Friday, September 27, 2013

A Gabajillion Things a Freshman Should Know

So. I guess it's really not probably a gabajillion (which, by the way, is a number that's bigger than anything you can think of but smaller than infinity) things, because that would take too long. But as a senior who wished some person exactly like me would impart knowledge upon me, I feel I should impart knowledge on a younger counterpart who is exactly like me. If that's you, be grateful.

1. If your locker is in the main commons, be happy.
    You probably don't understand quite why you should be happy here, because you got a locker in an incredibly crowded area, full of people and at least three times a fight breaks out right when you're trying to get your Spanish book out and run to your class so you're not late. But actually, it's great to have a central locker because you can easily get to all your classes on time without worrying. Unless you have Spanish and then gym. Then you might be pushing it. But not to worry!

2. Even if you leave class to go the bathroom right as the warning bell rings, you probably won't be late.
    The warning bell means you have three minutes, three WHOLE minutes to get there and get back. And three minutes is a longer time than you think. As long as you don't go to the scary bathroom where there is a line for at least six minutes, you shouldn't have a problem.

3. Teachers like it when you say witty things.
    Let me amend that. Teachers like it when you say witty, pertinent things without disrupting the class. This certainly does not mean, however, that you must sit in class and stare idly at the board while wishing you could leak a bit of humor into your day. It also depends on the teacher, I suppose, but it makes learning so much more interesting when you can learn to interject your opinions respectfully and humorously. Like when I wrote that my friend R's name was "The Delinquent" and my teacher drew a devil face on her paper. That kind of thing.

4. If you drop something small, like a pencil, it's gone forever.
    Please, please, PLEASE don't try to get the pen that you dropped unwittingly on the floor! You'll just disrupt whole traffic flow patterns and people will hate you and want to push you over and trample you and make snide comments just loud enough for you to hear and you'll feel pretty horrible. And you might get injured. Please don't get injured.

5. Learn how to be yourself.
    If you put out a personality that's different than the one you are, you'll have to be like that for your entire four years. Unless you want people thinking that you're having a mental breakdown. That's probably not a good idea. But just be yourself, because then the people who like you like that will come to you, and you will go to them. The idea of friendship is based on honesty.

6. If nothing else, it's better than middle school.
    I was so surprised at the level of freedom you get in high school. Sure, it's not college, but no longer do you need to be escorted across the street to band. There are probably more people that you like in high school and more classes that are suited to your needs and wants and interests. Plus, you can take AP classes! They are the best. Take them! Take them or I will hunt you down. Warning over. High school is a place to get rid of bad things and take in new, better things! Things that will make you happy! Yay!!

Monday, September 2, 2013

A Day in Paragraphs

First, I woke up. I woke up a little earlier than I usually do. That's why I'm telling you. Because waking up early usually means that something significant is going to happen. Anyway, I woke up. The smell of caramel rolls was wafting through the house, and caramel is a better alarm clock than incessant beeping. My parents think holidays are cause for exciting breakfasts.

When I went into the living room, my two youngest brothers were behaving quite strangely. They were holding hands and dancing like turkeys through the house while singing a hideous rendition of Good King Wenceslas. (You have no idea how long it took me to spell that.) And my mom was going to give them more sugar.

After breakfast, I went into my room. And I checked my email like I do every morning. There was the most exciting email ever! Well, maybe not. But it was still pretty exciting. It was from Luther College. They said that I was an exceptional student and I could apply quickly using their exceptional student application. However, it was not nearly as quickly as I would have hoped. But I don't actually know how long these things usually take. Still. So I applied to my first college! We'll see what happens.

By this time, I was quite hungry. Caramel rolls don't fill you up as much as you might think. But my mother said that we weren't supposed to have lunch because we were going to have an early dinner and we just ate a late breakfast. So I had sour cream and onion chips and Koolaid. That sounds way more healthy than lunch anyway.

After that, I started to play my plague game. It's so hard to kill off the whole world. I was talking to my brother about it, because he's more of an expert at this than I am, (and apparently he has a higher sociopath level than I do, but more on that later) and we discovered that our mother is actually disturbed by this game. I think she should learn the difference between reality and virtual reality.

Then I talked to my friend R on Facebook for the first time in a long time. Apparently she's been busy. But I was sad because I thought she was ignoring me. Unstable person, I am.

She gave me some information about scholarships, and I even applied for them! But these scholarships are harder to learn about than you might think. Sometimes, they lead you to a website, but then the website has absolutely no information about how to apply. They're probably just scams. I don't know.

Then I roasted marshmallows. (Why is marshmallows spelled with an a?) We had s'mores. And we had turkey and mashed potatoes, that I peeled! and green beans. But mostly mashed potatoes. Because those are the best. Obviously.

Finally, I watched some Fringe! Not finally, as in the last thing I did, but as in I waited a super long time to watch it. If I could do one thing in the world that is impossible, I would write a TV series that is as good and as intriguing and suspenseful as Fringe. Maybe I'll do that anyway.

Now I'm listening to country music. (Gah! My friends would be so proud!! After they stopped laughing hysterically at me, of course.) I can't tell if I like it because I like it, or because they like it. People who are friends tend to have more influence over each other. There might actually be a word for that... I'll have to investigate. Remind me. Later.    

Monday, August 26, 2013

No! School Starts So Soon!!!

Ahhh! Ahhh! AHHH!!! School! Ahhh! I'm so nervous/excited/worried/anticipatory for school! I think it's because I'm a senior. And seniors have to deal with weird things. I guess I'm not normal (which you probably already knew) because I don't want to be a senior. I'd rather stay in my comfort zone of knowing things that I know about! I know how to be in high school. I don't know how to go to college. That sounds dangerous!

But parts of me are excited too. Seniors get to do things that other students don't. Like have half days. And secret pools on the third floor! That may or may not exist. Who knows.

Today, I went to school to help recruit people for knowledge bowl. Some of those kids are intimidating! There was a boy who said that he might not be able to participate because he was taking a math class at the college on the day knowledge bowl is. And he was a freshman!! Knowledge bowl really doesn't help my self esteem.....

Anyway, while I was there, I went to talk to my counselor because for the first time in four years, it was kind of messed up. I had two study halls! TWO! Who would possibly want that?? Also, I didn't want to take trig. I wanted an exciting math class with exciting concepts like not pi. But I got trig anyway. Apparently the math I wanted conflicts with my English and band. So terrible. However! I get to be the teacher's assistant for the awesomest teacher I know! He teaches AP Euro, and I'm so excited!!! AHHAHAHAHAH!!!!

I was afraid that because I only got a 3 on the AP test, he wouldn't want me to be his TA. But when I went to ask him to sign my sheet, he said to his student teacher that I was a most wonderful human being! That really helped my self esteem.

I also walked around the school with Mi, because he was there for math league. And it turns out that people know him all over the school because he got a 5 on his AP test. The weirdie. He's so popular with the teachers.

Next week we have the start of school pep fest and the marching band gets to play! I hope they let me play my solo! That would make my entire life! Ahhh!! (I'm saying "Ahh!!" so much today.) Piccolo just makes my entire life. All the time. So wonderful!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Perfect....?

Yesterday, someone told me that my life is perfect. Hmm. I don't know..... I guess I've never thought about it before. I mean, how do you define perfect? What kind of variables go in to this equation? I think it's probably a little bit more difficult than a simple 2 + 2 = 4 kind of thing. It's more like a giant word problem filled with triangles and letters and possibly a juice box. (I might explain that later. But don't get your hopes up.) But I want to examine why someone who only sees and knows me in certain situations and areas of my life would come to the conclusion that a highly flawed being like myself has a perfect life.

Maybe this person was referring to the fact that I generally have an intact family life. Lots of people struggle with internal family matters all the time, but me, I just get to lay back and say, "Hey! Look at my family! We all mostly like each other!" So I'll give this person that. But how would they know that? It's not like I broadcast my personal life to near strangers! Maybe they can read my mind.....

I can't imagine that this person thinks that I'M perfect. Not to overstep my bounds as a blog writer, but I'll tell you that my fingers are very crooked. I can't even put them together! I think it's from playing the flute, but my mom said this probably wouldn't happen. But she doesn't play the flute. And her fingers aren't crooked. So logic would dictate a certain conclusion. Oh well. Also, my eyebrows and eyelashes are slowly turning white. It's like I'm going prematurely gray at 17!!

AND! And my juice box drinking skills are very very poor! (I told you I might explain.) See, every time I have a delicious juice box, the straw will never come off the box. So half the time, I tear a hole in the box before I even start! Then, if I manage to remove the straw, I can't get it out of the wrapper. I don't know about you, but I can't magically absorb juice through plastic. And if I manage to get the straw out, almost without fail, I stab it through the back of the box. Then we have to whole mess of juice spraying everywhere all over again. So sad.

Yes. This is moving away from actual life imperfections. But those are the fun ones. However, I've been told I talk in my sleep. I know I do. I'd be embarrassed if I ever remembered what I'd said. But talking in your sleep opens up a whole new realm of your life. If you ever want to know something personal about someone, creepily watch them sleep and hope they start babbling. What if I recorded what I said in my sleep? How much would I learn about myself?

Also, I'm quite terrible at geometry. It's because I can't draw triangles. I'll leave it at that. Use your imagination.

So really. Just because your life is absent of terrible, terrible problems, it doesn't mean it's perfect. Someone somewhere probably said something to the affect of, "Nothing's perfect." But how do we know something's imperfect if we've never experienced perfection? What if perfection doesn't mean what everyone thinks it means? We should change our definition of perfect to something more realist. Something simple. Everyone could get to pick their own definition. I'd pick something like, "Perfect is orange." So, anything that is orange is now perfect. So that means that my life is pretty perfect because I have a lot of orange things. Excellent.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Random Thoughts 3

Look at that!!! It's actually a Sunday when I actually have time to write stuff about stuff that I care about (AKA: Random Thoughts Day!!) See, usually, I have time to write something, but it would only be a short little amount of stuff, not nearly enough to fill an entire post! But Sunday is my designated random thoughts day! That's so great!!

In July, we (the marching band) went to Washington DC! We marched in the Independence Day parade! It was the most people who've watched us perform I've ever seen. It was an incredible experience. But that only took like three hours. So we went sight seeing the rest of the time. My friends Mr and Mi told me that they have a secret mission planned for me. But I don't get to know what it is. I have a guess, but I'm not going to tell you in case I'm wrong. That would be embarrassing!

I got a new watch this week. It's orange. Which is awesome. Because orange is the best color. Unless we're talking about food, but that's a different story. Be patient, my friend. Anyway, even though it's orange, that's not the coolest part. The coolest part is that it only tells the time if you press the center! It makes me feel like a spy! A really obvious spy, but oh well.

Speaking of food, green food is the best. No. Not vegetables. Although some of those are good. But green food as in green M&Ms and green gummy bears and green Skittles and whatever else you can think of that's green and unhealthy. Some people might say they taste the same, but they actually don't. If you truly believe, you can taste the subtle differences in awesomeness.

A week or so ago, I went to my friend R's cabin with her family. She also had M and P over to there. It was a lot of fun! But it was a little chilly and it poured when we were taking a boat to the cabin-y part. And we could see our breath in our cabin. So there was that. But the rest of it was a ton of fun!! However, when I got in the car, my friends said that they had a secret mission planned for me. Sound familiar? I'm pretty sure that the mission was to get me to like country music. Because my friends are frightened by my taste in music. But I'm frightened by country!! It's so..... jittery!!

But. Don't judge me. On my Spotify radio I'm listening to country right now. But it's ONLY because I heard a song that I liked a really long time ago and I'm trying to find it again. That's all. Nothing more.

My friend Mr and I talk a lot on Facebook. We talk about lots of stuff. But we also make up words. Words like, gergeorgeygeegobgob. Yes. That's the best one, maybe. So now I'm going to write her a secret message. Feel free to skip over this part. Unless you can figure out our secret code. (Just kidding. There isn't a code!) Morstufo Gergeorgeygeegobgob! I hope you're having a qillooqoo day! Some days I feel like I'm berfjijr way to early. But I guess that's only when my day has been eachioly. Sometimes you zanawow things that no one understands. I have to wash my eeknin before we do kklomplen tomorrow. You're so zimllii and I find that very aktmiet. I hope we can jieltem soon! Bye!!

I started watching the TV show, Fringe. I really like it. Except the main actress is from Australia in real life, but in the show, she's supposed to be from Florida! Sometimes, in very intense moments, her accent just throws things. But that's okay. I like it anyway.

I hope that was enough information for today! Because I'm tired. Berfjijr anyone?

Monday, June 17, 2013

Excuses....

Okay! So.... I haven't written anything in over a month. But you know what? I think I have a pretty good excuse.

Do you understand the completeness of my busyness? I don't think anyone really does. Marching band, driving peoples around, studying for tests, visiting colleges, how much more stuff could I do? Maybe that doesn't sound like a lot, but when you add up all the individual things that I do for all the large things that I do, it makes a lot. Did that make sense at all? Hmmm...

First, marching band. Ahhh. It's so lovely. However, we have some new staffing and changes going on, and I'm still not sure about it. The new director guy is pretty strict. He used to teach percussion, which I guess is more demanding, but now he's in charge of everyone, so I think he should adjust his ways. Or maybe we should adjust ours. But there're a whole lot more of us than there is of him. Or we could go back to the way it was before.

Last parade, our drum major was gone, because he went to Boys State (which he said was amazing). But we just marched around a parade without a director. THEN! The terrible part happened. The important guys decided that I should go up and get the award....!!! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET AWARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, it was so terrifying. On the other hand, I learned that drum majors don't care what place the band gets because they're focusing too much on their salute. But I survived. So it was okay.

Then, I got my license. That means I can drive myself to things. But in reality, it means I can drive other people to all their things. So, there's that.

Have I mentioned before that I took three AP tests this year? Well, I did. Now I have to wait until July to see what I got. Everything is so "Hurry up, and wait." Yeah, that's what it is.

Finally, and most recently, I went to visit a college!! Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. It's pretty far away. And if you ever go, I have some advice. First, don't drive to Iowa in a car with no air conditioning. In June. When it's 87 degrees. This is actually for two reasons: Obviously, it's hot. But also, then you have to drive with the windows down if you don't want to boil, and then you have to smell all the cows. Not that I don't like cows, I just don't appreciate their scents.

But Luther was really really incredible. Maybe because it's the first college I visited, I don't know, but I liked it a lot. I hope I have the chance to go there, but it's a teensy tinsy bit expensive. Ha ha.

So that's what I was doing. A whole month worth of stuff, right there. How exciting!!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Why I Didn't Get Ice Cream

Ahhh!! Do you understand how not okay this weather is?!?!? It's May. And not even the beginning of May, the middle of May!! And I had to go out and march in the wind. I like marching band, but this was ridiculous.  When we started outside, it was nice-ish. But very very soon, it became windy. And then it started to hail. While we were running. That's not fun. So we went inside. It's quite difficult to play the piccolo with the wind whipping over your face. Just so you know.

Yesterday, I had two AP tests. TWO! That's like six hours of pure evil. Although they weren't really as bad as I thought they were going to be. I'm legally not supposed to discuss anything about them. Apparently they're afraid of cheaters. But that's not me. I'm always very honest. Hee hee! Anyway, these tests were done at about 3:30, and then I had to wait for 45 minuets to get picked up. There was a lot of construction. While I waited, I texted my friend P's boyfriend from her phone. I mentioned random things. Like turtles. Of course. And mooses. No, it's not just moose. Please don't correct me. At least I didn't say meese.

Apparently my English teacher gave my class ice cream after the AP test yesterday. But the five of us who had to take two tests didn't get ice cream! How unfair is that!????? AHHHHH!!!!