I hope everybody had just as good of a time as I had this Easter. I am really so thankful to have shared this day with my family. It was wild at times, I can't deny, but it was nothing but laughs, smiles and good times. Overall, this day couldn't have gone better. (Except maybe if Dani didn't win the Easter egg hunt for the fifth year in a row!)
As I look back on my time blogging for you this month, I have so many things on my mind. Tomorrow, we return to school from Spring Break, and if I am to get anywhere, I have to start by maintaining my promises and keep from handing in work late. Obviously, with my newfound interest in singing, songwriting, design, and all things MLP, it's pretty hard to focus entirely on schoolwork. So I better get moving on something quick!
As you all know, my first ever musical is on Friday and Saturday, and now that I know that I have an award nomination at stake, I am all business when it comes to my performance. (Unfortunately, a little too much of my playa' of a character has rubbed off on me!) Tomorrow also begins tech week, meaning I'll step foot on the MAC stage for the first time in my life. Luckily, I was born without stage-fright, but the thought of performing before an audience always gets me excited. Wish me luck!
The musical isn't the only thing I'm a bit apprehensive-slash-hopeful about. If you remember from my previous posts, I should be expecting an e-mail from BronyCon at any moment now, outlining the event plan for the big weekend in Baltimore--or should I say, Baltimare! (Okay, enough pony puns.) Although I am very hopeful that my event, MLP@MLB, will get the green-light, there's no telling what could come next.
Finally, I really want to give a whole rundown of thank-yous: To my English teacher, Mrs. Gross, for challenging us with Slice of Life, to Mr. Roche, Mrs. G and all of my teachers at HTHS for their nonstop support of both me and my blog, to my family who've read every post and had to deal with my eternal time in front of my laptop screen, to Josh R, Tom G, and all my friends at High Tech who've been such a pleasure to converse and hang with, and of course, to all of you viewers around the nation, whether you're welcome guests from abroad like Mrs. Lampinen or just an anonymous passer-by. With that, I bid you a fond farewell for now, but rest assured that this is only the beginning.
Keep calm and brony on!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Saturday, March 30, 2013
3/30: Hard Work Rewarded with Chinese Food
Today is Holy Saturday, so we are all pretty busy preparing for Easter. I've definitely done my share of cleaning, although it has been chock full of obscure chores such as wiping down the refrigerator, dusting the PlayStation, and cleaning the patio furniture using only wet paper towels. Such is my normal-but-ridiculously-strange life. Hence that handy title up above, right at the corner of highly witty and terribly unoriginal.
Thankfully, a day filled with work preceded an afternoon of fun and relaxation before the big holiday. Baseball season is up and running, and my father and I were treated to a special occasion as our Yankees traveled to West Point to play Army before Opening Day. Naturally, the Bombers won comfortably, but it was still a game to remember. During a break in the action we played a pickup game of Wiffle-Ball, in which I thankfully fared much better than our stickball outing the day before. If only I could fix my stance earlier!
After the game was finished, we went out to a Chinese restaurant for the first time in a long while. The food and the service at crown palace was excellent as always, but I believe my sister may have been traumatized by the amount of General Tso's Chicken on her platter! Oh, well, now I have lunch for Monday!
Okay, I'm off to finish up my Rainbow Dash-themed basketball court. Hey, don't judge! Anyway, stay tuned for my final blog post on Easter Sunday!
Thankfully, a day filled with work preceded an afternoon of fun and relaxation before the big holiday. Baseball season is up and running, and my father and I were treated to a special occasion as our Yankees traveled to West Point to play Army before Opening Day. Naturally, the Bombers won comfortably, but it was still a game to remember. During a break in the action we played a pickup game of Wiffle-Ball, in which I thankfully fared much better than our stickball outing the day before. If only I could fix my stance earlier!
After the game was finished, we went out to a Chinese restaurant for the first time in a long while. The food and the service at crown palace was excellent as always, but I believe my sister may have been traumatized by the amount of General Tso's Chicken on her platter! Oh, well, now I have lunch for Monday!
Okay, I'm off to finish up my Rainbow Dash-themed basketball court. Hey, don't judge! Anyway, stay tuned for my final blog post on Easter Sunday!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
3/26: So Long, Braces!
Okay, obviously I am really thrilled! After almost three years, I can have gum again! (Without guilt, at least) Unfortunately, after braces comes the retainer. This...stupid...retainer... Alright, I'll calm down. Besides, today is a happy occasion, and a mostly painless one too. I didn't actually realize that they just rip the frames right off!
Before I was allowed to be free from my hindering mouth-gear, I had to go to an out-of-school rehearsal with most of the guys in the musical. At least I thought we got enough work done, but that's not to say that most of the time was spent having the time of our lives with pizza, cake, foosball, and a stuffed talking Dalek which actually made that blasted death machine seem kind of cute.
Afterwards, I finally returned to Outback for an excellent meal, or what seemed even more excellent now that I can eat freely. Now excuse me while I go admire myself in the mirror. Sorry, I'm pretty excited!
Before I was allowed to be free from my hindering mouth-gear, I had to go to an out-of-school rehearsal with most of the guys in the musical. At least I thought we got enough work done, but that's not to say that most of the time was spent having the time of our lives with pizza, cake, foosball, and a stuffed talking Dalek which actually made that blasted death machine seem kind of cute.
Afterwards, I finally returned to Outback for an excellent meal, or what seemed even more excellent now that I can eat freely. Now excuse me while I go admire myself in the mirror. Sorry, I'm pretty excited!
Friday, March 22, 2013
3/22:The Wonders of Symposiums--and Donuts
Finally! A field trip! That's what was my original reaction upon learning of the freshman class' little endeavor to Monmouth University. Alas, in true High Technology fashion, the purpose of the field trip was solely to attend the Monmouth Junior Science Symposium--and cheer on our presenters like crazy. You know what, that's just what they want you to think. We were all well aware that our mission here was to acquire and consume the sweet, circular pastry delicacies that are donuts. Let me be the first to say that they didn't disappoint. It's just to bad we were limited to one, while there was plenty of cruddy coffee to go around. (But who am I kidding? Coffee is coffee, so I drank it anyway!)
As for the symposium itself, it was actually somewhat intriguing in my opinion, which probably cements my position as a total Techie. Today was the second day of the two-day gathering, which made me a little unwelcome when the keynote speaker kept asking about the events the day before. It's a shame I therefore didn't get to see Jacob Buckman's presentation. Nevertheless, our representatives didn't disappoint. However, this doesn't mean it wasn't as boring as my comrade Tom stated in his scouting report. (AKA, I basically just asked him about it before the bell.) Curiously, people started falling asleep when the adult speaker was presenting. I had already impressed (and possibly embarrassed) myself by asking multiple questions to the speakers, but I was not about to prolong my captivity by agreeing with Charles to ask yet another. We were all starving by then!
After the presentations had concluded, the day went pretty wild. During our ridiculously abrupt stay at the university cafeteria, I observed that almost nobody else in High Tech can play pool correctly. What next? Nobody can play poker or darts, either? Anyway, the bus ride home was filled with the hollering screams of a sing-off between the girls cheerfully singing the praises of Taylor Swift and the guys performing the painful styles of the IED class jukebox. Obviously, it was no contest, though some would prefer to dispute the result. As we returned to Brookdale campus, all hell broke loose, including riding a horse statue, a commons-wide game of extreme Tag, and a dozen young men crowding around the small cafeteria television to catch a case of March Madness. So how was your day?
As for the symposium itself, it was actually somewhat intriguing in my opinion, which probably cements my position as a total Techie. Today was the second day of the two-day gathering, which made me a little unwelcome when the keynote speaker kept asking about the events the day before. It's a shame I therefore didn't get to see Jacob Buckman's presentation. Nevertheless, our representatives didn't disappoint. However, this doesn't mean it wasn't as boring as my comrade Tom stated in his scouting report. (AKA, I basically just asked him about it before the bell.) Curiously, people started falling asleep when the adult speaker was presenting. I had already impressed (and possibly embarrassed) myself by asking multiple questions to the speakers, but I was not about to prolong my captivity by agreeing with Charles to ask yet another. We were all starving by then!
After the presentations had concluded, the day went pretty wild. During our ridiculously abrupt stay at the university cafeteria, I observed that almost nobody else in High Tech can play pool correctly. What next? Nobody can play poker or darts, either? Anyway, the bus ride home was filled with the hollering screams of a sing-off between the girls cheerfully singing the praises of Taylor Swift and the guys performing the painful styles of the IED class jukebox. Obviously, it was no contest, though some would prefer to dispute the result. As we returned to Brookdale campus, all hell broke loose, including riding a horse statue, a commons-wide game of extreme Tag, and a dozen young men crowding around the small cafeteria television to catch a case of March Madness. So how was your day?
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
3/20: Freedom! (Or As Close As I'll Get to It)
Happy first day of spring, everyone! No, it doesn't start tomorrow. In fact, March 20th is supposed to really be the traditional first day of spring, not March 21st. Anyway, spring means that spring break is just around the corner, or to be more specific, next weekend! It's not like I'm doing anything special, but a break is a break, and in a work-heavy school like mine, it's an even more welcome time. Even so, in true High Tech fashion, I'll have some assignments here and there to cover, not to mention this very blog!
This week, I've taken the time to explore the blogs of my fellow classmates, and fortunately, they are in fact as weird as I expected. It's amusing what strange topics come up in school bus debates. By the way, we all agree that Costco has awesome churros. And smoothies. Don't forget the smoothies! Also confirmed: we really do complain about everything under the sun, but WE HAVE GOOD REASON TO! Such as...you know what, I'm not doing this. You get the point--NEXT TOPIC!
I can officially say that our musical is in full buckle-down mode. Opening night is creeping closer with each day, and I really hope we all will be ready. Just to make sure we are, it looks like we'll be squeezing in as many rehearsals as possible during spring break. Wish me luck! I'm going to need a load of coffee...
Finally, the round of 64 for the NCAA men's basketball tournament starts tomorrow! In other words, we have 16 games and 12 hours of non-stop basketball each day for two days. So get those brackets in, and train your remote finger! This is going to be good!
This week, I've taken the time to explore the blogs of my fellow classmates, and fortunately, they are in fact as weird as I expected. It's amusing what strange topics come up in school bus debates. By the way, we all agree that Costco has awesome churros. And smoothies. Don't forget the smoothies! Also confirmed: we really do complain about everything under the sun, but WE HAVE GOOD REASON TO! Such as...you know what, I'm not doing this. You get the point--NEXT TOPIC!
I can officially say that our musical is in full buckle-down mode. Opening night is creeping closer with each day, and I really hope we all will be ready. Just to make sure we are, it looks like we'll be squeezing in as many rehearsals as possible during spring break. Wish me luck! I'm going to need a load of coffee...
Finally, the round of 64 for the NCAA men's basketball tournament starts tomorrow! In other words, we have 16 games and 12 hours of non-stop basketball each day for two days. So get those brackets in, and train your remote finger! This is going to be good!
Monday, March 18, 2013
3/18: And We're Back!
Hello, once again! I know, I know, it's been a while since my last post, but I really did need the break. As long as I can get in the 25 required posts, I'll be in perfect shape, but honestly I think the length of my post more than covers that already. Hopefully while I was away from the site you didn't forget about me, because I'd much prefer to have a bit of an audience.
It's been a week, and I still haven't been able to get rid of this horrible cough. I don't know what gives! Usually, this kind of thing blows over in a few days, but no. Morning after morning, I'm still hacking away. It's awful, annoying, and inconvenient all at the same time. Hopefully I will settle things in time for the musical, but I doubt that this can last two more weeks. That just seems impossible. Hold on: *cough* *cough* This is just fantastic! Now I'm coughing on the internet!
Anyway, on a happier note, today is National Bracket Day! With the teams named yesterday, this is the day to enter in as many tournaments and fill out as many brackets as possible! If you love this time of year as much as I do, well then I have good news for you! Here are my top 10 tips to keep from looking like a bracket idiot!
10) The First Four doesn't really matter at all. Since two of the games feature 16 seeds, it won't make a difference in the real bracket. I get that VCU went from First Four to Final Four, but no one saw them going that far, except maybe for Butler.
9) St. Mary's (CA) always looks appealing, (thanks Butler) but that doesn't mean they'll go far.
8) You'll never go wrong with Duke in the Final Four. Even this year, when they're a number 2 seed. Put Duke in, and at least your chances look good.
7) Always put Butler in the Sweet Sixteen. No exceptions.
6) Do NOT fall victim to your favorite team. I fear too many Notre Dame fans will make the mistake of putting them down over Ohio State, who actually won their conference championship.
5) No, Kentucky is not in this year. So if you haven't seen the bracket, you won't look like a fool saying you think the Wildcats will repeat. That just shows you haven't been paying attention all season.
4) The best football teams don't always have the best basketball teams. Michigan and Cal may seem like they can go far, but they aren't Elite Eight caliber.
3) Chalk brackets and upset brackets? Bad idea, as both will never win. Instead, pick and choose upsets from the upset bracket and filter them into the chalk bracket.
2) When all else fails, do your personal decision maker, whether it's a dartboard, drawing straws, or animal gurus. What you shouldn't do, however, is use this for every other game. Trust your gut, and make smart moves. Look at head to head before all else.
1) DO NOT PICK A 14, 15, OR 16 SEED TO WIN A SINGLE GAME!!! IT'S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!!! If you're gonna pick an upset in the first round, go with an 11 or 12 seed.
The bracketologist has spoken! Thank you!
It's been a week, and I still haven't been able to get rid of this horrible cough. I don't know what gives! Usually, this kind of thing blows over in a few days, but no. Morning after morning, I'm still hacking away. It's awful, annoying, and inconvenient all at the same time. Hopefully I will settle things in time for the musical, but I doubt that this can last two more weeks. That just seems impossible. Hold on: *cough* *cough* This is just fantastic! Now I'm coughing on the internet!
Anyway, on a happier note, today is National Bracket Day! With the teams named yesterday, this is the day to enter in as many tournaments and fill out as many brackets as possible! If you love this time of year as much as I do, well then I have good news for you! Here are my top 10 tips to keep from looking like a bracket idiot!
10) The First Four doesn't really matter at all. Since two of the games feature 16 seeds, it won't make a difference in the real bracket. I get that VCU went from First Four to Final Four, but no one saw them going that far, except maybe for Butler.
9) St. Mary's (CA) always looks appealing, (thanks Butler) but that doesn't mean they'll go far.
8) You'll never go wrong with Duke in the Final Four. Even this year, when they're a number 2 seed. Put Duke in, and at least your chances look good.
7) Always put Butler in the Sweet Sixteen. No exceptions.
6) Do NOT fall victim to your favorite team. I fear too many Notre Dame fans will make the mistake of putting them down over Ohio State, who actually won their conference championship.
5) No, Kentucky is not in this year. So if you haven't seen the bracket, you won't look like a fool saying you think the Wildcats will repeat. That just shows you haven't been paying attention all season.
4) The best football teams don't always have the best basketball teams. Michigan and Cal may seem like they can go far, but they aren't Elite Eight caliber.
3) Chalk brackets and upset brackets? Bad idea, as both will never win. Instead, pick and choose upsets from the upset bracket and filter them into the chalk bracket.
2) When all else fails, do your personal decision maker, whether it's a dartboard, drawing straws, or animal gurus. What you shouldn't do, however, is use this for every other game. Trust your gut, and make smart moves. Look at head to head before all else.
1) DO NOT PICK A 14, 15, OR 16 SEED TO WIN A SINGLE GAME!!! IT'S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!!! If you're gonna pick an upset in the first round, go with an 11 or 12 seed.
The bracketologist has spoken! Thank you!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
3/14: Ugh, Too Full to Think of a Creative Title
Hola, amigos! Um, uh. ¿Dónde está el baño? Yeah, that's about as much Spanish as I can remember anymore. Anyway, I'm glad to see you all still staying loyal to a blog that's going nowhere, but what should I expect? This is a homework assignment first, after all.
In case any of you are planning to attempt at passing the AMC next year, here's a friendly warning: you have no idea what will come next. Enter the AIME, which in three hours managed to soil my friendly view of mathematics forever. I thought 12 minutes per question would be adequate time, but the AIME challenges are no laughing matter. Just getting 5 questions of 15 right would be considered a commendable performance this year. Most of the subjects featured in the questions were on areas I haven't even bothered to go over, so obviously this test was looking for true math whizzes, not simply kids who ace every math subject once they learn it in school. Trust me, the only subjects I know are those I've learned in the classroom.
By the way, in other math news, happy Pi Day! Yes, today is 3/14, the day of the most celebrated math geek holiday! As you can imagine, High Tech takes this day very seriously. Carrying on the tradition of ridiculous (and ridiculously popular) fundraisers, the seniors enticed the masses to buy large amounts of soft pretzels in order to see the school's local celebrities get pied--for real. Just so you know, T-Pez got double the face time with glorious, sticky whipped cream. Afterwards, our geometry teacher hosted a class Pi Day party--with work, however. It was still okay, because there were plenty of snacks and pizza...
...Not that I needed a 5th slice of pizza within 90 minutes. Our principal, Mr. Bals, also bought pizza for all AIME test takers. This, on top of pretzels, junk food, 4 cups of soda, and a McDonald's dinner today. Lord help me. Mr. Bartlett and I were the only ones to partake in both of the back-to-back pizza parties, but I'm not too sure he wasn't as turned off as I was at the sight of all that crust and cheese. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Pi(e) Day gone bizarre.
In place of a normal rundown, I would like to reserve my final paragraph to congratulate my sister, Danielle, on breezing her way through school softball tryouts in her first year of eligibility! I wish her best of luck in her upcoming two seasons as a member of the Thorne MS Lions softball team! I better start calling up the college scouts! :P
In case any of you are planning to attempt at passing the AMC next year, here's a friendly warning: you have no idea what will come next. Enter the AIME, which in three hours managed to soil my friendly view of mathematics forever. I thought 12 minutes per question would be adequate time, but the AIME challenges are no laughing matter. Just getting 5 questions of 15 right would be considered a commendable performance this year. Most of the subjects featured in the questions were on areas I haven't even bothered to go over, so obviously this test was looking for true math whizzes, not simply kids who ace every math subject once they learn it in school. Trust me, the only subjects I know are those I've learned in the classroom.
By the way, in other math news, happy Pi Day! Yes, today is 3/14, the day of the most celebrated math geek holiday! As you can imagine, High Tech takes this day very seriously. Carrying on the tradition of ridiculous (and ridiculously popular) fundraisers, the seniors enticed the masses to buy large amounts of soft pretzels in order to see the school's local celebrities get pied--for real. Just so you know, T-Pez got double the face time with glorious, sticky whipped cream. Afterwards, our geometry teacher hosted a class Pi Day party--with work, however. It was still okay, because there were plenty of snacks and pizza...
...Not that I needed a 5th slice of pizza within 90 minutes. Our principal, Mr. Bals, also bought pizza for all AIME test takers. This, on top of pretzels, junk food, 4 cups of soda, and a McDonald's dinner today. Lord help me. Mr. Bartlett and I were the only ones to partake in both of the back-to-back pizza parties, but I'm not too sure he wasn't as turned off as I was at the sight of all that crust and cheese. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Pi(e) Day gone bizarre.
In place of a normal rundown, I would like to reserve my final paragraph to congratulate my sister, Danielle, on breezing her way through school softball tryouts in her first year of eligibility! I wish her best of luck in her upcoming two seasons as a member of the Thorne MS Lions softball team! I better start calling up the college scouts! :P
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