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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