Tuesday, December 30, 2003

   Stuffs....
I actually got up at a somewhat reasonable hour today. I don't remember what it was, but I know it was nowhere near 5:00.

Today was spent online and playing various video games, with McDonald's for lunch. It's kind of funny, in my AIM profile I keep a running track of what I eat, and several people have reminded me to update it on many different occasions.

I went to fencing practice in a gray t-shirt and gray sweatpants. The sweatpants were still wet from the wash and smelled like detergent. My dad hadn't informed me that we had to leave early. >.>

So, I went to practice. I lost my electric bouts, scores 5-4 and 5-3, respectively. I then lost again later, but I don't recall the score. We did one-touch bouts, where the first fencer to get an on-target touch wins. Before I was stopped to do drills, my record was 0 wins and 7 losses, I think. Tonight was not a very good night for me, until I finished drilling.

My coach had me working on parry-riposte drills, which is when I stop my opponent's attack and counterattack quickly.

After drilling for a little while I was paired up with Angela B. We fenced for a while, not really keeping track. I was doing better with my parries, but I think she would have won had we been keeping track. After getting a water break, I was paired with Angela C. We fenced and that was that. Again, not keeping score, just practicing.

My sister drove me home and we had pizza for dinner.

After dinner, I strapped my Jogalite Legbands around my wrists and went for a walk. I got the legbands for Christmas and they, coupled with a little red strobe light, allow me to go walking at night.

What was sort of odd was the fact that I was the only person walking around. The few other people out and about were all in cars. I did not see anybody who was not in a car, not even in windows.

I walked down to Sacred Heart. Along the way I found two dead birds. One was about the length of my arm and about half a foot wide in the position it was. The other was about the size of my fist. They were strangely close to each other. What's even stranger is that these are the first birds/animals that I've seen dead around Groton. During the summer and the fall when I walked, I found a dead possum, multiple birds, and a dead squirrel.

But enough about rotting and decrepit animal corpses. I walked down to Sacred Heart and walked home. An unnerving amount of lights went out when I passed them. The number was such that I don't think coincidence could be used as an explanation.

Someone was out to get me. O.O

Heh, probably not, but it was still pretty weird; the amount of lights that went out.

This little soujourn has caused me to coin the phrase: "It's Groton, at night." With emphasis on the "at night."

I discovered something on my walk that I thought was quite humorous.

Indescribable is an adjective.
It's funny because it is a contradiction. Heh.

Updates to come, hopefully.

Arcadia must fall. :p
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Monday, December 29, 2003

   Oh my gosh....
This. Is. Insane.

I just woke up at 5:00

PM

I got out of my bed and walked downstairs. Looking outside, I thought it was awfully dark out. I couldn't believe that I'd be up before the sun, so a glimmer of an idea that it might be night time began to seep into my head.

I checked the clock on our oven. 5:00. I walked into my parents' room and asked my dad.: "It's 5:00 at night, right?"

"Yeah."

"I just woke up."

"Sorry."

This is just so weird. I've just lost almost an entire day. Ah, now I think I understand. The night before last, at Eric's party, I hadn't gotten any/much sleep. Going to bed at 2:00 this morning probably just pushed my body a little too hard.

So, yeah. A wasted day, pretty much. I'm a bit put out with myself right now. I'm also surprised that no one in my family came in and woke me up. :p

I had a pleasantly odd dream last night. I was watching a TV show with Sara, her brother, and her sister. This is odd because I've only ever seen Sara's siblings as little kids in a Picture thread.

Well, maybe I didn't actually see them, but there seemed to be something that said "Sara's brother" and "Sara's sister" hanging over them.

That's pretty mush the extent of the dream, besides me being smiled at when I closed my eyes during a commercial. I tend to do that when I'm around people I know, but don't really want to make conversation. :p
People just assume I'm tired and leave me be.

So, yeah. I'm going to go salvage what's left of my...uh...night.

Heh heh....Arcadia dropped down a space in the popularity ranking. Now she's only 19 ahead of me. -_-;

Arcadia must fall. :p
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   Long overdue...
*thumps head with palm* Eh. I've not been up to posting in the last few days for one reason or another. I have been busy, but not so much that I couldn't have say what's been going on.

Okay, enough giving myself a guilt trip. :p

I'm going to kind of skip over Christmas Eve and Christmas as nothing out of the ordinary really happened.

Okay, I'm writing this at 12-something AM on the 28th. Last night (the evening of 26th) I stayed over Eric's house under the pretence of celebrating JohnFoye's 18th birthday. JohnFoye's name is actually John Foye, but somehow the two names just fused into one, so we call him JohnFoye.

Anyways, I went to Eric's at about 8:00PM. I hung out there until about 11:00Pm, at which time we went bowling. Yes, bowling. Yes, at 11:00PM.

We bowled until about 1:30, which was when the alley closed. We went back to Eric's house and watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and various Futurama and Family Guy episodes. That lasted until the following morning.

I left, went to Church, and came home. Nothing much has happened since.

I've been playing Soul Calibur 2 a lot lately; I bought it at the mall the other day. It is an incredible game, let me tell you. The graphics are nice, the characters are diverse and interesting. Yeah, good game.

Eh, I've got to go clear off my bed before I can sleep in it. I had to move all of my Christmas gifts in order to finally move my bureau upstairs to my room. I can finally get changed without traveling up and down the stairs three times. Heh, that's convenient.

What's not convenient is the amount of seemingly un-organizable junk I have. What's worse is that it's junk that I don't want to get rid of. :p I just don't know what would be the best way to organize it. I've got a small white bookshelf, and a small set of cardboard drawers, but should I get more or one of those, or something else?

It doesn't matter just yet, I suppose. What will happen will happen, all in due time.

I bought Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within the other day as well. I really like that movie. I've watched it twice since Saturday, I think. :p

*yawn* I had best be getting to bed, and giving Sara a nudge towards hers as well. Good night all, and I hope the rest of your Christmas season is full of happiness and stuff.

No extra sections today, they didn't really help anything anyways.

What I really need is a background. SOMEBODY HELP ME THIS TIME PLEASE.
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Wednesday, December 24, 2003

   God rest ye merry gentlemen...
Yeesh, I'm really slacking off on these updates. I've just been very busy rushing about and doing stuff for the holidays.

This morning I got up and went to the hospital. I'm fine, better than fine, actually. I went there to sing charols and hand out little reindeer pins that I helped make.

It was a very uplifting experience. I carried the little box of pins and handed them out to the patients who were, for the most part, elderly. They seemed to really appreciate the singing and the pins and it just choked me up to have them smile when I handed them a pin.

I just feel so good right now. I just was part of something special, and I can feel it.

Afterwards, we went to McDonald's for lunch. I got a Big Mac and a Coke. Yummy. Then we returned our song books to our church and came home.

I'll be going to a Christmas party tonight after 4:00 mass, so I may not be on later tonight. My grandparents have a Christmas Eve Party every year, with family and friends from all over.

I'll probably bring my laptop along, and maybe get online. We'll see.

I'm hoping that someone will post in W.H.A.T.E. soon, so that I won't have to bend a few rules...

Last night I was shown My Ideal Christmas Gift.

I am so going to get that book. Thanks Sara. ~_^

I got all of my Christmas presents delivered to my Sacred Heart friends yesterday. I received a paper cut on my tongue, too. :p My mom insisted that I put a gift certificate in an envelope, so I put it in and cut my tongue licking the seal.

I'm pretty sure that my mom has caught on to who I like because of the amount of money I sepnt on her gift. She asked me a couple of follow-up questions on the subject, and, while I didn't admit to it or give up any information, I think she got the point.

*shrug* If someone is observant/smart enough to figure out who I like, I won't deny it. I may question their reasoning, cause them to doubt, but I won't flat out deny it. I'm quite determined not to do that ever again.

I wonder if anyone here (besides Boba) can figure out who I like based on what I've written.

So, who do you think I like? If anyone decides to take a guess, please put it in spoilers.
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Monday, December 22, 2003

Bah! Missed an update!
Oy, I missed a day of updating and it absolutely destroyed my popularity standings, I'm now 126th and Arcadia is 114th. Things are not looking good.

AND YET IN THE END I SHALL WIN!

Somehow....

*stretches* Eh.

Yesterday was taken up by three things: Mass, shopping, and our Youth Group Meeting.

After Mass yesterday, I helped out at a Bake Sale that benefited my Confirmation class. I was one of the few. I left there and went to Coffee and Donuts, where I had a cup of tea and a donut, and read store circulars. When I finished, I helped clean up and put things away. Then I went to various stores and the mall with my sister to buy Christmas gifts for people.

Stuff I got:

Two boxes of Whoppers for Jess, my older sister. I hope that I'm remembering correctly that she absolutely loves them, it would be a shame if they were only a "nice thing" to have.

One mug with the name "Tim" written on the side of it. That's for my older brother Tim.

A Harry Potter calendar for my younger sister, Emily.

A Spongebob Christmas book for my little brother, Michael.

A Christmas Card for my dad, I hope that I can find something else to go with it...

A Christmas card for my grandparents. I think they've got enough "Best Grandmother" and "Best Grandfather" mugs and accessories over the years.

A bag of Reese's Christmas Trees for my mom; she loves Reese's anything.

I'm being decidedly cheap this year, as I don't really have all that much money to spend. Almost all of my money went to buying my laptop; the very reason I had saved it in the first place.

Well, my bank account does have about $150 in it, but that's because my dad covered some of the cost of the laptop so that I could actually get presents for others. I need to pay back that money eventually, so I'm not going out of my way to spend it.

People I still need to shop for:

Nona, my other grandmother.

Dad: He really deserves something better than a card.

Christina: I don't know yet what I'm going to get her, but I'm thinking about delviering it to her on Christmas day. She lives about a mile away from me, but her house isn't too far out of the way of my regular walk. I think that it would make her feel very appreciated, as she should.

Victoria: Need to get something for her. Jess has already gotten her a gift and delivered it today during Victoria's lunch period. And I really need to get her something, since she came up and asked me what I wanted.

Tyler: Heh, he told me he wants NeoPet's cards, so that's what I'll get him.

Paul: *teeters hand back and forth* I don't know. We haven't actually done anything together in a while, and I don't know if he expects anything or not this year. I also don't have the faintest idea of what he'd want.

Sandra: My aunt. She'd freak out if I didn't get her anything. She's spoiled and lives too close for me to simply not get her anything.

Can you believe that I've actually got homework that I could be doing? It defies reason, or something. :p

Boba: I warned you, too much sauce and the quesadizza will lose consistancy and be very difficult/sloppy to eat.

As to how I thought of them, there isn't really much to it. I was hungry, so I looked in our fridge. We didn't really have much, but we did have shredded mozzarella and grated cheddar cheese. An idea began to form in my mind, I walked to the counter and there was an unopened bottle of marinara sauce. I looked around for English Muffins to make mini-pizzas with. None.

"So much for that idea." I thought.

Then I spotted the tortillas. We had had fajitas just a few nights ago and had some leftover. I opened the bag and took one out. I placed it on the baking pan, and the rest is history. Quesadizzas were born!

I had another one tonight, and it was still good. I ought to try making other new things. :D

Hmm, can't think of much else right now, I'll probably update again later with news about today.

Arcadia must fall. :p
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Saturday, December 20, 2003

   My Culinery Genius...whoo!
As I've probably told many of you already, I just created a new kind of foodstuffs. I call them quesadizzas. The name is a derivitive of quesadilla and pizza.

First, set your oven to 400 degrees, as it will take a while to heat up, and by heating it while you're putting together the quesadizza, you can have it cooked and ready in less time.

Take a flour tortilla (large or small, I used large).

Then you pour on a bit of sauce(not too much, or it will be soft and messy to eat) and spread it around the tortilla.

Then you take shredded cheese and sprinkle it liberally to the sauce-covered tortilla. You can have more than one kind of cheese if you want; I used Mozzarella and Cheddar.

At this point you can add other ingredients to the mix, like pepperoni or vegetables or sausage.

After that, you take a second tortilla and place it over the first one. Press lightly to be sure that it doesn't just rest on top, else it will be very crisp when you take it out of the oven.

Once the second tortilla is in place and the oven is preheated, put the tortilla in the oven and bake for five minutes.

Once it's done and out, you have yourself a quesadizza! I would suggest flipping it over before you eat it, so that the crisp side is on the bottom and provides support for eating with your hands. Or you could just leave it as is and eat with a fork somehow.

So, yeah. Quesadizzas are yummy and awesome. :D

Arcadia must fall. :p
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Friday, December 19, 2003

   Christmas riddles thingies...
1. G R Y M G L N Y D

2. H T H A S G T T N K

3. D T H W B O H F L L L L L L L L

4. A I W F C I M T F T

5. A W H H O H S S O T P

6. I H A B C W Y

7. C T T M P R P P P

8. O C A Y F J A T

9. T F N T A D S

10. I S M K S C U T M L N

11. J T T W T L I C

12. Y A M O M G Y R A A H

13. S N H N A I C A I B

14. W T K O O A

15. I D O A W C

16. W C I T W L T R

17. R R A F A Y C Y C C M I T G M

Kudos to whoever gets #12, it's one of my dad's favorite songs.

#17 relates to a bakery item commonly used to decorate Christmas trees. It may not be obvious.

I'll keep these up for a while and let you all know the answers sometime soon.
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   Merry Chris- *thwap*
Something I noticed today was the amount of people saying Merry Christmas to each other. For some reason it just irks me that people are saying that to each other when it isn't really Christmas yet. I know that today was the last time they'd see each other before Christmas, but it just rubs me the wrong way...

So, today's school stuff.

C period: Theology. Took a vocab quiz and did something else that I don't remember.

D Period: Photography. I turned in my essay and my critique and went out on a shoot with my group. Maybe if the pictures turn out good I'll post them.

E Period: Algebra II. We got our tests back. I got a 92%, but I didn't get a copy of the test back so I didn't know what I did wrong. We did some worksheets for extra credit.

F Period: Honors English II. Finished up with the presentations and chatted.

G Period: Honors World History II. We played a game where we were given a series of letters and we had to guess what song they formed the first words of.

Example: JTTWTLIC

Answer: Joy to the World. "Joy to the world, the Lord is come."

I'll post some more later.

H Period: Honors French III. Almost finished watching a movie about Degas. Boring...

A Period: Off. Ate some fudge brought in by a classmate. Then I went to the library and played some Flash games.

Then I went to Sacred Heart, grabbed my brother and sister and we went home. I've been here since.

Random Item in Ben's Room: Lego Bank.
I made this the first night I spent in my new room upstairs. It seemed surreally bright up here, almost like it wasn't night. So, I stayed up and built a little container for the random change that I'm constantly accumulating. It's about 18 by 10 spaces long and wide and 7 bricks tall. The colors aren't symmetrical as I used to always have them be. There are thing pieces at the top that form a slot to insert change in. It's a nifty thing to have about.

Ben's friend in Real Life: Victoria.

I've known Victoria for about three years now. I had probably seen her about before, but I didn't take notice of her until she entered Middle School in my eighth grade year.

Back then she was virtually inseperable from her friend Ashton, and the two had made it their goal to force me to dance at the school dances. I didn't really mind dancing, but at that point it was more fun to dodge and evade them than it was to dance with someone.

I was particualrly good at skipping away quickly; bringing my feet sharply together in a sort of sideways gallop. I can still do it, just not as well as before. No one could efficiently imitate it and they did try.

Anyways, that's how we really got know each other first, I think. My dad worked at the daycare program at our school, as did her mom. So, we would both stay after school for about 2 1/2 hours until daycare ended. We were also both on the soccer team too and played soccer during recess.

I see her a fair amount; we both go to the same church and I visit Sacred Heart often. She's in eigth grade this year.

I haven't really given a description yet. Victoria is fairly short, only about 5', or maybe a bit under. She used to have very long hair that was almost the lengt of her body, but she and her mom both cut their hair and donated it to a organization that makes wigs for cancer patients.

Her moods vary from cheerful and lively to tired and cynical. I think the latter is the result of my influence. :p

I remember now that she used to resent me, I think. I remember that she used to challenge a lot of things that I said, and challenged my responses to the challenges.


I face the same problem I did with Mark, I can never seem to remember how I become friends with somebody. >.> It just sort of happens, I guess.

I feel kind of sorry for her, as she's been stuck at daycare this week with no one to really talk to. Her new inseperable partner is one of my other friends, Tyler. Ashton moved two years ago. Tyler and Victoria were always close, but Ashton's departure gave them more time to spend together.

Hmm, quite a history here. I made a lot of friends in the sixth grade in my eighth grade year. I miss them. ;_;

My dad has been downloading some stuff online. He's managed to unearth several Thundercats episodes and I am eagerly going through them. That show is just so awesome!

Random Tidbits: I took out some money today to buy Christmas presents for people. I have a fencing meet tomorrow. I really ought to get to bed early tonight. I've gotten buy one get one free wins on two consecutive Mountain Dew caps. I was winning a duel today against John until the bell rang. 5300 to 10200. And that's with my survival deck. The only monster I attacked with was one of his own.

If I could get any of you a Christmas gift, what would it be?

Arcadia must fall. :p
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Thursday, December 18, 2003

Now that was good.

I just spent the past hour or so lying in my bed with the blanket over me, reading. It's been so long since I've relaxed like that. Too long, probably.

It. Felt. Great.

Hopefully I'll have more of an opportunity to do that sort of thing over the vacation. Incidentally, mine starts tomorrow after school. ^_^

*content sigh* I've now got to write an essay and a critique for Photography, but I don't seem to be slamemd with the usual kind of stress that I normally have.

I'm just unusually content right now. It's an odd, nice feeling. I could get used to it.

Let me see what I can remember of my day...

B Period: Chemistry. I had a test today. The fact that it was open book hurt more than it helped, I think. Too many things that I couldn't be certain about, even with the book right in front of me.

C Period: Theology. We had some sort of discussion going on and then I left and went to the nurse's office. My stomach was hurting; I knew it was hunger pangs. Sometimes I get severe cases of hunger that incapacitate me until I eat something. So I told the nurse that I just needed something to eat, and she got me a pass and let me go to the cafeteria.

I bought two small cinnamon buns for seventy-five cents, my normal resolution to spend no more money on that food than necessary overcome by the need for something to be in my stomach.

I went back to Theology, where my teacher was defining people's names with a baby-name book.

D Period: Photography. Spent some time working on my critique. I went to the library under the guise of typing it up. Instead I located a listing of Pinky and the Brain quotes for a friend of mine. Funny stuff, heh. I'll post the site if I can find it again.

E Period: Algebra II. Test today. I can almost guarantee a 100%. I checked it over tiwce, something that I never do. I caught myself on a slip-up or two. I wish I were in Honors.

F Period: Honors English II. We did a presentation or two. I critiqued them. They should be finished tomorrow. That's pretty much it.

Second Lunch Period: Eh, I'll explain the whole First and Second Lunch thing later...

I bought a small cup of French fries and a cup of soda. Either the boycott worked, or they only took away free refills for one day. After wolfing down the fries and downing the soda, I joined three of my friends and we had a 2 on 2 duel in a secluded (freezing) staircase. Mark and I were doing fairly well together, but my current deck isn't made to win, so I'm uncertain as to the probable outcome. I'll tell you one thing though, having one Cyber Jar activated right after another is an unsettling turn of events.

Period G: Honors World History II. Note-taking. Five section reviews due the day we come back from vacation. Not much else.

Period H: Honors French III. More dozing off, I'm afraid. Whenever Mr. Ayres turns off the lights and I hear a monotone voice, BWAM, I'm struck with weariness. Got the essay question for a test we're taking right after we get back from vacation.

As one of my friend's so adequately put it: "Geez, these teachers don't want us to open any presents Christmas morning."

Or perhaps I'm the only one to interpret the comment correctly.

After school was team pictures. Maybe, if it's a good picture, I'll post it. Maybe I won't. We shall see.

Eh, went to Sacred Heart (my old school, in case you didn't know) after pictures. Hung out there for an hour or so. Came home, surfed the Interenet for a while, and then got into bed.

Perhaps tonight I'll get to bed at a reasonable hour.

Random Item in Ben's Room: Crocodile Claw back-scratcher. A real crocodile foreleg at the end of a thing wooden stick. The claws are used to reach those hard-to-get places on your back. Quite interesting to look at.

Ben's friend In Real Life:

I'm making this short and sweet for now, as my contentedness is shifting into apathy.

John. Yu-Gi-Oh duelist. One of the top in my school, has not had any victories over me in the past 4-5 duels. Has fewer inhibitions than one would normally have. Is incredibly good on a piano, I am told.

I'll get a more in-depth look at John later. Apathy is tightening its hold.

Arcadia must fall. :p







No, really, help me beat her, please.
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Wednesday, December 17, 2003

   Must...finish...week...
Remember those papers and presentations I had mentioned before? They're either done or they have been postponed.

I asked my Photography teacher for more time to prepare for my presentation, and she just decided to push all of them back past the vacation so that everyone would have just about the same amount of time to prepare.

I got my English presentation done and over with yesterday. I had to improvise some stuff, since my partner had much more information then I expected and she looked to me silently for support. So, I grabbed a nearby model that was leftover from someones presentation last year. I got lucky, because the model actually fit the theme of our report. What I found kind of amusing is that one of my classmates, in his critique of my presentation put down that I appeared very relaxed.

I was strung tighter than a drawn bowstring. I can not stand oral presentations. Although they are getting a bit better for me; last time I was physically sick the day before.

After practice last night, I came home and wrote my French paper about Claude Monet. So, that got finished on time, just not as good as it could have been.

So, I don't really have any more major assignments or anythging for this year. And by year, I mean year year, not school year. I'm sure to have more major assignments in the school year.

So far over the vacation I've got two assignments. The other half of my French project, which is just a critique on one of Monet's paintings; and my Photography presentation. All is almost well.

I've got practice again tonight, and I may be putting in an order for some new equipment. I want to try something other than the French handle for my foil, and my coach insists that I get fencing knickers:



He told me last night that I need to work on keeping my distance from my opponent. I keep getting in too close and my arm is pretty much pinned at my side, not allowing me to do anything. I did that quite a few times last Saturday. So, that's something I'll have to work on.

Something I've noticed as I monitor the rankings of Arcadia and I is that, while she remains ahead of me, we are both slowly progressing up the list. It's nice to see that even if I'm not ahead of her, I'm still actually getting somewhere.

Random Object in Ben's Room: Mad Money Jar.

It's a small blue jar about the size of an apple, with the words "Mad Money" engraved in the front. It's stoppered with a large cork that always either is too loose or stuck on tight.

I got this jar from a store in Maine on one of our summerly trips up there. I didn't really know what I would use it for back when I got it, but it was still a neat little thing to grab.

It had a large magnet on the back of it so that it could hang on a fridge or something. It fell off the first day I actually placed money in it. >.>

So, nowadays the jar is used to hold the daily S.F.C.E. profits. Which, I might add, do need to be tallied again for the year.

Ben's Friend In Real Life: Mark, a.k.a. "Sapia" or "Mexican".

Mark is a Junior this year; he was a Sophmore when I met him last year. He was Eric's right hand man before I showed up and at first we resented each other. I just didn't car for his company, and he thought I was some sort of threat to him.

Somehow, I don't quite know just how, we stopped despising each other's presence and got to slowly become friends. We started to meet each other without Eric as a middle-man. Once we found out that we both played Yu-Gi-Oh, most of the remaining barriers were dropped.

Mark is an incredible artist. I have to say that first. His style is more of a dark, evil fantasy sort of thing than anything else. The majority of his drawings that I've seen have been inspired by the book/s that Eric is writing.

As far as I know, Mark has only had one art course. He's just one of those naturally gifted people. I'll see if I can get him to set up a MyO account and post some of his work, or I'll get his permission to scan some stuff and post it on OB.

Unfortunately, Mark is quite erratic and unpredictable. I never can quite tell what he'll be doing next. He has few inhibitions and will insult anyone or steal just about anything from anyone as well. I'm surprised that he hasn't yet been expelled.

He and I meet on an almost daily basis, and we duel when we can, too. I usually win, but there have been a few instances where he managed to outdo me. He needs to think on his feet a bit better, I think.

That's all for now. I don't really have any homework tonight, so I'll probably be on after practice and a shower.

Arcadia must fall. :p
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