BLEEAARGH

A less eloquent title than I have previously conjured up, but a title nonetheless.

That aside, tomorrow is Christmas Eve. In the minds of many others, this may not seem as important an event as the day to follow, but for those of us whose family origins lie on Bohemia, it is a prestigious affair. Well, not quite at that level, but it's definitely my favorite day of the year. This is not only because it includes my favorite meal of the year (baked salmon, four-cheese penne, and poppyseed kolackies), but also because almost the entire maternal side of my extended family comes to my house for a shindig.

There are Christmas carols and an abundance of presents, due to the grab-bag of gifts for the ten grandchildren. Each person draws a name nears the beginning of December, and then he/she gives a present to their selected person on Christmas Eve. It was suggested, however, that this be abolished since most of the cousins are above the "child" age, but the suggestion was violently opposed by even the oldest of us (my sister, who is currently twenty-six).

But my favorite aspect of the evening, by far, is the ridiculous amount of Super Smash Bros. that will be played by all of my male cousins...and me. I am also quite proficient in teh gamin', which means that I can pwn a bunch of my cousins with great pleasure, and the power of Toon Link. Oh yeah, I use Toon Link.

Don't Let Congress Break the Internet

Today I write not to vent my displeasure at the imperfections of the world, not to provide trivial review on the events of my own life, but to address an issue that concerns anyone who is reading this, or anyone who uses the Internet at all: censorship.

Two acts are at risk of being passed by Congress: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT-IP (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property). SOPA may, and probably will, be passed this week, unless we spam Congress with emails and phone calls protesting this. This is a real issue that needs rectification NOW; if either of these bills are passed, they will be infringing on free speech and greatly hindering the greatest engine for ideas that America has right now, which is the Internet.

Here's a video by Fight for the Future, a group rallying people to protest against PROTECT-IP and SOPA. It outlines more of the facts and technicalities regarding PROTECT-IP. 

https://s3.amazonaws.com/fftf-actionkit/Protect_IP_Act_Breaks_the_Internet.webm

And if that still isn't enough to motivate you, take it from Hank Green:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Keg6it0g2wY

Please take the time to make a call, write an email, tell your friends, or whatever you can do to contribute to this effort.

Awaiting Snowfall

It occurs to me that this may be somewhat of a failed experiment. I was updating regularly (a post every two days or so) for a little while, but then I guess school happened. Not sure why I feel the need to address this issue; it's not like this is being read by anyone. Pretty much the only purpose it serves is as an outlet for whatever random thoughts are going through my head at the moment I happen to open my laptop.

In any case, it only seems appropriate to review the current events of my strange existence:

Today marks the first day of the last week of school before winter break, which I would most likely find far more inviting were it not for the impending storm cloud of doom hanging over my school-free days: studying for finals. Why in the flying purple hell must they take place after winter break? It sort of negates the purpose of a "break."

Looking even unnecessarily further ahead, Christmas is in less than two weeks. Holycrapwheredidtheyeargo. At least I managed to narrow down my nerdy t-shirts wishlist from eighty-six to thirty items. And the only person who I have even the slightest clue of what to get is my brother.

We also haven't even put up the lights on my house yet, which is ironic seeing as last year we got lazy and left them up until mid-April. Oh yeah, we're cool.

The Advertising Industry vs. Real Time

Good God. I haven't posted on here in more than I month. Well that makes me appear rather flaky, doesn't it? Guess it's time to get this train wreck a-rollin'...

It's December now. To me that means I'm allowed to me mad at the weather for lack of snow, and that I become slightly more tolerant of the disgustingly consumerist advertisements that presently disease our television sets. It also means that tonight, I'm going with a few friends to my town's Christmas Walk, which is basically when all the shops in our very small "downtown" area open up to give out wintery treats (some even do it for free), and holiday musical groups are scattered about spreading their seasonal cheer. Personally I find it too early to "get into the spirit," or whatever those crazy young hooligans call it these days. Still, I'm not one to back down from free food and proof of the existence of my social life, so there you go.

In perhaps more important news (meaning that I meant to say this first but I'm far too lazy to go back and edit it in at this point), SKYWARD SWORD WAS RELEASED. HELL TO THE YES. I can honestly say that I am thoroughly impressed with this latest addition to the Legend of Zelda family; the art direction, orchestrated OST, and storyline thus far have made me begin to forgive Miyamoto for making me wait this long. Seriously; I've had this thing on pre-order since last Christmas.

Surrounded by Blue People

Yesterday, I was at school for a total of about twelve and a half hours straight. Why, you ask? The answer is simple: Bandemonium. 

This was the first year that my high school has presented this event. A bunch of bands from the middle schools that feed into my school came to play at one big concert, in addition to my school's jazz bands, wind ensemble, and marching band. In short, there were about five hundred band students crammed into the gym. Even better: for the finale of the evening, all five hundred of us played "Don't Stop Believin'," as well as the high school fight song, at the same time. I pity the drum major conducting at the center. 

I saw no reason to even stop at home before Bandemonium, mostly because, when I take the bus home, I don't even walk in the door of my house until after three thirty. It also takes fifteen minutes to drive from my house to my school, and that's when there AREN'T three hundred middle school kids going the same way. So, after tenth period (which ends at three o'clock), I hung out with a few of my equally nerdy band friends and worked on some homework in the cafeteria until about three forty-five, which was when the middle schoolers began arriving for our four o'clock call time.

The delightful thing about the whole affair was, despite the fact that I am but a lowly freshman, when the middle schoolers are there, I get someone to act condescending towards. In general, I think I'm doing well in high school; I've gotten involved with a good amount of clubs, I'm keeping up fairly well with my studies, and I've befriended those outside freshmen of my same gender.

Oh, and another thing: I made a FaceBook. Previously one could hear me going on rants about how it was created for college kids, how no one really needs one, and other things concerning internet censorship and the obsession of our generation with technology. Oh well. Guess I'm just one of the herd now. Dontcha just love America?

In the Absence of a Social Life

Not that I mind, really. I quite enjoy having entire days to blow reading manga online and watching chuggaconroy's Let's Play of Majora's Mask. It's only from an objective point of view that my existence begins to appear rather...pathetic.

But that's okay; let anyone else think what they what. To each his/her own, right? I've spent 4-5 hours the last three nights at crew for my school's freshman improv show, and it's tiring work. Last night we did strike (taking down the chairs, risers, sets, etc.) and that lasted until about eleven o'clock. It was nice to have the cast helping out, half because the work got done faster and half because it was to feign condescension towards them when we knew how to do something correctly and they didn't. Pfft. Actors.

In unrelated news (well, only sort of), my phone has been returned early despite my hanging up on my father during a shouting match over the landline. Well, technically he only gave it back to me because strike was going to go so late and there was no certainty that I would be able to use someone else's phone, but still, he hasn't yet given the command for me to give it back to him, so I think I may be home free.

Despite the return of my cell phone, stress is placed upon me primarily by the fact that I only have ONE WEEK UNTIL HALLOWEEN. This may seem, to some, a trivial matter, but despite the fact that I am fifteen I see no reason why that should stop me from trick-or-treating. I mean, c'mon; free candy, yo! This year I am going as Link from OoT, which is a relatively simply costume, clothing wise. All I need are a pair of brown boots, white turtleneck and leggings, and the green tunic that my mom is almost finished making. Seriously, that woman is such a good seamstress that I have begun to suspect the involvement of witchcraft. It's the accessories, though (sword, shield, gauntlets, belt, etc.) that are killing me. I still need to finish making my shield out of foamcore (no easy task), my mom is trying to find a way to make gauntlets, and we still haven't ordered my wooden Master Sword from online yet, which we need it order to correctly size the vinyl sheath-thingie that is going to be slung over my back. Oh, and the Hat. If ANYONE is going to be Link, they need the Hat.

Well, I'm running out of material, so I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. Peace out.

(Oh, and in case anyone was interested:

http://www.mangareader.net/355-24824-1/akagami-no-shirayukihime/chapter-1.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=VQ5sBwX7S7U&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_452793&v=65HDJuvvHlY)

Confiscated

The tale about to be told is one that sounds like just like the sort of whiny drivel you'd expect from the blog of any well-to-do suburban kid who had one flaw in their otherwise expertly crafted schedule. This, however it may sound, is not that. This is all I will say to defend myself, otherwise, draw what conclusions you will:

My cell phone has been confiscated. Not as a result of misbehavior or disrespect in any regard to my father (who happens to be the one paying for my wireless service), but because of a failure to respond to calls made by him to said cellular phone.

While I will admit that I could have taken more responsibility in calling him back (seeing as my parents are divorced and my primary residence is at my mother's, rendering the everyday time I spend around my father rather short), I find it rather silly that his punishment for this (though I hardly see how it is punishable) is to take away my phone until I call him regularly.

This is made difficult by the fact that ALL of my calls are made from my cell phone. There is a landline at my mother's house, but the service is weak, so even when it is possible to make a call (which is a rare treat), the signal is so scattered that one can only barely hear half of a conversation. Not only that, but the majority of the time, I am not at home. Actually, I spend less than half of the day actually at my house and within reach of the landline. But of course, my father's logic is never anything short of flawless: if you want your daughter to call you more frequently, take away her means of doing so.

Not only that, but my week is filled with numerous activities: orchestra practice on Monday nights, anime club after school on Mondays, tech crew almost every day of the week, oboe lessons on Wednesdays, etc. My phone is a necessity for being able to contact my mother to let her know if I need to be picked up from school (seeing as when there's nothing after school, I just take the bus), or if some club will run late, or anything in that category. So, when crew runs late, or I'm at orchestra, or getting back from my oboe lesson in LaGrange, the question is this: how the **** does he expect to get ahold of me? How do I contact my mother? It's idiotic. It's not just wounding my ability to endlessly text my friends in some form of broken English that barely resembles actual language (which, by the way, I never have done and never will do); it makes it impossible for me to contact ANYONE, including the very person who confiscated the phone due to offense at not being able to communicate.

This post is now fueled not only by my annoyance but by my pure and unadulterated anger, owing to the fact that I just got off the phone with (guess who?) my father. Apparently ever word I utter is a "snippy remark," I have "an unnecessary attitude," and I "can't be talked to." I would say that I hated arguing with him, but wait, oh yeah, he "doesn't argue with fifteen-year-old children." Apologies, I momentarily forgot that everything I say is wrong because he is the father and his word is the law.

Well, if he can't stand talking to me, then I don't see what the issue is when I don't call him back.

___________________________________________________________________

Oh, and another thing. Here are the t-shirts I finally decided on:

http://www.cafepress.com/+its_dangerous_to_go_alone_dark_tshirt,480246574

http://www.redbubble.com/people/brandon89/t-shirts/7530047-bow-ties-are-cool

http://www.redbubble.com/people/thegestianpoet/t-shirts/7825335-caution-nerdy-thoughts

http://www.redbubble.com/people/mikeyturvey/t-shirts/7371942-hylian-hero?p=t-shirt

I got the first one in the mail today and plan to wear it to school tomorrow; the others have not yet arrived.

Ciao.

*Insert Clever Title Here*

Evidently watching abundant amounts of Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series causes one to adopt LittleKuriboh's updating habits.


*cue rim shot*


http://instantrimshot.com


In all seriousness, I'm not quite certain as to the reason why I haven't posted anything for over a week. So, in a painfully pathetic attempt to make up for about four posts that (if I owed any loyalty to the two-day updating ritual that I only claim to live by) I should have written, I will now summarize the last week of my life:


On Saturday, my best friend of nigh on eight years and I attempted once again to watch through all three extended editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy without falling asleep. And we failed miserably. Mostly because every time one of the movie's memes ("They're taking the hobbits to Isengard," "One does not simply *insert verb here* into Mordor," "Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew," etc.) came up, we'd look up the YouTube remix on my laptop and watch it through at least twice. After, of course, rewinding two seconds and replaying the quote about four times. Oh yeah, we're cool.


Despite having the day off from school on Monday, I was still obligated to attend orchestra rehearsal from seven to nine thirty, which put a looming storm cloud (not really) at the end of my evening. Not to mention that I forgot until I was dropped off at the doors of Mill Street Elementary School (our normal rehearsal space) that the rehearsal for that day had been switched to Wentz Concert Hall, a good seven-minute drive away. The rehearsals start at seven thirty, but the musicians are expected to "arrive fifteen minutes early in order to ensure prompt rehearsal start." My mother *cough* chauffeur *cough* had a miniature freak-out, being unable to recall the fastest route to the concert hall, whilst I said in the passenger seat, cursing like a sailor under my breath.


"Our family puts the 'fun' in 'dysfunctional'!"
"No, we put the 'dysfunction' in 'dysfunctional'."
- Me/My Brother


In unrelated news, I only yesterday looked through my wallet to ascertain exactly what my post-fifteenth-birthday wealth was, and received a pleasant surprise: I have ninety-two dollars to blow on whatever I want. And what did I choose?


You guessed it, nerdy t-shirts. Namely, these:


http://www.redbubble.com/people/brandon89/t-shirts/7530047-bow-ties-are-cool

http://www.redbubble.com/people/jezkemp/t-shirts/7396561-one-does-not-simply-verb-into-mordor?p=t-shirt

http://www.cafepress.com/+its_dangerous_to_go_alone_dark_tshirt,480246574

http://www.cafepress.com/+zelda_hyrule_triforce_womens_dark_tshirt,292926808

For a while I was rather torn between several different shirts, not knowing whether to choose the one emblazoned with an image of Navi, saying, "Hey! Listen!" or to go the more obscure route and purchase one with a shadowy figure performing HADOUKEN with the controller commands shown below. Already I am in possession of the following nerdy t-shirts:

- Exterminate (with an image of a Dalek)

- The Force is Strong with This One

- Star Wars logo

- All Your Base are Belong to Us

- Sharks (from my uncle, who was in a production of West Side Story)

- Dumbledore's Army

- Muggle

- I'll Tell You When You're Eighteen (to understand this, read my "Post-Birthday" entry)

And now four more shall be added to my arsenal. I can freely wear a different obscure t-shirt for every day of the week. Muahahahaha.

Well, despite this being (I think) my longest post yet, it hardly makes up for a week of absence. Though it's not like it matters; no one reads this thing. I'm like a twelve-year-old posting his first highly unoriginal Let's Play in some forgotten corner of YouTube...

*Cue Victory Dance*

Guess what tonight is? If you guessed marching band practice, you're only PARTIALLY correct. No, this is far more monumental an occasion than a mere practice...this is the last evening practice of the school year! HELL TO THE YES.

Ah, well, while it's been fun (and I mean that in the loosest of definitions), I rejoice at the thought of no longer having to march with a bass drum hooked to my shoulders in a ridiculous costume that's always too warm, no matter how cold it is outside. Honestly.

For the past few weeks, I've been a member of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of DuPage, which is excellent because I need an outlet for my oboe in the form of an ensemble. The first three days of every week, though, I have all of my oboe-related activities: orchestra rehearsal on Monday night, sectionals in band on Tuesday, and oboe lesson after school on Wednesday.

So, despite marching season, I've been coping. I simultaneously dread and eagerly await tonight's practice. Weird, huh?

Procrastination Rules the Nation

Well, not procrastination concerning studying, that's for damn sure. The last six hours of my life have been spent cramming for biology and Spanish tests which I mus take tomorrow. And lemme tell ya: it's been pure HELL. Though I now have a good grasp on the concepts required to earn a passing grade, that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.

Throughout my grueling hours of self-inflicted academic torture, I would take periodic breaks to...what else? Watch chuggaaconroy's Let's Play of Okami. It being one of my favorite games and he being perhaps my favorite LPer on YouTube, it only made sense. I myself have been in the process of trying to start my own Let's Play for several months now, the primary reason for the delay being the difficulty I am having with acquiring once again the necessary software. I posted a few days ago a video that was pretty much the weakest sauce known to man, giving off an air of "Yeah, I don't know what the hell I'm doing or when, but at least I can tell the Internet that." A friend later made fun of me for it. And I kicked him in the shins. Because he was right.

However, despite setbacks and chastisement from my peers, I henceforth make it my pledge to begin my Let's Play before the end of the year. I'm still going over my options for which game it will be, and the style of recording I'll choose, and other technical whatnot, but I WILL start it before midnight on December 31st of this year. If Skyward Sword is FINALLY released before then, it will most likely be more of a FailThrough, in which I just record my first attempt through the game. This, while not so informative, may prove to be rather entertaining. I am also eager to reinforce the meager ranks of the female Let's Playing community.

There ain't a lot of us.

Tardiness, Schmardiness

What's that? I'm a day past my normal updating schedule? Pfft. Who am I even talking to? I have no following.

Despite my frequent desire to take a nap as soon as I return from school, my routine is becoming manageable. In my opinion, high school was extremely over-hyped by my middle school; they made it sound as though we'd spend every spare moment studying and never focus on anything but academics. In actuality, it's not that different: just a bigger campus.

And now for something completely different:

I live in the Chicago suburbs, and lately our weather's been WEIRD. It got into fall, got cooler way faster than it usually does, and then the storms started. No thunder or lightning, just tons of rain and violent wind. Not ten minutes ago it started pouring, the branches of trees started whipping about, and then, just like that: it was over. A couple of nights, the power's even flickered on and off, which is a pain in the ass. Allow me to explain:

This summer was filled with thunderstorms, several of them every week for about a month and a half. Our power went out three or four times, but not just the little flickers that happen only for a few minutes. No, each time, the power went out for at LEAST three days. It sucked. Y'know how when you're younger (and even after that), power outages are kind of cool? It's fun to "fend for yourself" without electricity...for a while. But, after this summer, the very thought of an outage makes me want to dismantle something, mostly because it always shows me how shallow and pathetic our society (including myself) is when faced with the lack of electricity.

But, anyway, nothing that bad's happened yet.

The Unspoken Exchange of a Hat

Boy did I not enjoy yesterday. Any potential gaiety during the school day was darkened by the looming storm cloud of homework and orchestra rehearsal that awaited me at the end of the day. The one ray of light that brightened things was anime club after school, and let me explain why:

The anime club at my school has an assigned meeting place (a dark corner of the library) and roughly the same group of people who show up every Monday, but the similarities to the standard definition of "club" stop there. We have no organized activities, besides the ritual viewing of anime, and even then the episodes to be watched that day are only vaguely voted upon by way of a scattered democracy. Once the episodes have started, people only lend half of their attention to the media being displayed, the other half occupied with homework, hijacking the school computers, and forming small groups in which to talk casually (and in some cases, play Magic: The Gathering). However thrown together this association may seem, there is a certain sense of community to be gained when so many nerds cluster together in one place.

For example, one of my senpai (yes, I went there), upon entering the library, walked behind my chair and as he did so took off his baseball cap and put it on my head. I knew, due to my peripheral vision, who it was, and resolved not to take off the hat. No words were exchanged in this. So I went about my anime club routine; rally for an episode of Tsubasa Chronicle to be shown, check my email on one of the library computers, etc, as did he who had placed his hat upon my head. By the time anime club was almost over, I was back in the seat in which I had been sitting when I had initially received the hat, watching the end of an episode of Inuyasha (don't judge us), when he walked behind me again on his way out, and wordlessly reclaimed his hat.

Strange things happen in this club. We also occasionally swear at each other in Japanese.

Post-Homecoming

As I sit here at my kitchen table, eating leftovers from three days ago and watching a superb Let's Play on YouTube, I can (sort-of) proudly say that I have now attended my first high school dance!

And it was nothing more or less than I had expected.

Naturally, the "dance floor" was just a compressed mob of students jammed together in the field house with so little personal space that the only possible dance move to execute was the fist pump. But that was what I expected. Still, having never been near the middle of a rave, I proceeded to drag my small group of friends into the center. Because, y'know, if I've never experienced something, I have no right to judge it, right? And now I have experienced it. Now I'm free to NEVER DO IT AGAIN. In the middle of the mob, it was probably a good twenty degrees hotter than outside of it, not to mention that in the area we entered, there was scarcely room even for a fist pump. So we linked arms (partially so that none of us would get swept off by the throng of teenagers), jumped up and down for about ten minutes, then got bored and went back to the cafeteria to sit down and re hydrate.

All in all, though, it was a fun night, because I spent time with people of common interests who I could actually tolerate (I believe on your planet they are called "friends"). Additionally, I viewed the MLP - FiM episode "The Best Night Ever" before departing for the festivities, and I believe that contributed a great deal to putting things in perspective.

What, you didn't know I was a PegaSister?

Homecoming: WTPF?

Monday - Black Out
Tuesday - Pajama Day
Wednesday - Unleash Your "Inner Animal"
Thursday - James Bond Bling
Friday - Red Devils

Thus are the themes for each day of Homecoming Week at my high school. Though I adhered to the "spirit" of Black Out Day, I was without wearable PJs this morning, and as a result was shunned mercilessly by my peers. Except not really, because the only difference between my attire and theirs was sweatpants versus denim.

Tomorrow, I plan to wear all black again, with the addition of headband cat ears, which serves as an animal costume as well as a subtle anime reference (gold star to the first person who gets that). It has been commented that with my recent hair cut (straight bangs) and the ears donned, I look like the dictionary definition of an anime kid. Which I suppose is true, as much as it freaks me out to think of.

As has been hinted at previously, most Tuesdays I have marching band practice from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. I've become used to this, except for the fact that today, my bedraggled arrival home was followed abruptly by both my mother and sister double-teaming me and forcing me to try on several potential Homecoming dresses. And may I just say, the sight of myself in any sort of skirt SCARES THE BEJEEZUS OUT OF ME. I mean, I look like a GIRL.



WTPF = What the pfargtl?   <---Name the reference.

Dawn of the First Day: 72 Hours Remain

See, that's a lie, because in actuality, about...114 hours remaining. Until the weekend, that is. And even then, there's Homecoming to be attended...

Oh, right. Today begins my school's Homecoming Week. Every day is themed, and due to today's "Black Out" requirement, I have donned a black shirt and jeans, as well as my trademark Sharpied Chuck Taylors. Which now have some deranged checkerboard pattern along the sides due to my frequent boredom in my World Cultures class. Honestly, I was the only one who knew what agnosticism was.

So I have, at this point, roughly a half-hour before I have to leave to walked to my bus stop. And I'm going to spend it listening to video game OSTs and downloading anime.

Hell to the yes.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery...Right?

People keep stealing my thing. And I'm all like, "Hey man, that's my thing. I was doing that before you even knew what a thing was." From where does this arise? Well...

Example #1: The Signature Jacket


Since the sixth grade, I have had a brown corduroy jacket that I have come to call my "beatnik jacket" (especially when worn with a black turtleneck). I don this article of clothing whenever temperature permits, and it has become one of my trademarks. A piece of my public identity, if you will. So then this guy who went to middle school with me starts wearing a brown leather jacket of almost the exact same color, and wearing it every single day.

Conclusion: He stole my thing.

Example #2: Tsukiyomi Ikuto

Okay okay okay: I know what you're probably thinking, but just hear me out. I've been watching "Shugo Chara!" for almost four years now; I started on the manga, progressed to the anime, and have now read/watched them both in full. My favorite character (perhaps in any anime) is Tsukiyomi Ikuto, and for anyone who's seen "Shugo Chara!"...well, you know exactly why. So last night I finally hosted a sort of post-birthday shindig, in which I hooked up my laptop to my TV by way of HDMI cable and proceeded to watch anime with four of my friends. Two of them had never seen "Shugo Chara!" before, and after about four episodes, they immediately decided that they were now Ikuto fangirls. Which kind of irks me. Not because I'm a frighteningly territorial fangirl (well, maybe a little), but because...well, I've been watching longer and they hated him for three of those four episodes!

Conclusion: I have again been robbed of my thing.



Yes, I am crazy.

Post-Birthday

All things considered, not too shabby.

Gifts Received:
- Sony Noise-Cancelling headphones (Pretty amazing sound quality, actually.)
- HP Pavillion g6 laptop (Received three weeks prior to birthday as an early gift.)
- Cardcaptor Sakura wallet ('Nuff said.)
- Homemade T-shirt (This may not sound like much, but it is. I have a friend who is proficient in the art of the obscure reference t-shirt. A while ago, whenever I made an obscure reference, innuendo, or just said something that didn't make one bit of sense, and someone asked what the hell I was talking about, I took to saying: "I'll tell you when you're eighteen." Thus, my t-shirt was born.)

In addition, the friend who made me the t-shirt also constructed a card riddled with wonderfully nerdy references, including images of The Doctor, Syaoran and Sakura (from TSUBASA: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE), and perhaps the best of all, Ikuto Tsukiyomi *cue screaming fangirls* with speech bubbles edited to wish me a happy birthday.

She thought I flipped out a little too much about that last one, but seriously: have you SEEN Ikuto Tsukiyomi?

Pre-Birthday

You know you're getting old when:

You forget your own birthday is tomorrow until someone brings it up in a conversation.

September 14th is my big day (not really)! And you know what I'm going to do to celebrate? Well, besides bringing in doughnuts for my friends and I to eat in the cafeteria before first period, I have no clue whatsoever. But there's nothing wrong with improvising, right?

See, last year I held a Hayao Miyazaki marathon, and the year before that it was the Lord of the Rings extended editions. Both were considerable undertakings, but quite a lot of fun once they got rolling. However, I am at a loss as to what the festivities this year will entail. I have considered a Doctor Who marathon, but that idea was quickly shot down due to two main factors, 1) my friend Elizabeth did it for her birthday and I'd look like a poser, and 2) I can only get DW on Netflix, and my Wii has continued its assault against humanity by refusing to run Netflix. So...yeah. Still working out the kinks.

On a completely and utterly different note, I have now downloaded the full OSTs for Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Paper Mario, and Thousand-Year Door onto my computer, and having already synced them to my iPod, have been listening through each OST in turn throughout the school day, namely, during our five minute-long passing periods. As a result, I have had the "Over Shiver Mountain" theme stuck in my head for the past nine hours.

I now regress to holing up in my room and watching anime on my laptop, then falling asleep before nine-thirty. Because I only got five and a half hours of sleep last night.

...Don't you dare judge.

Return from Haitus

The sun went wibbly for a while there.

In all honesty, shit got real this week. Homework load, commitment to tech crew and marching band, auditioning for youth orchestras...yeah, it's safe to say that I was busy. However, I'm back and better than ever (but not really)! Not that that's of much consequence, seeing as I have no following whatsoever and these posts are pretty much just being launched into the void of nothingness that is cyberspace. Yes, I am crazy.

The upside:
- Anime club starts on Monday!
- Halfway done with marching band
- Got into Youth Symphony Orchestra of DuPage
- Shiny new laptop = good thing
- Happy Birthday to me (on Wednesday)!

The downside:
- Homecoming is on the 24th
- Half of marching band left
- New time commitment in the form of YSDP
- I got a cold on Friday
- Can't find acceptable episode downloads for Doctor Who s06

Did I get everything? I think so. Well, that's my life as of today. Thank you for reading and peace out, to all y'all.

Night of the Third Day: 12 Hours Remain

I learned something today: sixty-five percent of the drama club at my school are devout Whovians. How fortuitous that I happened to attend the first informational meeting today to find that out. One of the juniors I met even hinted that she and a friend would be initiating a Doctor Who club as soon as they got a sponsor. Finally, a place where my ample supply of nerdy t-shirts will be appreciated.

So that makes three: marching band, drama club, and anime club. Three extracurricular activities that I have gotten involved in at my high school. Perhaps now all of the sermons about the importance of getting involved in as many activities as possible will cease. Technically, anime club hasn't had their first meeting yet, but I plan to join in. I've been a proud otaku for about a decade now (it began with weekdays morning episodes of Pokemon before preschool).

Overall, I think that I've adjusted well to the high school environment. I haven't gotten lost once or been late to any of my classes, I have a lunch group, and I'm tolerating marching band as best I can until I can once again return to playing my beloved oboe. You can laugh, but it took me four long years of renting to own that instrument, and I can play a kickass solo.

Marching Band: A Tale of Exhaustion

Ever just sat down and suddenly all you want to do is take a nap? I experienced this entering the school cafeteria around noon, having just returned from band. At my school, the first quarter of the year is the marching season, much to my distaste, especially since as a double reed player this means that I'm stuck hauling around a bass drum for six weeks.

Now, despite my eagerness to rest at midday, I was forced by academic obligation to go through world cultures, gym (in which we were forced to perform the unGodly horror known as the PACER), and geometry. My return home was downplayed by my amount of homework, and the impending three hour band practice that would begin at five thirty.

In short, I can barely feel my legs.

Blogging from Bio (Not Really)

"Time - 8:14 AM
Class - Biology Honors

And don't you just love that cheesy title alliteration?

At this point, I am writing entries by hand in my biology spiral so that upon my arrival home at the end of the school day, I may type it up to be posted online. Because I'm special like that. So let's get this train wreck a-rollin'.

Today has been the first morning since I started high school (last Wednesday) that I did not wake up at five AM, take a shower, get dressed, make and eat breakfast, then fall asleep on the couch in my front parlor until 6:50, when I have to leave to walk to my bus stop. Instead, I spent the 20-30 minutes of my time that would usually be occupied by sleep watching the end of "Flesh and Stone" (the Doctor Who series 5 episode I had begun watching the night before) on my laptop. Using our upright piano as a desk. Hell to the yes.

More shall perhaps be written later, if I get bored in another class. Ciao."



This is what I did this morning. And it was well worth my time.

World of Beginnings

Greetings, one and everyone. Here begin the random writings of one geek, nerd, etc. who, just two days ago, received a brand-spankin'-new laptop computer, after her last crashed about a year and a half ago. Though, having just started her first full week of high school, her first real opportunity to spend an unhealthy amount of time on the internet was today, after the completion of her academic duties. And she thought, "What better way to initiate a new computer than by the instigation of my very own blog?"

Yeah. In so many words, that's what happened when I came home from school today. When my homework was finished, I was quick to turn on my laptop and check my email, watch Doctor Who on Netflix, read some stuff on MangaFox, and find the nerdiest images possible for my user picture and desktop background (which are, respectively, a cartoon scrubbing Dalek saying, "Exfoliate!" and a drawing of Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fai). This has been occupying my time for the past... *checks clock* four hours.

I now sit in my room, typing this and listening to "Sad Man with a Box," track 59 on the Doctor Series 5 OST (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzOhu24WNbE&feature=autoplay&list=PLBAB754D722C6FF8E&lf=autoplay&playnext=4), while I pretend to conduct the crescendo at 1:57. 'Cause I'm just that cool. And I use my time wisely.