouts started trailing in for a meeting. So, we moved. We wandered about the school, eventually ending up in a narrow hallway. Soccer once again; and once again, grossly unfair. -_-;

In between and during all of this is dialogue, and countless and indescribable occurrences. An arched eyebrow at something said, a squint, a one-liner; all of these things just worked together to form a great day and evening.

I am so very happy right now. ^___^ School wasn't too bad, I had a great afternoon and evening, I only have a little homework left to do, and tomorrow is Friday!

_^_ I feel so bubbly right now. _^_











It's weird. o.O










But in a very good way.

There's an old Jamaican saying,
"The bigger the fish..."

"...the more butter him take."


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Wednesday, March 31, 2004

   Drop-In
Kevin did show up, and he had brought his cards along. I beat one of his decks twice, and then the other one once. He then handed over his cards for me to make a working Deck out of them. I did so.

The next duel, I drew a bad hand and he beat me. Very severely. -_-;;

It just goes to show how good I am at making Decks, right? :p

After my terrible defeat (my first one in two weeks), we went and watched the last few minutes of School of Rock. Then we hooked up his Xbox and played Soul Calibur II for a little while. I was doing pretty good for being on an unfamiliar system; but he had experience behind him and managed to beat me.

I finished my homework for tonight just a minute ago, and it feels good to actually be done on time. I won't have my Off period tomorrow, so I'll be straining a bit as far as stress. Hopefully it won't be too bad, though.

Friday I have my Off last period, which is great. I can get a head start on my homework, and maybe even get it done. ^__^ Particularly since I can't go to the lab and play games. That gives me a little incentive to get it done.

I got a few cards from Kevin tonight, plus the Magic Cylinder from Matt. I need to go and iron out my Deck.

John's going to Canada tomorrow, so I'll be able to duel Matt. I like dueling Matt a bit better; dueling John is fairly easy now, and Matt has many different cards that he uses. Unfortunately, if he gets a bad hand, he doesn't stand a chance. Also, with the new cards added to my Deck, many of his strategies will be nulled. It should be interesting, to say the least.

So, yeah....it's raining, and its supposed to continue for a few days. I love New England weather.



WAZOO!
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   Poor John...
Hey, it's hump day! Everything just goes downhill from here. -_-;

Okay, so it actually means that the rest of the week should feel shorter as the week is winding down, but I like sounding pessimistic. People expect that, but then I whip out a one-liner that brings tears of laughter to their eyes. Deviousness....

*opens second window to get the HTML codes.*

Today, in General

I got to school on time again today. ^__^ I don't what it is about this week, but I've been doing a good job getting ready to go in the morning.

My first period was Off. I went to the library and got my Theology II homework done, and then went to the cafeteria. I pretty much hung out there until the period ended. I would have gone to the Computer Lab, but I didn't want to accidently irritate Mr. Baginski, the teacher who kicked us out. Ack...woe is me. :p

Second Period was Chemistry, and believe it or not, I played Yu-Gi-Oh the whole time! ^____________^

The Juniors of our school went to a college fair today, and that wiped out almost my entire chemistry class. Three of the people left, however, were me, John, and my Magic playing friend: John-Paul.

Ben's Yu-Gi-Oh Report

I beat John twice before he challenged John-Paul to a duel. I lent my Deck to John-Paul. John-Paul is a skilled player at Magic: The Gathering, and he knew the basic rules of Yu-Gi-Oh. John figured he'd have an easy win.

John-Paul wound up toying with him. He could have beaten him on numerous occasions, but held back, letting John desperately squirm about. JP is....um....




.....good-naturedly sadistic, if that makes any sense. :p

What made me laugh was the look on John's face as JP played the card I just acquired this morning: Magic Cylinder. I bought it from Matt for a mere $5. The value of the card is several times more than that. I may be a little short on lunch money for the rest of the week, but it was worth it. :p

I dueled John once more after John-Paul beat him a second time. I remember the final play vividly. ^___^

The score was 3700 to 500, in my favor. (I had the 3700 ~_^) I had two monster cards face down on the field, he had one. I had a Barrel Behind the Door face down on the field, as well. He had at least one face down magic or trap card, too.

I flipped up one of my monsters, a Slate Warrior. It had a special ability that powers itself up; it was formidable now. I declared an attack on his monster. He activated a trap called Magical Hats, which allowed him to hide his monster among two decoys. I selected a card, and he activated his Magic Cylinder. I was ready, though. I activated Barrel Behind the Door, which shifted the damage I would have taken from Magic Cylinder, back to John. It was more than enough to finish him off. ^__^ I knew that he had Magic Cylinder in his deck, and that's one of the factors that led me to put in Barrel Behind the Door in the first place. W00T! :D

John stood up to leave, since the bell had rung. He left his cards on the desk, saying that he gave up on the game. I could keep his cards, he said. For a minute, I was shocked. There were so many rare cards in it that I had coveted for so long. O_O MINE! I put the cards in their case, and then put the case in my pocket atop my own.

He soon ran back into the room saying that he changed his mind. I handed him back his Deck and mentally frowned in disappointment. I had been so happy. :p

I'm still working out a trade between me, John, and my friend Tyler. John wants a card that Tyler has, and I'm the middleman. Tyler and John don't know each other and cannot meet. So, I may get an Injection Fairy Lily and more for my help. IFL is a very useful card. :D

Incidentally, I haven't been beaten since before March 20th. ^__^ By anyone. If I hadn't forgotten my cards on Monday, it's probable that I'd be in first.

EDIT: John played Matt later one, and Matt let him win. John is currently #1, but he's going to Canada tomorrow. >_< Matt and I will be dueling at least twice this week, I think, and yet it will all be for nothing, really. -_-;

Today, in General (continued)

After Chemistry I had Theology II. We got some quizzes back, turned in some assignments, and took some notes and got some vocab. Yay for productivity! ^_^

In Photography I developed my group's negatives. They came out very well, unlike some of our past shots. It must have been my special touch. 0:) I hope that at the end of the year I can get my shots to keep, and then somehow post them up. A few of the ones from these negatives came out very well. :D

I had missed Algebra II yesterday because of the Stations I went to, but I quickly caught up with the new concept introduced yesterday. I finished my homework in class, I grasped it so well. :p

In English we watched the first act of Shakespeare's The Tempest. It was...odd...I have to say. I didn't really like how they portrayed it. Much of the dialogue I couldn't understand. I have to read Act II Scene I tonight for homework.

In History we took a quiz, which I aced. :p Then we took some more notes on The war of 1812 and things that led up to it.

I took the bus to Sacred Heart, but left soon after. The only one of my friends staying today was Tyler, and he was leaving soon. So I got a ride home and checked up on my usual Internet things.

My connection is being odd, lately. And I don't mean just that it's disconnecting. It seems that at certain times in the evening, it's less susceptible to failure. :p AIM doesn't seem to help it much, which explains why I've been using it sparingly. I REALLY WANT IT TO WORK NORMALLY. >:(

My dad said that he was getting me an Internet card to go in my laptop, rather than the clunky adapter that I have now. Perhaps that will work better. -.-;

I'm going to Drop-In tonight, and my friend Kevin might be there. I haven't seen Kevin in a while, and he's one of my good friends from Middle School. He's also a Yu-Gi-Oh player. >:) Muahahahahahahahaha.....

Time to show him my new Deck. ~__^

I'll be at Drop-In from 7-10 tonight. I'll try to get an update in after that, okay? :)

Time to go and eat dinner and prepare for Drop-In. ^___^

There's an old Czech saying,
"Do not jump high..."

"...under a low ceiling."


-->My, the Czechs are so intelligent...
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Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Something Witty
*yawn* It's 7:35. This is an early post. ^__^

Today, in General

I got to school on time again today, which was pretty neat. I got my report card, too, which was...nice... :p

Grades:

Theology 2: 93

Honors English II: 80

Algebra II: 94

Honors U.S. History: 85

Chemistry: 99 (^__^)

Honors French III: 85

Photography: 91

Overall Average: 89.6

Comments:
Honors English II: Eh. I expected this sort of grade. I guess that's good. :p

Algebra II: Only a 94? :p

Honors U.S. History: This probably stemmed from my missing homework. Had I turned the assignments in, I might have gotten a ninety-something.

Chemistry: I'm not exactly sure how the heck it happened...but it was nice to get. ^__^

Honors French III: A mixture of confusion and comprehension makes this grade. :p Not bad.

Photography: What has she been grading us on? O.o

Average: Oh, sure. We'll give him credit for a ninety average, but we won't actually let him have it.

Yeah, I got First Honors, which needs a ninety or above average to obtain. Morons. -_-

First Period was French. We spent some time waiting for our class to assemble from various excuse places: nurse, bathroom, guidance office. Then we took a quiz and we were introduced to a new concept. Relatively simple at first glance, but I'm willing to bet that I've already forgotten how to do it.

In Off I did my Theology questions, then went to the computer lab. I checked out OB as a guest, and then played Flash games for a bit.

Next was Chemistry. We had even more busywork to do. I stopped working on it about ten minutes before class ended, since I really just didn't totally get it and the class was slowly getting uncontrollable anyways.

In Theology we just took a bunch of notes.

Ben's Yu-Gi-Oh Report

I ate lunch and then went to the computer lab to duel John. He isn't in first, so beating him wouldn't have gotten me the title, but no one else had the same lunch as me, so...meh. I'll have to beat Matt some other day.

Unfortunately, we were kicked out before I could finish beating him. (I was in the lead, and was close to winning) John had broken one of the rules of the computer lab: NO FOOD IN THE LAB. He had chicken and French fries, the moron. -_-;; So, he was banished from the lab until next week. I don't know if the ban applied to me as well, since I was with him, but I really hope not. I practically live in the Lab. O_O

We then went into a secluded hallway outside of the library. That's where I laid it into him. He didn't stand a chance. XD As soon as I face Matt, he's going down. He just revealed the basis of his strategy to me, and I think I know a small technicality that will totally mess up his plans.

Muahahahahahahahaha! Once again my intimate knowledge of Yu-Gi-Oh rules will make my opponents rue the day they ever decided to face me....RUE

More Yu-Gi-Oh news. ^____^

I'm negotiating with Matt to get a Magic Cylinder. This would be a great card to get. ^_________^

This Friday I may get to play my friend Tyler, from Sacred Heart. There's a fish dinner at Sacred Heart in the evening, and we might both be there. On Saturday morning there's a Yu-Gi-Oh something or other that I hope to go to. Then on Sunday I'm babysitting Tyler and his siblings.

EDIT: I made a few changes to my Deck. I took out my Don Zaloog and Cliff the Trap Remover. Then I added in two squirrel-like creatures, a Newdoria, and an Imperial Order.

Today, in General (continued)

After lunch and dueling, I was dismissed early. Today was the day that our Youth Group was performing the Stations of the Cross for the kids at Sacred Heart. I missed three classes to go, so I was quite content.

I actually did something this time, too. Rather than just being the light guy again, I was actually Pontius Pilate and Simon of Cyrene this time. ^___^ Yay!

After we had done all of that and taken it down, I stayed after for a little while. Christina and Victoria weren't staying, though, so I was sort of stuck there with nothing to do but homework. So, I did my Algebra II homework. Tracey was leaving then with her son Tyler and she offered me a ride home, so I took it.

I came home and started with my online sojourn for the afternoon. I would have gone for a walk, but I wasn't sure if I'd get back before dark. So, I didn't go. I may go tomorrow, before it gets warm again. Chilly walks are pleasant. :D

I still have some Theology homework to do, but I can do it tomorrow in my Off period. Probably...

Provided something unanticipated doesn't come along and mess me up. >_<

RPG Update:

Digimon - Way of the Worlds: I posted a confusing bit of a post. My character was wandering about, having recently eaten Mushrooms of Forgetfulness. He was pretty confused, and I think the post was pretty confusing until the last line.

Yu-Gi-Oh - Forgotten Past: I'm trying to ally myself with Jagan to give Zanarkand Abes a hard time. He's threatening to remove the Millennium Item that is embedded in my character's forehead.....somehow.....without any of his powers....

Yes, when godmodding gets this bad, I make a secret ally or two. Then I try to go after them. Generally they blatantly do the impossible to get out of it; but it gives me something to do. :p



I still have Confirmation questions to do, which is a bit of a pain. I need to take a shower tonight, which I'll most likely do after this.

Hrm....what else do I have to say....

VISIT MY SITE!

:p I'm being massacred here in the rankings. I think I'll design a button for James to put on his site. It'll have to be eye-catching and have no affiliation whatsoever with my interests. That way people will unwittingly click on it and be dragged screaming into my site.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

>:D

Oh, yes. Now I remember what else I wanted to put up!

Ben's Playlist


"Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels Band

"Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence

"Tribute" by Tenacious D

"Baby Boy" by Beyonce Knowles

"Summon the Dragon" - Yu-Gi-Oh song by various artists.

You see what happens when I have time to put together a post? It turns out being huge and drawn out. :p

There's an old Welsh saying,
"To be in the habit of no habit is..."

"...the worst habit in the world."
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Monday, March 29, 2004

I hate Mondays. I really, truly and honestly do. I think I do, at least. Maybe it's just the day that follows Sunday that I hate. *shrug*

Today, in General

As far as Mondays go, this one was okay. I managed to get to school on time, which is probably an unprecedented event in the history of the Mondays of this school year. I was tired, having gone to bed late last night. I slept on the bus on the way home, so I wasn't really tired until later last night.

So, there! :p I had an excuse for being up late.

I had History first period; as usual, nothing but note-taking. In French we finished up the movie on Joan of Arc. I really want to see the movie in its entirety; I may ask Mr. Ayres if I can borrow it. I have a quiz tomorrow that I should study for.

In Off I played an odd Flash game that I found. It consisted of floating aliens, a truck, and piles of grenades you used to blast the truck into the aliens. It had a lot to do with trajectory and such, which was cool.

In Chemistry we did more busywork on chemical reactions. Theology we had our weekly Readings Quiz and we got some questions on a reading in the Bible. I've read the reading already, and I'll probably end up doing the questions tomorrow in Off.

Ben's Yu-Gi-Oh Report

I couldn't find my Yu-Gi-Oh cards this morning. I had brought them on the ski trip, but I didn't know where I had put them once I got home.

Apparently, leaving my cards at home made my #1 Duelist title forfeit. Matt beat Mark, and then he beat John. Matt's #1 right now, and he's the one I have the hardest time beating. -_-;; Blast it....

So, hopefully tomorrow I can reclaim my title. *mutter*

Today, in General (continued)

Photography has slowly degenerated into a waste of time........again. We were supposed to be practicing panning while Mrs. Kainz went into the darkroom. I tried, but no one wanted to be a moving subject for me. :p We should have a shoot coming up soon on Motion.

Algebra II was the same; I may not have know it before, but I do now. Next item, please. I packed up my stuff, and then my sister drove us to her orthodontist appointment. We went from there to Sacred Heart.

I didn't have much homework to do, so I stayed after to hang out with my friends. We colored in some puzzles; puzzles that when put together formed the periodic table of elements. After working on that for a while, it was snack time. So, we sat down and chatted while eating snack (cereal, today). I enjoy talking to my friends, or just listening to them talk. I don't spend every day with them like I used to, unfortunately.

I played wall ball for a little while with some of the younger kids, and then with my older friends. Wall ball eventually evolved into Monkey in the Middle/Keep Away. It was down to me, Christina, and Victoria again. 5:30 came; the end of daycare. Jess, my older sister, punched out and told me to get in the car; she was driving me home. Christina and Victoria begged me to stay, and then they turned to Jess, who was the only real opposition at the time.

She said that she would talk to my dad upon our return home. Dad okayed it, and so I changed clothes, grabbed a sandwich, and headed back down to Sacred Heart. Jess stayed for a while to talk with the girls, and there was some huge secret that Christina knew and Victoria didn't want her to hint to Jess at all. It's really involved, I guess, and I don't really have a clue concerning it. :p

During these proceedings, I inadvertently closed a locked door behind us. Jess had just driven away, and I was left with Christina and Victoria. We were outside the building, and it was a bit nippy out. I informed the two girls of what I had done.

It was not long after that I was jumping over large rocks and sprinting away across the parking lot. I outran Christina, but Victoria had had a bit of a head start on me. I just barely made it farther than she did, and I collapsed on the playground. Taking a few minutes to catch my breath, I watched as Christina ran up. I jumped up, slid down the slide, and the chase continued.

For about another minute. Then I slumped in a wing and we talked for a while. It was great to just talk. As fun as running away from them is, I'd rather enjoy their company. ^____^

It was nearing 7:00, and I had a Confirmation meeting in the building next door to the school. So I said goodbye, went up, and class began.

Tonight's class wasn't too bad; as we didn't really do anything. We watched the same movie on the Passion of Christ that we did at the retreat; the one man show. During the movie, Mr. Benjamin called people over to him to tell them what they still needed to do in order to be Confirmed.

I need to get several sets of questions done, have an interview with Father Greg, and get information on my sponsors. I don't feel particularly comfortable around Father Greg, and so I'm not looking forward to that requirement. The questions are just a time-consuming pain in the butt. My sponsors live down the street from me. :p

After class ended, I went outside to wait for my ride. I knew that my sister had the car and was over in the school at a meeting. I figured, as was usually the case, that my dad would come to pick me up.

15 minutes later, I decided to wait inside. I went into the cafeteria and found out that my sister was going to be driving me home, and that she had just neglected to tell me.

15 minutes. For 15 minutes I had stood, waiting, in the cold. Needless to say, a little effort on the part of my sister would have been appreciated.

We stopped by Victoria's mom's classroom for a quick visit. There was another little episode about the secret, involving a mocking letter and a giant banana. Ehrm...yeah....

So, I'm home. That's about it for today.

RPG Update:

I haven't had much of a chance to work on RPGs lately, and I apologize to those that I've let down. :p

Children of Sharess: Around still, not still around? *shrug* I'll get a post in if I get the time.

W.H.A.T.E: Still waiting for me, I think. -_-;;

Digimon - Way of the Worlds: Ack! I must post!

Yu-Gi-Oh - Forgotten Past: I posted tonight, just because posting in this RPG seems easy for me. *shrug* I like it, despite the low-level quality. Zanarkand Abes feels that he must continue his line of the story that he godmodded outrageously to obtain, and so he's starting a new thread for it.

The High Shelf of RPG Ideas

Yu-Gi-Oh: War of the clans It's progressing nicely in it's little WordPerfect document. Just a few more adjustments and tweaking, and it should be ready.

That's all for now. I'm going to be busy this week, whether by enjoying myself, or working my tail off. Who knows right now?

I sure as heck don't. :p

There's an old Japanese saying,
"The sword of ancient times..."

"...is now for kitchen use.
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Sunday, March 28, 2004

Ski Trip Musings
Stuff I wrote during the weekend. It will have to suffice for now. :p

"Well, we got to the Round Hearth at about 7:00. We had dinner a few minutes away at a very nice pizza place. I had a “South of the Border” pizza. It had Jalapeños, peppers, onions, cheese, salsa, and...olives. Even though we specifically asked for no olives, they put olives on. Not many, but still; I don’t like olives. I slept most of the way up. Our bus is very comfortable. It’s 12' 4" tall, and so the perspective alone is entertainment to me. We have a great bus driver by the name of Maurice, or Mo. I owe my parents for the trip, I think about $38. Added on to the $197 I already owe them....and you get a troublesome amount of money. I’m babysitting next Sunday for the St. Louises, and I’m probably going to re-instate my “Pay half to mom and dad” rule for whenever I get money. I do not like being in debt; it ruins my fun. >_>

I was just confronted by some random Counter-Strike zealot. He, of course, told me that I should install Counter-Strike on my laptop. From the way he said it, he thought it was imperative. It sure seemed like her was telling me that I had to. Apparently my multitude of Flash games didn’t suit his tastes. Idiot.

I’ve already spent most of my change on the House of the Dead video game. The same thing happened this time in the exact same spot as it did last year. In the middle of a fight with the second boss, the timer ran out before I could get my money out. Whoever makes these video games ought to put more than ten second on the time limit. :p So, I wound up starting the whole game over again. I managed to get to the final boss, and I got him down to the point where maybe two attacks would have beaten him. Then he unleashed his ridiculous attack and killed me again. I reached into my pocket and discovered that I was out of quarters. I had a half dollar and a few golden dollars, and some dimes, but nothing the machine would take. I am done for the weekend. :p

I dueled Robert twice. I won both times. My Deck remains superior for now. I’ve had some juice and a few cookies. My dad has gotten the ring to the hook 100+ times tonight already. I’m content with my two for now. *nod*

I brought my Confirmation questions along to work on, as well as my Theology books and my Bible. Hopefully, with the free time on my hands tomorrow, I’ll be able to find an outlet and plug in my laptop. That way I can type up the answers to all of my questions and be done with them for the Monday after next. I think that I can answer them with the materials I have, and if I can’t I can ask Mr. Leone some other day.

I am determined to watch the Princess Bride this weekend. I may just start after writing this. It’s 11:30, though, and lights are out at 12:00. I don’t remember if that applies just to the upper level or if we have to get out of the downstairs as well. We shall see, I suppose.

Most of us are in the TV room watching the Illinois-Duke basketball game. I’m off in a corner, with my laptop plugged into an outlet. We have breakfast at 7:10 tomorrow morning, and the next group has breakfast at 7:20. I think that that’s ridiculous. We’re expected to get food for twenty-something people and all eat it in ten minutes? Chances are, it’s not going to happen. Especially not when everyone is going to be tired after staying up late tonight.

So far, things have been fun. I look forward to tomorrow, but particularly I look forward to going to bed. :p That’s all for now. To watch the Princess Bride I go.




Well, it’s Sunday afternoon. I’m at the ski resort, listening to music, playing Flash games, and watching people play cards. We’ve already had lunch. Sandwiches, as planned. My dad got a new record for the ring and hook thing at the Round Hearth; 600 rings.

We had a dance thing last night at the Round Hearth; a DJ came and was blaring music as loud as possible. The girls of our group were just about the only ones dancing; this is including my mom and aunt. I scrounged around for change to play House of the Dead. Remember, I had reached the final boss of the game and I had him down to about two attacks worth of life before I ran out change. His final attacks are so darned frustrating. He spins around, you can get a shot or two in there, and then he flings about a dozen orbs of energy into the air. If you don’t shoot all of the orbs, you will get damaged. Which is cheap, because you can’t shoot them until they get within a certain range. By the time they’re in that range, there is little possibility that you can shoot them all in time. Like I said, cheap.

Anyways, I hopped in beside a kid from another group and we managed to get to the final level. He died at the first boss replay and I was left on my own. I beat the first boss for the second time, and then I went into the next room to fight the bat guy again. He is still a major pain in the butt. His darned bats and him killed me. If it weren’t for his darned bats, I might have had a chance.

We have a great bus driver, a guy named Mo, or Maurice. Oy...I don’t really think that I’ve got much more to talk about. I can’t go outside, because I get a headache from the brightness. So I’ll just sit inside, playing games, listening to music, and giving vague replies when people ask me what I’m doing. “What are you doing Ben?”

“Writing.” or “Just writin’ something.”

I could probably answer a few more Confirmation questions, but I feel a strong desire to procrastinate. I still have quite a few to do, and they’re due next Monday. If I want enough time to go to the Yu-Gi-Oh tournament next Saturday, and then to the St. Louis’ house, I’ll have to get them done on the way home, at home, or sometime this week. I don’t really know what we’ll be doing in school this week, but we’ll probably be getting report cards. As usual, I don’t really know how I’m going to do. My Chemistry grade is a 99%, so that will probably boost up my average, I hope. Theology should be good as usual, I think. I don’t recall anything that could really pull it down, considering Mr. Leone’s policy of dropping the lowest grade. Photography will be, to my knowledge, good. I don’t think we’ve done much towards grades besides our ethical collages and essays. I hope that she liked the way I did mine. I could have done it better had I put some extra effort into it. Algebra II = Excellent, as always. English I think will be good; I’ve been doing well on my quizzes and tests, and my paper and presentation were good. History will most likely be bad. I’ve been slacking off on my homework in History. That will probably hurt my grade significantly. >_< Hopefully my Chemistry grade will make up for whatever I get in this class; good, average, or bad. French is good, an 85. B or B+. Satisfactory. That’s it. All I have to do now is get the Report Card itself. I’d bet that Mr. Lacey put a comment about my homework. I would too. The rest should be the usual positive comments, I expect."

There. Be happy, gosh darnit. :p Some of it may not make much sense, but you can just leave questions in the form of a Comment. ^_^ Or catch me on AIM.

There's an old Brazilian saying,
"The oven is warmed..."

"...through its mouth."
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Friday, March 26, 2004

Ski Trip!
I'm leaving in just a few hours to go skiing in Vermont. ^_^ Well, I'm not actually skiing, but it's a ski trip, so I feel compelled to say that I'm skiing for some reason.

I'm not packed, and not all of my clothes are clean. I need to take a shower and I need to find things to entertain me on the way up. I also need to eat some breakfast. I don't have the money I need to actually go on the trip, and I'm hoping that my parents can afford to loan me some. I really need to find a steady source of income. -_-

I've finished most of my homework for this weekend, which is good, considering I won't want to do it while I'm on vacation. :p Hopefully, though, I'll get some writing done while I'm up in Vermont; as I'll have little else to do while the others are skiing and snowboarding.

I've only skied once, and I've only snowboarded once. These experiences were preceded by lessons.

It was on last year's ski trip that I had my lesson and went skiing for the first time. I learned fast and did incredibly well on the practice hill. I was the envy of the rest of the class. Then we got to the regular hill.

As soon as I hopped off of the lift, I had lost control. The poles that you hold did nothing to stop me, nor did any attempt to turn sideways. I couldn't stop due to the minimal momentum I had gained from sliding off of the lift. I was going way too fast. I was scared.

About halfway down the hill, I fell. I was relieved; I had stopped. There was still half of the hill to go, however, and it was not a distance I wanted to walk with various ski equipment in my arms. Besides, I would be a sitting duck for some other inexperienced skier or snowboarder to hit.

So I put my ski back on (it had fallen off in the fall) and tried to inch myself down the hill. To no avail. I soon picked up the speed I had lost, and none of the techniques they taught in the lesson did anything to slow you down. So, I passed where you were supposed to stop and eventually wound up tripping to a stop about twenty feet past the ski shop, very nearly into a taped off area that had warning signs all about.

So, I didn't go down the hill again. For the rest of the weekend, I didn't pick up my skis. I was terrified. I have no intention of going again. :p

Snowboarding was better, though. The first thing they taught us in our lesson was how to fall down. Or, that we would need to fall down at some point, probably. Better to fall than to lose control and hurt someone. And with all of the layers I had on, falling was no big deal. It was kind of fun to roll and bounce around like a rag doll, actually. ^___^

I had much more control on a snowboard. I could turn just by shifting my feet and legs, without the encumbrance of two ski poles or the awkward nature of having my legs separate. Falling was part of the fun of snowboarding. ^_^

I'll be sure to keep an ongoing record of events while I am up there, and I'll let you all know about it when I get back. And please, while I'm gone, could you continue visiting? :p Just look through the archives or something. My ratings are falling drastically. I've even taken to signing random guestbooks to get people to come.

And Wondershot is still ahead of me. >__<

Oh, by the way; I'm still the number one Yu-Gi-Oh duelist at ST. Bernard's. I have not been defeated since before last Saturday. ^_^ Yay! I want to try a new deck out, because this one is starting to get old and my friends want me to, also, because they can't seem to beat it. John wants me to keep it for a while, yet, because he is determined to beat it. I don't see that happening anytime soon, however.

Soon, the #1 Title will be even more empty than before. Mark was just expelled, winnowing our puny number down to three. Perhaps that number will grow next year, with the arrival of new Freshman.

I really want to try out my current deck in some sort of official competitive environment. A tournament, probably. But there don't seem to be any in my area; or at least none that I know of.

Toys R Us is starting something on Saturdays, but I don't know if it's actually a tournament. The last time they advertised something like it, it was just a get-together for Yu-Gi-Oh players to trade and duel. While this is still fun, it's not as good as an organized competition.

Next Saturday I hope to go and find out which it is. And be a part of it. ^_^

Next Sunday I am babysitting for my dad's friend, Tracey, and her kids have cards, too. I love getting paid to play Yu-Gi-Oh. :D

Oy. I need to go and pack now. I've got a little less than two hours, and I'm not even dressed or packed yet. :p Good bye until Monday, or late Sunday. ^____^ I'll miss you all!

And yes, Mimmi, I will have fun for you, too. ^____^

There's an old Hindu saying,
"Always in trouble, but named..."

"...Mr. Happy."
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Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Eh...stuff!
Listening to: "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence.


Writing, writing, writing. I never really realize just how much of it I actually do. I always think that I never write enough, but in truth, much of my day is spent writing. Whether it’s in school, taking notes or answering questions, or at home, writing up a post for here or OB. Or even on AIM. It’s all writing. I’ve heard that writing often, even just writing in a journal, is great stimulus for creativity.

I think I’ve been lied to. :p

I find that often I am uninspired to write anything. Well, other than MyO posts; but for those I get help from my everyday life. That’s what I write about mostly, I’ve noticed. But for now, at least, I think that it’s enough. When the summer comes, I’m not really doing anything, and my life becomes dull; maybe then I’ll write something really interesting.










But for now, you get my semi-usual Life Post. :p

This morning was just like any other, in that I got up and went to school. I made it to homeroom on time today, at least. First Period was Algebra II. We got our tests back and started learning about exponential functions. Yay. More...easy...stuff... -_-;; I don’t think I learned this before, but it still doesn’t seem any harder than anything else we’ve done this year.

Next was English. We took that test on Shakespeare and the Globe theater. I don’t think I did too well. = < The answers were primarily short answer, and I just really didn’t know the answers. I swear, they wanted all of the details that I just didn’t have. We spent the rest of the period doing vocabulary. That earns yet another monotone: Yay. After English was History. Still the usual notes and...yeah...not much else.

After History was French. We finished off our reading and watched a bit of a movie on Joan of Arc. I don’t remember what it was called, but it looked good from what I saw. The actress who played Joan was beautiful, and she did a great job with the part. As with the movie we watched about Eleanor of Aquitaine, there were some pointed comments. I think I remember one particular exchange during a banquet. Joan is asked to stand and answer a question that the king addresses to her.

She answers the question, and then responds with one of her own: “My Lord, what do you call a baker who slices a cake before it comes out of the oven?”

There’s a pause while the court absorbs the question.

“Why, not a baker.” replied the king gaily. The court laughed.

“Then what do you call a king who sells away his kingdom before it is fully united?” she snaps. The king had just signed a treaty giving away the region of Burgundy, after Joan had spent the past few months fighting numerous battles in an attempt to fully unite France. The point struck home, and a heated debate ensued between Joan and the king’s bishop. Interesting. I liked it.



Whoo! Lunch! An eventful part of the day! Especially when combined with my Off period. The two together become......SUPER OFF!

Ben's Yu-Gi-Oh Report

I dueled Mark during the first lunch wave. He was beaten three times before we ran out of time. He was trying out a new deck of his, and it didn’t fair very well against mine. It relied heavily on Spell and Trap cards, with I continuously destroyed. He lacked monsters, and I had extremely powerful ones. He didn’t stand much of a chance.

I had lunch during the second lunch wave, when the middle school eats. I left as soon as I finished and went to the computer lab and played Flash games. When the third lunch wave came, John and Matt showed up. I dueled John, and beat him. ^_^

Then I dueled Matt, and beat him. ^_^ John kept putting me down during my duel with Matt, but I knew that he was just bitter. It still annoyed me a fair amount, though. I allowed Matt to attack me a time or two, and John assumed that “Dude, you suck.” I wound up winning though, so I pretty much showed him.

In Chemistry we learned more about Combination and Decomposition reactions. More stuff that I knew at one point. Gotta love refresher courses. Especially those that take up the whole year. -_-;;

In Theology we took down several questions on the Bible, which I’ve done already. We then corrected our quizzes from the other day. After that we continued watching a movie on the Dead Sea. That earns another monotone: Yay.

I took the bus to Sacred Heart, and my dad drove my siblings and I home. I went on OB, checked my usual webcomics and read my e-mail. My room is almost clean, too. ^_^ Almost all of my laundry is clean, and my garbage is collecting in bags beside my computer desk. All I really need to do is resist my computer long enough to clean the area around it. Chances of that happening are slim to none, I’d say. But that’s thinking cynically.

Yeah...it’s not going to happen anytime real soon. I need to pack and get ready for the Ski Trip tomorrow. Then on Friday I’m leaving to go to Stowe, Vermont for the Ski Trip. One of my friends has an uncle who lives in Stowe, and he said that its wet and generally not nice for skiing. I’m now glad that I decided not to ski. ^_^ I’ll just have a nice weekend away, not worrying about school or anything. It should be fun, I think and hope.

Drop-In tonight was fun. We watched Bruce Almighty, and then some of The Cat In The Hat. Bruce Almighty was funny, even after seeing it a couple of times previously. But The Cat In The Hat surprised me. I hadn't thought much of it after seeing the previews for it, but after seeing a bunch of it tonight, I think I'd like to see the whole thing.

It has a sort of Shrek-like element to it, in that there's all sort of mature implications. Heh, it was pretty funny. I'll have to finish it sometime.

RPG Update:

Children of Sharess: Dagger posted, so I may be able to get in another post soon. ^_^

W.H.A.T.E: Solo Posted, and once again the honor of the next post is sort of forced placed right in my lap. Everyone in that RPG is so darned good at doing that. :p

Digimon - Way of the Worlds:Someone posted, I don't quite remember. It's progressing, and that's what counts.

Yu-Gi-Oh - Forgotten Past:Zanarkand Abes is godmodding outrageously, collecting all of the Millenium Items and basically writing a story all on his own. I pretty much made my character his ultimate adversary, so we'll see just where that ends up. With the Millenium Seal blocking all of his Millenium powers, I don't see what he can really do now. I think I was specific enough to stop him from godmodding his way out of this situation, but I'm sure that it'll somehow happen. -_-;;

I've got an idea for a theme of sorts for my site, but it'll take a while to get it off of the ground. I'll have to work on it over the coming vacation. Or maybe event his weekend...

There's an old Jamaican saying,
"Four feet do not always catch..."

"...a train."
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Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Today, in MyO form!
Yes, since I've covered yesterday pretty much in full, time to talk about today.

Today was another decent day at school. Not so good after school, but...yes...good during school.

First is Photography. I tried matting one of my photographs for the Senior Art Exhibit tonight. I didn't quite get it, but I got the lines and stuff in place so that my art teacher could finish up. ^_^

Next was Algebra II. I finished the test early and nearly fell asleep waiting for the period to end.

English, we saw some slides on Shakespeare and the Globe Theater. We're being tested on it tomorrow. History, random quiz and we took more notes.

LUNCH

Ben's Yu-Gi-Oh Report

I dueled Mark a time or two today. The first duel was a close one, he managed to get me down from 8000 to 5200. I still won, of course, and retained my title, but it was touch and go for a while. I had to rely on a bluff once. :-O Well, I would have lived without it, but him falling for it certainly helped.

The second duel, I'm not sure if we finished or not, but on my second turn I had him down from 8000 to 3500. So, yes. I kicked butt once again. If I weren't going to Vermont this weekend I would most certainly go to Toys R Us and compete there this weekend. Perhaps next weekend, then.

After lunch was French. We watched a bit more of the movie on Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is such a good movie, despite it being about a decade or so old. The characters are extraordinarily witty at times and its delightful to see them play little mind games and politics. I may just buy it sometime when I have money. :p

After that was Off. I spent the time browsing OB and playing some random Flash game. I don't want to actually sign on to OB for fear that someone will somehow sign on under my name and wreak havoc. -_-;

After Off was Chemistry. I got my average for the quarter: 99%. That was my quarter grade. I can't wait to show my parents this next report card. ^_^ I got back our last quiz in Chemistry: 103%. Yay!

I took the bus to Sacred Heart. The bus was stifling hot for some reason, and I wound up sort of dozing off. I was awake enough to know when we were close to my stop, though.

So, I went to school and got my younger siblings. We went home and my dad went to an appointment. It was just me and the younger two.

This part is where the day turned slightly sour. To be quite brief, my younger sister was feeling rebellious and refused to listen to me.

At all.

I lost my temper once and yelled at her. I apologized and asked her again to do as I asked. She refused, then calmly walked out of the room and barricaded herself in our family's office. She refused to let me in for any reason.

I was quite angry this afternoon. I'm glad I'm not anymore. ^___^

So, I came upstairs and updated MyO concerning events that happened yesterday. I talked with Sara briefly, before going to the Senior Art Exhibit at St. Bernard's. I had already seen most of the artwork, and so I wandered about during the time people were looking at the art. When the time came for speeches by the Seniors and the art teachers, I went outside and walked around the school.

Our football field is creepy at night. And I scraped up my leg trying to climb over a fence. It wasn't properly put together, so the thing moved under me and caused me to lose my balance. I hopped off it and limped back to the school. By the time I got back, the speeches were over and people were enjoying the refreshments of the reception.

I went home soon after that and came upstairs. I checked out OB and MyO. Wondershot was two spaces ahead of me, last time I looked. I think that it is due to Boba Fett's recent hiatus....I'm lacking in the visits department.

RPG Update:

Children of Sharess: I think there was a new post or two here. I'm still waiting for Dagger to make a post, though. I might PM her and sort of nudge her into posting.

W.H.A.T.E: I'm going to let Boba Fett take care of the current situation with him and Raiha's character.

Digimon - Way of the Worlds: Made my first post. Deciperemon's being chased by some mean humans. Then he somehow gets into the sky, and then falls into a bush to end the post. ^___^

Yu-Gi-Oh - Forgotten Past: I made my first post in this RPG. My character is a quiet boy named Alex who has the Millennium Seal embedded into his forehead. The other participants don't know it yet, but the Seal can block any and all of the powers of their Millennium Items. Muahahahahahahaha.....

I think that just about covers it for now. ^_^ Please, tell other people about my site. I would, but.......um.......

I have a debilitating disease that I don't want to risk spreading! Really, I do! It's called.....um.....Nerdheadgeekfoot-tism....

Today's quote of the Wise and Otherwise:
There's an old Chinese saying,
"A hasty man drinks his tea..."

"...with a fork."
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