Tuesday, December 16, 2003

   Update?
Sure, I'd love to update my site, unfortunately I have a paper to write. I may have a comprehensive update later on, so stay tuned.

How do you you change the background of your MyO site? I asked before but no one told me how. >.>

Arcadia must fall. :p
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Monday, December 15, 2003

   The night before...
I've just had an extra strength cough drop, and geez, my whole mouth is numb. I can't feel my tongue or the inside of my cheeks. On the bright side, though, My throat does feel a little better.

So, it's the night before my oral presentation in Photography is due. Strangely, I find that presentation more compelling to work on than my English presentation. Maybe it's because the English presentation is being done with a partner, maybe not.

We haven't really worked together too much, my partner and me. I was sick one day, she was sick the other; complications kept popping up. So, we've each got our own little part of the presentation to do and I'm up tonight, supposedly working on that.

I think it's because I know my subject in English a bit better, despite the fact that it didn't attract much interest. There may be, too, that I value the opinion of my art teacher, who seems to care about me; and who manages the fencing team. :p

My English teacher, while I like her, I don't really have anything except learning and laughing to do with her. She teaches, I try to learn. That's all there is to it right now.

Ergh, I should be working right now. I just felt like I should write something here. For one reason or another.

Eck...paper due Wednesday and I have practice tomorrow night. I've already missed two of them because of academics, and tomorrow night I had gotten some one-on-one time with my coach. >.< I really don't want to miss that; losing is frsutrating when you don't know how to fix the problem.

Oh yes, since I think I forgot to mention it last time....

Arcadia must fall. :p

.....I'll make a special notice this time.

If you're readig this Arcadia, know that I will beat you somehow....someday... ~_-
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   Okay...I can make it....
Okay, one day down. Only four more to go. Today was a kind of mixed day for me. I'll go back to my School day format for a minute.

Period G: History. I didn't have my History Book with me this weekend; I think I may have grabbed my chemistry book by mistake. So, the homework that was assigned over the weekend wasn't done and therefore wasn't handed in. I'll probably end up doing that tonight or tomorrow night; tomorrow I don't have History. It wasn't a very good start to the week.

Period H: French. We're studying painters and their paintings. I kept dozing off, since it was warm and dark and we were just looking at slides. I have a paper due Wednesday about Claude Monet, and I really need to get to work on that. I took out some books from the library yesterday before a rather large snowstorm hit.

Period A: Off. I went to the library and got my Photography and Chemistry homework done. Then I searched for yesterday's Scripture readings for my Theology quiz today. After that I left the library and headed back to the cafeteria and pretty much vegetated.

B Period: Chemistry. More stuff on molecular bonds that I learned in eighth grade.

C Period: Theology. We had our weekly quiz on the Scripture readings, and then had a fun little quiz on Christmas trivia. After that we had a long discussion on one of St. Thomas Aquinas' proofs of God's existance. This one was "If there is motion, there has to be a mover." or something like that. It basically meant that there has to be one uncaused.......thing....that set the universe into existance. Things didn't just coincidentally come together and form all of these planets and stars and stuff. A great deal of philosophy was involved, and our teacher kept beating us over the head with "You can't possibly comprehend this, anyways." That ruffled me a bit.

D Period: Photography. We went over the reading we had to do for homework and teh next shoot that we would be going on. We also picked out numbers to see who would be doing their Oral Presentations in what order. I pulled out a scribble that I later discovered to be a two. So, I get to to my presentation tomorrow. Yay. I do so enjoy oral presentations. *gag*

E Period: Algebra II. Recently our class has been split due to the lack of actual mathematical ability in the majority of the class. We now have Algebra II and Intermediate Math in the same room at the same time. With the same teacher. So now not only do I have to learn the same stuff over again, I get to learn it at a slower rate so that the rest of the class can keep up. It's a pain, but an easy A.

Luckily, I didn't have English today thanks to our rotating schedule. Tomorrow there will be a possibility of me giving my oral presentation in that class too. I'm trying not to think too much about my oral reports, and that seems to help my anxiety. Unfortunately, it does not help me prepare for them.

The snowstorm yesterday left about a half a foot of snow on the ground which was absolutely decimated by rain showers last night. Un/Fortunately it was not cold enough for all of that water to freeze and thus make the roads dangerous. No one had really been expecting school today.

I'm actually catching up to Arcadia! :D I don't know if she's getting less visits or I'm getting more, or what. But we're now only a few spaces apart; her still in the lead.

Random Item is Ben's Room: Little Tub of Turtle Wax.

I got this little circular container of turtle wax last year some time. I was supposed to apply it regularly to my fencing foil so that it wouldn't rust. I think the first time it was actually used was just before my first practice.

It actually seemed to help, too. My blade hasn't rusted any since the start of the seaon, and it seems to glide better along an opponent's blade after it's waxed. That's nifty.

Ben's Friend In Real Life: Eric.

Eric is a very big Senior that I've known since last year, his Junior year. We met at Fencing and I soon became his designated "Lackey of Doom."

Now, though I am called The Force, and when I am called and designated a task, I generally do it. Eric's a Star Wars fan... It's a fun little inside joke. He randomly decides that he wants to go to the movies or have friends over, and so I am sometimes surprised when last minute plans pop up when I have nothing to do.

He makes fun of people a good deal and rambles about government and school policies and such. He also eats really, really fast. o.O I could outdo him depending on the food, but then again, I'm younger...if that really is what makes the difference. Or if it really mattered.

All in all, Eric's a nerd/geek/whatever you call it. There's much more I could say about him, but I don't really feel like writing it all right now.
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Sunday, December 14, 2003

   The usual stuff, I guess...
Nothing much has happened today. I got up, went to Church, and then went to coffee and donuts afterwards. I had two donuts and two cups of tea. Then I went home for a couple of minutes and headed out to the library. I picked up some books about Clause Monet, who I think I have to do a report on, due Wednesday. I really hope that I'm correct and I wasn't supposed to to Manet. It's snowing rather hard and our van slipped a few times on the way home.

I came home and sat down to my computer. Things have been really slow at OB lately. I think that it must be the season. Everybody is probably busy with last minute assignments or tests for school, and Christmas shopping and such for family and friends.

Which reminds me, I should probably get moving and buy some gifts. Here it is, eleven days before Christmas, and I haven't even thought about what I'm going to get for various people, or when I'm going to do it. Ergh...chalk up another point for procrastination; it's beating willpower to a pulp.

I'm hoping that school will be canceled tomorrow because of the snow, but I can't be sure whether or not it will be.

If it isn't, it won't be too bad. I don't have English tomorrow, so my Oral Report won't be done then. If the snow is still relatively abundant outside, our Photography presentations will be shoved aside in favor of a light study/shoot. And my French paper isn't due until Wednesday, so I won't have to worry about tha-

There I go again. I disregard papers and projects like they take nothing to complete. But, in truth, it takes me a pretty good deal of effort to get stuff like that done. I just can't stand it when I make myself do something like that, just because I don't feel that it's important enough to work on at the present time. Blech....I'll have to work on that.

Good-ish news for tomorrow. Should the weather permit, I'll be missing Confirmation class tomorrow night. My family and I were supposed to visit my dad's Aunt and Uncle this afternoon, but because of the weather, we can't. So, if the weather gets good enough to drive in, we'll be going tomorrow for a nice little party.

I don't really lie my Confirmation class. It's not so much the things we're learning (which, by the way, I've been taught since kindergarten) but the people who are there and the way they teach it.

The kids there are primarily popular and the ones who aren't are just poseurs. They want to be cool, but they just aren't. I don't mix well with that kind of group. There are only about three people that I can talk to, and that's because they were in my class or haven't hit the age where blatant stupidity has the chance to settle in.

Also, our teachers are tactless. They just don't know how to approach the others. I listen, just because that's who I am. The others will not respect them if they falter and/or do not sufficiently defend what they say. We're teenagers, we will question everything they say, just because we can. They just don't know how things should be done.

The only reason I think I would regret missing the class is because of the slim chance that I might see and/or talk to Christina. Her mom is on the janitorial staff of the building we use and she helps her mother clean every Monday.

But, like I said, it's a slim chance. There was only one time when our main teacher was absent that we actually had a 10-minute break that I actually got to talk to Christina. It was very nice.

So. We'll see what happens.

In case you hadn't read my new Introduction, I've begun to add Friends handfuls at a time. It is a silly idea to think that i can add all of the names, but I'm willing to give it a try in my free time. I have in surplus of 100 now. Yay for me, I guess.

I think that Arcadia's status as a Mod is getting her a dozen or so extra visits each day. I mean, she can't really be more interesting than me. People must just be kissing up. Yeah, that's got to be it. :p

Arcadia must fall. :p
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   EGAD!
She's in 123 now...ergh.....

Arcadia must fall. :p
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Saturday, December 13, 2003

   ACK!
Arcadia gained another space on me! She's 124 and I'm 128! Visit me people, visit me! Tell others about my cause!



Arcadia must fall. :p
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   How time flies.....until shot.....
I spent from 9:30AM to about 3:30PM at a fencing meet. I fenced four times sometime after 2:00.

Due to an equipment error, me and three of my teammates had to wait an hour or so to: 1) See if the problem could be fixed; and then 2)Wait until the girls' team to be finished so that we could use their equipment.

Meanwhile, about a dozen of my family members are waiting patiently throughout the morning to see me fence. They get to see me once before they have to leave, and I lost. 3 to 5.

My scores today went: 3,2,1,4

I was rather proud of the second bout. I was facing the second-place person of the Novice Tournament last year. This guy's brother won first. Out of all of my teammates who faced him, I got the most points. Heh, yeah, I got two.

So, it was 10 out of a possible 20; and I went into overtime on my last bout.

I enjoyed it; and that's what really matters anyway. :D It was also nice that some of my eighth grade friends got to see what fencing was like. They didn't get to see me, personally, but I'm hoping that what they saw today may have sparked their interest.

I'm pretty tired right now. I was up until 12 last night sparring and up at 8-something this morning to get ready for the meet.

I just got home from a Spaghetti Supper to benefit a scouting group. Heh, the 40 lbs. of meatballs I was making last night went to this. The fact that there was a middle school dance going on right in the next room was just an added feature.

Anyone who didn't see my Away Message last night probably wouldn't understand that. Favoritism again, I guess.

Eh...what were those two new sections again? Oh, right.

Random Item in my Room: Clock from Puerto Rico.

My friend Christina bought this clock for me when she went to Puerto Rico the summer before last. I was pleased to get it, since I hadn't seen her much during the summer and wouldn't be seeing much of her during the school year, either. It was nice to know that I was thought of. I remember that it was a bit of an awkward moment when she gave it to me, since it was the first time we had seen each other for quite some time.

She had told me to follow her inside after a soccer practice. (she was on the team, I just helped out) I followed her to her loccer where she took out a small, unadorned box and handed it to me.

I opened the box and pulled the clock out of the bubble-wrap. I looked it over, taking notice of the engraved artwork and colors.

"It's.......a clock." I said, stating the blatantly obvious.

"Yeah...." she said.

"It's a clock! It's a clock!" I suddenly say in a singsong voice. We laughed and I said thank you and goodbye; my ride was waiting outside.

Friend In Real Life: Tim

Tim and I only met last year at the beginning of the school year. There's not much I can say about him except that he plays the drums, likes video games and the Monkees, and he and I get along rather well.

I've also been introducing Tim to various webcomics, which he reads almost religiously. He and I share a certain goofy strain in our sense of humor and often plot the impossible with great zeal.

He's also the "co-dictator" of the Seventy-Five Cent Empire. He actually only legitimately owns about 2/9 of it, the "feud" prefix having been his addition. He came up with a flag for the Empire, along with recruiting a minion or two.

He and I were on the Rifle Club together until I got out.

Any requests for new sections or anything? I live but to entertain you, the readers.

Arcadia must fall. :p
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Friday, December 12, 2003

   Must...keep....updating....
I cannot stop. I must keep constant updates. Meh.

I'm sparring against two of my friends right now in a chat room. They don't have really good quality, but it's their lack is made up for wit the fact that it's the two of them versus me.

They're fairing pretty well; not too much godmodding. I'm using this guy as my character.



It's not much to post about, but I just need to keep new stuff coming in.

I've got a fencing competition tomorrow, and I think that the majority of my extended family is going to be there. :p My parents had me invite just about everybody I could. I'm kind of anxious about it, as it's the first time I've actually competed this year. I've been doing well at practices, but that's against people I know; people I'm comfortable fencing.

It should be nice though, since some of my friends from my old school will be taking a test tomorrow morning and may get to come down and watch me. I think I'd like having them watch, just in case they'd like to join next year.

Plus, if I do well, it'd be nice to show off. :D

I should probably get to bed. It might help if I were awake tomorrow morning when the time comes to compete. Wish me luck!

Arcadia must fall. :p
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Thursday, December 11, 2003

   GADZOOKS!
Arcadia has not only surpassed me in popularity, but by two spaces! (or three, depending at how you look at it).

How could this happen? I mean, she actually visited my site! And signed my Guestbook, too! (Thank you, by the way. :D)

I need to keep updating and keep all these interesting occurences from my life up for all to see. I must stay not-quite-quasi-popular!

Uh...interesting...my life...um...

My AIM profile has been changed, it now records a record of the last thing I've eaten. IM me at legoboy1, for any of you who didn't see it on the side of the page.

Umm....I've got a couple of sign-ups for my new RPG. It's under "Just Trashing Some Toys" in the Recruitment forum, I think. It may not be that exact title. When I start the RPG, though, I'll change the title so that it won't be that bad.

It's decent, I suppsoe, as I whipped it up on command in about 10-15 minutes. I was literally thinking up the idea as I wrote it down, in case you couldn't tell from reading the Recruitment thread.

So yeah, it's a story about people who are sent on a mission to stop the toys of the kingdom from taking over. I've yet to figure out how I'm going to explain them coming to life in the first place; it'll probably have to be someting more complex than just an evil wizard...I don't think that would quite satisfy me.

Ergh...I need to go to the library, or a book store. I haven't had any pleasure reading since the latest Eddings' book came out. I'm really lacking inspiration. I need to git me writin' fuel.

New Section in MyO: (we'll see how well it works out).

Random Item in my room: IBC Root Beer Bottle.

Significance: I stole it from under close guard from another school at a Fencing Competition. I've kept it as a momento.

Another new section!: (probably temporary; these are just to keep people coming in)

Ben's Friends IRL:
Tom: I've known Tom since I was in second grade. His dad was my t-ball coach while Tom was in Minors. He was big for his age. I thought he was at least a year or two older than me. Then, the next school year (third grade) there he was. Me and my friends, John-Paul and Anthony, decided to accept him into "The Group" as we called it back then.

He wasn't really a full member of The Group, but enough that he could stay with us all the time; as young friends do.

Skip forward a few years. Eighth grade. Anthony and John-Paul are gone; John-Paul to another school and Anthony to New Hampshire. Me and Tom are left of The Group. Th Group adapts, taking in two new members; becoming Kool-Aid. It was jokingly named by one of the newer members. We were not the "cool" crowd.

Tom would ofetn say dumb or random stuff back then; Joe (one of the two new guys) and I would roll our eyes and declare: "T.T. Typical Tom." It was fun.

To the present...Tom attends the same high school as me and is in my homeroom, along with I think one other class. We still talk when we get the chance, and I'm still comfortable being around him. He plays football, and wants me to join the team. I'm not all that interested at the moment.

Well, that's enough stuff for now, I think. I hope the new sections will keep people coming here, as well as attract new people.

Arcadia must fall. :p
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Wednesday, December 10, 2003

   Meh.
I stayed home from school yesterday. I wasn't particularly sick (I;ve been battling a minor cold or something for a couple of weeks), just dangerously close to a nervous breakdown. So, I got some extra hours of sleep and that really helped. I finished my Photography paper and got the stuff I needed for my English Oral Report. I've still got some preparation to do for that.

So, I'm pretty much caught up, I think. I have a French project due the 17th that I will be working on in the next few days, and my English Oral Report either Friday or Sometime next week, ideally. I don't think my teacher would make me do it tomorrow, after missing a period to work with my partner.

I really don't like doing this; putting off projects and papers and things. But by now it's become like a habit, only ingrained deeper than that. It just seems like I can't accomplish anything unless I have some sort of force compelling me to do it.

Well, enough of that, I guess.

It's almost Christmas so I went and sent everyone in my old school's eighth grade a candygram. Candygrams are little pieces of Christmas-themed-shape paper with a candy cane attached to them. I got many "Thank You"'s today that made me feel very appreciated.

I got my PSAT scores back today. Let me just go and grab them...

Here they are:
Verbal: 59
Math: 54
Writing Skills: 76

You can get my approximate SAT score by placing a zero on the end of my first two scores and adding them together. It's pretty good for a Sophmore.

Now, here are the scores that are considered average for Sophmores.
Verbal: 46
Math: 47
Writing Skills: 47

I got my actual test booklet back with the answers in it so I can see where I made my mistakes, and how to not make them again.

Percentiles:
Verbal-"You scored higher than 90% of Sophmores [in the U.S.A.]."
Math-"You scored higher than 76% of Sophmores [in the U.S.A.]"
Writing Skills: "You scored higher than 99% of Sophmores [in the U.S.A.]"

Overall performance: "You scored higher than 91% of college-bound juniors."

My dad's very proud of me. My mom isn't home yet, and I can't wait to show her.
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