Because It's Beautiful

I quite like the word 'attribution'. I also like 'retribution'. Maybe I just like bution.

I was slightly suspicious of thrilled by the fact that I didn't have a lot of homework, until Kim informed me of some history questions which are due on Monday. Now I'm waiting for someone to tell me what questions we have to answer. We're currently studying historiography, which I can't imagine ever pertaining to my life, ever. Three cheers for useless school topics!

I'm not just wasting time, though. I'm also reading my brief for the South Jersey Model UN (SJMUN) conference coming up on October 21st. My topic is "Effects of Chinese Economic Expansion on Global Oil Markets" and my committee is the World Trade Organization. From what I've read so far (the first paragraph), China is really big and using up a lot of resources and the rest of the world must band together to prevent the evil Chinese Overlords must destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mordor is pissy about it.

To be very honest, global economic politics is far beyond me; I don't quite get why a barrel of gas can't cost the same going to China or the United States. Anyway, my country is Portugal, which as usual does not at all pertain to the topic at hand.

There's a guy who's been in the same committee as I in both conferences I've been to. I don't remember his name, or his grade, and he's not incredibly attractive or anything, but I usually associate him with Model UN. He has blue eyes. Just throwing that out there.

Also, S. has now become Sage (thank you, Kim). I doubt I'll be talking about him at all, but, in case anyone wanted to know.

Yesterday, I went to the aquarium with Shari! I think our experiences can best be summarized by the following picture:

 

Taken by Shari. I ought to make this the banner of the blog. Because it's beautiful.

 

Finally, I'm going to be a cat for Halloween. Good night!

Marvelous Miasma

Word of the Day: Miasma
1. noxious exhalations from putrescent organic matter; poisonous effluvia or germs polluting the atmosphere.

2. a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or atmosphere.

I've been making a mental list of my current favorite words. Miasma is one of them, though I don't see myself using it in a sentence any time soon. Others include: dissidence, construe, acerbic, substantiate, and sardonic.

I suppose one good thing about only blogging once a week (as I have been doing) is that I feel compelled to write a longer, better blog. Well! I'm also itching to update my layout, even though I'm perfectly happy with what I have now. I think it's the new Blogger interface. I feel like a fraud, since I'm only using that term because I saw it on the top of the page after I switched. Anyway, it's really quite sleek. And I suppose my blog layout is not sleek. But then, I'm not a sleek person. I don't like sleek things. I don't wear sleek clothing. So why should I want a sleek blog?

Well! This week was long, boring, and uneventful--for the most part--and therefore this post will be as well. There was one event, though. I think I attract awkwardness to myself, as honey does to flies, or else it just clings to me whatever I do. I'll explain. As we all know, I'm not a fan of my English teacher. I like her more than I did that first day, but I still don't enjoy her class or appreciate her teaching style. A lot of the people in my class pretend they do, which is funny. Anyway. Here I am, minding my own business on Facebook. I have casually noticed that Up has written on someone's wall--let's call him N., because I can't remember his actual name--about how he's the only one Rocchino likes. Well, that's true.

There's a guy in her first period class. Let's call him S. I don't talk to S. much. We haven't spoken this year, and last year, the only communication with him that I remember was a very awkward project in world civ., and during my human rights presentation when he asked why terrorists shouldn't be tortured. But, through the magic of Facebook, he and others are aware of my dislike of Rocchino. And, on this random wallpost, of which I am no part, involving people whom I never speak to, he tags me in a comment, thereby ensuring my involvement in the conversation. Up and N. join in on the fun, as well.

Oh, social interaction. How little it takes to remind me why I don't like you.

That conversation is awkward, but that's not the worst part. Oh no, it gets worse. After S. psycho-analyzes my dislike of Rocchino (no kidding), I decide enough is enough. I message him, essentially asking what the hell is wrong with him, and conversation ensues. He insists that they're just teasing me, and his insistance involves lots of hearts (might I add). Meanwhile, Kim, who has access to my account and has been watching the conversation, insists that I have the communication skill of a flying turd (in more words) and humbly asks if she may speak with him in my place.

Well, I had to do the dishes, and in my naivety I agreed. Sorrow is born from innocence, I suppose. I came back fifteen minutes later and there was major damn flirting going on. Why was I surprised? Why did I believe for a minute that this wouldn't happen? Who knows? Perhaps the fates are aligned against me. Here is a quote from that horrid conversation:

S: ... Strawberry I love you so much, its amazing, ♥ I can't hold it in!!

^^
passion

Kim: Hmmmmmmm, not feeling it. you get one more try.

Oh, Kim.

Coming back to this, I was faced with two options: let Kim continue with this charade, or come clean and make everything uncomfortable for everyone involved. Naturally, being the honest person that I am, I went with the second option. Discomfort ensued. For everyone involved. Kim then refused to stop talking to him, too, so we were both conversing with him at the same time, on the same account. She wanted him to guess who she was, even though they've never spoken. Oh, Kim.

The next day, nothing was said, because it was awkward. It was just so awkward. Admittedly it was worse for Kim. I wonder if there's a difference between someone blatantly ignoring you or simply being indifferent, or if that sense is just made up in one's own head.

WELL NOW. That, brought to you in about seven beautiful paragraphs, was the one singularly interesting event that happened to me this week.

On Monday, we finally received test grades for a reading check we took in English the week before. Most people did not do well, I have to say. A number of people failed; most people got between a 60 and an 80, and a decent amount of people got between an 80 and a 90. I looked on Progress Book and was shocked to discover that I got a 96. I got one point off the entire test (which, admittedly, only happened because Rocchino was kind enough to take off the questions which came from Book II as opposed to Book I, nearly all of which I got wrong).

We took another reading check today, and it was much easier, which is good, because I was only able to read half of Book II in preparation.

What bothers me right now is that I have three 80s, and they're all due to one assignment (in each of the three classes). But the rest of my grades are As; 96 in English, 92 in math, and 90 in health. I'm quite happy with these.

I also want to mention my latest story. It's not so much of a story; more of a massive inside joke between me and Maia. The main antoganist of the story is the devil, Maiastophles. The protagonists are Andromeda Kara Kristina Melody Enna Emma Aeva B. Wrotten, known as Bea, and her best friend Crea, who is far more interesting than she is. Here's the first paragraph:

If there is ever to be such a planet called Skybound—and I think there ought to be, after the usual names like Ceres and Hestia are used up—I think I should like to live on it. I think it should be a very lovely place, where people use metaphors in great abundance.

I think I'm going to leave it untitled, which of course means that its name will come to be untitled. Oh, and Bea has an evil twin sister named Nejoy, but they call her Joy. There's also a character named Lo, who doesn't wear hats, and whose hair is actually quite long. There was another character I meant to include, but now I forget his name. Oh well!

I think I'll conclude now (six hours after I started this post), and possibly consider what to do with my blog layout. Goodbye for now, friends! I hope everyone has had a marvelous week. 

Sleep Deprivation, Part Three

I would say it's been too long, but I've had a buttload of work and from what I read, I'm not the only one (feel better, Lizzie!). I guess they want to start off the year with a bang, several pounds of homework, and students comatose in class because of lack of sleep.

If I remember correctly, I've had a test every day this week, in every subject. Two of them were pop quizzes. The homework in most subjects hasn't been that bad, but I'm nearly certain my English teacher is trying to slowly drain our souls out. Monday, we had a test which was supposed to be on Book I of The Once and Future King, though half of it was on Book II. Tuesday, we had to write what amounted to an informal essay about a scene in the book. I got to bed at twelve. Wednesday, we had to write an even longer informal essay about some satire or some other ridiculous topic. Again, I went to sleep at midnight, and still didn't have time to work on the essay due on Friday. Thursday night, I did the entire essay (with, through painstaking and time-consuming effort, turned out fairly well), and by midnight I was simply too tired to do my English homework (fifteen sentences). I did all of them in the morning, on the bus ride and into Latin, but it made no difference because she doesn't accept handwritten work. Ms. Rocchino is the terrible mix of a teacher who not only thinks their class is the most important, but also that they're the only ones giving homework, and that anything less than what she's giving us is slacking. That class never fails to depress me. Unfortunately, I don't think I can change my schedule to end up with a different teacher, and I'm sure as hell not going to drop.

Besides that, here's the work I have to do this weekend. Actually, today, since I'm going to Great Adventure tomorrow:

1. Create our own vocabulary study guide, due on Monday. Basically it must include all of the words in the unit that we don't already know. This may take awhile, being English, but I'm thanking my lucky stars that it's only vocab and not another essay.
2. Answer the pre-lab questions for the chemistry lab, also on Monday. Luckily, there are only three questions.
3. Retype a biology lab, due on Monday.
4. Define twenty terms for history. This was technically due on Thursday, but she already said she wasn't checking them and I just didn't have the time. These don't take an exorbitant amount of time, though, so I may do ten today and the other ten tomorrow.

Conceivably, this shouldn't take more than a few hours. Bah, we'll see.

As for my grades, since only one of the tests I've taken this week have been graded, I have 100 in Latin, math, and health. Unfortunately, I have an 80 in biology and history. Those grades are from a pop quiz and a ten-point quiz, respectively. I forgot how to spell encomiendas. Oh well.

I would also like to mention that on Tuesday and Wednesday night, whilst doing my abominable English homework, I talked to Up on Facebook! On Tuesday our conversation was fairly stale; Wednesday, due to sleep deprivation and frustration over what the characterization of Merlyn meant, I went somewhat crazy. I won't go into detail, but I kind of started screaming at him. You know, as much as one can scream on Facebook. It was a bit awkward the next day, when I was looking around for Lolo (my printer was broken, so she kindly printed out my English homework) and suddenly, BAM Up. And then I had to walk right through his posse of Asians to get to Lolo. Sigh.

Oddly enough, even with all the work I have right now and conceivably will have in the future, I'm looking forward to NaNoWriMo. I still can't believe I completed it last year. I wrote over 50,000 words and over 100 pages. I wrote more than I ever have in my life. Unfortunately, the story was a bust, but this year I have one in mind already and I'm anxious to get started. I think, even with all the work I'll have, writing will give me something to look forward to every night--an obligation I actually enjoy.

Well, I should probably get started on my homework. Good weekend, everyone!

EXCERPT! Please do ignore how rushed it is.

The room I am destined to live in is small and round, like the inside of an egg. I suppose that makes me an embryo, a little slimy mass of life that is ugly until you remember that it will be something. Of course, now I have the responsibility of becoming something beautiful, lest all the work that went into making me be wasted. I want to laugh. I feel like being cruel.

I am so tired. My thoughts run in jumbles through the ruins of my brain. There is a window with a projection of the city, enhanced and exaggerated and hideous. Real windows went out of style years ago, when people realized that the city is ugly. The city is so ugly, a lumbering half-dead thing bent for the sky, without realizing it has no wings. An anthill of embryos, like myself. Working for what? Building to what?

If only people were ants. We would not have to think at all. We wouldn't miss art, wouldn't love beauty, wouldn't even strive to progress the realms of scientific capability. We would only work, for one purpose, and if we died it wouldn't matter. When ants die, no one mourns them. I'm so tired of mourning for people I don't know.

But it is not our destiny to be ants. We were made to be slimy, vulnerable, soft and hideous until we tore ourself from our shells and emerged into the world, to be slimy, vulnerable, soft and hideous. Did it never end? Surely we are in another egg, we are just in another stage of development, from which we will one day emerge--we will someday hatch, into something beautiful. Perhaps into something that can take flight.

Sleep Deprivation, the Second.

I am super-duper-duper sorry for leaving you guys with half a crappy entry and then abandoning you for the rest of the week! For the past few days I've been either butt-tired, busy, or both. I had a really bad first day, probably due in part to my lack of sleep, but the week has improved and I've been leaving you hanging. NO MORE!

To make things easier I'll make a handy little list, as opposed to, you know, paragraphs. And I'll color-code it. Organization!

1st Period: Latin

There's only one Latin teacher in the building, but she's nice, so I'm okay with that. Latin is basically a repeat of last year so far, with fewer people.

2nd: Health

Health this year is in the lecture hall, which basically means it's big and the teachers don't pay attention to anyone past the third row. I'm not sitting near anyone I know, but rather, a "popular" girl I've never spoken to and a really, really ugly guy. I don't mean to be mean or anything, but he's really ugly. Definitely no eye-candy in this class.

3rd: Biology

The teacher, Mrs. Mackley, is very nice, but I'm not really friends with anyone in this class and there are a lot of, shudder, juniors. So far we've discussed the principles of life, and nematodes.

4th: English

Holy sauce, I dislike my English teacher. She looks and acts like my eighth grade teacher but has the personality of my seventh. So far she hasn't taught us anything, but she expects us to take notes on everything she says. I don't even know what she's saying half the time! In that classroom she doesn't allow: slouching, yawning, disagreement, folded arms, looking at the clock, doodling, a pencil to not be in your hand at all moments of the hour, poor body language, not having quotes, or explaining yourself. Also, she decided that she hates Shari, and who hates Shari? I basically spend the entire class not attracting notice to myself so she can't decide that she hates me too.

5th: Math

Math is so boring that I almost always forget that I have it. The teacher is alright, if not a bit stale, and the class is taught in a format I like: learn whatever it is we're going to learn for the day, and then do practice problems. I could do math problems all day long, seriously!

6th: U.S. History

This is probably going to be my favorite class this year, for one reason: my friends are in it! Shari joined us yesterday, which is fantastical, because now I actually have a class with her! Also, now there are an even number of us in the class, so I won't be left alone when Lolo and Kim partner up (since they sit right next to each other). Hurrah!

7th: Financial Literacy

This class infuriated me for the first few days because the teacher is annoying and we weren't doing anything substantial. However, yesterday, we actually went over a legitimate curriculum, so I'm hopeful that this won't be a waste of a period yet!

8th: Chemistry

Finally we come to the last class of the day. I heard from Shari that my teacher would be really hard, but so far he's been nice, although according to him, the tests are difficult. There are twelve people in this class, seriously!

Well, that's all for my classes. Sorry this took so long! I'll try to blog more often next week, but no doubt the teachers will forget that we're only a week into school and I'll have eight different essays due by the end of the week. Sigh. I can't believe I've only been in school for a few days--it feels like it's been so much longer!

Sleep deprivation.

Can you guys believe that I almost decided not to blog today? I'm so incredibly tired. I just want to curl into a ball and sleep for hours, and wake up whenever I very well please. Yesterday I fell asleep around twelve, and then woke up at 2:30 in the morning. And then...I couldn't go back to sleep. I couldn't even doze off. I just would not fall asleep, no matter how long I lay there, no matter how exhausted I was. So I went through this entire terrible day with two and a half hours of sleep. That alone made me miserable.

The morning started off all-right. I was nervous and excited. I went to collect Vera, and then we waited at the bus stop. Of course, someone thought it would be a good idea to get a new bus driver, so she can fifteen minutes late. And, she skipped Jaryd's stop! By the time we got to school, home room was over, which is not something I necessarily mind.

First stop: Latin. I was glad to have this first, since I had the same teacher last year and I knew some of the people in my class. We even have the same room. It was...all right? There were a lot less people than there were last year, which is a good thing, I guess. I was just bored.

By the time I got to healthy, it already seemed like the day had lasted forever. Health this year is in the lecture hall, and there are a buttload of people, and due to the magic of alphabetical seating, I am nowhere near anyone I could possibly want to talk to! IT'S LIKE EVERY OTHER CLASS.

By biology I just want to go home. All right, I've made it through two classes, can I just leave now? Alas, no such luck. My biology teacher seems nice, but I could barely stand to listen to her talk. The problem on the first day is that all the teachers do is talk, and it's infuriating. Voices droning on for nearly an hour is not the best remedy to being half-asleep.

Bah, I don't have time to finish this tonight. I'll tell you about the rest of my awful, awful day tomorrow! Now I can finally get some sleep...

SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW!

Can we say terrible, gut-wrenching fear EXCITEMENT? Oho, yes! As far as last days of freedom summer go, this was not a bad one, indeed! I went to the mall on a last-ditch effort to get something to wear tomorrow, and brought Vera along with me, as is only natural. And, lo and behold, I actually bought things! A delightful teal shirt which I am most definitely wearing tomorrow, and a bright blue button-down shirt which I am most definitely wearing on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I can't find the link for either on the website, but here is a rough sketch of what I'm going to wear tomorrow:

Shield your eyes lest the beauty becomes too much for you. I didn't include shoes because I don't know what shoes I'm wearing tomorrow.

After we returned from the mall, Vera and I hung around my house, discussing what we would wear tomorrow (aren't we such girls?). Also, I painted her nails hot pink! And repainted my toes, because I may or may not be wearing flip-flops tomorrow. It really depends on if my parents find any, at Walgreen's, of all places. Don't laugh! One time both of my flip flops broke in a single night, and I, desperate to have something to wear, asked my dad to pick something up. The only place that was open at that time of night was Walgreen's, and I actually really liked the shoes he got. Unfortunately, being from Walgreen's, they broke not long into the summer, leaving me with: sneakers, fancy shoes, more fancy shoes, pink Converse knock-offs, and the ratty flip flops I've been wearing all summer. Right now, my parents are off to find an equivalent. I figure by the time they break, I'll be wearing sneakers all the time, right?

I should mention that I also got a floral belt, and earrings shaped like moustaches. All in all, a good way to spend the last day of summer.

I should also mention that last Friday, I had lunch with Shari, and then we wandered about. This is, of course, an excellent way to spend a day.

It just occurred to me that school starts tomorrow, and I have devoted my entry to my preparations for the day, as opposed to the day itself. Well! From about five o'clock on, I began to feel somewhat feathery deep within my bowels. Perhaps not as feathery as last year, when I was nearly about to take flight, but quite feathery indeed! It is still pressing on the back of my mind that I don't know anybody in five of my classes. What if the teachers don't assign seats? What if I'm forced to make human interaction? The horrors are too numerous to contemplate. I have no doubt that my face will be in a perpetual state of redness the entire day.

I'm supposed to be showering right now (imagine that! Showering at night instead of the middle of the day!), but my parents are still out buying shoes, and I get antsy about showering when I'm home alone. Also, I'm writing this. You know, I almost forgot to set my alarm! Luckily Vera reminded me, else tomorrow would've been....unfortunate. Ahh, I'm starting school tomorrow! I'm being sophomoric! AHHHHHHH.

Tomorrow you'll have a very detailed, exciting, and mildly breathless account of my first day at school! WON'T THAT BE EXCITING?

I do not like titling.

Hello, friends!

I feel bad that I have little to no inclination to blog. To be honest, I have little to no inclination to do anything writing-wise lately. I just spent five minutes staring at an empty word document, and I just didn't want to write. I didn't want to work on my last story, either, which would make this about the second week I haven't so much as looked at it.

Also, my keyboard's being funky. I hate writing when my keyboard's being funky.

Today I hung out with Shari! We got lunch at Pei Wei (which was delish) and then basically wandered around for an hour. Always an adventure. It's nice to hang out with Shari, since we don't have any classes together and I'm never going to see her during the day. Unmitigated sorrow.

Also today, I finally bought a backpack. It's basically the exact same thing as last year's backpack, but black instead of purple. I am a girl of simple tastes, as we see. To be honest, I've noticed that my tastes have gone almost entirely towards: basic, solid-colored, easy-to-wear pieces. Not a heavy-duty hiking backpack with fifty pockets, but just a regular black Jansport--not some frilly, detailed shirt from the mall, but basically a sweatshirt. I would like to pass this off as some sort of style, but I know I'm just too lazy to deal with fuss :)

BUT SPEAKING OF CLOTHES! Yesterday I dragged my dad to Forever 21 (again) and actually bought things! Only two things, but I consider this an accomplishment. One is a striped shirt which is probably the only striped thing I will get (otherwise I would have a closet full of stripes), and the other was this delightfully warm tan/yellow sweatshirt-like shirt which I can't find the link to...hm. Unfortunately, two new shirts just aren't going to cut it for me, especially since I don't have anything more suited for hot weather to wear on the first day of school(!). So, hopefully my mom will be up for going to the mall tomorrow! UNFORTUNATELY THOUGH, APPARENTLY THE JACKET I'M IN LOVE WITH IS OUT OF STOCK. RAGE.

Speaking of tomorrow, these are things I have to/am going to do: get a haircut, buy a pencil case, start summer reading work, and go to the mall. Eee, school starts on TUESDAY! In THREE DAYS! Ahhh!