Yeah, it’s Saturday. And that makes me happy.
And now the moment you’ve been waiting for *drum roll please*, the play list:
Rock and Roll Lifestyle (Cake),
The Royal We (Silver Sun Pickups),
She’s a Genius (Jet),
Mercedes Lullaby (composed by Javiere Navarette),
Homecoming (Hey Monday),
and Broken Bones (Birds of Tokyo).
I have a lot going on considering it’s summer. I have actually finished about half of my summer assignments for one of my classes. And I just have to say everyone was totally wrong. I really enjoyed reading Slaughterhouse-Five *go Kurt Vonnegut*.
I have been going to summer conditioning sessions every day as well. (Or at least everyday Mon. through Fri.) They are two hour long sessions compromised of two things. The first hour is just agility drills and sprints. The second hour is weight lifting. Since this was the first week I was pathetically sore from it. But now I have gotten used to it (maybe).
Our new furniture is coming today, but I don’t have to move it. You have no idea how excited that makes me. I don’t care about the furniture, the fact that I don’t have to move it means that it could be hideous and I wouldn’t care. And besides I graduate next year so it’s not like I would have to live with it.
Some sad news to share. I am a blood donor, but for the past month or so, my iron has been too low for them to let me donate. I actually hate needles but that’s a stupid reason not to do something to save someone else. If there’s nothing wrong with any of you, go in and donate while I sit at home and build up my iron level.
On the twelfth of June I am going to be taking the ACT. It feels like a waste of time because I already know what kind of scores I’ll get. Pathetically low in math, high in science and extremely high in reading comp and grammar. I guess it’s just one of those things I have to do, like going to the dentist or getting shots.
And then, right after that, I have to go to soccer camp. it’s only a week from 10-12. But I plan on still going to the summer conditioning sessions that week as well. I’ll be in shape, but tired as hell.
I hope this week isn’t setting precedent.
I have only been out of school for a mere three days. Already though I have spent the bulk of my time helping family members do goddamn errands and chores. I really am starting to think that it’s too much to ask to just be left alone to my own devices.
Excuse me for the mini rant in progress.
This week is probably the last of me moving other people’s furniture and luggage around. I’ll still have to do a shit load of chores, but that’s year round. And it’s to be expected that more people eating more meals=more dishes and that summer=cutting the grass. *sigh*
Enough with the complaints, though.
Eventually I’ll get to the bands previously mentioned, but I discovered a new band. So in honor of that today’s play list will be entirely their takes on the songs of other bands. trust me when I say it’s worth listening at once. They do rock songs in an entirely different way. And the way they play you’ll either completely love or completely hate.
From what I know their songs are mostly covers, and they are all played by Apocalyptica: One, Nothing Else Matters, Fade To Black, and Somewhere Around Nothing.
Those are the only songs by them that I’ve listened to thus far, and now I’m off to listen to a few more from Apocalytica. Their name might not be too catchy, but their music… ; )
This one’s a quickie with Kurt Vonnegut.
Since it’s a quick post I only listened to two songs:
The Hand That Feeds (by Nine Inch Nails) and Head Like A Hole (also by Nine Inch Nails.
Sorry, it’s the radio, I’m not the one choosing the songs.
Now for the bit about Slaughterhouse Five that I promised. It’s actually a bit of summer homework, but I thought it was decent enough to put up here.
Billy Pilgrim’s name does hint at religion and he is associated with the idea of religion throughout the book. For example on pages 38 and 39 the narrator talks about Billy’s experience with religion as a child. “And the crucifix went up on the wall of Billy Pilgrim.” (Vonnegut 39). During the war when the prisoners of war are being transported by train, Billy is likened to Christ “Billy Pilgrim was lying at an angle on the corner-brace, self-crucified, holding himself there…” (Vonnegut 80.
I think Billy is described the way he is to contrast with the war. Throughout it, from the very time he is sent overseas to fight, he is thoroughly unprepared and incompetent. On page 33 Billy, the two scouts, and Roland Weary are being shot at and Billy just stands there “It was his addled understanding…from the sound of it.” (Vonnegut 33).
Despite all of this, Billy actually manages to survive, while the two experienced scouts that he was with end up dying. Those who live through war in the book seem to do so through the power of divine intervention or fate, regardless of their own actions. Billy Pilgrim epitomizes the concept that nobody has any control over their own lives (in the book).
Enter title here (I refuse.)
My song list for the day’s blog:
One Hundred Years Instrumental (by Five for Fighting), Pain (by Three Days Grace), Just the Girl (by Click Five), Diary Of Jane (by Breaking Benjamin), and Gunpowder and Lead (by Miranda Lambert).
Remedy (by Seether). (That one sneaked in just as I was adding tags, so I decided to put it on the list.)
Today school was about as entertaining as it could be, which is not very. I presented my final project for AP Bio. I finished my French III, Pre-AP Language Arts III, and Anatomy finals. In Anatomy I scored a 70% on the final exam, with an overall grade of 89%. In Pre-AP L.A. III, I scored a 98% on the final, with a 94% in the class.
Yesterday I took my finals for Psychology and Algebra II. In psych, I got a 92% on the final and a 95% in the class. As for Algebra II (yuck, I hate that class) on the final I somehow manged to get an 80% (probably sheer dumb luck) and have passed the class with an overall score of 81%.
My scores on the Anatomy final and Algebra II dropped my grade by about two percent for those classes. In AP Biology and French II the teachers haven’t graded the finals yet. As for Intro. to Business and AP US History, I haven’t taken the finals yet.
I swear I’ll talk about something other than school soon, but it is kind of preoccupying.
Note to self (and you I guess) next time I’ll write about Slaughter House Five. Oh and I want to listen to some Birds Of Tokyo, Ralph V. Williams, Hey Monday, Snow Patrol, and OOMPH! next time…
I have made contact (but not with aliens).
My day was monotonous and amazingly uneventful. Like, there was such a lack of notability about the day, that it’s actually notable.
Yesterday I accidentally ripped my contacts with my long ass fingernails by mistake. So today I went and got new ones.
I reviewed for the finals all today. If it weren’t for the fact that my older sister is home from college, I could have just as easily skipped school and not been worse for wear. I only have two and a half days of school left.
Tomorrow I have to go to the soccer banquet. Not only do I have to go through the inconvenience of dressing up, my family will be attending. It is a cringe worthy event in my opinion.
So that is my day and the upcoming events for this week. Not exactly the most tinctillating account of what’s going on in my life. I guess I am not that interesting.
Today’s song list is a bit short, but I guess that’s the way it goes sometimes:
Fake it (by Seether), Gasoline (also by Seether), Like Whoa (by Aly and AJ), and Fences (by Paramore)
Oh, I almost forgot. I’m having buffalo wings for dinner tonight! Just so you know. (And I really hope you don’t give a rat’s ass about my choice, because I admit, if you told me what you’re having for dinner, I sure as hell wouldn’t care.)
I’m going to go read some manga now.
The Modern High School Student is…writing children’s books?
I am what would be considered “the modern student”. I am a high school junior, involved in sports and academics, doing what is expected of me. And sometimes I get really unexpected school assignments.
In three years I will have written and illustrated two children’s books for classes that are almost nothing like each other. One is an elective, the other an advanced placement course. Both were assigned as final projects, making up five percent of my grade for the course.
I don’t mind the grading scale used, but it is really horrible to have to illustrate the books by hand when you consider the fact that I am particularly bad at art. It is really difficult to draw the same set of characters thirty times without tracing and still make them recognizable by the end of the book. Each time I try they sort of evolve. By the last page, they look nothing like the first page.
This is a bit of joke because the subject for one of the books is the concept of evolution. But when I try to make the character look different on purpose, I can’t. Except for my appalling art it is enjoyable to write books targeted towards kids. I wouldn’t make it a career choice though.
So that’s what I’m up to right now. Finishing up final projects and doing a crammed version of review for each class. I understand everything, but after several months I forget about it. So every year I do a quick brush up for every course I happen to be taking so I don’t fail.
If I failed every single final (that means putting my name on it and leaving the page blank basically) I would end up with a 2.8 GPA. If I ace every final I pass the year with a 3.6 (from all the weighted classes I am in).
More important than the numbers is that after all the finals I get to leave school and I don’t have to come back. Actually, that’s a total lie. I come back to do conditioning for sports and this year I’m coming back to take the ACT.
Other people get to leave and not come back and I am so jealous of them. But at the same time, I would rather not be at home anyway, so what’s the point of being jealous? If I lived at their house I might be jealous that they get to stay there all day, but I don’t like my own house nearly that much.
I always get off into depressing tangents. But I want to put up the play list from writing this. I promised I would do this for every post (and here it is) the play list for this post:
All Around Me (by Flyleaf), I’m so sick (again by Flyleaf), Little Lion Man (by Mumford and Sons), Sorrow (it’s a violin piece, but I don’t know the composer), and The Red (by Chevelle). That’s all that I’m listening to while writing this. It usually takes me about twenty minutes a post, so there are usually four or five songs.
I’m getting bored with writing so I think I’ll go do something else now.
Enter title here (I would’ve, but I’m not that creative.)
I love listening to music as I write. I don’t really have anything to write about right now.
Every time I make a post in the future I will leave the name of whatever song(s) I happen to be listening to at the time, or I will leave a link to the song(s) if I don’t know the name.
This time around it’s:
Romance (by Yuhki Kuramoto), Cherry Lips (by Garbage), Savior (by Rise Against), Another Brick in the Wall (by Korn), and Gone (by Switchfoot).
Sorry if my music taste is a little strange for your taste.
So, I have been letting my hair grow out for about four years. But, today, I finally conquered my fear of looking stupid (from getting a bad haircut) and went to a salon. It looks pretty cute, I must say, and all that worry was for nothing. It’s in long layers (my hair is dark born and wavy) and I left it its natural color.
It seems like that’s the way it always goes. I get freaked out about something, I worry, and then I finally get fed up with the worry and go for it. And it’s always worth conquering my fear of the unknown.
Saying it this way makes me sound like I have anxiety problems, but that’s not it. I have an inordinately large amount of curiosity, so my cautiousness is always over balanced by my curiosity (thankfully, or else I would never do anything new).
Doing new things is the most fun, but it makes me look like a flighty, flaky, commitment phobe because I go from one thing to the next. If I find something I like though, I stick with it for a long time. If I could I would try out even more new things, but I don’t have time.
I’m looking forward to summer. I love eating in season watermelon and making smores and swimming. However there are certain things I don’t like quite as much. The mosquitoes, the humidity and I could go on, but I would get bored…oh wait, that’s what I forgot! The monotony and the boredom intermixed with tedious and never-ending chores.
Lately I have been feeling really nostalgic for the summers of my childhood past. If you consider the age I’m at, it really doesn’t make sense, though. I am at the brink of adulthood, still considered by most to be a child. I think that’s a bit of an unfair judgement when one considers the amount of responsibilities and utter lack of advantages I get in exchange for shouldering those responsibilities.
At this point I think I am more adult than child. From all the stress I experience on a daily basis I now have ulcers and I get stress migraines a minimum of four times a week. Unlike the average overworked businessman, I have no reprieve. I bring my work home with me every night. Besides school I have to do chores and I have to find a job to make enough money for living expenses in the future. I do all this with the knowledge that no matter how hard I work I will have thousands of dollars in debt from student loans hanging over my head like a dark cloud. When my life is put into those bleak terms, wouldn’t it be fair to say that I am indeed an adult?
To relieve the stress I listen to music, I write, and I read books.
What else can I say except: “I am the future of America.” Believe me when I say I am a better representative than some of my classmates.
And on a more cheerful note, school is almost out for the summer! It’s not much of a break (I do have summer assignments) but something is always better than nothing.
I heard a saying the other day and it stuck with me an entire day. Not because it is shockingly profound, but because it was an unexpected source of humor. “When life gives you lemons don’t tell your mother because you’re not supposed to take things from strange people.” Most people might think it’s more weird than humorous.
On that note, I have more pressing things to do than sit at my computer typing things up for this wordpress blog.
