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.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
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?
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?
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, September 19, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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?
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?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
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.
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.
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