Well, I had a sudden realization this afternoon, and it's not a good sort of sudden realization. The sudden realization that I have had is that my NaNoWriMo novel is the most ridiculously complex thing I have ever dared to plan out or attempt to write. And I haven't even started writing it yet.
If it's as ridiculously complex as I think it will be, this does not bode well for November.
I mean really, there is every possible ridiculous subplot and character cliche you can possible imagine worked into this ridiculous work of fiction. The main character's really a princess, which she finds out later in the novel as a major turning point. The annoying jerk/ best friend/ tough guy turns out to be a huge romantic. The wizard knows everything, but he doesn't say how he knows everything; he just does. There's a fairy-pirate who's good with a sword and learns how to work his magic, and how to properly plunder, and uses both skills to good avail in the climax. The main character develops a crush on her best friend. The main character isn't the bravest of sorts, but it turns out she can kick serious ass if she needs too (which she does). The bad guy is wily and cunning, and also a complete softy. The main character has a twin brother and a little sister that she never knew existed, and it turns out that she, not the siblings, is the long-lost family member. The main character doesn't realize she's in love with the best friend/ tough guy until he starts reciting sonnets to her sister (at that point, she doesn't know she has siblings, so the other girl bugs her a lot). There's a prophecy. There's a magical sword that only a hero can wield (and the sister, whose name is Hero, doesn't count, because she doesn't do anything except create emotional conflict and fall in love with someone). The plot is set in motion by someone dying and going into a portal. My hero, a female, is named Romeo.
Yeah. This is going to be difficult. But, then again, who said writing a ridiculously complex novel in a month is easy? Who said writing a novel in a month, PERIOD, was easy? Who said writing a novel at ALL was an easy task?
Okay, I'm getting redundant, and you get the point.
Other News:
Yesterday, I finally picked up last year's NaNo novel in an attempt to complete it. I'm not sure how that's going to work out, since I can't find the original notebook and I don't remember the names of the deities they are saving in this section, but whatever. It'll be kind of ridiculous, because the last date on it was March 28, 2011 (the last time I worked on it, I mean. I date my prose so I can tell how much I've done in a day. It's a habit I picked up from NaNo), and I've sort of forgotten about the characters a little bit. And I'm going to have to type it at some point. But more on that when stuff of an important nature regarding this happens.
More Other News:
Do you know something that's ridiculously hard and possibly of no use to novelists, writers, or any creatively inclined high school student who already has all their math credits? CALCULUS. I don't understand it, nor am I going to use it, but I want to have an eighth class that is AP to bump my GPA. And so I can say I *sort of* know calculus.
This goes on the "Reasons Why This November Is Going To Be The Most Ridiculously Stressful Month Of My Life So Far" as number 548.
The other 547 reasons why November is going to be stressful involve college apps, calculus, novel writing, school, sleep, essays, college applications, calculus, novelling, auditions for the musical, auditions for District Chorus... the list is long. And a bit repetitive.
Also, my mother ordered Chris Baty's book, "No Plot? No Problem!" from Barnes and Noble, and it came yesterday. I'm extremely happy. For all of you who don't know, Chris Baty is the initial founder/ organizer of NaNoWriMo, and the book is essentially a NaNoWriMo survival guide for those who don't know how to manage to write a novel in a month and retain their sanity (and for those who do know but still want to buy the book because it's freaking CHRIS BATY, who is possibly one of the coolest people ever - right up there with Johnny Depp - and who's stepping down in January, much to my sadness).
Anyway, I'm going to go crazy over trying to understand calculus now. Hopefully I will understand it by November, so I will be able to breeze through it and somehow still write a novel, pass three AP classes, and still get enough sleep to stay sane.
But, for now, TO CALCULUS!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Of course I'm not... no, yes I am procrastinating
Well, the title says the truth. I am, indeed, procrastinating on homework. It's a horrible habit and I'm trying to kick it. Sadly, this is not going very well.
The good news is that I can do about half of my remaining work on the computer. The bad news is that the materials (the sheet with the essay prompts and my binder and my notebook) are all in my room, NOT in the room with the computer.
Sigh.
Anyway, in other news, I went to the Renaissance Festival (also known as the Renn Fest) on Saturday. Once again, it was supremely cool and I enjoyed it immensely. And, it being my last year for a while, I actually dressed up this year. Admittedly, my costume was probably the most ridiculous non-Renaissance costume while still attempting to be sort of Renaissance that I could have possibly put together, but I liked it and it was fun. I wore these super huge black fairy wings, a bodice, a lime green tank top, these wide blue patchwork trousers I got in Bern, and a cool blue mask I got in Venice. The only bad thing was that my wings, as I said before, were huge, so I had to walk sideways while in a lot of the stores and I even opted out of going to look at books because of the room I took up while wearing them was disproportionate to the room available in the shop. On the other hand, I was greeted by the King while I was waiting for my friends to finish with the books. That was cool. There was no photo of us two because my friends were in the book store, but it was still cool.
Probably because of the mask and the wings, I was in at least two photos of people taking photos of people who dressed up. I think. I saw at least one for sure because it was sort of close quarters (not awkard, but close enough to not have reasonable doubt that it was anybody else), but the other one was kind of at a distance so the person could have been zoomed in on someone else. Either way, both of the photos occurred while I was eating. I think I was either holding a chicken nugget or I was in the process of biting it when the first of the photos occurred. Yeah, really good photobomb of the subject there.
Anyhoo, what I got at the Renn Fest, in case you were wondering, was a henna tattoo of the Chinese symbol for luck, a pair of really cool leather cuffs that are embossed with Calico Jack's insignia on his Jolly Roger (I think... whoever has the one with the skull and the crossed swords underneath it) and a 'scoop.' The scoop is the forerunner of the hair net and the 16th century's solution for bad hair days for girls (I suppose it could apply to dudes, but I've never seen any photos or paintings or drawings of any guys wearing them, so I don't think so). It's worn on the crown of the head, and the wearer put all their hair inside it, like we do nowadays when you get a bad haircut. It's designed to hold back hair and look really cool because it's all lacy and colorful and stuff. I probably won't be wearing it in the same style of olde, but I like it anyway.
Anyways again, other news still: the musical was announced on Friday. This year, for the first time since our current director has been at our school, we aren't doing a show set in New York. Although I'm glad for the variety of setting, I'm kind of worried about the accents that we will have to pull off in order to successfully do the show without everyone judging us. Why?
The show this year is "Oklahoma."
Although I'm rather psyched about the show, I don't want to be ensemble AGAIN (but, of course, I'll probably wind up being ensemble anyway because I'm not a supremely brilliant singer), I don't know what other part I can pull off. I'm not sure I can do the accent very well without sounding like I'm trying too hard - with accents, it's easy to tell, especially with the Western accent.
Oh, well. November is going to be ridiculously busy anyway, what with NaNoWriMo and AND the musical AND college applications. Maybe that will finally make me lose and/ or ditch the title of being the World's Biggest Procrastinator.
Well, you can never start too early on that sort of thing. I'm going to go do things of an academic nature now.
Well, I'm going to sign off with the intent of doing things of an academic nature. Whether I actually wind up doing them is another matter entirely.
Farewell for now, anyway.
The good news is that I can do about half of my remaining work on the computer. The bad news is that the materials (the sheet with the essay prompts and my binder and my notebook) are all in my room, NOT in the room with the computer.
Sigh.
Anyway, in other news, I went to the Renaissance Festival (also known as the Renn Fest) on Saturday. Once again, it was supremely cool and I enjoyed it immensely. And, it being my last year for a while, I actually dressed up this year. Admittedly, my costume was probably the most ridiculous non-Renaissance costume while still attempting to be sort of Renaissance that I could have possibly put together, but I liked it and it was fun. I wore these super huge black fairy wings, a bodice, a lime green tank top, these wide blue patchwork trousers I got in Bern, and a cool blue mask I got in Venice. The only bad thing was that my wings, as I said before, were huge, so I had to walk sideways while in a lot of the stores and I even opted out of going to look at books because of the room I took up while wearing them was disproportionate to the room available in the shop. On the other hand, I was greeted by the King while I was waiting for my friends to finish with the books. That was cool. There was no photo of us two because my friends were in the book store, but it was still cool.
Probably because of the mask and the wings, I was in at least two photos of people taking photos of people who dressed up. I think. I saw at least one for sure because it was sort of close quarters (not awkard, but close enough to not have reasonable doubt that it was anybody else), but the other one was kind of at a distance so the person could have been zoomed in on someone else. Either way, both of the photos occurred while I was eating. I think I was either holding a chicken nugget or I was in the process of biting it when the first of the photos occurred. Yeah, really good photobomb of the subject there.
Anyhoo, what I got at the Renn Fest, in case you were wondering, was a henna tattoo of the Chinese symbol for luck, a pair of really cool leather cuffs that are embossed with Calico Jack's insignia on his Jolly Roger (I think... whoever has the one with the skull and the crossed swords underneath it) and a 'scoop.' The scoop is the forerunner of the hair net and the 16th century's solution for bad hair days for girls (I suppose it could apply to dudes, but I've never seen any photos or paintings or drawings of any guys wearing them, so I don't think so). It's worn on the crown of the head, and the wearer put all their hair inside it, like we do nowadays when you get a bad haircut. It's designed to hold back hair and look really cool because it's all lacy and colorful and stuff. I probably won't be wearing it in the same style of olde, but I like it anyway.
Anyways again, other news still: the musical was announced on Friday. This year, for the first time since our current director has been at our school, we aren't doing a show set in New York. Although I'm glad for the variety of setting, I'm kind of worried about the accents that we will have to pull off in order to successfully do the show without everyone judging us. Why?
The show this year is "Oklahoma."
Although I'm rather psyched about the show, I don't want to be ensemble AGAIN (but, of course, I'll probably wind up being ensemble anyway because I'm not a supremely brilliant singer), I don't know what other part I can pull off. I'm not sure I can do the accent very well without sounding like I'm trying too hard - with accents, it's easy to tell, especially with the Western accent.
Oh, well. November is going to be ridiculously busy anyway, what with NaNoWriMo and AND the musical AND college applications. Maybe that will finally make me lose and/ or ditch the title of being the World's Biggest Procrastinator.
Well, you can never start too early on that sort of thing. I'm going to go do things of an academic nature now.
Well, I'm going to sign off with the intent of doing things of an academic nature. Whether I actually wind up doing them is another matter entirely.
Farewell for now, anyway.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Literary shenanigans (and college)
Well, it's October. Guess what that means? Halloween! The Rennaissance Festival! Cooler weather!
And, of course, most importantly, final touches for all the preparations that I have been doing since August for NaNoWriMo in November. I must admit, I'm stoked about NaNoWriMo (You could tell? How?), mostly because I want to actually VERIFY this year. That would be nice. But, more importantly, I want to finish my novel this year. I didn't finish the novel last year (it's still in progress and I've barely touched it since April), and I want to finish this novel in a month, regardless of how many words I write, or how many words I go over the goal, or whatever. I WANT TO FINISH THIS, DARNIT!!
Or, rather, I want to start writing NOW so I can stop thinking about whether I should change my heroine's name to Imogen, whether or not I should add in something of hers that the villain wants, and to essentially quench all of those annoying nagging doubts similar to those. I just want to WRITE the darn thing and get it written so I can see how badly I wrote it and apologize to the characters profusely. (yes, I actually regard my characters as real people. Strange, I know.) And I really don't want to wait another month to do it. But I kind of have to. Life is annoying like that.
Anyway, in Supremely Important News: I have OFFICIALLY, as of last night, applied to college. WOOHOO!!! If I wind up being a slacker and not applying to any of the other schools I plan on applying to (not likely, as the rest are the ones that are higher on my "I WANT TO GO HERE" list but have later dates than the one I just applied to), at least I'll have applied to one school, and have the potential for getting in. Maybe. I mean, their GPA is a bit higher than mine, but still. The fact that it's DONE is very nice. That is one less school to worry about.
That means there are six more schools that I DO have to worry about. Brilliant.
I'm actually kind of excited for college. But first, I really want to survive high school.
You know, everyone says the last year in high school is the best, but so far, this statement has been proven utterly UNTRUE. There's more homework, less sleep, and I feel essentially the same as I did last year, just with a bit less anticipation for June because that means I'll be leaving the school that I've spent so much time at. And a bit more stressed out because of all the homework. And also, I am applying to college. You know. The usual stuff.
But I still spend every day in the library, I hang out with the same people I did last year, and I'm still auditioning for a lot of shows. I'm still doing tae kwon do, and I'm still knitting far more than is physically necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
So, really, people, unless you REALLY hate high school and would do absolutely ANYTHING to get out before your senior year, stay in school and don't waste too much time looking forward to senior year (wasting a little bit of time is normal. If you waste too much time, then senior year, especially prom, will most likely fall utterly flat of your expectations, and then life will suck. I mean, some of it's worth it, but please remember to be nice to the little kids and don't kill your grades for nothing).
Still, though. Senior year. I'm still somewhat excited, and, yes, I'm still hoping something crazy epic will happen this year. Maybe I'll get some lead part in a show, out of sympathy for being a senior, or maybe I'll finish NaNoWriMo, edit it for my senior project, and get a publishing deal by the end of the year. Who knows?
Oh, yeah. That's another thing that's different. Senior projects.
For the record, I have absolutely NO idea what I'm doing. I'm still throwing around ideas, and I have a long time to decide, so any suggestions while I'm still sane will be greatly appreciated (preferably nothing that involves too much knitting, too much writing, or not enough sleep).
In the meantime, I'll be in the library or in my room, writing, reading, doing homework, or procrastinating. Or applying to college. Or knitting. Or sleeping. One of those. Most likely.
Guess I should go and deal with some of that now, and stuff...
And, of course, most importantly, final touches for all the preparations that I have been doing since August for NaNoWriMo in November. I must admit, I'm stoked about NaNoWriMo (You could tell? How?), mostly because I want to actually VERIFY this year. That would be nice. But, more importantly, I want to finish my novel this year. I didn't finish the novel last year (it's still in progress and I've barely touched it since April), and I want to finish this novel in a month, regardless of how many words I write, or how many words I go over the goal, or whatever. I WANT TO FINISH THIS, DARNIT!!
Or, rather, I want to start writing NOW so I can stop thinking about whether I should change my heroine's name to Imogen, whether or not I should add in something of hers that the villain wants, and to essentially quench all of those annoying nagging doubts similar to those. I just want to WRITE the darn thing and get it written so I can see how badly I wrote it and apologize to the characters profusely. (yes, I actually regard my characters as real people. Strange, I know.) And I really don't want to wait another month to do it. But I kind of have to. Life is annoying like that.
Anyway, in Supremely Important News: I have OFFICIALLY, as of last night, applied to college. WOOHOO!!! If I wind up being a slacker and not applying to any of the other schools I plan on applying to (not likely, as the rest are the ones that are higher on my "I WANT TO GO HERE" list but have later dates than the one I just applied to), at least I'll have applied to one school, and have the potential for getting in. Maybe. I mean, their GPA is a bit higher than mine, but still. The fact that it's DONE is very nice. That is one less school to worry about.
That means there are six more schools that I DO have to worry about. Brilliant.
I'm actually kind of excited for college. But first, I really want to survive high school.
You know, everyone says the last year in high school is the best, but so far, this statement has been proven utterly UNTRUE. There's more homework, less sleep, and I feel essentially the same as I did last year, just with a bit less anticipation for June because that means I'll be leaving the school that I've spent so much time at. And a bit more stressed out because of all the homework. And also, I am applying to college. You know. The usual stuff.
But I still spend every day in the library, I hang out with the same people I did last year, and I'm still auditioning for a lot of shows. I'm still doing tae kwon do, and I'm still knitting far more than is physically necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
So, really, people, unless you REALLY hate high school and would do absolutely ANYTHING to get out before your senior year, stay in school and don't waste too much time looking forward to senior year (wasting a little bit of time is normal. If you waste too much time, then senior year, especially prom, will most likely fall utterly flat of your expectations, and then life will suck. I mean, some of it's worth it, but please remember to be nice to the little kids and don't kill your grades for nothing).
Still, though. Senior year. I'm still somewhat excited, and, yes, I'm still hoping something crazy epic will happen this year. Maybe I'll get some lead part in a show, out of sympathy for being a senior, or maybe I'll finish NaNoWriMo, edit it for my senior project, and get a publishing deal by the end of the year. Who knows?
Oh, yeah. That's another thing that's different. Senior projects.
For the record, I have absolutely NO idea what I'm doing. I'm still throwing around ideas, and I have a long time to decide, so any suggestions while I'm still sane will be greatly appreciated (preferably nothing that involves too much knitting, too much writing, or not enough sleep).
In the meantime, I'll be in the library or in my room, writing, reading, doing homework, or procrastinating. Or applying to college. Or knitting. Or sleeping. One of those. Most likely.
Guess I should go and deal with some of that now, and stuff...
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Argh, ack, and other a-words (and novels!)
I have returned! I know, I haven't started re-typing the Journal yet. That's mostly because of two reasons:
1. Homework (three AP classes and annoying non-AP homework) and
2. I have forgotten where I put the journal.
It's not here around the computer, but I don't really feel like going on a supermassive quest to go and find it, since I have two tests, two essays, an essay rewrite and a novella to read, all of which are due sometime between tomorrow and October 11th. Well, make that three essays. Yeah, senior year is hard. Therefore, please forgive me if I'm horribly inconsistent with posting in the near future (ahem... until December). I'm liable to be going insane, procrastinating, or doing homework. This is one of the saner moments I have had in a while.
Also, I have college applications to figure out. I'll be working on that mostly this weekend, because I will actually have ample TIME to crank out several essays and update everything that needs to be updated and email the people who are writing letters for me and stuff. This'll be hard, but, then again, who said senior year was easy? And whoever says that deserves a rewind to their first semester of senior year.
Oh, yeah. I'm doing National Novel Writing Month again. I have college applications due by November 1st, November 15th, and December 1st. The earliest deadline is one of the schools I'm only applying to because mother insists I need more fit/ reach schools, so I don't really care if I miss that deadline. I haven't even visited it. Well, I've SEEN it, but I haven't been through the whole shebang of the Official College Tour there.
On the upside, I have almost all of my plot and stuff worked out for NaNoWriMo this year, which is a lot better than last year. I mean, last year wasn't a complete fail, but I didn't verify and I could split the whole thing into five books and nobody would care, because the plot is that expansive. And the characters were good. I liked them, but there was so much I could have done with them.
That's what you get when you base a novel off of a video game. A long story and no snazzy developments. But I'll be working on it... at some piont.
This year, however, I'm completely prepared. Well, MOSTLY prepared. I still have to get some more Shakespeare quotes, but other than that, I think I'm okay. I have all my character names, plot twists, character developments, showdowns, sub-plots, and potential insults that I think I might need. Okay, I could also use some more plot twists of a non-generic variety, but other than that, I'm okay. And I have time to figure this out, right?
This year, I'm probably going to post every day again, for a daily update about where I am in the novel and such. I'm just scared that this year I won't have enough plot to cover 50,000 words. The Shakespeare should help some, but I don't know how much it will help.
That's why I need some good fantasy/ fairy tale plot twists, and maybe some more chances for soliloquies. And maybe some Madonna songs as well, for my villain.
Yes, he's one of THOSE villains, who pretends to do evil acts because he's being manipulated, but really has a talent for singing and a lot of dramatics. Or, rather, he THINKS he has a talent for singing. Like that new kid on "Glee" who has self-diagnosed Asberger's Syndrome (not sure if that is how you spell it) when really she just wants to avoid having any tact whatsoever. And also who is so off-key that even the person with the worst ear in the music world (and maybe a moderate ear outside of it) can tell that she is off. If a song is in the key of D, she will sing it in G. Without tact.
Anyway, the point of that rant is that that character, while completely moronic, is very well-played, and also that my villain thinks he can be the next American Idol (... or Mercanova Idol, as the case may be), but really he will be completely off-key and tone-deaf and comes up with horrendous plans. Unfortunately, he DOES go overboard with the whole I'm-A-Villain-So-I-Must-Dress-Like-It type thing.
I'm SO bad at creating villains.
All right, I'm going off to research Shakespearean monolouges, Shakespearean soliloquies, Shakespearean Quotes, and, best of all (my favorite, at least), Shakespearean INSULTS. And do all that homework that I have to do. And some character stuff. And stuff.
Yeah, I've gotta go.
Bye.
1. Homework (three AP classes and annoying non-AP homework) and
2. I have forgotten where I put the journal.
It's not here around the computer, but I don't really feel like going on a supermassive quest to go and find it, since I have two tests, two essays, an essay rewrite and a novella to read, all of which are due sometime between tomorrow and October 11th. Well, make that three essays. Yeah, senior year is hard. Therefore, please forgive me if I'm horribly inconsistent with posting in the near future (ahem... until December). I'm liable to be going insane, procrastinating, or doing homework. This is one of the saner moments I have had in a while.
Also, I have college applications to figure out. I'll be working on that mostly this weekend, because I will actually have ample TIME to crank out several essays and update everything that needs to be updated and email the people who are writing letters for me and stuff. This'll be hard, but, then again, who said senior year was easy? And whoever says that deserves a rewind to their first semester of senior year.
Oh, yeah. I'm doing National Novel Writing Month again. I have college applications due by November 1st, November 15th, and December 1st. The earliest deadline is one of the schools I'm only applying to because mother insists I need more fit/ reach schools, so I don't really care if I miss that deadline. I haven't even visited it. Well, I've SEEN it, but I haven't been through the whole shebang of the Official College Tour there.
On the upside, I have almost all of my plot and stuff worked out for NaNoWriMo this year, which is a lot better than last year. I mean, last year wasn't a complete fail, but I didn't verify and I could split the whole thing into five books and nobody would care, because the plot is that expansive. And the characters were good. I liked them, but there was so much I could have done with them.
That's what you get when you base a novel off of a video game. A long story and no snazzy developments. But I'll be working on it... at some piont.
This year, however, I'm completely prepared. Well, MOSTLY prepared. I still have to get some more Shakespeare quotes, but other than that, I think I'm okay. I have all my character names, plot twists, character developments, showdowns, sub-plots, and potential insults that I think I might need. Okay, I could also use some more plot twists of a non-generic variety, but other than that, I'm okay. And I have time to figure this out, right?
This year, I'm probably going to post every day again, for a daily update about where I am in the novel and such. I'm just scared that this year I won't have enough plot to cover 50,000 words. The Shakespeare should help some, but I don't know how much it will help.
That's why I need some good fantasy/ fairy tale plot twists, and maybe some more chances for soliloquies. And maybe some Madonna songs as well, for my villain.
Yes, he's one of THOSE villains, who pretends to do evil acts because he's being manipulated, but really has a talent for singing and a lot of dramatics. Or, rather, he THINKS he has a talent for singing. Like that new kid on "Glee" who has self-diagnosed Asberger's Syndrome (not sure if that is how you spell it) when really she just wants to avoid having any tact whatsoever. And also who is so off-key that even the person with the worst ear in the music world (and maybe a moderate ear outside of it) can tell that she is off. If a song is in the key of D, she will sing it in G. Without tact.
Anyway, the point of that rant is that that character, while completely moronic, is very well-played, and also that my villain thinks he can be the next American Idol (... or Mercanova Idol, as the case may be), but really he will be completely off-key and tone-deaf and comes up with horrendous plans. Unfortunately, he DOES go overboard with the whole I'm-A-Villain-So-I-Must-Dress-Like-It type thing.
I'm SO bad at creating villains.
All right, I'm going off to research Shakespearean monolouges, Shakespearean soliloquies, Shakespearean Quotes, and, best of all (my favorite, at least), Shakespearean INSULTS. And do all that homework that I have to do. And some character stuff. And stuff.
Yeah, I've gotta go.
Bye.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Ridiculosity and resumption of Europe Journal
I must admit, I have been absolutely horrendous about posting consistently. I'm AWARE that I haven't finished posting the Europe Journal (and if you weren't aware of my lack of finishing the posting of the Europe Journal, then... well... I'm telling you now). HOWEVER, that will be fixed this weekend. And hopefully soon thereafter.
Of course, that depends on whether I actually finish the college applications I was planning to do this weekend. And whether I finish reading about the Federalist Papers and judicial review and other government stuff. And stuff of that nature. And all the other occupational hazards of being a senior in high school. I'm aware that I'm not good at posting regularly. I will have you know that it isn't my fault. It's the fault of having enough HOMEWORK to get on my nerves and prevent me from posting. Also, I am out of the habit of posting regularly. That's another thing I will have to fix. Anyway, I hope it'll be fixed.
Anyway, in other news, if I haven't said this before (and I am pretty sure I have), my school's drama department is AMAZING. I just got back from the first black box play of the year, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." It was AMAZINGLY well-performed, especially for a high school show. Maybe it was BECAUSE it was a high school show is the reason why it was so amazing. Anyway, it was really good and I recommend it to EVERYONE who is not doing anything tomorrow night.
It's a very dark show, that's true, but it's a very cool one. Even though the main character dies and the annoying character prevails and all is not essentially well, but it IS well because one of the most tormented characters finally goes free, but whatever. It's complex. And that's what's good about it.
Anyhow, the worst part of senior year has been confirmed: I have lots of homework. It sucks. Although I like doing homework (yes, I'm a dork), I don't like settling down to do it, and it's the sort of homework that I have to sit down and do for around half an hour a day (it's mostly long-term stuff) or else I'll procrastinate until the night before, and then flip out because I haven't done something that's worth twenty percent of my grade. So I DO have daily homework, but yet I don't. It's hard to explain, but it exists, and doing that homework every single day and not trying to BS it is the hardest part. Except for actually doing AP English, and understanding whether or not we actually have stuff to do for AP government. And, when I DO have AB Calculus homework, understanding what it was my teacher said in class that morning. Eventually it's figure-out-able, but not before I've felt very stupid for half an hour because I feel like I should remember the content of the assignment, but I don't.
Hopefully I won't have to do that for the rest of my life.
Hopefully I won't have to ever use Calculus in my future, especially since I'm planning on studying Shakespeare, theatre, literature, and/ or history in college.
Of course, going to college requires applying...
which I have to do tomorrow...
Along with not sleeping in...
And also homework...
And also room-cleaning...
Welcome to high school. I hope this doesn't go on for the rest of my life.
Because that would majorly suck.
I actually don't mind the reading part of the homework. It's the understanding part that I don't like. See, it's not that I don't get some of it. I DO get a lot of it. It's the fact that it's required reading and I HAVE to read it in order to pass and get into a good college and not have to actually use calculus in my future. Not that I would anyway. I don't think writers or actors use calculus. Do they?
I'm not sure.
In other news, I'm tired and I need to sleep.
Also, if I haven't posted this already (I may have, I don't remember and I don't feel like going back and checking), there is a link that you can follow here that is all of the professionally-taken photos of the Shakespeare Camp I was in. The Teen Ensemble (the one I was in) is about 2/3rds of the way down (the photographer intentionally took photos of random blank white things to separate the three groups, and ours is after the second grayish-white photo). There are some good photos of me dying and fighting and stuff. And yeah.
Okay, goodnight.
Of course, that depends on whether I actually finish the college applications I was planning to do this weekend. And whether I finish reading about the Federalist Papers and judicial review and other government stuff. And stuff of that nature. And all the other occupational hazards of being a senior in high school. I'm aware that I'm not good at posting regularly. I will have you know that it isn't my fault. It's the fault of having enough HOMEWORK to get on my nerves and prevent me from posting. Also, I am out of the habit of posting regularly. That's another thing I will have to fix. Anyway, I hope it'll be fixed.
Anyway, in other news, if I haven't said this before (and I am pretty sure I have), my school's drama department is AMAZING. I just got back from the first black box play of the year, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." It was AMAZINGLY well-performed, especially for a high school show. Maybe it was BECAUSE it was a high school show is the reason why it was so amazing. Anyway, it was really good and I recommend it to EVERYONE who is not doing anything tomorrow night.
It's a very dark show, that's true, but it's a very cool one. Even though the main character dies and the annoying character prevails and all is not essentially well, but it IS well because one of the most tormented characters finally goes free, but whatever. It's complex. And that's what's good about it.
Anyhow, the worst part of senior year has been confirmed: I have lots of homework. It sucks. Although I like doing homework (yes, I'm a dork), I don't like settling down to do it, and it's the sort of homework that I have to sit down and do for around half an hour a day (it's mostly long-term stuff) or else I'll procrastinate until the night before, and then flip out because I haven't done something that's worth twenty percent of my grade. So I DO have daily homework, but yet I don't. It's hard to explain, but it exists, and doing that homework every single day and not trying to BS it is the hardest part. Except for actually doing AP English, and understanding whether or not we actually have stuff to do for AP government. And, when I DO have AB Calculus homework, understanding what it was my teacher said in class that morning. Eventually it's figure-out-able, but not before I've felt very stupid for half an hour because I feel like I should remember the content of the assignment, but I don't.
Hopefully I won't have to do that for the rest of my life.
Hopefully I won't have to ever use Calculus in my future, especially since I'm planning on studying Shakespeare, theatre, literature, and/ or history in college.
Of course, going to college requires applying...
which I have to do tomorrow...
Along with not sleeping in...
And also homework...
And also room-cleaning...
Welcome to high school. I hope this doesn't go on for the rest of my life.
Because that would majorly suck.
I actually don't mind the reading part of the homework. It's the understanding part that I don't like. See, it's not that I don't get some of it. I DO get a lot of it. It's the fact that it's required reading and I HAVE to read it in order to pass and get into a good college and not have to actually use calculus in my future. Not that I would anyway. I don't think writers or actors use calculus. Do they?
I'm not sure.
In other news, I'm tired and I need to sleep.
Also, if I haven't posted this already (I may have, I don't remember and I don't feel like going back and checking), there is a link that you can follow here that is all of the professionally-taken photos of the Shakespeare Camp I was in. The Teen Ensemble (the one I was in) is about 2/3rds of the way down (the photographer intentionally took photos of random blank white things to separate the three groups, and ours is after the second grayish-white photo). There are some good photos of me dying and fighting and stuff. And yeah.
Okay, goodnight.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
SEEENIORRR!
I am now a senior in high school. AAAH!!! However, my recent summer adventures have aided me in comprehending stuff. For example, analyzing Shakespeare in Camp Shakespeare set the foundation for me figuring out what my teacher is saying in AP English 12 (a literature course).
Of course, the symbolism is there if you look for it (and if you know what you're looking for) either way, but now I know a bit of what to look for in wording just because of Shakespeare Camp. It's awesome! :)
However, I DO have homework. And it sucks. A lot. I'm not at the point where I have to stay up until midnight (... yet) but I've definitely had less work in the first week of school.
I'm still pumped for this year, though. I mean, I LIKE having a social life and all, but I also LIKE doing homework.
That made me sound like SUCH a dork.
But still. I LIKE being productive. I LIKE work. I LIKE doing this sort of thing. As long as it doesn't take up too much time and as long as I'm still learning stuff, and stuff. If I'm not learning stuff, it just kind of sucks.
Like the rain today. I'm pretty sure the rain stops and starts on a schedule similar to mine - it only starts when I leave for school in the morning, when I may potentially take an outdoor route from one class to another, and when it comes time for me to walk home. It's rather annoying, and it's happened for the last two days.
Today, I arrived in Earth Space five minutes late and looking like I had just taken a light shower.
And when I got home, I was dripping.
Yeah, this does not bode well for the rest of the school year, weather-wise. Oh, well.
In other news, I have reasonably figured out what my List of Favorite Classes This Year is:
1. AP Lit/ Concert Choir/ Women's Camerata
2. Earth Space
3. creative writing
4. AB Calculus
5. AP Government
I don't know where conservatory lies because I haven't had conservatory yet. Our first meeting is tomorrow after school. I'm excited.
Well, it's time for me to go and read and knit and do a lot of other things.
I guess.
Farewell!
Of course, the symbolism is there if you look for it (and if you know what you're looking for) either way, but now I know a bit of what to look for in wording just because of Shakespeare Camp. It's awesome! :)
However, I DO have homework. And it sucks. A lot. I'm not at the point where I have to stay up until midnight (... yet) but I've definitely had less work in the first week of school.
I'm still pumped for this year, though. I mean, I LIKE having a social life and all, but I also LIKE doing homework.
That made me sound like SUCH a dork.
But still. I LIKE being productive. I LIKE work. I LIKE doing this sort of thing. As long as it doesn't take up too much time and as long as I'm still learning stuff, and stuff. If I'm not learning stuff, it just kind of sucks.
Like the rain today. I'm pretty sure the rain stops and starts on a schedule similar to mine - it only starts when I leave for school in the morning, when I may potentially take an outdoor route from one class to another, and when it comes time for me to walk home. It's rather annoying, and it's happened for the last two days.
Today, I arrived in Earth Space five minutes late and looking like I had just taken a light shower.
And when I got home, I was dripping.
Yeah, this does not bode well for the rest of the school year, weather-wise. Oh, well.
In other news, I have reasonably figured out what my List of Favorite Classes This Year is:
1. AP Lit/ Concert Choir/ Women's Camerata
2. Earth Space
3. creative writing
4. AB Calculus
5. AP Government
I don't know where conservatory lies because I haven't had conservatory yet. Our first meeting is tomorrow after school. I'm excited.
Well, it's time for me to go and read and knit and do a lot of other things.
I guess.
Farewell!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Mayhem
Tonight was the Night of Mayhem for all the people at my school who will be seniors in fewer than twelve hours. It was quite a hilarious experience. There were a few things that I would NOT do (underwear on the Metro, for example... I refuse to go public in my underwear, period). There had to be photographic evidence of everything (which was part of my refusal to be wearing basically nothing), so there's photos of me getting a piggyback ride from a stranger in the mall, a photo of us re-creating the Iwo Jima memorial, and us doing 'gang signs' with my dad. Also, us 'playing quidditch' in the garage of one of our group members. And us with someone who's going into eigth grade. And a lot of other crazy shenanigans. That's why it's called the Night of Mayhem. Because there's a lot of mayhem.
I'm mostly ready to go back to school now, but not entirely. I'm not sure I am ready to leave my school, but I am also sort of pumped for college. I really have no idea what I want to do.
So... senior year.
Thinking back to freshman year, or even sixth grade, when I started at this school, I thought all the seniors were maniacs. Now I KNOW all the seniors are maniacs. But all the seniors aren't as maniacal as I originally thought (but they're only not-as-maniacal by a little bit). I guess the difference is that I'm now a senior, and I'm no longer eleven, and I've come to accept that tampons are a fact of life (seniors often throw tampons into the crowd when they storm the stage on the first day. Back then, it was traumatizing. Now... well, I'm a teenage girl who is reasonably interested in things that require movement. Tampons are a fact of life) and that lunacy is a good thing. Most of the time. Except when it isn't. So... yeah. I'm sort of tired, so I should be going to bed now. Goodnight.
I'm mostly ready to go back to school now, but not entirely. I'm not sure I am ready to leave my school, but I am also sort of pumped for college. I really have no idea what I want to do.
So... senior year.
Thinking back to freshman year, or even sixth grade, when I started at this school, I thought all the seniors were maniacs. Now I KNOW all the seniors are maniacs. But all the seniors aren't as maniacal as I originally thought (but they're only not-as-maniacal by a little bit). I guess the difference is that I'm now a senior, and I'm no longer eleven, and I've come to accept that tampons are a fact of life (seniors often throw tampons into the crowd when they storm the stage on the first day. Back then, it was traumatizing. Now... well, I'm a teenage girl who is reasonably interested in things that require movement. Tampons are a fact of life) and that lunacy is a good thing. Most of the time. Except when it isn't. So... yeah. I'm sort of tired, so I should be going to bed now. Goodnight.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
A NON-EUROPEAN POST
As summer winds down, I have a few things to say to you:
1. I DON'T WANT TO BE A SENIOR!
2. I will be out of town starting on Friday evening, so I'm going to not be posting updates from the Europe Journal.
3. it's time for KnitterWriterBlogger's List of Why She Is Pumped For School.
KnitterWriterBlogger's List of Reasons Why She Is Pumped for School:
1. Friends! (I'll see them!)
2. Senior year! (this is both yay and boo - Senior-hood, but I'm LEAVING!)
3. seeing all the sixth graders and remembering when I was in their place. And laughing.
4. THEATRE!
5. College apps!!! (yeah... no)
6. I'm actually pumped for classes. I really hope AP Government doesn't turn out to be as monotonous as the summer book is (it's only slightly less dry than the average history textbook. This does not bode well.)
7. I'm also kind of pumped for senior projects. I know that's not until May or June, but still. I'm excited.
8. Decorating the school for the first day - I've seen it around for six years; now, in my seventh, I was the scribe for the Decoration Committee (we let out an hour ago. The senior class had an ice cream social/ First Day meeting this evening, and there was the Decoration Committee and the Senior Skit Committee... and, judging by what my informants/ friends have told me, there may be fewer Junior Girl jokes, if at all. FINALLY SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE HAS HAPPENED! RIDDING THE SCHOOL OF A SUPER-OLD JOKE!).
9. Meeting new people!
I also signed up to tour sixth graders and new students around the school tomorrow, which means... I should have started going to bed a while ago. I have to leave the house, fully awake, fed, prepped, and aware of what's going on at 8:30 AM tomorrow. Yeah, I need sleep.
Goodnight.
1. I DON'T WANT TO BE A SENIOR!
2. I will be out of town starting on Friday evening, so I'm going to not be posting updates from the Europe Journal.
3. it's time for KnitterWriterBlogger's List of Why She Is Pumped For School.
KnitterWriterBlogger's List of Reasons Why She Is Pumped for School:
1. Friends! (I'll see them!)
2. Senior year! (this is both yay and boo - Senior-hood, but I'm LEAVING!)
3. seeing all the sixth graders and remembering when I was in their place. And laughing.
4. THEATRE!
5. College apps!!! (yeah... no)
6. I'm actually pumped for classes. I really hope AP Government doesn't turn out to be as monotonous as the summer book is (it's only slightly less dry than the average history textbook. This does not bode well.)
7. I'm also kind of pumped for senior projects. I know that's not until May or June, but still. I'm excited.
8. Decorating the school for the first day - I've seen it around for six years; now, in my seventh, I was the scribe for the Decoration Committee (we let out an hour ago. The senior class had an ice cream social/ First Day meeting this evening, and there was the Decoration Committee and the Senior Skit Committee... and, judging by what my informants/ friends have told me, there may be fewer Junior Girl jokes, if at all. FINALLY SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE HAS HAPPENED! RIDDING THE SCHOOL OF A SUPER-OLD JOKE!).
9. Meeting new people!
I also signed up to tour sixth graders and new students around the school tomorrow, which means... I should have started going to bed a while ago. I have to leave the house, fully awake, fed, prepped, and aware of what's going on at 8:30 AM tomorrow. Yeah, I need sleep.
Goodnight.
Entry # 24, Europe Journal
Hotel, Florence 8:30 PM 5 August, 2011
Yes, I know, I didn't write yesterday. Honestly, the only things I remember are that I thought Florence was a lot like New York (old buildings, very moving energy, lots of graffiti, lots of museums, drivers who will run you over if you're still in the road when they get to the intersection), that there were so many paintings of Jesus and Madonna in the Uffizi that they all started to look the same (same with all the sculptures we say), that I liked our hotel, and that the hostess at the restaurant we went to liked my Bernese trousers (the multi-colored patchwork ones that are really, REALLY nice for Italy weather). And that a random guy in the Uffizi gave me his map to write on instead of taking notes on my hand of people to look up (Ariadne and someone else). *I had forgotten my notebook*. And I got a book of DaVinci's notebooks. I'm jumping around and reading bits and pieces of it, since most of it is... well, typed-up notes that DaVinci did.
Anyway, notes of today:
- woke up
- changed
- ate
- continued getting ready
- made us all late to L'Accademia
- I didn't have my watch with me for most of the changing time
- Also, NOBODY TOLD ME we had to be there at nine fifteen. HAD I KNOWN, I would have RUSHED MORE.
- L'Accademia = really cool (museum)
- saw Michelangelo's "David"
- three times my height AT LEAST
- since he is HUGE and I am a TEENAGER and he is a CLASSICAL STATUE, "David" caused me to inquire into the accuracy of the proportions of David's anatomy
- I'M SORRY I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE.
- Afterwards, I saw even MORE paintings of Madonna and Jesus
- if there are any such paintings in Rome, I shall begin to boycott Italian Museums.
- I LOVE Jesus and I LOVE Mary, but I really do NOT like seeing fair too many paintings of them in the space of half an hour
- after museum, we went to lunch at the hotel
- went to market
- saw cool stuff
- didn't buy anything
- didn't really want to
- went to gardens south of river
- very boring
- passed by Athena/ Minerva
- no plaque saying it was her
- giveaway - the owl on her shield (that's her symbol)
- went to dinner
- ate pizza
- had good food
- returned to the hotel
- began journaling
- wrote some letters
- did some reading
- took a shower
- went to bed
- not exactly in that order
- whatever
- space-killing now
- goodnight
- will (maybe) write tomorrow
Yes, I know, I didn't write yesterday. Honestly, the only things I remember are that I thought Florence was a lot like New York (old buildings, very moving energy, lots of graffiti, lots of museums, drivers who will run you over if you're still in the road when they get to the intersection), that there were so many paintings of Jesus and Madonna in the Uffizi that they all started to look the same (same with all the sculptures we say), that I liked our hotel, and that the hostess at the restaurant we went to liked my Bernese trousers (the multi-colored patchwork ones that are really, REALLY nice for Italy weather). And that a random guy in the Uffizi gave me his map to write on instead of taking notes on my hand of people to look up (Ariadne and someone else). *I had forgotten my notebook*. And I got a book of DaVinci's notebooks. I'm jumping around and reading bits and pieces of it, since most of it is... well, typed-up notes that DaVinci did.
Anyway, notes of today:
- woke up
- changed
- ate
- continued getting ready
- made us all late to L'Accademia
- I didn't have my watch with me for most of the changing time
- Also, NOBODY TOLD ME we had to be there at nine fifteen. HAD I KNOWN, I would have RUSHED MORE.
- L'Accademia = really cool (museum)
- saw Michelangelo's "David"
- three times my height AT LEAST
- since he is HUGE and I am a TEENAGER and he is a CLASSICAL STATUE, "David" caused me to inquire into the accuracy of the proportions of David's anatomy
- I'M SORRY I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE.
- Afterwards, I saw even MORE paintings of Madonna and Jesus
- if there are any such paintings in Rome, I shall begin to boycott Italian Museums.
- I LOVE Jesus and I LOVE Mary, but I really do NOT like seeing fair too many paintings of them in the space of half an hour
- after museum, we went to lunch at the hotel
- went to market
- saw cool stuff
- didn't buy anything
- didn't really want to
- went to gardens south of river
- very boring
- passed by Athena/ Minerva
- no plaque saying it was her
- giveaway - the owl on her shield (that's her symbol)
- went to dinner
- ate pizza
- had good food
- returned to the hotel
- began journaling
- wrote some letters
- did some reading
- took a shower
- went to bed
- not exactly in that order
- whatever
- space-killing now
- goodnight
- will (maybe) write tomorrow
Monday, August 29, 2011
Entry # 23, Europe Journal
11:37 PM Wed, 3 August, 2011 Venice hotel
I shall try to make this short because I want to read before bed.
- woke up 7:30 ish?
- breakfast by 8:00 ish
- cool bread
- Nutella!!
- bowl of fruit
- accidentally put a LOT of SALT in coffee/ milk
- ew
- went to cool former palace/ art museum (Doge's Palace)
- palace art = museum
- super cool
- after a while, people started looking the same
- saw Allison from the Chalet (Boston group) + her family
- super awesome
- lost a contact lens
- was really annoying and kind of gave me a headache
- saw the dungeons
- felt like I was on "Cities of the Underworld" (it was a show on the History Channel a while ago. I'm not sure if it's still on, but it was about underground cities and the stories behind them).
- several centuries of graffiti still on the walls
- I was the only one fully interested in seeing the dungeons fully through
- Allison was a bit PO'd - not enough art in dungeons?
- deemed the dungeons very inappropriate and worthy of being closed off to the public
- I felt like a death-obsessed lunatic for being more interested in the dungeons, armory, and combat paintings than in sculptures/ paintings of God/ gods and paintings of Jesus (no offense to the Gods/ Jesus)
- they were numerous, so they began to run together
- after palace, we went to the line for San Marco
- really old and really awesome
- for 2 Euros, we looped around the front altar area, with more cool paintings and art and THE TOMB OF SAN MARCO!!! a;dkfj;awl ekjf!!!!!!!!!!
- for those of you unfamiliar with Christianity, San Marco (Saint Mark) was one of the authors of the Bible. He was one of the four Gospels, meaning he was one of the people who documented the life of Jesus.
- Saw his TOMB!!!
- went back to hotel
- chilled for about an hour
- went shopping
- saw lots of stores
- my favorite = yarn store
- got 2 self-patterning acrylic skeins
- in dollars, they were around 2.25
- the same weight yarn/ size skein at Michael's = around 2.50 - 3.00
- 2 cool bamboo skeins
- pretty sure Michael's doesn't stock 100% bamboo (or anything 100% non-synthetic)
- SCORE!
- went to dinner at same place as yesterday
- went to opera - "Barber of Seville"
- four performers + line less maid
- rather than stage hands budging sets in between scenes, the audience + four-person pit budge their butts to another room in place
- really good
- funny
- well performed
- goodnight
I shall try to make this short because I want to read before bed.
- woke up 7:30 ish?
- breakfast by 8:00 ish
- cool bread
- Nutella!!
- bowl of fruit
- accidentally put a LOT of SALT in coffee/ milk
- ew
- went to cool former palace/ art museum (Doge's Palace)
- palace art = museum
- super cool
- after a while, people started looking the same
- saw Allison from the Chalet (Boston group) + her family
- super awesome
- lost a contact lens
- was really annoying and kind of gave me a headache
- saw the dungeons
- felt like I was on "Cities of the Underworld" (it was a show on the History Channel a while ago. I'm not sure if it's still on, but it was about underground cities and the stories behind them).
- several centuries of graffiti still on the walls
- I was the only one fully interested in seeing the dungeons fully through
- Allison was a bit PO'd - not enough art in dungeons?
- deemed the dungeons very inappropriate and worthy of being closed off to the public
- I felt like a death-obsessed lunatic for being more interested in the dungeons, armory, and combat paintings than in sculptures/ paintings of God/ gods and paintings of Jesus (no offense to the Gods/ Jesus)
- they were numerous, so they began to run together
- after palace, we went to the line for San Marco
- really old and really awesome
- for 2 Euros, we looped around the front altar area, with more cool paintings and art and THE TOMB OF SAN MARCO!!! a;dkfj;awl ekjf!!!!!!!!!!
- for those of you unfamiliar with Christianity, San Marco (Saint Mark) was one of the authors of the Bible. He was one of the four Gospels, meaning he was one of the people who documented the life of Jesus.
- Saw his TOMB!!!
- went back to hotel
- chilled for about an hour
- went shopping
- saw lots of stores
- my favorite = yarn store
- got 2 self-patterning acrylic skeins
- in dollars, they were around 2.25
- the same weight yarn/ size skein at Michael's = around 2.50 - 3.00
- 2 cool bamboo skeins
- pretty sure Michael's doesn't stock 100% bamboo (or anything 100% non-synthetic)
- SCORE!
- went to dinner at same place as yesterday
- went to opera - "Barber of Seville"
- four performers + line less maid
- rather than stage hands budging sets in between scenes, the audience + four-person pit budge their butts to another room in place
- really good
- funny
- well performed
- goodnight
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Entry # 22, Europe Journal
10:09 PM Hotel, Venice Tuesday, 2 August 2011
I shall do a brief summary of yesterday/ today. Hopefully it will meet page count.
yesterday:
(picking up where I left off)
- lunch
- woodcarver
- bought earrings + cow + pins + cross
- returned
- early dinner
- closing
- Swiss National day
- dancing
- bagpipes (surprise before dinner; they came up and played at the Chalet)
- we were in parade
- sang Chalet song
- returned
- finished packing
- had to sit on suitcase to zip it up properly
- then the month happened...
- all the stuff to deal with it = in the most inconvenient place possible
- dealt with it anyway
TODAY:
- woke up at six AM
- found last-minute stuff
- finished last-minute packing
- departure
- caught bus
- Allison = pessimistic about our likelihood of catching the train
- had three minutes between the bus stopping and the train leaving
- her fears proved false
- actually wound up with five minutes
- got train
- we had reserved seats
- turned out we boarded the wrong car
- had to move
- hard to navigate with suitcase and backpack on
- made it to car
- at first stop, got off, sprinted to end, got back on
- made it before train left again
- barely
- Allison declared it to be the worst train ride ever
- I pointed out that it wasn't because the car hadn't exploded yet
- read most of the way
- made it to Venice
- travelled by boat a lot
- discovered that the canals are similar to the streets at home
- there are SUV-type boats and sedan-type boats
- occasionally a limo/ gondola
- occasional vintage/ sports-vehicle/ convertible
- lots of traffic
- very hectic
- some trash that people are too lazy to put into cans, so they pitch it out during travel time
- lots of cool architecture
- mask stores EVERYWHERE
- hotel = awesome
- went to the top of the bell tower
- view = WHOA!
- you could see all of Venice
- ate dinner
- super good
- I had ravioli
- walked around
- looked at all the super-cool masks
- lots of masks with bits painted like sheet music
- lots of long-nosed ones
- some cool Phantom of the Opera masks/ sort-of-Phantom masks
- for example, half the face + the other eye would be covered
- returned
- wrote journal
- read more
- bed
I shall do a brief summary of yesterday/ today. Hopefully it will meet page count.
yesterday:
(picking up where I left off)
- lunch
- woodcarver
- bought earrings + cow + pins + cross
- returned
- early dinner
- closing
- Swiss National day
- dancing
- bagpipes (surprise before dinner; they came up and played at the Chalet)
- we were in parade
- sang Chalet song
- returned
- finished packing
- had to sit on suitcase to zip it up properly
- then the month happened...
- all the stuff to deal with it = in the most inconvenient place possible
- dealt with it anyway
TODAY:
- woke up at six AM
- found last-minute stuff
- finished last-minute packing
- departure
- caught bus
- Allison = pessimistic about our likelihood of catching the train
- had three minutes between the bus stopping and the train leaving
- her fears proved false
- actually wound up with five minutes
- got train
- we had reserved seats
- turned out we boarded the wrong car
- had to move
- hard to navigate with suitcase and backpack on
- made it to car
- at first stop, got off, sprinted to end, got back on
- made it before train left again
- barely
- Allison declared it to be the worst train ride ever
- I pointed out that it wasn't because the car hadn't exploded yet
- read most of the way
- made it to Venice
- travelled by boat a lot
- discovered that the canals are similar to the streets at home
- there are SUV-type boats and sedan-type boats
- occasionally a limo/ gondola
- occasional vintage/ sports-vehicle/ convertible
- lots of traffic
- very hectic
- some trash that people are too lazy to put into cans, so they pitch it out during travel time
- lots of cool architecture
- mask stores EVERYWHERE
- hotel = awesome
- went to the top of the bell tower
- view = WHOA!
- you could see all of Venice
- ate dinner
- super good
- I had ravioli
- walked around
- looked at all the super-cool masks
- lots of masks with bits painted like sheet music
- lots of long-nosed ones
- some cool Phantom of the Opera masks/ sort-of-Phantom masks
- for example, half the face + the other eye would be covered
- returned
- wrote journal
- read more
- bed
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Entry # 21, Europe Journal
1 August, 2011 Monday 11:43 AM above the gorge.
Well, we rappelled down into a gorge today. It was actually rather fun. Next time I rappel into a gorge, though, I'm bringing biking gloves. It's not that the rope gave me blisters or anything - it's that a lot of the ropes are really dirty and if the gorge is really deep, probably WILL give you blisters. I wasn't horrendously scared. It was kind of scary in the second go because you couldn't see over the edge so you basically had to go down blind. And the second bit was the longer of the two.
The most annoying part was when I got my foot stuck in a crevice at the beginning. It didn't hurt; I didn't pop, twist, or sprain anything; I just couldn't move anywhere for about a minute because I couldn't figure out where to push off from.
Anyway, I was distracted for a moment from writing f...
Mom is singing "The Sound of Music" in her 'opera' voice. It's crazy. And she can't remember all the words. It's apparently her dream to sing "Sound of Music" in the Alps, and then she got all fake-pissed when we told her that most of it's set in Austria, not Switzerland. It's kind of funny that she couldn't remember all the words and had to be spoon-fed them.
But she lived the dream.
In opera.
Well, we rappelled down into a gorge today. It was actually rather fun. Next time I rappel into a gorge, though, I'm bringing biking gloves. It's not that the rope gave me blisters or anything - it's that a lot of the ropes are really dirty and if the gorge is really deep, probably WILL give you blisters. I wasn't horrendously scared. It was kind of scary in the second go because you couldn't see over the edge so you basically had to go down blind. And the second bit was the longer of the two.
The most annoying part was when I got my foot stuck in a crevice at the beginning. It didn't hurt; I didn't pop, twist, or sprain anything; I just couldn't move anywhere for about a minute because I couldn't figure out where to push off from.
Anyway, I was distracted for a moment from writing f...
Mom is singing "The Sound of Music" in her 'opera' voice. It's crazy. And she can't remember all the words. It's apparently her dream to sing "Sound of Music" in the Alps, and then she got all fake-pissed when we told her that most of it's set in Austria, not Switzerland. It's kind of funny that she couldn't remember all the words and had to be spoon-fed them.
But she lived the dream.
In opera.
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