Alrightie.

So I have FINALLY finished my homework. YAY ME! Now is The Time When I Should Be Cleaning My Room But I Don't Really Feel Like It So I'm Going To Blog Instead. And that's a really long title.
Okay, update. I like school so far. Except for the homework. I do NOT like homework. At all. My favorite classes are chemistry and creative writing because chemistry is interesting and creative writing...well, I like writing. And I like concert choir, just because it's choir and I like singing. My least favorite classes are probably math and gym, math because it's math and I hate math, and gym just because it's gym and it's not all that fun, even when, like today, I scored two points in kickball. It was sophomores against freshmen, and, let's just face it, the freshmen girls aren't that great in the sports department. I know that a lot of them play sports and stuff, but the same people who're playing field hockey and lacrosse are going to gym in flip flops. Plus my team was mostly guys, and the sophomore guys are just good at sports, period, because that's all they ever do. And we had the teacher on our team. Anyway, our team won, because the freshmen were never paying attention enough to get us out, and our team was playing like half the game because of the freshmen's lack of attentiveness. So that was okay.
Anyway, my least favorite part of school is the note taking, especially in chemistry. The teacher is awesome, I just hate that we have to take so many freaking notes all the time. But other than that and homework, school's pretty good. I'm going to post the story I'm working on in creative writing as soon as I'm actually done with it.

what to say?

Well, I don't know what to say. I'm serious. I don't. I had a piano lesson today. That was pretty good. Um....
Okay, I've somehow lost all incentive to write outside of class. I think it's because of all those chemistry notes. And the fact that I'm in HIGH SCHOOL and now have HOMEWORK. The homework level is getting sort of high, so I don't really have a load of time to sit down and write a proper journal entry or blog post, like I should be doing. Or rather, I WISH I could be doing. So I'm going to try to work on that. And I have to clean my room today. Poo. And I have homework today. Double poo. But, on the other hand, I don't have 8:20 tomorrow. YAY!
Okay, I'm going to work on that homework now.
DARN YOU HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!

Reflection-Mulan

Look at me
I will never pass for a perfect bride
Or a perfect daughter
Can it be
I'm not meant to play this part?
Now I see
That if I were truly to be myself
I would break my fam'ly's heart

Who is that girl I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don't know?
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I've tried
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?


I seem to be on a Mulan Song Craze. Even though the song that's playing is the Cha Cha Slide.

I'll make a man out of you-Mulan

Let's get down to business--to defeat the Huns.
Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?
You're the saddest bunch I ever met
But you can bet before we're through
Mister, I'll make a man out of you

Tranquil as a forest
But on fire within
Once you find your center
You are sure to win
You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot
And you haven't got a clue
Somehow I'll make a man out of you!

I'm never gonna catch my breath
Say good-bye to those who knew me
Boy I was a fool in school for cutting gym
This guy's got 'em scared to death
Hope he doesn't see right through me
Now I really wish that I knew how to swim!

Be a man
You must be swift as the coursing river
Be a man
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a man
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Time is racing toward us till the Huns arrive
Heed my every order and you might survive
You're unsuited for the rage of war
So pack up, go home, you're through
How could I make a man out of you?

Be a man
We must be swift as the coursing river
Be a man
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a man
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Be a man
We must be swift as the coursing river
Be a man
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a man
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon


We got to sing it in English class!!! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sophomore year. Wow.

Well, I really can't believe that I'm now a Sophomore in high school. I really can't. It seems like just yesterday I was thinking how it would be a million years before my brother was a senior and I was a sophomore, and yet here we are. My brother is a senior and I'm a sophomore. How time flies.
Well, my mom just got a new DVD/ CD burner thingie, which is really nice because the one built into the computer doesn't really work that well. And right now, I have FINALLY gotten the chance to upload the footage from Family Camp, even though it's been a week since Family Camp. And it has been quite a week.
I like my classes, overall. Mind you, by June I'm probably going to be saying that I can't wait until summer because I can't STAND another second of chemistry and algebra and whatever happened to ancient civilizations, because I would be beyond caring. But as I'm currently not beyond caring just yet, I guess I should probably still be caring and wondering what happened to ancient civilizations and stuff in chemistry. Chem is actually kind of interesting. On Friday we did this really cool lab with FIRE!!! And in Ancient Civ we did drawings with in groups and then tacked them up on the wall and tried to guess what everyone else's drawing was. My group did a sort of favorite memories type thing, all rolled into one dude. We gave him a Mickey Mouse hat, because one of my friends went to Disney World, and we gave him a baseball shirt because the other friend liked playing baseball, but nobody guessed what mine was. Nobody suspected the flowers might be significant, signifying the flowers at my cousin's wedding. I caught them. So that's my story.
But I still don't get how algebra is gonna help me in real life. Seriously.

A Confession

Well, in church a while ago, the Senior Pastor admitted that he really liked the movie "that thing you do-" the Tom Hanks one with Liv Tyler that is about this (fictional) band called The Wonders that's set in the 1960's. And I saw it. And I'm in love with it. I don't care that it's weird or anything like that. I know it is. But it's freaking AWESOME. And now I have the title song stuck in my head. It's getting kind of annoying, but I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!
A while ago, I made a list of Movies and Musicals I Want to See. I don't remember all of it, but I remember some of it:
1. the Fantasticks
2. State Fair
3. The Karate Kid
4. The Matrix trilogy
5. Adam (not yet in theaters)
6. Confessons of a Shopaholic
7. The DaVinci Code *once I've finished reading it*

SCHOOL

well, we're back at school. The workload seems okay, so far, because we're only in the first week, and it'll probably get worse next week. Already I have had to write two essays (one was a legit essay, and one was just like, "TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF!") and actually have to use my free block productively. We've only been in school three days and I seriously hope that the workload increase will not be absolutely horrid, because I'll seriously kill something if it gets too bad. I'm not kidding. And even though I have only had one 8:20 class, I already hate it. Not the class itself, because chemistry is actually kind of interesting, but waking up and eating was really annoying because my dad was bugging me about FINISHING eating and said I was putting too much sugar in my coffee. Well, I'm SORRY if I need caffienne when I wake up now, because I am going to be going to school earlier than I ever have in my life. It's called HIGH SCHOOL, dad. And even though YOU went to Military School, I'm going to Hippie High and we do things differently. I am defienetely not taking an 8:20 next year. On the other hand, I'm really liking my English teacher, because she doesn't super over analyze everything. My English teacher last year made us analyze and discuss "Lord of the Flies" WAY too much last year, and my English teacher this year said we're not going to go too deep into "Into Thin Air." YAY!

oh yeah

And by the way, I know I said that I caught some of it on video. I'm going to do a legit video (like with music and photos and everything) at some point.

the summary!

Well, I said I'd summarize when the song was done, and the song is done, so I'll summarize what happened at family camp. Mind you, I caught a lot of it on film, with the aid of my mother and my brother.
Anyway, Friday. We arrived at West River. It's a really awesome Methodist Retreat Center. They have just finished building a new dining hall, which is really nice on the inside, but on the other hand, it takes up a lot of of what used to be a really awesome field that was useful for football, ultimate Frisbee, and generally letting your kids run around like the lunatics you know they are. Anyway, now most of the field is gone to the Snazzy New Dining Hall. It really is snazzy, I just wish it had been behind the old one so we could have more space to run around crazy. Anyway, we get there, and then we have a cookout. And we eat food. And I film some of the kids running around crazy in the now-limited space, in order to upload it to the computer, slow it down, and set it to "chariots of fire," which I have not done yet. Anyway, I also interrogate some people ("so, _______, why are you psyched about family camp?" etc), and then eat food, and then film/ interrogate some more. Then we go inside for some icebreaker games/ make fools of ourselves/ have me film everyone looking really stupid and then putting it into a video. Then we go have a campfire, which usually happens on Saturday night, but it was decided that in order for more of the really little kids to get hyped up on chocolate and marshmallows, it was moved to Friday night. I really wish I had not dropped off the video camera in the room when I got my sweatshirt, because it would have been really funny to get a video of everyone singing, even if you could not see them. It would have been hilarious as a voice over.
Anyway, Saturday we wake up and then go eat and then hang out. I should have done some more filming, but I was lazy and I did not. Then we ate lunch and hung out some more. My dad and brother came for the day on Saturday, and I interrogated them. On film. After dinner, there was the square dancing, which was really fun. We had given an open invitation to the people from the other groups that were at West River at the same time we were, so some of them showed up and it was fun. My mom and brother and dad did some filming and photography during the dancing, because as much as I wanted to be a filmmaker, I wanted to actually get some exercise that day. That and the fact that I have a reputation for doing every dance for like three years now, so I COULD NOT not dance. Then, after the dancing, some people went to bed, then some people hung out and played games. Some other people and I played boggle, which was really fun.
This morning, I had staked out a spot before getting my food for breakfast, so I ended up sitting with a bunch of people from the other church. They were really nice, actually. We had a decent conversation about various things. Then I left because I had promised I would tag along with the little kid's nature walk, and I wanted to do some filming, etc, and I wanted to make sure I had a decent battery on the camera. So we did the walk, and then we did a church service out in the same area where the campfire circle is, and then we hung out and I interrogated people, and then we did a circle, and then we went home. The end.

family camp

Well, I am back from family camp. And this means that, however much I wish it was not, school is starting in two days. Family camp was AWESOME. However, family camp means school is soon. But more about that later. In a new post, I will summarize what happened at family camp, but first, I am going to finish listening to this AWESOME song from Pirates of the Caribbean that is playing on the Cinema Music Channel, available from Verizon FiOS. "I See Dead People In Boats," Hans Zimmer, 2007, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
It is over now.

ah, the joys of the FRIKKIN COLD!!

Well, I picked up a shift from someone at the pool, which means my work total for this week alone, just at the pool, is 25 hours, which is, I think, more than I had in all for the last pay period. Thus, I am getting a LOT of money this pay period. However, there still is the issue of IT'S FREAKING COLD OUT!!! And the issue of I'M GETTING FROZEN SOLID EVERY TIME I GET OUT OF THE POOL AFTER SWIMMING THE LANE ROPES!!! I'm serious, I have not been this cold during work since I had to shadow people way back in May. And I keep forgetting that it's going to be cold, because my shifts always seem to start at two, and it's reasonably warm out at two in the afternoon on a somewhat sunny day. So I'm always cold by the time my mother comes to drop off my dinner. Note to self: PUT SWEATSHIRT IN BACKPACK BEFORE LEAVING!!! On the other hand, on Monday, we were getting paid to do absolutely nothing for a while because there was nobody at the pool. It was crazy. But it was fun. That's the way it's been this week at the pool, because the weather is cooling down and so only the swimaholics and the eight and unders are going swimming. I got to clean the bathrooms almost by myself last night, too. I was the only girl guard on the 2-9 shift, so I got to clean the bathrooms mostly by myself. The snack bar girl helped a bit, though, which helped. And I was STILL done at almost the same time as the guys. I would have beaten them, except they had the squeegee, so I couldn't squeegee until they were done. But I was close!! That's what matters: I was CLOSE!

I love slow days at the pool

Well, here in The Last Week Before School Starts, I am working almost EVERY day this week (with the exception of Sunday, Friday, Saturday, and possibly Wednesday), and I am NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT! On the other hand, I AM getting paid. And since it IS september, and it IS only about 70 degrees out, yesterday was pretty slow. Which was nice. We went one guard the entire time yesterday, and there was one period where we were running NO guards because there was nobody there except for us. So, basically, we were getting paid to play Bingo and hang out. It was awesome. I hope it keeps up like this, so we can get paid to do nothing worthwhile. Which is nice. AND I got to swim the lane ropes across the pool when we closed the high dive, which I have not done in FOREVER, and which I LOVE doing. I do not know WHY I love swimming the lane ropes (maybe I miss swimming. I don't know.), but I do. It really makes my day. Especially when it's hot out. On the other hand, when I got out, it got cold ten minutes later and I had to ask my mom to bring a sweatshirt with dinner. The manager ate most of my dinner because I was not hungry because of the fact that I had gotten some snacks from the snack bar. I really love slow days. I really do. On the other hand, sometimes it isn't as fun to get paid to hang out and do nothing. Especially when "nothing" really is nothing. But for the most part, it's fun.