New Year's Resolution kept!!!!

So, since I didn't have any New Year's Resolutions of my own last year, I stole Kristina's (of The Parselmouths) one to read 50 new books. NEW was the key word for me. I have a habit of rereading books like crazy. I'm sure I read way more than 100 books, since I know I read several books 3 times (books I'd already read before). So I really wanted to see if I could read 50 books that I hadn't read before. Some of these are books I had to read for school, but that doesn't mean I didn't read them. And I actually enjoyed all of them, so I figured I should count them--after all, I hadn't read them before! Anyway, this is my list:

1. Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
2. Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
3. The Psychology of Harry Potter by Neil Mulholland
4. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
5. A Neverending Story by Michael Ende
6. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
7. Wife in the Fast Lane by Karen Quinn
8. Love and Freindship and other early works by Jane Austen
9. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
10. Oracle Quest by Lisa Wright Degroodt
11. Relic Quest by Lisa Wright Degroodt
12. Barrier Quest by Lisa Wright Degroodt
13. Charm Quest by Lisa Wright Degroodt
14. The Once & Future King by T.H. White
15. Oedipus by Sophocles
16. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
17. Le tour du monde en 80 jours* by Jules Verne
18. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
19. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
20. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
21. Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall
22. A Thousand Hills by Stephen Kinzer
23. Looking for Alaska by John Green
24. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
25. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
26. The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
27. Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
28. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
29. Paper Towns by John Green
30. Jean de Florette* by Marcel Pagnol
31. All My Sons by Arthur Miller
32. Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnosn, and Lauren Myracle
33. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
34. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
35. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
36. Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli
37. Cyrano de Bergerac* by Edmond Rostand
38. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
39. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
40. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
41. Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements
42. The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
43. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
44. Sold by Patricia McCormick
45. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
46. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
47. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
48. Land Quest by Lisa Wright Degroodt
49. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
50. Bliss by Lauren Myracle
*The french version =]

And, I am close to finishing The Two Towers. (I'd only read the Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring for fear of destroying my dad's 50 year old copies....) We'll see if I finish it before midnight tonight! *wink*

Later, I'm going to write a reflection of 2008. But...for now, if anyone is reading this, tell me about your new year's resolutions, whether you kept them, and about any new books you read! Cheers! DFTBA!

Giving thanks

So, today's thanksgiving. =] Which means a lot more food than we need to eat (for most people), football (not for me), Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, movie and tv marathons, and, of course, giving thanks (the often forgotten part of Thanksgiving). I hate doing these things aloud, especially since I'm at my mom's this Thanksgiving and didn't really know what to say. So I'm going to give thanks here. Read it if you want, don't if you...you know, don't want to.

• I'm thankful for my family. Dad, Leslie, Ebony, Elyse, and all my relatives. Everyone is so amazingly supportive. I can't believe how amazing a family I have. Sure, we don't always get along, and all my relatives live pretty far away so I haven't seen anyone since Christmas. But my family is amazing--loving, friendly, supportive, helpful, and big on that whole constructive criticism thing. ;] And, on the same note, I'm thankful that Aunt Brenda and Uncle Bill live in Colorado now, and that hopefully I'll have the chance to get even closer to them now. But above anyone else, I'm thankful to my dad and Leslie, who understand me so well and would do practically anything to make sure I'm happy. It's so nice to have people in my life who really, sincerely hate to see me unhappy. So thank you, everyone.
• Okay, next in the list is my friends. I may not have many of them, but I'm eternally grateful for all the ones I do--my true friends. I don't want to list them, but you know who you are. I couldn't survive without my support system of friends who pick me up when I break down and crack jokes to make me cheer up and always have that one memory to make me smile and forget my troubles. =]
• I'm thankful I have food. Okay, when I'm at my mom's house it may be pretty bad food, or very little food, but I really can't complain when I think about the people around the world who starve and get a bowl of rice every few days. It's amazing that my home has its own garden, where we grow our own awesome vegetables, and that we were part of a farm this year that gave us the rest of the vegetables we'd need. I'm really lucky that I get such great food and have the opportunity to cook some amazing meals and choose what's on the menu and go to the grocery store and buy what I want.
• I'm grateful I live in America, in the beautiful state of Colorado. It may be cold, and full of allergens, and not my first pick of where to live, but it's amazing. The mountains are beautiful, and I can just drive for 30 minutes and find seclusion and serenity to go hiking. I'm lucky to live in such a great country, where the first African-American president will be inaugurated in just 2 months! Really, I'm thankful I don't live in Africa or the Middle East or any other third-world country.
• I'm thankful I have the money, leisure, and luxury to buy and read books. Amazing books such as Paper Towns and Harry Potter and Inkdeath. Without books...oh, I don't know what I'd do.
• I'm thankful, actually, for school. Because some kids don't have the choice of whether or not to go to school. And despite the sub-par teachers, obnoxious peers, occasionally useless assignments, and complaining that I do, school is building me a fantastic foundation on which I can build the rest of my life. =]
• I'm thankful for the amazing, ever-growing Harry Potter fandom. And, definitely, all the amazing friends I've met through it. I'm thankful for Leaky, especially the Lounge, for being the first place to make me feel welcome. I'm grateful that I get to go to LeakyCon in May, and that I have all these opportunities to be with people who understand, love, and appreciate me.
• This is a weird one, but I'm thankful for my willpower and giving ability. I don't know how I push myself to do all this community service and actions for different charity groups, but I'm thankful that I do and thankful for how good that all makes me feel.

Well....I think that's it for now. I'll probably think of something else and have to edit this entry, but I'm going to stop for now. I've had things to complain about all week that are still in my mind, but I think I'll just leave this as a very happy, thankful journal entry and not mess it up with my teenage complaining. I hope everyone had an amazing thanksgiving! Turkey or tofurkey (mmm...tofurkey!), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing....Just remember to enjoy whatever your feast includes and remember that there's a lot of people less fortunate who need that food. So be thankful today, folks, instead of just stuffing your face and then falling asleep to football. Happy thoughts! Cheers!

YES WE DID!!!!!!!!!!

YES, YES, WE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRESIDENT Barack Obama. VICE PRESIDENT Joe Biden. FIRST LADY Michelle Obama. US SENATOR Mark Udall. A NEW ERA for the United States!!!!!!!!! =]

I can't believe it!!!! I still feel like I'm dreaming....I'm worried I'll wake up tomorrow and find that it's still November 4th and the election hasn't happened yet....But, guys, WE DID IT! We showed the world, the people, the government what we think is right. As Hal Bidlack said tonight, "It's not about left or right, it's about RIGHT or WRONG. And tonight, America made the RIGHT choice." A change is coming to America, though I can't stress enough that Barack can't deal with everything right away--he needs to deal with economics and national security before anything else. But you know what? Tonight, for the first time I can remember, I'm proud to say, "I'm a United States citizen. And I volunteered for Barack Obama. I helped him get elected." Tonight, I'm proud to fly an American flag. I believe in our country, and I believe we've sent a message to the world that America is still the great country it once was, with ideals of liberty and justice FOR ALL, ideals of doing what is fundamentally right, and of truly being a government run BY the people and FOR the people.

Today. WE MADE HISTORY. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. The first African-American president. I mean, I still remember November 2006, when Obama won the US Senate seat, and thinking how amazing he was. I remember that first debate with all the democratic primary candidates. I remember....I remember coming all this way these past two years, and now.....I mean, is this real?!

I went to an election party at the Antlers Hilton here in Colorado Springs, and the energy was positively ELECTRIC the whole time. There was just so much hope, so much happiness....I almost hadn't dared this day would come. When MSNBC projected Obama as president....chills ran down my spine. And when COLORADO went Obama.....WOW. I helped with that. I volunteered, I knocked on doors, I encouraged everyone who could to go get out and vote. I got tears in my eyes when Michelle came out, and tears in my eyes when Obama told the story about the 106-year-old in Atlanta. YES WE DID. But, still, YES WE CAN. Yes, we CAN make the changes that need to happen. Yes, we CAN show the people that we really are going to make a better country. Yes, we CAN.

In other happy news, the Personhood Amendment on the Colorado Ballot, the one that would ban abortion, was pretty thoroughly defeated! SQUEE!!!!!

Say it with me: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. PRESIDENT. BARACK. OBAMA.

Thank you so much, everyone.....I have hope tonight...and I'm not sure I'll sleep!

Happy New Year! Now, please sit and listen to Kat ramble for a while

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!! =] *fireworks* *loud noises* *champagne* Okay, so, no one understands this, and y'all probably think that I'm crazy, but for my religion, the 31st of October is considered the new year. I'm Pagan, and in the olden days this was the new year because it was the end of the harvest, when the days started getting a lot shorter and colder, and people prayed for the return of the sun and another good harvest. Really, all I do is perform a short ritual (which I actually didn't do this year)....well, this year I just "prayed" to the god and goddess and gave thanks and everything. It really is a nice holiday. But, to everyone else, it's just Halloween...but I celebrate Halloween, too! Who's gonna give up free candy?!

Which brings me to my first section of this entry. Halloween. I had the most fun Halloween that I've probably ever had. I was kind of lazy and just decided to be Luna again because I already had everything for the costume, and I have an awful lot of fun dressing up as her. I did add some things this year, though: A fairy dust necklace, a pop tops necklace, striped long socks, and my friend's pink and brown converse. Oh, and my Obama/Granger button. =] So, anyway, the day started with Arts & Tech...my last day of Theatre!!!! Darn. =[ But, we got to tour the theatre (go look at the costume loft and sound and light stuff) and do a fashion show of the costumes, which was hilarious. Erm...so Pre-Calc actually wasn't amazing at all, because I think that's kind of impossible. But during French I just got to go eat a crepe, and then proceeded to have roughly 2 more during my actual lunch (Literally, 3, but 2 were awfully small so I counted them as one). Leslie and I made crepes on Thursday night, and they went really fast, so I guess they were good! In English all we did was our ELF career folders, which, while being really obnoxious, also managed to be hilarious! Umm...so I went home and did homework (yeah, cause I'm a nerd), and then ate a small portion of pesto because our couscous didn't work out....

Okay. THEN Melissa's house. Omigod, it was so amazing!!!!! We sat around for about an hour at her house before leaving--everyone else ate the pizza her mom made at one point, but mostly we just talked and laughed and were kind of inappropriate. I introduced the "In Your Pants" joke to everyone, and we fit all 14 of us on the couch at one point. Afterwards, we went trick or treating...for about an hour and 45 minutes around her very large neighborhood. It was so fun! John was a trumpet player as his costume, so we played the Rampart Rams tune but shouted "Trick or Treat" (instead of Rampart Rams) at every house (okay, none of you go to Rampart, so you don't understand, but trust me, it was amazing). I'm pretty sure all the houses loved it, and it was a lot of fun. We were really energetic, and practically running from house to house...which caused one of my radish earrings to break, but I have so much extra clay that I can make another one in a mere hour. Anyway, I'm pretty sure we burned quite a lot of calories trick-or-treating, actually, because we were running a lot, up and down a lot of hills and really tall driveways some of the time. Once we got back to Melissa's house, we kind of did a lot of trading of candy we didn't like....I got more dots than I've ever got!!!!! After trading, I had 126 things, and then after putting the things I didn't want in my family's bowl, I have 110 things of candy to eat! Squee!!!! We also watched Scary Movie 4....I'd never seen any of the Scary Movies, but I think I have to now because it was hilarious!!!! =] I got home...hung out on the internet...and went to bed around 11:45 because I was actually quite tired. Okay, so, just for fun, I'm going to list some of the more UNUSUAL candies I got: 1 bag of Cheetos. 1 Baskin Robbins hard candy. 1 Milk Maid (haven't seen in forever!) 1 Goobers (also haven't seen in forever). 1 bag Mini Oreos. 3 Heath bars (also haven't seen in forever). 2 bags Dr. Seuss fruit snacks. And, I got 8 boxes of Dots, including a box of "Ghost" dots, and 7 Reese's, including one full size! =] I'm very excited...I don't even eat that much candy (last night I only had a crunch bar and a Heath bar), but I've never gotten this much!

Okay. Next section. OBAMA (and the election). I went to go see him in Denver last Sunday...100,000 people!!! It was absolutely amazing. I only got to catch a short glimpse, and I had another girl take a picture, but the energy I felt there was just so amazing. I don't want to jinx anything, especially since I can't vote, but I really do think he's going to win. He just seems to have so much support, and he's such a strong speaker, and he inspires me so much. Tomorrow I'm going to go out and walk door-to-door encouraging people to vote. Also, his 30-minute infomercial was absolutely amazing. I just don't see how anyone who listens to him can't be inspired by him. I also went to the Bidlack/Lamborn debate on Thursday...I don't have the slightest idea what's going to happen in that race, but Bidlack certainly had the most supporters at the debate and I think he really did the best during the debate in getting his ideas out and really telling the people what he'd do.

But, you may be asking yourself why I'm putting so much time into the election when I can't even vote. And, yes, it is certainly true that I can't vote, but if I put time into the election, I can at least say later on that "I was a part of it." I don't know that I've actually made anyone vote for Obama who wouldn't have before, but the feeling is still with me. And you know why I'm so absorbed in this election? It's not just because of Obama, even though I agree with everything he says (except for clean coal technology) and I believe he can do it. It's because I believe WE need a change here in America, that WE deserve better than the past 8 years, and that WE can do it. This is our nation. It's not the nation of Dick Cheney, and we deserve to have a say in what's going on in our country. We need to be able to send a message to Washington that we don't agree. This election decides OUR future, but especially the future of me and all my young adult friends. It's time we do something right with our government, it's time we focus on the important issues, and it's time that we send a message to the world that America is still the great nation, full of leadership and freedom and hope, that it once was. It's time for a change, and we can bring it, even if we don't get Obama elected, the fact that so many people got involved sends a message to Washington that times are changing.

This brings me to a sort of sub-section. The issues in this election. When I was sitting in the debate on Thursday, I began to get a little annoyed about some of the issues that were discussed. One main one, really, but...anyway. I believe the main issues in this election are energy, the economy, and national security. Which, actually, are all connected. It is essential that the next administration research renewable and alternative energy and SINCERELY reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and nonrenewable energy resources. As everyone who hasn't been living in a cave knows, our economy is in shackles, and the next administration is going to have a tough job fixing it. And, our national security is also very important--terrorism certainly has not died, Bin Laden is still out there, and al-Qaeda is getting stronger. So, when all of these main issues and many, many other very important ones are out there, how do we get along to talking about this issue of gay unions/marriages as if it were a top priority? I mean, I'm a complete GLBT rights supporter, and I believe that they should be able to have a UNION (not marriage) and that couples should have the same visiting rights. But, when you really think about it, this issue isn't....really all that important. It does nothing to our economy, nothing to our national security, nothing about the war, nothing about energy...it's just a bunch of freaky Christians saying that gays/lesbians should have no rights. I strongly believe that when voting for a candidate, people shouldn't take this issue into that great of consideration...maybe the last thing if you do at all. Because it definitely won't be the first thing dealt with after January 20th, and...well....there's just so many more issues that should decide this election.

Now, another sub-section, quickly, on abortion. (*WARNING* This will quite possibly offend a lot of people) Now, I hate the pro-life, pro-choice thing, because it makes me sound like I support killing people, but I do have to say that I'm pro-choice. I believe life starts when the baby could live outside the mother's body, and that if an abortion happens before this point, it's not really killing a person. I also believe sincerely that it's the mother's choice, and no one should interfere with that choice. What really gets me off is people who want to ban abortion, birth control, and sex ed in schools, because they don't give anyone any options and seemingly just want to overpopulate the world. But beyond whether I think it's right or wrong to have an abortion, I very much do think it's wrong to ban abortion. Because if we ban abortion, it's just goign to go to the outskirts and hidden places of society. It's not going to go away, women are still going to do it. It's just going to become more and more dangerous for women. Like in Africa, where abortion is illegal in a lot of places. Women still do it in village hospitals, but the majority of them also die during the process. So, making abortion illegal would still kill a lot of infants, and kill all of their mothers in the process.

Okay. Getting away from controversial topics now! I think I just have a few short topics...
Nanowrimo: I've never done it before, and I'm kind of scared. I haven't started yet, and I haven't even fully decided if I'm really going to do it. I'm scared I'll fail or give up or....well, I don't really know. *sigh*
Harry, A History: THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!!
School: Bleh. Stupid French. Stupid Pre-Calculus. I wish I was still in Theatre. At least I still have an A in math!
His Dark Materials: I am now reading this series, thanks to Matt and Brian at Terminus, and I love it. I'm sorry for all those years when I refused to read it.
LeakyCon: I'm now officially going! SQUEE!

Okay, I think that's it, though I'll probably think of something else when I'm done. I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this entry...and if you got all the way to the end, thank you! Because that took a long time. (It was 4 pages on Word) Well....Best Wishes! DFTBA! Cheers!

In Your Pants....

Okay, so, once again, it's been over two weeks since I last posted on here. And rather than boring y'all with the many, boring, monotonous details of my life, I'm just going to go over the things that have happened since October 4th that I deemed relatively exciting, amusing, interesting, or fun.

• Let it Snow. Wow. Such a great book....I really needed something to read after Paper Towns. I hadn't realized that all of the stories would be connected. Funnily enough, I read the book last LAST weekend when it was really cold here in Colorado, and really cloudy, and I honestly started to think that it actually WAS Christmas season. But it wasn't. It was October 12th. Anyway, go read it. =] It's good.
• Inkdeath. SQUEE!!!! I've been waiting so long for this book! And it was a perfect ending. I mean, I guess I kind of knew nothing too bad would happen since it's a children's book, but there were a lot of places where I got worried and thought there was no way everything would get fixed. I don't know how many of y'all have read the Inkworld trilogy, but if you like fantasy or really just if you like books, you should go read it =] So, I won't tell you any spoilers, but I will tell you this: I will never, EVER look at a magpie the same way again!
• Town Hall debate/SNL parody that followed it. Ah, the greatest question: "What don't you know and how will you learn it?" McCain wandering.....Okay, so it was actually a really boring debate, but, as always, SNL managed to do something really funny with it.
• Last Presidential debate. Poor Joe the Plumber....who isn't actually a licensed plumber and hasn't paid his taxes. But........OBAMA'S WINNING!!!!!!!!!! SQUEE!!!!!!!!! *does her happy dance* I mean, really, McCain seemed so uncomfortable and unsure =] Yay! November 4th and a good government, here we come!
• Long weekends =]
• Community service roadless area work on Saturday. Not terribly exciting and I doubt y'all will find it interesting, but I did think it was pretty interesting. I really don't understand why people with ATVs find the need to go off roads and destroy the environment and wilderness area. The area we were at was basically just in Colorado Springs' backyard, and it's such a beautiful wildnerness area with so many great views that NEEDS to be preserved. So, at the very least, I felt good for doing it.
• The Grapes of Wrath. Went to go see it yesterday--definitely one of the best plays I've seen here in Colorado Springs. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was such a powerful and profound play put on by some of the best actors I've seen. I'd tell y'all to read the book, except my dad says the book version is a lot less interesting than the play. So...either try it or just hope that some theatre in your area will decide to produce it soon!

Now, onto some "In Your Pants" jokes:
These are all books that I own that I thought would benefit from some "In Your Pants" jokes. Enjoy! (mostly they just made me giggle, but some of them are jokes between me and myself. So sorry if you don't get it)
Collapse....in your pants (collapse of what? Oh dear...)
A Thousand Hills....in your pants (those are some pretty big pants!!!!)
The Giver....in your pants (I wonder who it is and what he's giving out....)
Holes....in your pants (oh, those unsightly holes)
Deep...in your pants (oh dear....I don't think this one needs explanation)
I'm not who you think I am....in your pants (What?!? Then who are you...and why are you in my pants?!)
The Secret Life of Bees....in your pants (Oooo...sounds pretty painful...I wonder if bees are any different when they're in someone's pants...)
Beloved...in your pants (does this really need explanation?)
Peter Pan...in your pants (well, depending on whose pants we're talking about, this could be a problem)
Greek Gods and Heroes....in your pants (this sounds like it could get pretty messy. And pretty crowded. And REALLY uncomfortable...so many swords and lightning bolts and fighting animals and tridents!)
Hope is not a plan...in your pants (Well...sounds like one of those poor guys who just HOPES he'll get a girl...or the other way around...dude, it's just NOT a plan)
The Jungle Book....in your pants (man, that's a lot of animals)

Okay, so I hope y'all found that semi-amusing, at the very least!

Sending y'all happy thoughts! Cheers! DFTBA!

This week (well, the past 8 days)

Okay, so it appears that now the only time I have to write about my week is on the weekends. So, here goes.

I guess I'll start with last weekend, since I never covered that. On Saturday we went hiking at the Shaft House--a hike I've done 5 times and never fail to be amazed by. It's just so BEAUTIFUL. I swear, the view behind those rocks is worthy of one of those Nature Valley commercials. It's so pristine, and so peaceful, and so unique...it feels like you are a hundred miles away from any other people or form of civilization. Plus, it's so gorgeous with all the fall leaves and colors. Rain was chasing us the whole way back, though. Seriously, it started POURING rain just six minutes after we got into the car and didn't stop until we got back to Colorado Springs!!!! We stopped in Woodland Park for really AMAZING mexican food---I had vegetarian fajitas, and they were SO GOOD!!!! When we got back home, we watched The Last King of Scotland, which I knew was supposed to be a good movie, but still exceeded my expectations. It's such a powerful movie!!! And....I went to bed pretty early, as usual.

Erm....on Sunday I pretty much did a lot of homework. I wrote THREE dialectical journals in the morning!!!!!! GAH!!!!!!! So obnoxious! And...they're a lot harder to write on poetry because you have a lot less to work with. I think they turned out pretty good....but Mr. Treece switched the due date to this Wednesday!!! Curse me and my intense need to get things done early!!!! I could've had a free Sunday!! Anyway, I also did a little bit of French homework, memorized my lines for Arts & Tech, and read some.....and went to bed, obviously.

Umm....well, we started doing our maxes in Weights & Fitness on Monday. O mi goodness!!! I didn't think I was terribly weak, but compared to pretty much the rest of the class, I am. We only finished the push press on Monday, and my max was 35 pounds. *sigh* (more on maxing to come) Anyway, he totally didn't give us enough time to change....basically when the bell rang, so I ran to Chemistry without any shoes on!!!! The homecoming assembly, in which people from the London parade talked (our marching band will be performing in 2009) And in Chemistry, we took some notes and Mr. McGregor did some pretty amazing things with....well, with fire!!!! =] Lunch was, well, lunch. A presentation in French class. Notes in US History. Homework (Arts & Tech lines, questions for French, research for Chemistry), dinner, shower, bed....

Tuesday was 80s Workout Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =] Okay, and so this isn't the greatest picture of me, but I totally went into the whole 80s theme, and had way too much fun: Bad 80s workout day pic Anyway, in Arts & Tech we got our memorization grades, rehearsed some, and then played an improv game (which I didn't participate in) Erm....in math, we got our tests back (I got an 88%, which actually was quite exciting for me) We spent a really long time going over them since the other class was behind, and then I played a few card games with Jenny and Joel. And then Lunch. GAH!!!!!! They closed the library AGAIN!!!! So, Hannah and I decided to sit right outside the library and eat lunch. And the really cool thing, was that A BUNCH of people joined us because they were annoyed too! And......the teachers thought it was a pretty cool thing to do, too! =] SQUEE!! It was a reading day in French, and then, once again we had some really neat discussions in English. =] Right after school I had a fairly quick Personal Project meeting with Ms. Beiger, and she liked my idea, which was good. I got the WEIRDEST looks walking home!!!! Anyway, when I got home I did a portion of math homeowrk, some French homework, and annotated some poems for English. Since it was Tuesday, I obviously had Body Pump, and I went in my 80s workout clothes =] Erm....and I've been sick all week (since Friday, and I'm still sick). But it was worst on Tuesday, so I fell asleep REALLY early. And then, of course, got to sleep in on Wednesday.

So, of course, we were maxing again in Weights on Wednesday. My group did squats, and, omigod, was that painful or what?! Okay, and so I got up to 100 pounds....but that was without going parallel, evidently. *sigh* So, my legs already burning, I had to go down to 70 pounds in weight before I was able to go parallel and come back up =[ And, I didn't even have time to have Mr. West watch, so I had to redo it on Friday. *sighs again* Okay, so in Chemistry we shared research and took notes. Lunch, grammar in French, and then US History.....And then knowledge bowl. Home--more annotating poems (since I'd barely done it before), french homework, and writing my declaration of independence from stereotypes for US History. Cook dinner, eat, mess around on the computer, read, shower, and bed fairly early once again because I had a horrible headache.

Umm...On Thursday we performed our scene in Arts & Tech. I think it went pretty well--I got a 94%, anyway. Mmm....notes and then practice of logarithms in math. Lunch......We had a "pow wow" in French, in which we talked about our ridikulously enormous class. It was good, I guess, but will end up totally pointless if people don't start respecting her more. Then we did more grammar, and she actually TAUGHT us this time, which was good. Really, really positive change =] Umm...vocab test and discussion in English. Then I went home and did some french and math homework....I was really sore that whole day. I think that putting all that weight on my back and shoulders during squats really messed up my back for a little while, because it was quite painful to bend over. I managed to get through Body Pump pretty well, though. Then....the VP debate!!! (we ate dinner in front of the TV so as not to miss anything) Biden actually did really well =] Exceeded MY expectations.

Yesterday we continued doing maxes in Weights--I showed Mr. West the 70 pounds I could do on squats, feeling really pathetic in the process. Caitlyn and I then moved onto the chest press, where I proceeded to feel even more pathetic when she got 55 and I could only do 35. Urgh!!! The 35 was so easy, but I just couldn't go down all the way with 40 pounds!!!!!!!! We practiced our power clean, but ran out of time to do much of anything but the technique. We finished up the notes/talked way too much about gasoline issues in Chemistry, then wrote down the lab we'd be doing on Tuesday. Lunch, because that happens every day. More grammar in French. Then we took notes and did a little work on our political cartoons in US History--well, I actually didn't get ANYWHERE, but that's okay. I guess.

And.......THE SCHOOL SOMEHOW GOT AN ADVANCE COPY OF PAPER TOWNS!!!!!!!!! I nearly fell off my chair during lunch when I looked over and saw it. So, other than dinner/cooking and a little homework, that's all I did yesterday evening: read Paper Towns. I finished it in 3 hours and 15 minutes (and was up until 11:15 finishing it, meaning I didn't fall asleep until after midnight). O mi god. It's BEAUTIFUL. Seriously. I mean, I love John and he writes beautifully, but somehow Paper Towns still managed to exceed my expectations by being even more than awesome...It was so true, and so touching, and....well, unfortunately, most other people have to wait another 11 days, and I feel so blessed that I got to read it early. =] John, I LOVE YOU!!!!

So, this morning I hung out on the computer, read quite a bit, cleaned my room, and wrote in my quote book. Then I ate lunch and read some....and then I spent just about two and a half hours finishing Jean de Florette for French and looking up the vocab words I didn't know since we have to turn that in. It was only about 45 pages, but I'm a lot slower reading French and it takes an awfully long time to look up all those words!!!! Er....then I helped Leslie make enchiladas, ate dinner, and........now I'm doing this. While everyone else is at homecoming. *sigh*

Well, so I feel like an exceedingly boring person. Reading Paper Towns early is definitely exciting news, though!!!! I think all I have "planned" for tomorrow is more homework (dialectical journal #4 and political cartoon) and grocery shopping. And then the week starts over all again. Oh, and if you're wondering, yes, I'm still sick. And I'm also incredibly sore from maxing for the past week.

Go preorder Paper Towns if you're insane and haven't already! DFTBA!!!!!! Cheers!

100th post!!!!!!!!!!!

SQUEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *releases the balloons and streamers and confetti* *brings out the cake* Okay, so obviously neither of those things actually happened (though cake sounds good, doesn't it? Or maybe pie...Peanut butter pie! Yum!) But it's pretty exciting. And it took long enough, really. I don't have any real special way to celebrate my 100th post...Since it's not videos, I can't really compose an entry that has bits and pieces of all my other entries. Though, if you think about it, all my other entries had letters, and so does this one. So I'll just try to use every single letter in this entry. =] On to other things...

First, this video is absolutely hilarious! Hank, I love you!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqXX6kuk_XQ

Second, I'm going to finally cover last weekend. Well, on Friday, two of Dad and Leslie's political friends came over for dinner, and it was actually really fun =] Great conversation, and really good food. Saturday I got up at 5:30 and we left around 6:00 for Mt. Bross/Lincoln. I was pretty tired, but I didn't sleep because I've actually found that I have more energy for hiking if I don't sleep on the car ride...I don't know why, but I do. It was REALLY cold and there was snow pretty much everywhere. At the beginning I was especially cold, but it was made better by my dad giving me extra socks to put on and the fact that the trail crossed over into the sunlight for the ascent up Bross. It's definitely a lot tougher hiking in the snow, but we made pretty good time up Bross (and were the first people on the summit from that trail that day), where we sat down only briefly before deciding that the weather looked good enough to continue over to Lincoln (we didn't stay long on Bross' WIDE summit because it was pretty windy and we wanted to get moving). It didn't take very long at all to get over to Lincoln, which had a short semi-steep climb up to the summit. We stayed longer there, and there were actually OTHER people on the summit!!!! One of them was nice enough to take a picture of us (we took a picture of him, too =]). But, it started snowing/hailing just as we left the summit. And going back down Lincoln was really, really slippery....actually, going down the mountain was really slippery pretty much until we reached the edge of Democrat to head down the trail--a lot of snow that a lot of people had walked on. I believe we were quite a bit slower going down than going up because....well, for me it was because I didn't want to fall and break anything. Once we got more into the big rocks and then the flat trail, we were a lot faster, though. =] Despite the cold and the ice and the snow, I had a LOT of fun.

Dad and I stopped in Fairplay for a late lunch (enchiladas!!!) and then headed home....I don't really remember what I did until dinner....I was really tired. We had risotto, finally!!!!! And then we watched the double episode of the X-Files, which explained pretty much the ENTIRE show. But I was falling asleep during a lot of the show, and went to bed pretty early.

I slept in far too late on Sunday, but somehow was still in a tired daze as we walked through the BX/Commissary--I did finally remember to buy soap though (that probably doesn't sound exciting, but it is). After we got back and I ate some lunch (because I had a granola bar for "breakfast), I did homework for the REST of the day. SERIOUSLY. I had to do several different things for French, revise my Chemistry lab report, finish a bunch of Pre-Calculus homework (which my dad and I spent about two hours on, maybe), and write a paragraph for English (which I ended up doing Monday during lunch). We had good cabbage soup for dinner (yeah, it doesn't sound good, but it IS), but that was the only interruption in my afternoon of homework. Needless to say, I was stressed and super-tired. *sigh*

Monday and Tuesday were taken up by school and more homework....On Wednesday I had my Emily Dickinson poetry presentation, which didn't go so well but we managed to get an 84 on anyway and didn't really affect my grade. Surprisingly, I didn't have pretty much ANY homework that night! It was actually really unnerving.....Yesterday we played dodgeball for about 45 minutes in weights and fitness, which was really fun even though I'm really bad at throwing the ball. We did a bunch of stuff with equations in Chemistry, which I'm beginning to really, truly understand. That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt my head, though! I didn't have much homework last night, either--just a stupid French grammar sheet and studying.

This morning I woke up at 5:30 to go to a review session for pre-calculus, which turned out to not be as great as I expected it to be. But I guess it did help me to review the stuff right before the test, because I remembered a lot of stuff for the test. And, we had a really fun English class (once the vocab quiz was over) and discussed a lot of interesting topics =] I don't have nearly as much homework this weekend as I did last weekned, but I do have 4 dialectical journals due on Thursday, and I want to finish at least 3 of them if not all 4 because I know I won't want to be doing them during the week, but we'll see how that goes since we're going hiking tomorrow. And I have to actually plan out my personal project since I have my mentor meeting with Ms. Bieger on Tuesday.

I don't have much more interesting news....Umm....we've started watching Seinfeld on DVD, and I'd forgotten how funny it was!!!!

Okay, I'm pretty sure I used every letter! =] Soo........presidential debate tonight, hiking tomorrow (I'm pretty sure), and dialectical journals to look forward to (I guess).

I hope everyone's doing well! Cheers!

WAY too cool

Oh my god. I'm on a PotterCast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SQUEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I sound kind of like an idiot, but whatever. I'm. On. POTTERCAST. Mmm.........it just sounds so cool!!!!!!!! Ahem. PotterCast 165, roughly around 1:21:00. (Yeah, I checked) I can't believe I got the chance to play that game!!!

Seriously. That just cheered me up so incredibly after a very hard day. Thank you so much for releasing that today, guys.

I slept in until about 10:00 this morning because I was so tired from the school week/hiking yesterday......and, somehow, even though I got about 11 hours of sleep last night, I've been exhausted all day. We went to the comissary in the morning, but I spent about 6 or 7 hours this afternoon/evening working on homework. And I still haven't written the paragraph on how lines 62-87 of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock fit into the rest of the poem. Because I have NO IDEA. I mean, I have a vague, stupid idea, but I want to talk to Joel maybe tomorrow and then write it during lunch. It IS only a paragraph, after all. Besides, I'm too tired to write anything of quality. Because I did a bunch of stupid precalculus problems for hours today....I figured out all but one with the help of my dad (thank you) and that one problem....well, there's something weird about it and the answer in the book. So......I'm going to take a shower and go to bed real soon, cause I'm awfully tired despite getting so much sleep last night

I'll really try to make another detailed post about my weekend tomorrow. I just had to express my excitement about PotterCast and BEING ON IT!!!!!!!!! =]

As always, happy thoughts all around, and best wishes to those returning to the areas affected by Hurricane Ike. Can you believe it's already the week? *sigh* Well, Cheers!

Happy things!!! (and some NOT so happy things)

First, I am sincerely sorry that I haven't updated this in about three weeks for the...maybe two of you who read this. I know everyone hates this excuse, and I hate it too, but it's the truth: I've been busy. School started, and I managed to keep up okay for a little while. But then school ACTUALLY started. Meaning, quite simply, that I was bombarded with tests and essays and projects and homework and quizzes and reports and....GAH. For example this week: History test yesterday, Factor quiz and Poetry project due today, French fairytale due tomorrow, Vocab quiz and recitation of a memorized French fable on Thursday, and Chemistry lab report due Friday. Plus, I have a "report" on a poet due next Wednesday that I've been working on, and a bunch of other math and french and everything homework. I like school, really, I do, but I hate Rampart and I'm getting peeved at my French teacher and really, really peeved at about half of my peers who don't give a crap....ANYWAY....

I'm actually going to start with the not so happy things so that I can end this entry on a happy note.

• My great aunt died about a month ago. Actually, I was told this about two hours before my presentation at Terminus, which didn't help me prepare. I don't know why I didn't tell y'all before, but I just really needed about a month to accept it on a very personal level. Because while I didn't see her in person very much in my lifetime since she lived in Canada and later in Poland and Russia, I felt extraordinarily close to her--much closer than to even my grandpa on my mom's side. She was an amazing lady in every way, who first taught me about good food and the value of life. And....well, she didn't deserve cancer. The only thing I can say is that at least she didn't suffer long. Rest in Peace, Susan.
• Mmm....so my stepmom had an event on Saturday. Meaning that for about the past two weeks I've felt practically invisible when I'm at home. And it didn't help my stress levels at all.
• Obviously, the projects, etc, which I already mentioned.
• Still suffering from Post-Terminus depression. Really?! Shouldn't it have gone away by now? *sigh* I actually started crying on the 7th because I couldn't believe it had been a month.
• My iPod, my dear Luna, broke. NOooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!! ALL my wrock music was on there. I mean, yes, it's still on the computer, but now I don't have wrock to cheer me up anywhere...I have to be right by my computer. =[

Happy things now!!!

• Democratic National Convention=LOVE. Total, complete love. I'm so excited for this election, and so upset I can't vote.
• I also got to walk around with my dad the weekend of the 6th and 7th in our neighborhood for the Democratic party. It felt GOOD, strangely....
• Saturday Night Live parody of Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton this past Saturday. Really, if you haven't seen it yet, go to Saturday Night Live's website and WATCH IT. Unless you support Palin in which case (1) DON'T and (2) you're crazy. Anyway, it's now my official "cheer up Kat" video. Whenever I'm upset, I'm going to go laugh my butt off watching that video.
• It's Hayley's birthday!!! SQUEEE!!!!!!!!! I know I've never met her, but she is awesome, one of my favorite people in the world, and I hope one day to meet her in person or....read one of her books that I'm sure will be published.
• Weights class. I know it might sound weird, but weights class is so good. The one at school is exhausting, but I always feel really good afterwards--tired, but good. And Body Pump always makes me feel almost unbelievably better after a day of brain-numbing at school and hours of homework.
• ONE MONTH UNTIL PAPER TOWNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, summary of my life. I'm not even going to try to catch y'all up on everything I've been doing over the past three weeks. If you really care for some strange reason (like having a telephone booth fall on your head), then go ahead and ask. Otherwise, happy thoughts. Cheers!

Happy Birthday John Green and Frak!!!!!!

Squee!!!!!!! Both absolutely amazing people who have brought so much to my life. John, with his amazing books, and Frak with his amazing commentary on PotterCast and love of Pellegrino. =] I wish both of them a VERY happy birthday....and, I am going to help Hank make John happy....more on that later, when it isn't supposed to be secret anymore!

You may have noticed that I only posted two entries yesterday...and that's because I decided against posting a huge ranting/complaining post about my sister and her "superiority" and family issues and all that. I really do need someone to talk to about it who doesn't know my family but who will just sit there and listen. But I don't think ranting to my journal will help in this case, because I need someone to give advice and be comforting and all that. So...if you're up for that, let me know...Skype: lunasnargle E-mail: kdancingintherain@yahoo.com

Erm...so...this weekend. Yesterday morning I....uh, I'm pretty sure I spent it reading and hanging on the computer when I should've been doing homework. Leslie and I also went to Barnes and Noble, where I bought The Road by Cormac McCarthy (which I needed for school but also really WANT to read) and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (which was only 3.99 and Leslie always seems willing to buy good books for me....) Around 1:20 we left for theater (and got there about half an hour early, during which time I read some of An Abundance of Katherines). The first show was As You Like It. Absolutely hilarious, especially since they portrayed it sort of in modern times...It was funny seeing the second scene and remembering Ian in a fat suit as a sumo wrestler, though! After the first show we went to the Indian restaurant and waited for quite a while for Elyse. But, in the end, it was worth it. My Panneer Masala was really good, they have fantastic naan, and I even got to have Cookies and Cream ice cream at Baskin Robbins, and I probably haven't had actual ice cream (not sorbet or gelato) for about a year! The second show was Venus and Adonis. It wasn't as interesting as As You Like It, but, again, the portrayal in modern times made it funny, and the ending was beautiful. =]

Today I've been doing all the homework and studying I should have been doing yesterday....Oops. We also went to the BX/Commissary, King Soopers, and OfficeMax. So I'm now pretty dang sure that I have everything I need for school, either supply wise or food wise. Yay! But....I made flashcards for my Arts & Tech vocab test, my Chemistry test on the Periodic table, and printed out a map of France so I can study the provinces for my quiz tomorrow (so pointles...) I also typed and sort of rewrote my English paragraph, but I'll do it more thoroughly tomorrow. And took notes for US History now that I finally have a binder for that class! *sigh* I need to continue studying for my Chemistry and French quizzes tomorrow, though....

I can't believe I have school tomorrow! I've recalled the main reason I hate school: I'M ALWAYS TIRED!!!!! Seriously, no matter now much sleep I try to get, the work is draining, and I never really feel as awake as I do during the summer.

I don't know how many times I've thought the phrase, "Eff this, I'm going to Hogwarts," recently. A lot. Definitely. I think I'd have more friends there and a lot more fun...anyone want to join me in the quest for a happier life at Hogwarts? =]

So........Happy Birthday again to John and Frak!

I hope y'all are having a better time than I am right now, and I'm sending what happy thoughts I can y'alls way right now. Cheers!

Looking for Alaska

Oh. My. GOD.

This is probably going to sound really cheesy or something, but...This book changed my life. I'm completely serious in saying this, too. It's a long story, but I connect with this book so much. And it made me cry like no book other than Deathly Hallows.

John, I loved you before, because you were sweet and funny and, with Hank, started the amazing Nerdfighters group. I had way too much fun watching you on YouTube. But....I couldn't ever find your books at my Barnes and Noble (which was weird...) So I was resigned to thinking, "Hey, John's amazing, and so many people love his books, they must be good." But I couldn't ever truly say, "John Green is an amazing author," because (*blushes*) I hadn't actually read your books.

Anyway, after Terminus I've been thinking even more about his books and how I wished I could have gone to the Nerdfighters meet-up on 8/8/08 at the library. And, like fate, I was sitting in the school library with two of my friends eating lunch on Tuesday. Staring at the shelves, there, before me, was a black hardcover book with purple smoke on it. Oh my god, I thought, Is that REALLY Looking for Alaska?? It was. I recall saying to my friend, "I can't believe they have this," and then immediately checking out the book, which is something special in itself because I NEVER check books out from the library. Like, ever.

So, I started in on Wednesday and I was done by Friday. At one point, it was so good that I was overwhelmed and upset that school is started now and I couldn't stay up all night to finish the book. I cried so much during the book, and I related so much to the (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!! BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...........) death of a really good friend and how it could physically make you hurt inside. But the book was just so amazingly beautiful....It was awe-inspiring, and, like I said, a little overwhelming because I KNOW I'll never in my life write a story for young adults as well as John's book.

I'm completely serious in saying that Looking for Alaska changed my life. It did, in so many ways that I can't really even explain and that probably wouldn't make sense to anyone even if I could. So, John, you are AMAZING. And I love you.

Summary of first week of school

(Just FYI I have a lot of thoughts today, which I will be splitting up into three separate journal entries, possibly four if I want to say something else....more, maybe? Anyway, this is the first.)

So, first FULL week of school. I think that one extra Friday last week was incredibly stupid, and I didn't do ANYTHING work-wise that day. So yes, first week of school.

To be completely honest, it's kind of...stunk. I mean, it hasn't been all bad, of course, but I'm not happy at Rampart AT ALL. Plus, I feel like I've changed a lot as a person this summer, what with Girl Scout camp and then Terminus. I mean, I've realized that a lot of the people I considered my friends truly are people who just talked to me because I was there. Not everyone, of course, but it was an interesting discovery.

Also, I'm not a big fan of my classmates. Or the IB program in general. They claim that it's so much harder and so much more work and all, but as more and more people who can't deal with the workload enter the IB program, I feel that the level of work and the quality of the lessons, etc, has declined. Or maybe I just don't like the way that the IB program is run. Okay, so I try not to be egotistical and it is EXTREMELY rare that I compliment myself or try to put myself above anyone else. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't think I was at a much higher learning and thinking level than a lot of my peers. There are probably people who are smarter (especially in math), but I think I have a lot higher level in thinking and analyzing and all that. I'm not saying I'm a genius, because I'm certainly not. Believe me, I've gotten plenty of low grades, but I always work really hard to make up for those. I just truly believe that I'd be a lot happier at Fountain Valley or some other private school in which my peers would be closer to my level, some above and some below (at least I hope so). Plus, at FVS or someplace else, I think I'd be getting a much more diverse high school experience and be learning a lot more about real life. Overall, I do think I'd be much happier.

It's almost worse knowing that I did get into Fountain Valley last year and that I could be going there right now if we'd been able to scrounge up the money. It would almost be easier if I hadn't been accepted, because then I wouldn't be fantasizing about what I could be doing there right now if we'd gotten enough financial aid. It's just so HARD. =[

I'm also not a big fan of my classes. I'll summarize my feelings on them:
MYP Arts and Tech: Well, I actually like this class so far, the theatre part, and I guess it's a good class to be in.....I don't have anything against this class, definitely.
Pre-Calculus: Well, I hate math, as people who've known me for a while are fully aware. And as awesome as Mr. Perry is, there are some things he doesn't teach us because he thinks we can learn them out of the book. But we're using a Higher-Level math book for some stupid reason and it doesn't really TEACH. So I've been getting real frustrated when I do my homework.
French IV: GAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! 34 freaking people are in that class!!!! It's way too big, way to chaotic, and the teacher speaks English half the time, which isn't going to help us with our speaking and understanding French. I don't think ANY class should have that many people in it, but especially not a language class where the students generally need a lot of specific help.
English: Actually, this is the one class that I'm really enjoying so far this year. I've only had three classes of it, but I really like the analyzing we've been doing of short stories and the new way I'm learning to write and all that. Plus, Mr. Treece is a really good teacher, I think.
Weights and Fitness: Well, I really like this class, too, but since it's a gym class, that doesn't factor into my liking of classes and the IB curriculum. I love the exercise we're doing, and Mr. West is awesome, but I don't think it counts in my factoring.
Chemistry: Mmm...well, mostly I just think Mr. McGregor is really...strange. And Chemistry is probably my least favorite of the different sciences. Plus, I've only had this class twice, so I don't have a full opinion on it yet.
US History: Erm....I mean, I love history, though I'd much rather study International history. Mrs. Gillette seems okay so far. In this class, it's mostly that I have a lot of classmates who have no clue what they're talking about in discussions. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just saying they should say what they KNOW and what they MEAN, instead of trying to sound all smart.

Basically, I'm not happy being a sophomore at Rampart High School. I know I really shouldn't be complaining because Rampart is a great school on a national scale, I just don't think it's for me. I'd like something a lot more personal. Still, at least I have the opportunity to go to a school, and a good school, unlike an awful lot of people around the world. I am thankful that I'm at a good school, but that doesn't stop me from wishing I was at Fountain Valley. *sigh*

Well, Cheers, I guess....

Terminus, part six: Sunday 10 August 2008

Okay, so I actually got to sleep in on Sunday!!!  Leslie woke me up when she went to go running around 7:00, but I stayed in bed until around 9:00, half-asleep, until I finally decided to get up and take a shower. First real shower, too—one that wasn’t at 12:30 at night! I took forever to dry my hair, though! GAH!!!! Sometimes I really hate having thick hair—I dried it with the hair dryer for about 20 minutes and then let it air-dry for another 20 or so minutes, and then straightened it. Leslie and I headed down to the vender room around 10:40 to buy me a Ravenclaw tie that actually had the right colors! Squee!!!!

I was hoping to get into Cody’s roundtable about sorting, but it was full even though I arrived more than 10 minutes early, so I went to Julia’s roundtable about Wizard Rock. So, I obviously don’t know how Cody’s would have been, but I had a genuinely good time at Julia’s—all of us there, naturally, were huge wrock fans, and Matt even came in for the last half to talk to us. I was still really disappointed that I didn’t get to go to Wrock Chicago, but I’ve heard so much about it and been around all the wrock bands there that I feel pretty close to having been there!!! Sadly, I had to leave the roundtable about half an hour early because I was going out to lunch with Leslie’s sister, niece, and nephew. It wasn’t too bad—I had some pretty plain pasta and got a pretty long time to calm myself down for my presentation.

Presentation. Surprisingly, I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. I mean, I’d seen how nice the audience was to other presenters, and I knew that Harry Potter fans in general are pretty nice. I was still a little nervous, of course, because I didn’t know the people I was presenting to and how they’d accept a paper written by a 15-year-old. A pretty small number of people showed up, which was disappointing at first, but it turned out to be really nice because I left about 10 minutes for “questions,” but that period turned into a semi-roundtable with really good discussion. And everyone there seemed to genuinely enjoy the paper, though I can’t be sure…Either way, I left the room very happy.

I got Leslie to take over my volunteer shift for an hour so that I could go to the Unplugged Common room session with my favorite bands….that I never ended up finding!!!! It was pretty annoying, because that was my main chance to talk to Lauren and Kristina and all and to buy merchandise from them. Instead, I walked around searching for quite a while, bought a DVD of the Wizard Rockumentary and then found Mike and one of his friends (who was playing the piano). I talked to Mike for….well, for a while, and then I had to go back upstairs to finish out the last hour of my volunteer session. Really boring, because I wasn’t particularly interested in the presentation and the presenter did the powerpoint herself. So I pretty much sat outside in the hallway reading through the ENTIRE Terminus program, and then waited what seemed like forever for the AV people to pick up the laptop and projector.

Well….I was kind of in a bad mood after that because I hadn’t had the most exciting day, hadn’t seen very many of my friends, and I really didn’t want it to be the last night. But my spirits were lifted when we found a really good Mexican restaurant to eat at for dinner—enchiladas!! Then, that night was the Bon Voyage Ball, which I’m going to attempt to write a separate entry about…so, stay tuned!

First day of 10th grade....

TODAY. Gah!!!!! SO stupid to start school on a Friday, really. I mean, they just had to take that last weekend away from us....it's so weird to hear teachers say, "So, give this to me on Monday." on the FIRST day of school!!!

Anyway, the first day was....well, it definitely wasn't a great first day of school. For a few reasons:
1. Well, first, because I'm still pretty upset that I can't go to Fountain Valley this year even though I got in just because they didn't give us enough financial aid. I still think I'd be so, so much happier there, around peers who share my love of learning and interests and...well, not to sound egotistical, but my levels of intelligence, really. I wish I was going there so much, and going to school today and seeing how IDIOTIC most of my peers are really upset me.
2. Also, I haven't stopped missing Terminus. I don't have many friends, and only about two that I'd call "true friends." Going to school today and remembering that reminded me of all my lovely friends from Terminus who love me and understand me and don't make fun of me....Without fully realizing it, I had three things from Terminus with/on me today: My Aeolian University messenger bag, my trade winds track jacket, and my red PotterCast shirt. And, of course, no one at my school understood what they meant, and that got me a little teary-eyed.
3. I hate Rampart. Okay, so that's probably an overstatement, but I do dislike it: The stupid assemblies, the crowded hallways, constantly getting bumped around and shoved, and the apathy of a large amount of my peers.
4. It rained ALL day today. And my sister's car battery died and we didn't think we should jump it in the rain, so we walked to my dad's house. In other words, I was in the rain for about 25 minutes. I was completely soaked--my hair made it look like I'd just gotten out of a shower!!! *sigh* And I was also really freezing...my feet are still pretty cold. Come on!!! It's August 15th, and it's not allowed to be this cold!!!
5. Well, I'm still pretty exhausted from my lack of sleep at Terminus and waking up at 5:50 today didn't make me happy. My headache made a return in the morning, but luckily went away by the afternoon....

Anyway, I really do miss Terminus so much. I'm listening to "I Found a Loophole" right now and it's making me teary-eyed remembering how we all were jumping around to it at Terminus and here no one understands how amazing it is! *hugs all her Terminus friends*

Well...Cheers, I suppose!

Anger on one side, happiness on the other???

Anger. Yes. DEFINITE anger at WB for moving the opening date for Half-Blood Prince to July 17, 2009. I mean, WTF?!?! There's no LEGITIMATE reason. They say the writer's strike, but that ended so long ago. And then there's the "a summer release date is better." Er....well, a holiday one works out just as well usually, and three other HP movies came out around Thanksgiving just fine. And they were obviously done filming and ready to release in November. So evidentally WB just wants more money....and a BUNCH of angry Harry Potter fans!!!! Cody, Shoshana, and I are planning to write a bunch of letters to WB. =] And start a facebook group/notes/myspace group...to have global cyber domination. Muahahahaha!!!!! Seriously. I'm so pissed at WB right now.

Strangely, just when this news came out I also checked my schedule and saw that I have a new English teacher, which is very Squeeful news.

So, news that makes me very angry at the same time news that makes me very happy? Odd. Very odd.

Anyway, let me know if you'd like to participate in our campaign against WB.

Terminus, part five: Post-Terminus depression

So. I’ve been home for…about three days now, estimated. And it still doesn’t feel any less weird to be home. I miss everyone and everything about Terminus so much it actually hurts. Or….well, that headache is actually probably because I’ve been so sleep-deprived and listened to so much loud music. But I miss that.

I’m not kidding when I say I feel like I have Post-Terminus Depression. I’ve been really sleepy, which is probably mostly because of my lack of sleep. But I’ve also been awfully lazy (I haven’t been outside since Monday!!!) and nothing that I normally do during the summer interests me. Reading….well, it only interests me for about 30 minutes at a time post-terminus, whereas beforehand I’d get lost in books for hours. I don’t feel like watching TV or a movie or hanging out with IRL friends. Mostly I’ve been moping around on youtube and facebook, writing and listening to wrock.

Seriously. It feels so strange to be home. I don’t have people around me constantly, and I don’t have to be running around trying to get to a presentation or meet-up with friends. I can’t walk downstairs and see a bunch of people dressed in robes. I get weird looks when I wear Wrock/Leaky/PotterCast/Terminus shirts or carry a wand. No one at home quite understands me the way all y’all from Terminus do……

I don’t really know how to explain how upset I am that Terminus is over. The feeling is so overwhelming that it’s hard to put into words, and even if I managed, it would probably diminish the feeling. My stepmom says she “knows I miss my Harry Potter friends,” but I don’t think she fully understands. Only my amazing friends from Terminus truly understand my feelings after Terminus, how I miss even the crowded elevators and waiting to get into roundtables and staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning.

I still have a headache and the sniffles (not a full-blown cold like some people). I’m sleep-deprived and still trying to get used to being back at home….But everything that’s come out of Terminus, even the headache and sleepiness, are one hundred percent worth it. Because the friends I made, the love I felt, the memories I’ve taken away, the inside jokes that were made, and all the joy totally make everything worth it.

I miss y’all so, so much!!!!! And right now I think there’s a 50% chance I can go to LeakyCon….if I can find a chaperone. Anyone willing? *hugs all her Terminus friends tightly and refuses to let go*

(Note: entries on Sunday, the Ball, and Monday to come when I feel like writing again.)