2008 Chain

2008 IS ALMOST OVER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Stayed single almost the whole year?
Most of it.

Kissed someone new?
Yes.

Done something you've regretted?
Yes.

Lost someone?
My aunt.

Cut class?
Not like where I go to the men's room and smoke a cigarette but yes, where I pretend to be sick and just don't go at all.

Were involved in something you'll never forget?
Yes.

Visited a different country?
No, never have.

Cooked a gross meal?
Yes. Ew.

Lost something important to you?
Yes.

Got a gift you adore?
So many of them.

Tripped over a coffee table?
Yes. I've tripped over just about anything.

Dyed your hair?
No, never have.

Came close to losing your life?
No, not that I know of.

Went to a party?
Of course.

Read a great book?
Yes.

Saw one of your favorite bands/artists live?
Nope.


2008: Friends and Enemies

Did you meet any new friends this year?
Yes.

Did you dislike anyone?
Yes!

Did you grow apart from anyone?
Not really anyone that mattered now.

Do you have any regrets when it comes to your friendships?
Sort of.


2008: Your BIRTHDAY!

Did you have a cake?
No.

Did you have a party?
No.

Did you get any presents?
Three.

Were you single?
No.



2008: All about YOU

Did you change at all this year?
No duh I did.

Did you change your style?
Yes.

Were you in school?
Yes...

Did you get good grades?
Haha, not really.

Did you drive?
Yes, got my driver's license.

Did you own a car?
Nope, and probably won't for a long, long time. Thanks, economy!

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Kejing is still pregnant.

Did you move at all?
Nope.

Did you go on any vacations?
If you count MAO.

Would you change anything about yourself now?
Me? Nah.



2008 WRAP UP:

Was 2008 a good year?
No!

When did things change for you if they did?
December 28 (2007), January 2, January 5, January 7, January 16, January 19, Feburary 15, March 29, May 7, July 11, October 27, November 1, November 4, November 15, November 17, November 25, December 21, and December 25. Props if you can remember what happened on at least five of these days.

Do you think 2009 will be better then 2008?
Of course.


In 2008 I....

() stayed single for the whole year
() kissed in the snow
(x) celebrated Halloween
(x) had your heart broken
() mooned someone
() went over the minutes on your cell phone
(x) someone questioned your sexual orientation
() came out of the closet
() gotten pregnant
() had an abortion
(x) did something I regretted

OTHER

() painted a picture
() wrote a poem
() shopped at Hollister or Abercrombie and Fitch
() posted a blog on MySpace
() visited a foreign country
(x) cut in a line of waiting people
(x) told someone you were busy when you weren't
(x) partied to celebrate the new year
(x) cooked a disastrous meal
(x) lied about how old you were
() prank called someone

In 2008 I also....

(x) broke a promise
(x) fell out of love
(x) told a little white lie
(x) lied
(x) cried over a broken heart
(x) disappointed someone close
(x) hid a secret
(x) pretended to be happy
() slept under the stars
() kept your new years resolution
(x) forgot your new years resolution
() met someone who changed your life
() met one of your idols
(x) changed your outlook on life
(x) sat home all day doing nothing
(x) pretended to be sick
() left the country
() almost died
(x) gave up on something/someone important to you
(x) lost something expensive (but refound it!)
(x) learned something new about yourself
(x) tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it
(x) made a change in your life
(x) found out who your true friends were
() met great people
(x) stayed up til sunrise
() cried over the silliest thing
(x) had friends who were drifting away from you
() had a high cell phone bill
() spent most of your money on food
() had a fist fight
() went to the beach with your best friend(s)
(x) got sick
(x) liked more than 5 people at the same time

Good Riddance 2008

2008 was easily the worst year ever.

Christmas Chain

Last December, single or taken?
Taken.

This December, single or taken?
Taken.

Do you like anyone?
No.

Do you prefer warm or cold weather?
Cold; it's hot too often here.

Are you happy with life?
I suppose so.

Were you happy when you woke up today?
Yes.

Are you mad at anyone right now?
No. At least, I don't tihnk I am.

Could you go a day without eating?
I do sometimes when I don't feel like eating.

How long does it take you to shower?
Pretty long...

How was the weekend?
Awesome!

Does the last person you talked to mean anything to you?
Yes, oh so much.

Are you confused?
In the long run, no.

How many clothes do you have in your closet?
Only old clothes; I keep clothes on my dresser.

Have you ever talked about marriage with another person?
I've been married several times before.

Did you have any unread text messages this morning when you woke up?
Yes, one from Chanyang.

Do you miss anyone right now?
Yes, lots of people.

Are you good at hiding your emotions?
I am quite good at that. I'm like a rock.

Who is the last person you talked to on the phone today?
Lacey.

Do you regret anything from your past?
Not really, actually.

If you could seek revenge on someone would you?
Yes; I don't forget grudges.

Excited for anything? What?
Anytime I get to see people...

Who is your last text from and what does it say?
Jack. "Not surprising."

Do you know anyone with the same name as you?
Like 50 people.

How's your heart lately?
Too happy.

Have you ever worn the opposite sex's clothing?
No!

Are you happier in a relationship or single?
In a relationship.

You're a sharpie marker, what color are you?
Black.

How many months until your birthday?
Three (March, if you can't count).

How will life be 4 years from now?
It will be after 12/21/2012, and Obama will have had four years in the Oval Office... So I don't know if it will still be around.

Do you put shampoo in your left or right hand?
Right.

How many times do you knock on a door?
Three. Everyone does.

What type of people do you feel most comfortable with?
People I regularly talk to and appreciate my humor.

Do you write how you speak?
Sort of, I guess.

Do you understand football?
No duh I do.

Ever stayed up all night on the phone?
Yes, several times.

Does it take a lot to make you cry?
Yes.

If you could move somewhere else, would you?
To Tennessee.

When is the last time you got really frustrated?
I don't know. I get frustrated eaisly, though.

Are you happy with the way things are going?
Yes.

Do you think you would be a good parent?
Yes, hehehe.

Ever had the smoke alarm go off because of the steam from your shower?
No.

Blue, black, or red pens?
Red.

Do you curse a lot?
No, not at all.

Would you go in public looking like you do right now?
Nope.

Do you think cheaters deserves 2nd chances?
It depends on the person.

Who was the first person you talked to this morning?
My sister, since she woke me up because it was Christmas.

Do you worry about what people think about you?
More than I would like to.

Whats your favorite holiday?
Thanksgiving.

When's your birthday?
March 22.

Have you ever dyed your hair?
Nope. Don't intend to, either.

Have you ever had braces?
No. Needed them, though.

Are you close with your parents?
Way more than I would like to be.

Do you get up every morning and fix your hair?
Believe it or not, yes.

Do you have trust issues?
Sort of.

Do you get attached easily?
Yes.

Genealogy

So tonight I got to looking up my family history. The problem is, all of those sites that let you do it will let you have a free trial, but you need addresses and phone numbers and credit card numbers and they will automatically start billing you unless you cancel within time. Not fair. The worst part is, they let you have a preview of their results. From ancestry.com, I got close to finding out about my history, but just stopped.

They have images of everything. I can find pictures of birth and wedding and death records and all sorts of things like that. Laney Augustas Pace was registered for the draft in WWI somewhere in Georgia, while a Laney Augustus Pace (notice the one letter difference) was married in Leon County some time after 1927 to an Ivy D. What a coincidence! My great-grandfather (through my paternal grandfather) was named Laney, and my great-grandmother was named Ivy! Only other thing I could find was that he died in 1979. That means my dad would've known him.

There are also a lot of people with my name. One of the ones that showed up most lives in Baton Rouge. Ironic, no?

The End of a Semester

So I've pretty much reached the end of the first half of junior year, and I have to say it isn't near as bad as I heard it was supposed to be (though we haven't hit the third nine weeks yet, which is always the hardest). I pretty much stopped doing any work at all last week, which doesn't matter since I am only aiming for "B's" pretty much.

I was actually pleased for the most part of the (school) year so far. I pretty much have someone to talk to in all of my classes, with the lone exception being the class I can do whatever I want in (Piano). Last year, that was almost the case, except I had several classes with Kejing AND Jack, meaning I was essentially alone.

I think it's sort of funny how things have cycled back on themselves in 2008. Tomorrow is December 13. I don't point that out to be creepy or to make anyone feel guilty because I'm cool with everything right now, but this just seems really ironic to me.

Tomorrow is also Mini Mu. I have to proctor little eighth graders all alone. And then leave right away to park cars or something. I miss regular season football.

It's Not December Yet?

All five days of the break I've heard Christmas this and Christmas that. That's why I'm celebrating Hannukah this year. While the Pace family puts up decorations in the front yard and sets up the Christmas tree, I will be lighting a menorah or whatever I need to do to celebrate Hannukah (I will learn the true meaning of Hannukah in the coming weeks so as to celebrate it properly). I'm serious about this, too. Christianity came from Judaism, so I have respect for all my-God-worshipping holidays.

Today at Super Lube some old guy walked in the waiting room where my family and I were sitting decked out in camo. Immediately I thought, "Oh no." However, I found it pretty amusing. Everyone discussed local hunting and the guy kept using words like "yankee." Hurray white trash!

Arrrrrrrr

Political Activism

So today at church the topic of the sermon was marriage. It is the first of three weeks of covering topics with political consequences that we normally try to avoid out loud because society has taught us to keep our beliefs to ourselves, for the most part. The three main threats to marriage are divorce, cohabitation, and same-sex marriage.

For the first one, 49% of American marriages end in it. That is half. Both the adults and the childrens who are affected by a divorce are worse off.

For the second, there was a key point with blanks. Move ______ or make a _______. I knew the first one was "out," but I figured the second one was "baby." It was actually "commitment."

On same-sex marriages, they played a video of street interviews of people on the gay-marriage amendment in California. Most of the people said it should be allowed since it is their lives and we have no right to keep them from marrying. So then the question was that if two men could marry, should three men be allowed to? They all said no. Same for marrying relatives. I just thought it was really funny the double standard we have going there.

I got my mom to buy a "Yes on Amendment 2" sign to put in our front yard, even if we're not supposed to. I'm starting to think the passage of this simple amendment stating only that marriage is defined as between one man and one woman (doesn't take away domestic partnership benefits, so calm down) is the most important thing to be voted on November 4.

Then when I was walking to the car after lunch, I noticed a group of about ten people standing around the back of a van led by some old guy with really long hair, and I saw at least one sign. I knew it was for Obama because no hippie-looking old dude would ever vote for McCain. Whatever they were doing was cool with me, anyway. Except then I saw the guy's shirt. It was a giant picture of Obama. That's just a bit too creepy for me.

I got to play Rock Band 2 yesterday. Awesome! I also want to host a Rock Band party thing, but I don't know when or if I will actually go through with it this time...

Tampa Bay's Epic Fail

The Red Sox had only seven outs left to work with.

Tampa Bay were sweeping the Red Sox. The Rays were on the edge of sweeping Boston at Fenway Park. In fact, it wasn't sweeping. It was destruction. The Rays won by eight runs in back-to-back games all the way up north in Massachusetts. If the Rays won this, they were off to the World Series.

And they should've been. They kept piling on runs. In the sixth inning, the broadcasters mentioned that Boston had not been shut out at Fenway in the postseason since 1918 in the World Series against the Cubs, which was, ironically, still the last year they won it all until 2004. It was 7-0. To score seven runs in a single inning would mean every person on the team would bat at least once. There was no way the team could pull through, 2 outs already in the bottom of the seventh and utterly demoralized.

Two men somehow get on base after this and Dustin Pedroia is up. RBI single. At least it won't be a shutout. And nobody likes running up the score.

David Ortiz comes up to bat with men on first and third. He is having a horrible slump, with only one hit in the ALCS in five games now. Where was the Big Papi we thought we knew, the one who hit game-changing home runs when the Sox were down and out against all - wait, there he is. Three run-homer to right. Maybe there is hope. It's only 7-4 now.

Tampa Bay goes down without much resistance. Bay gets walked on four straight balls, but not intentionally. J.D. Drew hits a homer to right. It's 7-6!

Two outs, and Boston still needs to at least score a run now or in the bottom of the ninth. Better now. Kotsay hits a double. Speedy. I keep saying all Coco Crisp has to do is single to right. Just single to right. Full count. Foul ball. Foul ball. Foul ball. Foul ball. Foul ball. Single to right. Kotsay scores. It is 7-7.

Rays get men on first and second with only one out in the top of the ninth. Carlos Pena, the scariest guy in their lineup, is up. They show his clip of his game-winning 14th inning home run against Boston last month over the Green Monster. And he... grounds to second. Double play!

No pressure, guys. Wait, that doesn't mean give up! Two outs, so it's all down to Youk or we will have to endure extra innings. Looks like Coco's at bat again, with a full count and several fouls. And he grounds to third. Darn. He looks like he will be just short on beating the throw to first. And, what do you know... The first baseman misses? He tips the ball into the bleachers. Youk gets to second on an error. Certainly Tampa won't let this be the reason they lose. They intentionally walk Bay. Men on second and first. J.D. Drew is back up. Three straight balls. I don't think I could handle having to deal with bases loaded at this point in the game. Then a strike. 3-1. It still favors the batter.

He hits it. It's not gone, but it's got distance. And over the rightfielder it goes, and everyone knows it's over. Just for good measure, the ball bounces in front of the notoriously short rightfield wall and goes over. Ground-rule double with a man on second means a run scores. 8-7.

Turns out they only needed six.

Ruining It for the Rest of Us

I really hate it when people that aren't good at a subject don't even make the slightest effort in it. There are people that have difficulties but study and do the homework, and there are people like me who, not meaning to toot my own horn, are just academically gifted and can dominate (or at least pass) tests even without doing the homework.

In APUSH, there are people simply not doing the study guides or looking at the book before a quiz and getting appalling grades on the test. When you know you don't the subject and do nothing about it, then you're bringing the rest of us down. Ms. Thomas is scolding our class for this kind of thing, and I fear she is going to assign notes or something like that on every chapter from the book to make sure we are reading (instead of just making our study guides due earlier) for a grade. I would if I were teaching APUSH. But I'm a student, and I sure as heck don't want to have to do that.

I also hate how the stock market is ruining it for the rest of us. If I was born three, maybe even two, years earlier, I would have gotten off to college just before the bottoming out that began last month (and had been leading up to that for some months before that). Now, suddenly, I have a whole lot of other things to worry about. In fact, we all pretty much do, which makes it tougher. I know scholarships mean that much more, which is why I really need to have a repeat performance of last year on the PSAT on Wednesday. And I still need to take the SAT sometime soon so I will have my results in time to dual enroll in calculus at FSU. And I need a job for money to buy a car and insurance and then start saving for the rough future. I've heard it could take more than a decade for the economy to fully recover. A decade ago, I was in first grade. I was short and small and didn't have glasses and could one day be anything I wanted. Now I have to think serious and practical. I would've still had to do some of those even if Americans weren't so stupid, but it's even more important now.

I hear "Barracuda" by Heart on the radio all the time now. I probably like Heart and Sarah Palin more than the average guy, but you're starting to make the song get annoying.

Top 50 Songs

I believe you can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to. This is my list of my top 50 most listened to songs on iTunes, which is coincidentally exactly how many could fit in the window.


(The picture would not fit in this at a readable size so I uploaded it to Imageshack. URL is below.)


http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=top50onitunesli1.jpg

Flashing Lights and Sirens

Friday night, well, actually, early Saturday morning, about a half an hour after midnight I heard a wreck from the road next to those apartments that connects to Thomasville. The flashing lights and sirens from the police kept me up for a while after I came back inside. Coming home from school earlier that afternoon, I saw the scene of a wreck on Kerry Forest, too.

Please stop wrecking, people.

October 1, 2008

So I've decided that today has earned the title of "Best Day of 2008 (So Far)," by no means in attempt to belittle it since 2008 has sucked. It is because of the tiniest, simplest things and the tiniest, simplest difficulties I've had to overcome to be here as pleased as I am right now.

Everything should've gone wrong. When I went to bed at midnight, my mom was sleeping in the living room since my dad had a headache and had already gone to bed. This is annoying, restricting my freedom of movement I gain during the night since no one is awake or out in the open to call my name for some minor thing. I set my alarm clock for 5:06AM, actually willing to wake up an hour early to catch the bus since it meant I could at least listen to my iPod on a relaxing trip in the dark across the area since I had just downloaded 36 Anberlin songs the previous day. You see, I always set my alarm clock for times ending in ":06" for some unknown reason. This would have major impacts on the rest of my day.

I awoke before my alarm went off, though it took me a minute to assess this. I knew I could fall asleep in less than a second once I went to, but I checked the clock first, hoping it was still before 3:30AM so that I could fall back asleep long enough so that I did not fall back asleep to wake up feeling horrible. It turns out it was actually 5:03AM; three minutes after the average person would have set it, but three minutes before I did. Waking up on my own was NOT an option, so I set my alarm clock for 5:20 before switching to my normal 6:06 since it made more sense to me at the time.

I was even more tired than usual, something I really didn't need since I had fallen asleep in just about everyone of my classes over the previous two days. To top it off, I was out of body wash, forcing me to use soap, which makes my skin feel all dry and tight and just plain icky. My hair's prospects weren't too badly affected since I stole a bottle of shampoo. I drifted off a couple of times while getting ready for school, so my mom actually beat me for once at being ready to leave. I was going to get to school at 7:40-7:45AM, giving me a short time to do my first real Latin homework assignment of the year. I stayed sitting in the band hall finishing it three minutes after the bell rang, before hurrying up to the 900 building. Luckily, none of my teachers seem to care anymore if a student is tardy; in fact, I don't think any of them do in the least bit. Yates talked longer than usual, putting me in a bad spot to pretty much do all of my APUSH timeline due the next period. Uh oh, maybe this day just wasn't meant to be.

His assignment for the rest of the class at 8:25 was to study. I whipped out my timeline and textbook and did nearly the whole thing. I managed to finish it in Thomas' class, which I think she saw me doing, though that didn't matter; crisis averted. We got to watch a video, and it was at about this time that I realized that I was NOT tired. The video went over stuff I had learned years ago, probably in American History in 7th grade, at the latest. During it, I pulled out a cookie to eat since it was the thing extra I could eat then and still have an actual lunch.

It all started to get better in calculus. I had bordered on the edge of sleep (I don't think I 100% did, meaning calculus is now the only class I haven't fallen asleep in yet this year, mainly since MJ said very seriously last year that I couldn't do that in BC) the previous day, so when I asked William how to do something about the section we were on, he explained it using stuff I didn't know. It took us a minute to realize that I didn't know anything about implicit differentiation at all, explaining why I never understood his great teaching. Anyway, by the end of class, I was ecstatic about math for the first time all school year since I could apply dy/dx implicitly skillfully (except not really).

Knoll took thirty minutes to finish finding out who did their homework, and I have absolutely no clue how she got stalled that long. Normally, we're lucky to hold her for fifteen, but half the class is just crazy. During the period, I did my AP Lang essay, even though it wasn't due until sixth period. Why? I didn't want to do it at lunch; I wanted to do calculus at lunch. I'm ashamed of that, but at least it was homework I chose to do instead of homework I had to do in a matter of minutes. A lot of people that eat on the hill were gone, meaning I could sit at the table and do the math homework like I wanted. I was sort of getting ahead on my studies!

It was in chemistry that I put together my enthusiasm for calculus and my ability to stay completely awake and focused as a sign that this was one of the greatest days ever. It hit me with Ewart announced that I had gooten an 87 on the chem test, about 87 points higher than I thought I would get after failing the test. I guess the only question I got wrong was the basic reaction one that I didn't remember how to do so I just left an electron floating around in there. Not to revel in their misfortune, but people got significantly lower grades than me, meaning that I actually may have understood the chapter a good bit better than my classmates; and these guys are the best of the best.

I had actually done the AP Lang homework, so the class was a breeze. The best part? No homework due the next day! The time flew by incredibly fast in piano, and I was awake the whole way through. For the first time in probably a year, I managed to stay awake the whole day!

When I got home, I found out that Jeff Gordon will be unveiling his new paint scheme tomorrow, the #24 team's first change since 2001. I cannot wait to see it, and bid farewell to the flames scheme he continued to dominate with over the last eight years, the only of which I still have merchandise for that I can wear (I did have Jeff Gordon rainbow paint scheme T-shirts until he changed after 2000, when I was eight, and maybe a little shorter and skinnier than I am now). However, tomorrow, for fan day, I will show my pride for Hendrick's newest current driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The only way this day can get any better is if the Red Sox win tonight, since it will be still be today over there in Los Angeles when it ends, even though it will already be tomorrow here. Peace out.

The Greatest Game Ever Played Box Score

GAME 5 OF NLDS (BEST OF 5) - SERIES TIED AT 2
St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves
October 10, 2009

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Cardinals (STL) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0
Braves (ATL) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 9 0

ST. LOUIS ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
E. Knowles (3B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .276
P. Hoover (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .257
D. Lambert (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333
B. Abreu (RF) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .248
J. MacCreath (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .209
G. Laird (C) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .349
B. Johnson (LF) 3 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 .325
C. Thomas (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .236
J. Castillo (2B) 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .306
C. Duncan (1B) 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .275
J. Ortiz (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273
M. Christensen (CF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .303
P. Dewar (SS) 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .150
E. Fuentez (P) 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .188
J. Encarnacion (P) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .529
B. Clontz (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
TOTALS 35 6 2 1 0 1 6 1

2B: J. Castillo 2

ST. LOUIS ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Fuentez 9.0 8 3 0 1 1 1 111 2.44
B. Clontz 0.1 1 0 1 1 1 0 5 4.29
TOTALS 9.1 9 3 1 2 2 1 116

ATLANTA ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
R. Durham (2B) 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 .286
J. Lane (LF) 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .310
A. Beltre (1B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .348
A. Huff (3B) 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .316
Y. Molina (C) 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .338
A. Coley (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222
R. Cano (P) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .391
N. Swisher (RF) 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .315
J. Pierre (CF) 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .326
A. Hernandez (SS) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .255
M. Wood (P) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .130
E. Crozier (P) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .295
M. Wolf (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250
J. Posada (P) 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 .197
TOTALS 33 9 3 2 1 2 1 0

2B: J. Pierre, Y. Molina
HR: J. Posada

ATLANTA ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
M. Wood 8.0 5 0 0 1 1 4 103 3.24
A. Coley 2.0 1 2 0 0 0 2 34 4.20
TOTALS 10.0 6 2 0 1 1 6 137

WP: A. Coley
LP: B. Clontz

Temperature: 50F
Wind: None (Roof Closed)
Attendance: 9,726
Time: 2:34

The Greatest Game Ever Played Recap

GAME 5 OF NLDS (BEST OF 5) - SERIES TIED AT 2
St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves
October 10, 2009

TOP OF THE FIRST
Mike Wood takes the mound for the Braves.
Evan Knowles reached first on a fielding error by the shortstop. <--1>
Evan Knowles was caught stealing second. <--->
Bobby Abreu flied out to center. <--->
Gerald Laird struck out. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the first, the game is tied at 0.

BOTTOM OF THE FIRST
Efrain Fuentez takes the mound for the Cardinals.
Ray Durham grounded to first. <--->
Jason Lane singled to left. <--1>
Adrian Beltre flied out to left. <--1>
Aubrey Huff grounded to third. <--->
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the first, the game is tied at 0.

TOP OF THE SECOND
Ben Johnson struck out. <--->
Jose Castillo grounded to the pitcher. <--->
Chris Duncan flied out to center. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the second, the game is tied at 0.

BOTTOM OF THE SECOND
Yadier Molina doubled in the right field gap. <-2->
Nick Swisher lined out to second. <-2->
Juan Pierre grounded to the pitcher. <3-->
Anderson Hernandez grounded to the pitcher. <3-->
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
At the end of the second, the game is tied at 0.

TOP OF THE THIRD
McKay Christensen grounded to the second baseman. <--->
Patrick Dewar singled back through the middle. <--1>
Patrick Dewar stole second. <-2->
Efrain Fuentez flied out to center. <-2->
Patrick Dewar tagged up and reached third. <3-->
Evan Knowles grounded to first. <3-->
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
In the middle of the third, the game is tied at 0.

BOTTOM OF THE THIRD
Mike Wood grounded to short. <--->
Ray Durham walked. <--1>
Jason Lane popped up to second. <--1>
Adrian Beltre grounded to third. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the third, the game is tied at 0.

TOP OF THE FOURTH
Bobby Abreu grounded to second. <--->
Gerald Laird flied out to left field. <--->
Ben Johnson singled through the right side. <--1>
Jose Castillo doubled into the left field corner, scoring a run. <-2->
Jose Castillo went for an extra base and was thrown out at third. <--->
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the fourth, St. Louis leads 1 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH
Aubrey Huff grounded to short. <--->
Yadier Molina grounded to short. <--->
Nick Swisher grounded to first. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the fourth, Atlanta trails 1 to 0.

TOP OF THE FIFTH
Chris Duncan singled to right. <--1>
McKay Christensen struck out. <--1>
Patrick Dewar grounded to the third baseman, forcing the runner at second. <--1>
Efrain Fuentez singled back through the middle. <-21>
Patrick Dewar went for an extra base and reached third. <3-1>
Evan Knowles grounded to short. <3-1>
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
In the middle of the fifth, St. Louis leads 1 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH
Juan Pierre singled through the left side. <--1>
Juan Pierre went for an extra base and reached second. <-2->
Anderson Hernandez flied out to right. <-2->
Juan Pierre tagged up and reached third. <3-->
The Cardinals brought the infield in.
Mike Wood dribbled weakly in front of home plate. The lead runner was tagged out at home. <--1>
Ray Durham singled to center, advancing the runner to third. <3-1>
Jason Lane struck out. <3-1>
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the fifth, Atlanta trails 1 to 0.

TOP OF THE SIXTH
Bobby Abreu grounded to first. <--->
Gerald Laird grounded to the shortstop. <--->
Ben Johnson struck out. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the sixth, St. Louis leads 1 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH
Adrian Beltre grounded to short. <--->
Aubrey Huff walked. <--1>
Yadier Molina grounded to short for a double play (6-4-3). <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the sixth, Atlanta trails 1 to 0.

TOP OF THE SEVENTH
Jose Castillo grounded to the second baseman. <--->
Chris Duncan grounded to first. <--->
McKay Christensen popped up to the shortstop. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the seventh, St. Louis leads 1 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH
Jose Ortiz came in to play First Base. <--->
Charles Thomas came in to play Left Field. <--->
Jim MacCreath came in to play Right Field. <--->
Nick Swisher grounded to short. <--->
Juan Pierre grounded to second. <--->
Anderson Hernandez popped up to second. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the seventh, Atlanta trails 1 to 0.

TOP OF THE EIGHTH
Patrick Dewar grounded to the shortstop. <--->
Efrain Fuentez grounded to third. <--->
Evan Knowles grounded to third. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the eighth, St. Louis leads 1 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH
Eric Crozier pinch hit for Mike Wood. <--->
Eric Crozier singled to center. <--1>
Mike Wolf pinch ran for Eric Crozier. <--1>
Mike Wolf was caught stealing second. <--->
Ray Durham singled down the third base line. <--1>
Jason Lane grounded to second for a double play (4-6-1). <--->
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the eighth, Atlanta trails 1 to 0.

TOP OF THE NINTH
Andy Coley came in to pitch for the Braves. <--->
Jim MacCreath struck out. <--->
Gerald Laird grounded to the shortstop. <--->
Charles Thomas struck out. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the ninth, St. Louis leads 1 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH
Adrian Beltre lined out to left. <--->
Aubrey Huff grounded to short. <--->
Yadier Molina singled through the right side. <--1>
Robinson Cano pinch ran for Yadier Molina. <--1>
Nick Swisher walked. <-21>
Juan Pierre singled to right field, scoring a run. <3-1>
Juan Pierre was caught stealing second. <3-->
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
At the end of the ninth, the game is tied at 1.

TOP OF THE TENTH
Jose Castillo doubled into the right field corner. <-2->
Jorge Posada came in to play Catcher. <--->
Jose Ortiz dribbled weakly to the catcher. The runner was tagged out at third. <--1>
McKay Christensen grounded back to the pitcher. <-2->
Patrick Dewar was intentionally walked. <-21>
Juan Encarnacion pinch hit for Efrain Fuentez. <-21>
Juan Encarnacion walked. <321>
Paul Hoover pinch hit for Evan Knowles. <321>
Paul Hoover grounded to the pitcher. <321>
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 3 left on base.
In the middle of the tenth, the game is tied at 1.

BOTTOM OF THE TENTH
Brad Clontz came in to pitch for the Cardinals. <--->
Deron Lambert came in to play Third Base. <--->
Anderson Hernandez flied out to right. <--->
Jorge Posada homered over the center field fence. <--->

BRAVES WIN: 2-1

More Sports

3. Chipper Jones
2. Bobby Bowden
1. Jeff Gordon

I don't really feel like explaining those since I hate writing on a set topic but I feel the need to finish my list. Chipper's a veteran for the Braves, drafted by them before I was even born. Bobby is the most noble guy in the history of ever, and I love listening to him speak on his philosophical views, which don't seem to be helping the 'Noles win games anymore. And Jeff Gordon has always been my number one athlete since I was two, and, yes, NASCAR drivers are athletes.

I noticed today what my leadership style was, if ever placed in such a situation. Some people control everything and some people control almost nothing, and I'm more towards the latter. I would make casual Fridays everyday and would give a lot of leeway to people beneath me. On my team, Johnny Damon could keep his beard and long hair. In fact, so could I (once I get the beard). The people that report to me would be in charge of most things. Most certainly this would fail, but that's just me.

Lastly, happy first day of fall. The weather is already pleasant again, one of the reasons it's probably my favorite season. There's also football every weekend. I've never followed high school football, though, and I saw it was for good reason when Chiles played Rickards on the 12th. Ouch.

My Top Five Sports Idols

In Lang, on the first page there is already an example for rhetoric, and it is none other Lou Gehrig's farewell address on July 4, 1939. If you don't know, Lou began having physical problems in 1938 that grew worse over the next year. After an atrocious April, Lou asked Yankees manager Joe McCarthy to take him off of the team's lineup, somone he wouldn't do without Lou forcing him. You see, he had played in 2,130 consecutive games up to that point, but after that he will never play the game again. That's over thirteen seasons of toughing it out every day, or about the length of time we attend public school (heck, our school year of 180 days is close to that of baseball's 162 games). So far in my education, I've had to have accrued over a year's worth of absences. The most amazing thing about the end to his streak, though, is that he initiated it on his own will. He knew he could not compete at an appropriate level, which would was even tougher to him since his tendencies were all right, just his physical abilities were rapidly deteriorated. Lou did not fade away into retirement. In his mid-30s, he had the same approach that he had used his whole career; he just couldn't perform it. ALS, now known as Lou Gehrig's disease, was the cause. What an interesting intro, because I've decided to put the Iron Horse fifth on my list. The fact that he wore pinstripes his entire career really hurts me to do this, but Lou was a far better man than just about everyone ever in the game.

I was only six when John Elway retired, but by then I had already become a Denver Broncos fan because of him. He went to college at Stanford, where I remember him most as the losing quarterback against Cal in 1982 ("The Stanford band is on the field!"). John was set to go down as a quarterback who never won big, having missed out on the Heisman and a bowl game appearance in college, as well as three losses in the Super Bowl. His final two seasons were memorable, though, as he led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl wins and cemented his name in connection with "clutch performance" (over his career, he led the team to 47 of his 148 victories by scoring in the fourth quarter). He is our day's Johnny Unitas or Bart Starr. So that's number four.

I'm going to finish the other three tomorrow. It's 12:35AM right now, and I'm really tired. I didn't take a nap, so I won't have gotten any sleep out of the way, so sorry if I was asleep when you were talking to me or something this morning (since no one has time to read this before school). Good night.

Deal!

My parents have Deal or No Deal on in the living room, and the contestant happens to be a NASCAR fan. Everytime the show has come across such fans, they do something NASCAR-themed as though their interest is so exotic it defines them. It doesn't. I knew more about NASCAR at age four than they ever will.

The third offer (15 suitcases chosen) was the lowest offer yet in terms of immediate cash ($30,000), but the banker threw in a special NASCAR package. The package includes: a trip to the 2009 Daytona 500, hang out with Jimmie Johnson (two-time defending Sprint Cup champion), ride in the pace car, $2,000 to spend at the NASCAR.com online store, and a helmet signed by all Cup drivers. I think I am forgetting something, but that right there is enough to make me leave.

As you should know by now, I have constant dreams about NASCAR... merchandise. With $2,000, you could buy 200 fancy 1/64th-scale diecasts (the little ones) or 30 1/24th-scales (bigger). I could get racing jackets and all sorts of stuff. Of course, I could get that with the 30k...

Tickets to the Daytona 500 are a big deal, but getting to hang out with possibly the greatest driver of this generation (other than Jeff Gordon, of course) and ride in the pace car is the deal-breaker. It would be like meeting the Red Sox during the World Series and throwing the opening pitch. It's big news.

The helmet should speak for itself. It's sort of like getting a game ball signed by the entire team.

The man's wife started guilt-tripping him, and of course he could push for much higher than 30k. He declined the offer and lost the opportunity. The wife later on called for him to accept the deals offered to him, but he kept pushing on. It aggravated her. I think it's funny.

The man, very generous, just opened his last big money case and will be walking away with $10,000. It's a good thing I'm not him. I'd be arrested for domestic abuse.

Bambi and Philosophy

I'm sick. Colds suck. If I were going to be sick, I would rather it be with something worse than a cold on the weekend so I am actually facing something worthwhile. Instead, I feel miserable and forget for a whole week what it feels like to not be sick.

On Saturday, September 6, 2003, the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes faced off in an epic game. The same holds true five years later, even though it wasn't as big as ESPN was trying to make it sound. On that day, long ago, the Gators were up by several touchdowns over the team that had made it to the championship game the last two season. I was not watching this, though. For, you see, the Pace family was in the pet store at the Tallahassee Mall hoping to adopt a new cat.

We had a black cat named Domino my whole life until I was six and in first grade when he had to be put down on Halloween because of organ failure or something I didn't understand so I hid in the closet and cried all day. He was an evil cat who attacked anyone who got near him, but we all grow fond of pets when you have them their entire lives regardless. The next year, Carmel the dalmatian (yes, that is how you spell it; nothing irks me more regarding the entire dog world than someone spelling it "dalmation") joined. She is still hobbling around, old so that every night for the last two years I've feared walking outside and discovering her dead.

While I was away at my cousin's ninth birthday party, my family adopted another dog for reasons I don't know. Jack is a Labrador retriever named after my mom's brother who was taken in earlier this year by some family in Massachusetts, or somewhere very far away, I think, because our neighbors are evil and make him bark and then go crazy about it.

On that Saturday night three weeks or so into my sixth grade school year, we left without a cat, but with a Senegal parrot I would name Aerial and a long-haired miniature dachshund to-be-named Molly. The Hurricanes would go on to make an amazing comeback and defeat the Gators, something I remember them doing again against Louisville the next year on the same day as my field trip to EPCOT. I got home and everything went downhill there. I have since learned not to tune into games when I need the team I hate so dearly is getting crushed improbably or else I will regret it forever and still be able to remember about it years later, like in this case.

INTERMISSION

Yes, that's right, this is a two-part post. I don't think it will even be as long as my lengthiest entries, but I have something about my past and my philosophy that aren't related. I only came up with this part an hour ago after reading an article after it had a headline on Yahoo! Not the best credentials, but there's something to it. Also, yeah, I had the idea about posting about September 6, 2003, come to me several days ago when I realized this freaky occurrence at such a major anniversary as five years, exactly (Miami and Florida haven't even played in a couple of years).

My title for this post exclusively refers to this section. The article I am talking about is at http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/dogs-perceive-time.htm and will make you hate me for its encouragement for what I am about to say.

Animals don't have souls or complex feelings and emotion, if any real, like humans. While this doesn't mean we have the right to purposely harm them (though many hypocritely will, or ask someone else in fear, swat bugs) for no reason, I still consider humans much above animals. That's why I find it funny when people get crazy over animals not being treated "humanely." As crazy as it seems, Bambi is not as realistic as you might think it is.

The article isn't that long and talks about animals perception (or lack thereof) of time. All animals have similar thoughts (or lack thereof). It also adds something to my long-standing belief, to which I think a saying for it also exists: Time is human's greatest invention. It's one of the most defining things that separates us from them.

I cannot go anywhere without my watch.

I would go on to the philosophy part (if you really want to know, ask me about it), but I have already spent over half an hour typing this up when I should be getting some sleep. This is not because I am sick but because my mom will force me to go to church this morning so I can get everyone worshipping the Lord sick. I will have no problem going to school on Monday and giving students the cold, though. Just kidding.

Fantasy Draft Results

16 team league (I finished 9th in the same league last year)
Snake draft (in odd numbered rounds, I pick tenth; in odd numbered rounds, I pick seventh)

QB - Tom Brady (Round 1, 10th Pick, New England Patriots)
RB - Brandon Jacobs (Round 2, 23rd Pick, New York Giants)
RB - DeAngelo Williams (Round 7, 106th Pick, Carolina Panthers)
WR - Greg Jennings (Round 3, 42nd Pick, Green Bay Packers)
WR - Kevin Curtis (Round 5, 74th Pick, Philadelphia Eagles)**
WR - Bernard Berrian (Round 6, 87th Pick, Minnesota Vikings)
TE - Kellen Winslow (Round 4, 55th Pick, Cleveland Browns)
K - Rob Bironas (Round 9, 138th Pick, Tennessee Titans)
DEF - Indianapolis (Round 10, 151st Pick, Indianapolis Colts)
BENCH
QB - Tarvaris Jackson (Round 11, 170th Pick, Minnesota Vikings)
RB - Ahman Green (Round 8, 119th Pick, Houston Texans)
RB - DeShaun Foster (Round 13, 202nd Pick, San Francisco 49ers)
WR - Devin Hester (Round 12, 183rd Pick, Chicago Bears)
WR - Devin Thomas (Round 15, 234th Pick, Washington Redskins)
TE - Desmond Clark (Round 14, 215th Pick, Chicago Bears)
**-INJURED

NOTES
Curtis will come in several weeks from now; even injured I think he is better than my alternatives at the time. I'm still weak at receiver and will really need Aaron Rodgers to work with Greg Jennings (and me). Tom Brady and Brandon Jacobs are awesome-o, and I can switch out DeAngelo Williams if I need to with the guys from my strongest bench position. I have no backups at kicker or defense, though... I don't know how all of this will turn out. My week one opponent is favored by a little more than five points, which is certainly surmountable. However, Tom Brady is my only hope this year to finishing in the top half.

Poker Night

After sixteen years, I finally got to play poker with the people my parents have been been playing with all that time. It's all family or people close enough to our family to be considered family. Several of them have died, and this was the first poker night had since my aunt died back in January. My sister stayed at home, and, wanting to do the exact opposite of what she was doing, I got to play.

We bet with pennies, though, so it isn't as glamorous as I might make it sound. Bluffing by betting a whole nickel, for example, never worked that well since a nickel isn't all that much. I ended up with a bit smaller stack of pennies than I started out with, but I never once had to get more, always winning a round right when I was starting to go out near the end of the night.

I remember our old house on Heath Drive right at the entrance of Foxcroft that we moved from on December 14, 1996, when I was four. Several times a month, everyone in our family would get together to play poker. My sister was just a baby, so I was the only person in the whole house that realized what was going on and couldn't play the game. Lots of times, though, my Uncle Jim would entertain me by playing me in my made-up game, "What'chu Wanna' Pick?" I remember the basic rules, but everyone recalls it as me constantly changing the rules to my advantage. I vaguely recall those times and cherish them since he died ten years ago.

I also remember them playing at my grandmother's house, which was just three houses down the street. At one point, I knew everyone from the six houses from the beginning of the street off of Foxcroft to the road that had a cul-de-sac on it where my cousin and I would race on bikes. Both families on either side of our house had kids my age; in fact, I think they would've both been in my grade level. One moved away not long after we did and the other's kid I passed time to time at school in the past and recognized him, though I know he would not remember me. My grandmother died eight years ago, and her house that was built when they moved in and my mom was still in school (her initials and handprints are/were etched into the sidewalk leading up to the front door) burned down a couple years later. The night it burned down is one of the worst memories I have.

By the way, sorry for making this so morbid. It shouldn't be because I am celebrating my past. The tone of this post was supposed to sound happy, though I guess it doesn't anymore.

We played poker at our former neighbors' house. As uncool as it sounds, I enjoyed spending a non-school night with my parents and two retired people. They both have retired since the last poker night I went to, about two years ago. The tradition has become so irregular since my grandmother died since it was really her neighbors and her family playing. Since then, my other aunt is the rallying point for family get-togethers. Birthday parties, holidays, and such are normally held at her house. In fact, there was a cookout there Saturday night. All I really cared about was the ability to see the football games on. Utah 25, Michigan 23.

Earlier on Sunday, after church, we drove up I-10 to Cracker Barrel for lunch at 10:30AM, for some reason. Afterwards, my parents decided we'd go see Lake Jackson after Fay. I learned where the first house I had ever lived in is because of that. It was off of Old Bainbridge west of the lake, and I guess it was my parents' first house, which we moved out of in 1993. My grandmother had given them a tree to plant soon after moving in. Dominating the front yard now is a giant tree.

It seems I would've been zoned for Godby or Leon and Nims or Griffin (I asked my dad and he said I would've gone to one of those two schools each since he didn't know which). Something about a new elementary school, too. On Heath Drive, I would've spent three years at Raa but had to go Chiles afterward. I am grateful to have gone to all the "rich kid" schools. Complain all you want about Deerlake and Chiles, but it's the best option you have when you actually look at all the other schools here.

A straight beats three of a kind beats two pair.

Necesito Dormir

That's probably not right in Spanish and I should know that after over three years. Anyway, I feel tired more lately. Yesterday, knowing that I wouldn't have to school today since it is Saturday, I went to sleep at 6. My parents woke me up at 6:30, though, for no real reason. I was asleep again by 7 but was woken up yet again at 7:30 for dinner. I didn't like it and so my mom bade me "oh well" as if she were punishing me for not liking the food because I couldn't have anything else, even though it was my choice to skip dinner. I went to sleep again at 8 and woke up at 11, my need for sleep finally satiated. I discovered we had nothing in the house to eat, not even any cereal. I found some raspberry Jell-O in the back of the fridge and ate two containers of that from a six pack since there were only two others left in there and they were both orange, which isn't as tasty as red-colored foods. I went to sleep at 1:30 and didn't wake up once during the night, something I normally do once every two or three hours on nights when i take just an hour long nap, let alone four hours worth, meaning I guess I still didn't get enough sleep.

Yesterday everything seemed so great, but not anymore. I had to fake being sick to stay home from doing stupid stuff, and the football games weren't that exciting. We went to my aunt's tonight and I was coerced into swimming with my cousins. I tried to organize a game of water polo, which was soon after undermined twice by some of their whininess. You know, because you have to actually swim and it can take effort. My hair is uncontrolable and kept getting in my eyes no matter what I did.

I drove my family back home. I can get my license within a month, but "can" and "will" are two completely different words. I talked to my mom about this, and I don't think she sees me driving until I'm in my junior year in college. It's not because I'm a threat to everyone on the streets. I don't like talking about it, but my family can't just buy me a car. My dad sold his truck in July, so, while most of the people I know have families adding another car, mine actually took one away. My mom talks about how insurance rates will multiply astronomically when I get my license, and that just can't happen right now. I can get my car one day when I can pay for it and insurance. However, I have to get a job first. But, to get a job first, I have to finish getting volunteer hours out of the way. Based on how she has decided, I will be able to get a job to get a car after my seventeenth birthday, after having wasted two hours every Saturday working at the stupid library. =D Somehow, that is all my fault.

I tell her it is imperative to get my license by December since I took the driving test in Driver's Ed class back in December and it only counts for one year after I take it. Otherwise, I will have to take again at everyone's favorite place with the most cheery employees, the DMV! While my dad agrees that makes sense, as the whole purpose of that class was to prepare me for the day I could drive on my own, my mom doesn't look like she will concede to that argument. It is weak, and I see what she means, but it is so, I don't even know the word, to see everyone else get something handed to them when you are not even given the oppurtunity to work for it yourself. I don't care if that sounds spoiled. Next to many people at Chiles, I'm undercared.

I'm sorry that turned into a rant about driving. Luckily, no one really reads this anyone, except me when I will looking back through happy memories a year from now. This isn't really happy, as my mood has changed entirely over the last day... Which was completely different from the day before that, actually. I feel so alone and isolated for reasons I haven't told anyone. My mood seems to be the exact opposite of many people I know. Right now, I have gathered with lots of proof the collective sentiment is one of happiness right now. Once again it happens.

I'm sorry, but I hope you have a miserable day tomorrow because I would like at least one happy day this weekend.

I hate being so weak.

By the Way, I Didn't Fall Asleep in APUSH Today

I can normally only post about me because that is what I am best at talking about. It's because of that that I'm a really good listener. But maybe you didn't know that. You should notice that I don't talk all that much, and even when I do around people I feel comfortable around I'm not the center of the conversation, especially if I can't talk about myself. I do store all the information I hear away so that maybe in the future I can talk to you about something not relate to me or my interests and impress you (and hopefully not creep you out) by recovering random facts.

I think I also monopolize the conversation by trying to be funny. Which reminds me, to day I read something about Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on the set of The Office watching filming of an upcoming episode and that the mockumentary is apparently one of his favorite shows. So me and they guy who was on my shirt today have something in common there.

If you will excuse me, my ability to focus has been shot. I will get a good night's sleep tonight, maybe even five hours for once!

I Won't Forget

So I don't know if I stated it before, but I'm not going to forget about this and never ever post like I have on stuff in the past. I don't ever go through with projects, and even though this isn't a project, I'm going to.

I do my best thinking at night. I average laying awake after I got to bed sometime around 12:30 to 1-ish for about an hour, and I've thought through a lot of stuff. I've discovered the meaning of life and pondered all sorts of philosophical things. That one guy that burst through doors to check if matter still existed in Octavian Nothing? He and I have a lot in common, at least through the first 300 pages since I didn't finish reading the book, a project for English (see!?!). I am dog tired every morning and make up most of that hour staring at the ceiling sleeping in APUSH, but it is worth it, except for the part that I believe my mind is thus operating on a different plane than anyone else's.

The other day, I hit 400 plays on a song on iTunes. It took 421 days and 59 minutes, meaning I listen to it on average almost once a day and have still never gotten sick of it. This is an accomplishment for me, considering I never thought I would fill up my 1GB 200-song-holding-capable iPod Nano I got for eighth grade graduation. It's a good thing it died (except not really) because I'm now up to 1577, amazing considering I would never've guess I knew 1577 songs.

1/Come on Eileen/Dexys Midnight Runners/4:13/Too-Rye-Ay/New Wave/*****/400/82508 10:07 PM/712007 9:08 PM/1982
400 x 4:13 = 1686:40 = 28:06:40 = 1:04:06:40 = 1 day, 4 hours, six minutes, and 40 seconds listening to the same song. And yet Last.fm doesn't have me down as listening to it but, like, 100 times. Not fair.

Lastly, college football season starts today!!! We have a little over four months, so enjoy it. =)

My Blog List

By the way, the blogs I added in my list are ones that I read. Some of you don't realize that I read yours, so sorry if that seems stalkerish. I'll stop if you like.

Monday, Monday

So it's really Tuesday now but I'm still in a Monday mindset. I got my schedule in homeroom (Mrs. Haddock, formerly Ms. Underwood) and found that I had nothing to complain about at all for the second straight year. Last year I heard people complain when they only got half their classes with their best friend. Now it's funny because people seem to have less, though that's still ont much to complain about. I know a lot of people got screwed over since the main classes they wanted in their schedule all seemed to take place fifth period or something like that. Now those people do have the right to complain and I'm sorry they didn't get the schedule they wanted this time.

My Schedule

1. Latin I - Yates; Mr. Yates is one of the awesomest teachers ever and he likes our class since we are nowhere near as bad as the classes he's had the last two years.
2. AP US History - Thomas; I fell asleep in class, like, twice in the first week, and we got to start off the year by reading about Indians... Oh boy. I'm stranded in the back corner right now but I know plenty of people in the class and she said we will eventually be able to move from alphabetical order. I hope.
3. AP Calculus BC - Johnson; The class is small since it's an AP course and there are just five other juniors in the class, including Jack and William. So far I have made wishes at 11:11 every day and MJ has been going over our past-math-we-learned-ages-ago summer packet all the way up until now.
4. Spanish IV - Knoll; This is the only Spanish IV class, so the room is packed. I believe every single desk is now occupied. I can tell this class will be interesting this whole year.
5. AP Chemistry - Ewart; We got free stuff right away, so I can't complain. She really likes her AP classes and, dare I say it, Mrs. Ewart may actually be one of my favorite teachers. I sit next to Kejing at seat #14, one of my favorite numbers.
6. AP Language/Composition - Colombo; I think that's the course title. Every year I have figured there is no way my English class can, um, drop down a level so to speak from the previous year. It may have done so every year ever. At least Chanyang is in the class with me, or else I would be stranded in the worst class to be so.
7. Piano I - Miller; I have a class in the Band Hall and it should be the easiest one! I've decided I need to know how to do stuff and playing the piano would be great. I made a list of languages I have to master, too, so I can woo people with my Spanish/French/Italian/Japanese accent.

Extracurriculars are also starting up. Brain Bowl's first meeting is Wednesday in Mr. Shoenberger's room, now 9201 at 3:15PM. People should go that, hint hint.

I had a gloomy narrative to tell, kind of like the way I wrote of my last day of school back in May. It may seem sort of surprising that I can be serious, but it shouldn't really. Anyway, I won't tell it. I can still remember the last day of school clearly, though. I mean crystal clear. Come to think of it, time probably seems like it's passing more quickly than ever because my memory is getting sharper so I don't forget this kind of stuff so I can remember it as if it were yesterday, which it might as well be if not for three months worth of other memories crammed in between. It was the same the summer before that, too, and I can still remember that last day of school.

The Classes of 2010, 2011, and 2012 will be the only three classes that had K-12 education entirely take up the '00's decade. Now I can't wait two more years.

Untitled Intro

So I noticed a a recent blogging explosion and have decided to use this blog instead. I watched Usain Bolt dominate the 100m the other day and heard his awesome nickname(s) and was jealous until I realized I have the perfect nickname for that and could play off of it in so many ways.

And so I bid adieu to Xangaing after, like, 53 posts in over three years. I would type more now but it is 1:30AM Monday and need to wake up in under five hours.