Holy $hit

Normal day, no tennis practice. I was a little edgy, though. That doesn't matter, though. I downloaded most of The Jayhawks new album, Rainy Day Music. It's insanely good stuff. The 'Hawks are as one critic put it, "the only alt-metal group that matters." They're unashamed in their use of steel stringed guitars and their songs about women named Angelyne. It is with great excitement that I recommend you check their stuff out.

Today's Music
The Jayhawks - Angelyne

Recap
Kerry Creeron is the author of the bestselling Fun With Porcupine Quills: A How-To Guide. His marvelous manuscript detail the finer points of the lost arts of: porcupine acupuncture, porcupine dentistry, porcupine blood massage, porcupine spikey-bed making 101, quill self-defense, and porcupine quill rectal cleaning and enema techniques. This is his second non-fiction work.

Sunday: Woke up, did homework, went to Jazz Band, then to the top ten dinner, then went home, did my calculus test.

Monday: Overslept, blamed it on car trouble, Mrs. Wacker left me off the hook. I had a band concert and tennis practice. I stayed up until 1am on Monday doing my Spanish project.

Tuesday: Woke up at 6am for an AP Spanish review session at 7am. I wore black socks and sunglasses w/ my new white shoes (Wilson's, 4E width, size 10). I looked pretty badass, I had to say, hehe. Had a tennis match. Jerome and I won 8-6. I went home, read, fell asleep, did more homework, and managed to piss Jill and Tamara off.

Today's Music
The Jayhawks - Two Angels
Socialburn - Down

Quick

No time. More later.

Today's Music
Unloco - Failure

Saturday

Saturday, I had a nice early wake-up call: 5am so that I could make it to my 8:08am State Solo & Ensemble Saxophone Duet w/ Jerome, which was in Platteville, a not-so-short 1:45 drive away. We didn't do so hot on our duet, but we got a first anyway, thanks to the benevolence of the judge, who said she could tell when a duet had been well rehearsed and suffered from nervousness. However, we hadn't rehearsed a lot--not since we performed at district in March, in fact. But oh well, we'll take what we can get. My vocal solo was at 12:00pm, and that went very well, I thought, but I didn't stick around for my rating. My mom and I left and went shoe shopping, which was difficult, due to my wide feet. After that adventure, I took a 3:45 minute nap. Then I downloaded some music and went go-karting at Bogey's w/ Jerome, Alex, Reina, and Nathan. From there we went to Hollywood Video, where we rented The Rock and then finally went to Alex's, where we watched it. God I love that movie.

Today's Music
Eastsidaz feat. Snoop Dogg - G'd Up

Blah

Today is another day toward the road to high school completion. Lots of tests today: Social Studies, Physics, Vocab, Invisbile Man in English, adjective clauses in Spanish, and we got a 3 hr. calc. test that's take home. After school, Greg and I ducked out of tennis practice and went to the bank. After practice, I went home, lost some Warcraft III, downloaded some mp3's, ate a sandwich and went w/ Josh Glass to Confidence, which was to say the least a kickass movie.

Today's Music
Cursive - Some Red Handed Slight of Hand

Today's Thesis:
All High School Girls are insane.

Half-(Life)Day

Half-Life 2 is now very much official. It should be out on Sept. 30th and looks awesome. On another note, we had a half day today. I was very tired until I took a nap in my study hall. I had an impromptu in English Class, which I thought went pretty well. After school, we had an AP pre-registration session, which was dull and then Tamara, Greg, and I went to the Chinese place by Cousin's subs and finally back to my house. I drove Tamara back to the high school and Greg back to his house. We played DotA in Warcraft III (Greg and I). We won. We have a tennis match in Oregon and the bus leaves at 3:45pm. That's about all for now.

Today's Music
India.arie - Can I Walk With You?

Day of Truth (Senior Project)

Today our senior proejcts were due. Before school, I had Jazz Band. Um... that's pretty much everything. We had a lab in physics, Mr. Mayfield came in to talk to us about being African American in English today, which was so so interesting. I really got a charge out of it. Mr. Howe stopped in for five minutes of Calculus, and that's about it for school. I had tennis practice and a voice lesson (Wendy Rowe rules!).

Today's Music
Thievery Corporation - What We Perceive

Worn Out

Here's the day's rundown:
Morning: 7:00am AP Spanish review session in which I was assigned more homework (just what I don't need w/ senior projects, practices, auditions, and a tennis match).
Soc. Physics, Study Hall, and English were all boring.
Afternoon: Band was uneventful. In choir I worked on my Spaghetti Dinner songs. Spanish and Calc. were uneventful

Post School: I lost to a 6th grader in Tennis 6-8. I beat Greg 6-0. I went home, took a shower, then went to show choir, came home, wrote my English lit. Crit., my printer ran out of paper, and now I update. I still have lots more work to do, and I'm really freaking tired.

Today's Music
Cold - It's All Good

Unexpected
Worked a lot, finished Invisible Man, found out 12 Stones and Evanescence are coming to Eagles Ballroom on May 20 for $15.00. Excited. Need sleep. Jill apologized. More later. Short sentences. I'm tired. Michael Moore rules.

Today's Music
The Jayhawks - Waiting for Sun

Work Work

Today was a half day. After school, I went to Pizza Hut and had lunch. After that, I went home, read 20 pages in Invisible Man and took a long nap. I have to work from 4:45-Close tonight and 1:30pm - Close on Saturday.

Today's Music
Guano Apes - Lords of the Boards

The End?

Hrm... mysterious communication has been occurring again. Is this the end of the silence, if so, good riddance. Nothing too exceptional to report today. I did however play really well in tennis today.

Today's Music
Filter - The Only Way is the Wrong Way

Today's Poetry
The Colors of War

Shimmering beads of dew on the rice patties in the morning

Paint a tropical panorama with blazing swatches of color:
Verdant, thick, lush greens, muddy browns, fiery phoenix oranges;
Greens line the trees and all the foliage, our helmets and our beds.
Browns are the color of the rivers, the muck and the rice patties,
And oranges streak the heavens, the last hope God might come

The pastels:
the burlap brown,
the just-a-little-too-light-supposedly-forest green,
the brown of the pouches, sacks, helmets, bandoliers, and human flesh
the green of the jeeps, m26 frag grenades, fatigues, not-so-camouflaged tents, mortars, Hueys, Chinooks, and Cobras.

And the metallics:
The blacks and silvers:
The deadened black of the 8.8lb M16’s, their large black clips and their undulating suppressors;
The brassy silver of the 5.56mm ammunition,
the worn metal of the three-foot-long bazooka,
And of course, the clean luster of the dog tag-clean that is, until you get gibbed.
Then its color changes:
Red: a bloody outpouring
Brown: death’s scythe reaps its compass in a muddy murk
Green: a frightening demise met in an inextricable leafy grave
And Finally:
Off White: the color once the GI’s shove one tag in your boot and kick the other
between your front two incisors.

But all I see are hues of red:
Napalm,
the sun setting on another day,
the GI’s bloodshot eyes
and the bodily fluids – the blood everywhere
slowly trickles into a seven-tiered pentagram of scarlet

JTDW #4

Jill and Taryn Death Week day #4. Not much new to report except that I gave blood for the first time today. It wasn't anything special, but it was a good thing for me to do.

Today's Music
Cold - Stupid Girl

JTDW #3

Well, today's Jill and Taryn Death Week Day #3. My oh my how the drama continues to mount in this never-ending soap opera. I'm not pissed because I'm cool, and due to the Jill imposed embargo, I can't talk to Taryn, so yay. I haven't done anything wrong, I don't feel guilty, just mystified. I wish they would sit down and talk about this like adults, but they run away like scared little children. So to them I say, step up to the plate, you might connect.

I am a compassionate person. I don't do horrible things, I don't treat people like shit unless they have it coming, and if I do, I apologize. A little compassion would go a long way, especially right now.

Today's Music
Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues

Friday!

Friday, I slept until 11:00, then went to school for the rest of the day. I went to Target and bought Sour Patch kids, drove home, took a nap, then went to Musical, which went well. Then, I went to the cast party, played War3, and went to bed.

Today's Music
Oasis - Wonderwall

Day 4

Today we had to report for Musical call at 7:15am for the school show, which went well until there was a fire alarm (caused by our smoke machine). I didn't really have a lot of homework, and choir was a study hall in which I free styled to Chris's guitar backup. We had an additional show tonight at 7:30. We reported at 5:30pm. It went very well, and now I will do my Spanish homework.

Today's Music
Oleander - Are You There?

More Hell

Today marks day 2. I write this before going to Musical. Already I'm a gigantic ball of hormones, nerves and raw emotion - that's not a good thing. No tennis practice again.

12:15 AM: my left eye is twitching like crazy, but musical practice did go very well. Homework not really completed to my satisfaction.
Today's Music
Linkin Park - Easier To Run

Lyrics:
Chorus]
It’s easier to run
Replacing this pain with something more
It’s so much easier to go
Than face all this pain here all alone

Something has been taken from deep inside of me
The secret I’ve kept locked away no one can ever see
Wounds so deep they never show they never go away
Like moving pictures in my head for years and years they’ve played

(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)
(If I could take all the shame to the grave I would)
(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)
(I would take all my shame to the grave)

[Chorus]
It’s easier to run
Replacing this pain with something more
It’s so much easier to go
Than face all this pain here all alone

Sometimes I remember the darkness of my past
Bringing back these memories I wish I didn’t have
Sometimes I think of letting go and never looking back
And never moving forward so there’d never be a path

(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)
(If I could take all the shame to the grave I would)
(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)
(I would take all my shame to the grave)

Just watching in the sun
All of my helplessness inside
Pretending I don’t feel misplaced
It’s so much simpler to change

[Chorus]
It’s easier to run
Replacing this pain with something more
It’s so much easier to go
Than face all this pain here all alone

It’s easier to run
(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)
(Retrace every wrong move that I made)
It’s easier to go
(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)
(I would take all my shame to the grave)

Week of Hell
This week begins the infamous week of hell: musical rehearsal and tennis practice every day. Sleep will be in short supply, and I will undoubtedly be very irritable.

Today's Music
Linkin Park - Easier To Run

To All a Good Blog and to Blog a Goodnight

I did, in fact LAN last night at Alex Reback's. The weather was miserable, a sort of sleety slurrying thing, never enjoyable especially in contrast with the balmy weather I had encountered so recently in Alabama. Others in attendance at the LAN included Mark, Danny, and for a short while, Marcus. Alex and I went to Menards, where we bought a piece of $3 software, X-COM Enforcer (it's traditin now, I guess) and I bought 5 nut rolls, one of which I gave to Alex, the other I gave to Danny, who was working at Hollywood Video until 10 O'Clock. I stayed up until 5 in the morning at the LAN, hopped up on lots of Mountain Dew. I awoke around 10 or 11, I don't really remember, and I left at 3. I smelled bad, took a shower, worked on my senior project, then fell asleep watching NCAA basketball. When I awoke around 8:00pm, I continued writing my massive Senior Project until about 9, at which point Jerome telephoned me asking whether or not I wished to see Phone Booth Starring my lookalike, Collin Ferrel - Which, I of course did. So, Jerome, myself and another person who shall remain nameless went to see Phone Booth at 9:45pm at Star. It was aweseome. I want to see it again - it was that good.

Quick CD Reviews
The White Stripes - Elephant **** (4 / 5 Stars)
Stereomud - Any Given Moment - ** (2 / 5 Stars)
Ben Harper - Diamonds on the Inside ( 5 / 5 Stars)

Today's Music
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

I'm BACK

The South - it stinks - ok, well not really. So, I left on Sat. morning for Gulf Shores, AL. We arrived at our condo late that night. We drove through pouring rain, and it was cold. We stayed at a place called Phoenix IV, which was w/ in walking distance of everyone else, who was staying at the Phoenix V (Gr... stupid mom changed us from V to IV). Our condo had a lovely view of the Gulf of Mexico, and there was a lovely sugary white beach below. My typical day would consist of playing tennis w/ my mom + Jerome + Chris and then going somewhere to eat. We (my mom and I) stayed for five days and that was about right. It was a very relaxing vacation, which was what I needed considering all the stress I've been under lately. We awoke around six yesterday, drove to Mobile, dropped off the Rent-A-Car (a POS Kia Optima), then boarded our flight. We had three flights Mobile->Memphis, Memphis->Detroit, Detroit->Madison. I arrived home last night at about 5:45 after a long day on the road (or in the skies). After I got home, I went w/ Danny to Best Buy, where I bought $70 worth of CD's, because I'm a gluttonous whore like that. After eating at Danny's, my mom and I saw "The Quiet American" w/ Michael Cain and Brendan Frasier. It's about Vietnam and is playing at Westgate. I recommend you check it out.

Today, I slept late, played a significant amount of Warcraft III, awoke to learn that my Diablo II account had been banned, worked on my senior project, and went to Target and back. I will probably be attending a LAN party tonight at Alex Reback's, but I still have to do some more work on my senior project.

Today's Music
Ben Harper - Diamonds on the Inside