And the work begins again tomorrow. I hope it will not be as busy as it was for the last three weeks.. but... I know it will, between English orals and History IA due on February 18.

Oh, I suppose you can find an account of Josh's Party elsewhere. It was fun, I guess, but not many people I usually hang out with were there, so it wasn't especially memorable. I spent the whole time grazing on nachos. Bad Angie. Oh, we also watched American Pie 2, but not officially of course. I, with my Samelessly Conformist tastes, found it to be hilarious.

This is what's up with me.

Frezzo wants me to take Concert Choir as a class next semester, but I really want to take Drawing and Design. It's probably my only to chance to take an actual drawing course.. as in, someone actually instructing me, not me reading some book or something, and should help me improve leaps and bounds even if according to Malex there's not much to it. I'll at least benefit from the practice, and stuff stolen from the art supplies, and I've never used charcoals before. It feels like if I don't take a course at least some time in my life, I'm going to be continuing to slog through Drawing Medocrity for a good long time. I know I'll have a lot of opportunities outside of next semester in my life to take a drawing class, but I'm afraid I'll simply never get around to it, like I've never gotten around to taking horseback riding, mountain climbing, skating, skiing, weaving baskets, and writing The Great American Fantasy Novel. (ha) I like CC but not that much; truthfully, the only reason I'm in it is because I feel horribly lonely when people start spontaneously singing in the halls and in class and at parties and stuff. It seems like everybody knows the same songs except for me. I don't know how to tell Frezzo though; it sounds kinda wrong. "Gee, I don't really like singing, I'm just doing it because my friends are doing it."

Saw Gladiator last night, rented by my dad. V. good movie. Have now been initiated into the enjoyable world of R rated violence.

("The Cube" does not count as enjoyable)

Learned how to use Microsoft Xcel this afternoon. Am V. productive, but still happy. I suppose it wasn't very good that I was doing "due on on Friday January 24" physics labs on Xcel today, but anyhow. Done is done, and I'm still happy.

Am going to Josh's party in an hour. I feel kinda guilty about this, because I was walking down the hall in skool with Malex and Josh was passing out little papers, and he gave one to Malex and I sorta took one before seeing it was an invitation and thinking, whoops, it's sorta his prerogative to give one to me. I invited myself to his party. Blah. >_< There really isn't a graceful way to give it back. Wonder who'll be there. Also hope his house ain't cold. Malex says (or this is something he would say): YOUR MOMMA'S HOUSE AIN'T COLD LAST NIGHT! Anyhoo.

Came back from Maggie's surprise birthday party, with all the usual people like her, Dong, Stella, Jonathan, Snow and the rest of the bridesmaids from her wedding, and Mr. and Mrs. Tea. It was amusing how Dong tricked her into going into the community center that we'd decorated and everything- he said he had a stomach ache and REALLY had to use a bathroom.

The decor was actually really nice for a community center. It was a nice shade of pink inside, with elegant fan lights over the bay doors, and it had a wooden dance floor where Jonathan's younger brother was being the DJ, and a kitchen over by the side. And there were long tables set up each with a bowl of real white, pink-edged roses, and around the room, a table with the potluck food, and tables with plates of fingerfoods, which Snow emphatically kept her babies from eating. Stella, having had come back to the house earlier to get some photos of Maggie, had put them on display as a collage on a white ribbon-covered board, where everyone got to look at semi-embarrassing pictures of Maggie as an elementary school kid in Hong Kong, and as a teenager with 80's hair, and my dad in the 70's, and Stella with bangs. There was a turtle pinata with a carnation on it, and there were "Happy Birthday" balloons (just normal baloons with happy birthday written on them, not the foil type balloons) floating against the ceiling, and when someone tall would grab one down, the kids would end up playing with them.

There was some really good food, and I had a Margaritaville Tequila, though I don't quite understand whether it's actually a margarita or actually a tequila. It was actually pretty good- I was getting worried that I wouldn't, by the time I'm 21, find an alcoholic beverage I'd actually like. We had Maggie go at the turtle pinata blindfolded with a broom handle, but she'd end up like hitting the ceiling, and Dong goaded her into thwacking a roll of paper towels he held up, then pretended she'd hit him by screaming when she hit the roll. It was pretty hard to aim because the pinata kept swinging around after each hit, so it's not like she could necessarily have hit it even if she swung in the same place each time. She actually did manage to hit the turtle after a bit but she never did break it, though she broke the string that attached it to the ceiling so that it fell the the ground, and ended up stepping on it. In the end she just ended up tearing it open with her hands.

It was a really cute turtle. The bad things about pinatas is that you have to break them.

All the kids there got the candy. It's really weird.. I think of my sister as being relatively young and with it.. early 30s.. but a good deal of her friends had brought toddlers with them to the party. It's a bit freaky seeing that all your sister's friends are parents.

Thre was some obligatory dancing on the dance floor with some really loud techno music that annoyed my mom, she being the oldest one in the room. My dad had left earlier because he was going out to dinner, and Mr. and Mrs. Tea had left because Mr. Tea had had major surgery a few weeks back and didn't like staying out late. There was some older stuff too like Song Sung Blue, From This Moment On, and Truly Mad ("I want to stand with you on a mountain.. I want to bathe with you in the sea.. I want to lay like this forever.. until the sky falls down on me.."). I got involved in the macarena and the YMCA song, and I coerced my mom into dancing to something. Can't remember what. When we left, they were doing The Hokey Pokey.

I'm being quite healthy and stuff. Lots of DDRing. Saturday.. walked with my mom through Rock Creek Park to Lake Needwood, which I think we'll start making a weekly habit. I saw two deer in the woods that looked extremely frail and skinny. I really haven't seen deer that close up before. And when we left, there was a dappled deer that crossed the road and by the road, was suckling three fawns. And in Lake Needwood I saw a watersnake that drew back into the water when I came closer. I considered poking it with a stick, but that's the type of thing that wins you Darwin Awards. Oh yeah, that's wildlife viewing for me.

And then there was Alex's party. Lost overwhelmingly to Alex in Apples to Apples.

Andrew is sickeningly good at DDR, but complained about being too big for the pads.

Sunday. Went swimming at the Montgomery County Aquatic Center, which I hadn't been to in a few years. The kiddie pool isn't as exciting as I remember it being. And yes, apparently I still have my phobia of deep water. I refuse to swim in water deeper than 8 feet or so because it freaks me out. The water there got as deep as 18 feet (at the diving section) and it was so unnerving for me to see how dark a shade of blue it was. I honestly don't think that the type of phobia therapy where you're exposed to what you fear really works for me, because I used to learn swimming in water 12 and half feet deep, diving in it and things, I'm still as freaked out by it was I was then. Only now I'm taller, so 'neck height' is higher for me.

It seems like I have not blogged in forever. And when I blog, it's about random shit, not about stuff that happens in my life.

Um, school is over. FINALLY. It hasn't really felt like summer cuz I keep going to school for various reasons, like my mom bitching about CAS forms. I'm not that incompetent, it's just that I don't care.

(you know all this. bear with me- this is just for the official record)

King's Dominion. HOOAH. It was as hot as shit, so I was actually feeling icky and soaked even without the water rides but then it rained. Hard. Like, pouring buckets. We had been planning on going on the water rides in the afternoon, but the rain sort of killed those plans. Roooolllleer coaaastersss.

Hurler- first coaster, wooden, fairly tame- Nick should've gone on this one.

Grizzly- po' Nick. I have a feeling he smashed his hip against the side because my fat ass was shoved up right next to him.

Rebel Yell, backwards, but the suspense was sort of ruined in that you knew you were going to go downhill when you ceased feeling like you were going uphill.

Shock Wave- stood in the front with Christine at her insistence (I guess she really trusts Jesus), got my head smacked against the dumb metal headrests, and since there were two cars on the track, had to wait for like 10 minutes after the ride before we could actually get out.. blegh. Puffy actually got stuck on it, and got gift certificates for his trouble. You know, Puffy had never been on a coaster before the trip.

Anaconda-that was sweet, especially the corkscrews. We went on it twice. The going underwater thing wasn't as cool as I thought it would be. I heard Julia or someone flashed the camera...).

Didn't go on the Outer Limits (You didn't miss anything, Jen) since the line was too long, and the same with the Volcano (Puffy's first coaster, which he said was lame- I don't buy it) when it reopened after the storm. Took one look at the Berserker going upside down in dreadfully slow circles and ran away, making some white lie about there not being enough time to go on it. Which happened to be true.

I used to be rather terrified of roller coasters because they were rather ominous- you'd have the creaking of the chains as they dragged the cart up the first hill and you could look down and be like, aw shit, why am I here? And then you'd be motionless for a second before you'd fall... I didn't really like the metal roller coasters as much because they'd seem too fast, because you couldn't hear things rattling or feel the turning motions because everything was so smooth. But still. Apparently the HyperSonic XL is the 9th fastest roller coaster in the US. I still don't think I could go on it. I wanted to go on the Skyflyer, but it was hella expensive.

Some wholesome noncoaster things. The Flying Eagle, which was like a swing ride except in carts, and I said it felt like being on a landspeeder and Nick said I was a dork. Quiet, you. And we went on the carousel (wheee!!!) which didn't go on for as long as I'd like, but it was still cool. The Eiffel Tower, which was nice and windy, and made me heightsick. Swing ride thing, which I remember from being little and crying because I was too short to go on it for two years straight. Took pictures on it, but it was starting to rain (read: storm) and the ride was cut short. And it lit up after I was on it. And the funnel cakes were good, and the food was good (but incredibly overpriced), and it was incredibly cool playing bumper cars, as long as you didn't crash into anyone head on, which was painful. I won a frog! Froggie! From throwing a ball into a basket. yup. So did Dipa. Hers was a different color. Played some skiball and lost pathetically, DDR (mostly watched it). Yup.

Shakespeare Free For All, which basically consisted of people not talking to me. Picnic was sort of excruciating, since it seemed like if people had a choice not to talk to me, they made it. It seems that the more people Nick or Alex invite to a social occasion, the more lonely I am. But the play was good, and it was nice being in an ampitheater with the IWBA. Making snide comments. BARDFU! I was pleased that I understood it. I think we should dub a term for "theater beautiful," which is a lot different from "tv ugly." TV characters who are "ugly" are just pretty people in glasses, but people on stage who're beautiful are often saggy middle aged women with make-up on playing teenagers.

Um, my DDR party, which was mostly other people playing DDR, but it was still fun. I'm afraid the stomping probably has made my house structurally instable. Except for picking up Silvia's socks when it was over. And my sisters and their husbands coming over later for the belated Father's Day party. Lots of food, talking about stuff. Wondering who I'm going to get married off to. Joy.

Stupidass ESOL kids. I wish they spoke English- it's fairly annoying when you say something and people stare at you blankly. At least in working in other kid-oriented stuff kids would say stupid things and ask questions and giggle until other adults yelled at them to shut up, or didn't care. I don't mind kids being noisy- it's just annoying when they deny my existance. And, no laser tag. I get the best of both worlds; my parents griping at me about transportation and being Responsible (apparently looking forward to laser tag makes me not concentrate on my community service work and weakens my work ethic) and not going anyways. So basically having them lecture me about a party I didn't go to. Blegh. I was hoping to have an abnormally fun time to balance out an abnormally shitty time today... guess I'll have to tomorrow. Suckage.

Ow. Alex's party was fun. Many sex jokes. Too much apples to apples. Parents cranky about Lasertag. Don't know what it is. Crankycranky. They think Alex will kill me if he ever tries to drive anywhere and his car will explode into a gaseous ball of flame. Bitched about not knowing where Quince Orchard Shopping Center is. Do now. Rush hour. Don't know when to pick me up. Cranky. Don't know the actual building's name, or the cost. Cranky. Don't know if I can join in late or if it's worth the while, though I can't see why I can't join in if I pay for a vest and gun and be like, 'hey, can I join the dudes in arena 3?'. Must displease gods of laser tag or something. Crankycranky. Going to school tomorrow to do creativity crap. Cranky. Sleep. Cranky cranky, palms hurt, spike. Vetinari is an ugly-ass git in the official art. Cranky. Good bye.

Alex's Party was cool. Puffy can dance. I'm not sure if he can dance *well*, but he can dance. I'm sorry, Malex, for making the windows in your basement fog up. And we'll replace your cushions. Eventually. The day the music died.

There's a funny headline on the AIM news ticker. "Girl Crushed By Cross At Brother's Grave." It's a riot! The article itself is quite tragic, which is why I'm not bothering to link to it, but the headline is hilarious. WOOHA! It's too late at night.

Came back from my friend's birthday party. She's addicted to the RPG I gave her. We tried to three-way call Alex, but it was his answering machine, which, due to some technological explanation that I fail to understand, created some endless loop on our phone lines. So we hung up. Lots of Karaoke in Chinese. I am somehow associated with trance music, and "Chicago House". Sounds like the name of a salad dressing. I don't like Thanksgiving. It's BORING.

GAWD. My parents just gave me a lecture on not having good manners or whatever. I would take it like a man... woman... thing... if it were justified, but I don't take well to lectures out of the blue, supposedly provoked my me not introducing Alex to my dad. Um. A boy drops by for 15 seconds to pick up a book and I ought to introduce him to my parents?? There's like a paragraph of dialogue necessary for that exchange; "Hi, Alex. Here's Richelieu. Cool, see you tomorrow. Have a nice day." Somehow, I don't see where I can work in, "this is my dad" into that little shpiel. MY BAD. Is it not having manners to not do something completely uncalled for? Like, my mom always makes me bring presents to Alex's parties. Which mostly consist of generic crap she bought for male friends should I need to give presents to them. That's ruder than not bringing anything at all; it makes me seem gratuitous, makes everyone else feel awkward, and makes Alex feel awkward because he has to thank me and crap and act all nice when he wasn't expecting anything other than a casual session where everyone gets together at his place.

They claim rather sarcastically in America that I don't need manners in the first place, which I suppose is supposed to shame me into having manners, but if that's how they define manners, I'm glad I don't have them. Manners genuine displays of affection and refinement, not the mechanical motions of trying to be affectionate and refined. Manners are a temporary restraint from spite towards someone else in respect to his humanity. You'd think I could trust my own judgment on what actions are appropriate when and where, but I guess I have to endure my parents beating the opposite actions into my head whenever I act on my own judgment, while claiming to promote teaching me how to use my own judgment in the first place.

You'd think that if they decided to propose something totally repulsive to me that they'd at least do it consistently. "You should be more cheerful and charming to others", "You should stop being so frivolous and take your responsibilities more seriously".

To thine own self be true.

BTW, my mother thinks Nick B is a "well-mannered young man of good breeding." Stand proud. ^__^

I'm blogging today. Three days later. I'm beginning to think it's impossible to blog everyday.

I hate my body. It's too high maintenance. I wish I could be a perfect Asimovian robot or something. Dentists are evil. I happen to not enjoy swallowing my own blood. It's a bodily fluid that doesn't belong there. I don't mind temporary pain, like taking a shot, but dentist appointments are an hour of evil. Brush. Teeth. Better. If I remember after this week.

http://www.songbirdcry.com/Lighthouse.htm Songs don't usually make me want to cry, but this one's very sad.

Calculus is actually becoming useful. Last year David said it would, but I didn't believe him. Speaking of Puffy, Seth cut his hair. I'm traumatized.

I'm rather enjoying math now. Because I'm a freak. And physics.

Willard's Halloween bash was a lot better than one most ravers could throw. BLUE RING OF FIRE!! FOOOOOSH! HOO-AH! I think I'll do that trick with AILD.

I finally found out why I consider Andrew P to be oddly fascinating. It's this. I can't stick him into a category. You'd think I'd know a whole bunch of types of guy dorks by now. Like there's the Political Guy Nerd, and the Dramatic Shakespearean With Literary Ambitions Guy Nerd, and the WarWarWAR!! Guy Nerd, and the Gaming & Card Games & Hobby Shop Guy Nerd and the OTAKU OTAKU anime Guy Nerd and the HistoryFreak Guy Nerd and the ILoveMathDuuuuhh Guy Nerd, the Computer Programming Guy Nerd and the Creepy Stalker Guy Nerd and the JustPlainUgly Guy Nerd. Andrew P (I should just call him Andrew, since there's only one) is... I have no idea. He's like... Foolish Mortal I Will Damn Your Soul Guy Nerd.