'Nuff said. 

Overdue

Well...I just got back from being at the UW library for 4 hours with my mom. I was trying to get some primary sources for History Day. Man, it was a long time, though. I was so hungry I couldn't think straight. It was kind of boring for the first part, though. Until we went to SpecColl, Special Collections. It's basically a room with some books and a vault behind it, or something like that. You have to fill out a sheet with your name and address and stuff and wait while they get your book for you. You have to check in all personal items, including coats. And you can only take notes on provided scratch paper with provided pencils. Homeland Security, anyone?
We got some fast-food lunch because my mom was so hungry, and it was raining so hard. Now I have only an hour and a half to get my videogame fix before we go to spend the night with some family friends.

This day...is history

I hope everyone had a good Christmas/other holiday. I did. Well, except for the part where my family gave me stuff even though I asked them not too. Oh, well...
I've spent the last few days hanging at home, and kind of trying to work on my History Day project. Problem is, I don't know what to do, so I waste a lot of time. Thus, I have come up with a new strategy: Don't do any work on it until the last minute, since that is when I would have it done anyway. In this way, I won't waste my "break" worrying about it. Hell, it's due on the 9th. Right?
Like I said, I've spent a lot of time at home. Talking on AIM (hey Keir!), walking my dog, playing some video games. On Tuesday, I went to Zach's house for some [se]Xbox 360. Man, that thing is sweet. We played some Call of Duty 2, some Quake 4, and of course some Perfect Dark Zero.

Call of Duty 2: We played this one first, because we thought it had co-op mode. We were wrong, but my oh my. The graphics are smooth and crisp, the sound is clear, the guns are deadly. I played a level in which I was a Soviet (WWII, here) fighting the German fascists. The commander repeatedly said the word fascists in a negative tone, greatly enhancing the gameplay experience. The level ended when we blew up the German building ("That's how you reason with fascists!" yelled the commander). Then Zach and I went head-to-head. The radar is based upon sound; when the enemy fires a shot, you can see their location for about a second. It was difficult, but a kill cam helped me to even the playing field. I came out only a couple kills behind him each time.

Quake 4: Made by id software, the makers of the DOOM series. Need I say more? Gory graphics, but a slow framerate. That said, the game is awesome. Earth is fighting the alien Strogg of planet Stroggos, and you're a marine who just landed [on Stroggos]. The game consists mainly of walking through dark, narrow corriders and blasting Strogg as they jump out at you. Mmmm...

Perfect Dark Zero: The old (relatively) 360 standby. I don't know much about the storyline, but it's crap. A good old shooter, with lots of...shoot-y...goodness. Lots of different weapons wtih all sorts of different ways to frag your opponents. We play split-screen online (why wouldn't you), and the only problems are a) noobs, by which I mean people who can't find the "r" button, and b) the fact that everyone plays the worst game mode, "Territorial Gains" (you have to defend little pillars from enemy conversion).

Tonight, I'm gonna go over to Jacob's and play some games. We're also deciding what to do for New Year's Eve, so yeah. I'm sure I won't update for a few more days, so happy New Year's everyone! And stop it with that History Day junk!

Merry Christmas, everybody. 

Fixx0rz Teh_Sixx0rz

Yes, well. These last few days have been quite exciting indeed. And by exciting I mean boring. I've been sick since Saturday. I caught some virus (which needs to use host cells to reproduce, in case you didn't know) and I had a constant headache for probably the first 72 hours. I'm better now, though, some tens of levels and a couple of 'dex entries later. I've been playing a lot of Tales of Symphonia, a really awesome ARPG (action role playing game) along with some Starcraft. And I've gotten back into Pokemon, too( for those of you who don't know, I *still* play Pokemon). It's a very fun and complicated game, despite what you'll hear haters say (do they ever say anything good)?
Now if you're what we call the "PK-impaired," you might want to skip over this next section.

You didn't just see me call Pokemon 'complicated,' did you? Well, it is. One of those complications is the Effort Value [EV] system, a complex system that influences the stat growth of your characters (Pokemon). It works like this: every time you fight a Pokemon, you gain some EV points from it. There are six different kinds of EV points: one for each stat in the game. Anyway, what type of points you get depends upon the Pokemon that you're fighting: suppose that I fight a Pokemon with high attack: say, Rhydon. Then I get attack EVs, and my attack will go up more when I level up. EVs work kind of like that, anyhow.
Of course, your stats also depend upon your Intrinsic Values [IVs]. These are prepackaged and can't be changed, and it's really hard to figure out what they are without used advanced programs to calculate them. Even then, there's still a margin of error.
Anyhow, the point I'm trying to make is that what you isn't always what you get. Sink deep into thought and get back to me on that one.

brittlebrit187 (5:45:09 PM): maybe its too late for an intelectual debate
bananaoracle89 (5:45:29 PM): but a residue of confusiong remains
brittlebrit187 (5:45:41 PM): changing with the times and developing tortured minds
bananaoracle89 (5:45:53 PM): are the average citizen's sources of pain
brittlebrit187 (5:46:02 PM): TELL ME WHAT WE'RE FIGHTING FOR!
bananaoracle89 (5:46:12 PM): I don't remember anymore...
bananaoracle89 (5:46:21 PM): only temporary reprieve...
brittlebrit187 (5:46:37 PM): and the world might cease if we fail to tame the beast
bananaoracle89 (5:46:49 PM): from the faith that you release--
brittlebrit187 (5:46:57 PM): comes an atheist peace!

Stuff has happened. And you haven't heard about it.

All right, all right. Nothing has really happened. School, and weekends. I helped my neighbor move last Saturday and got beaucoup d'argent for my services. And the rest has been school. And school. And, hey, school! So...yeah. This week I was bored, and I got back into playing Starcraft...I've been running more and it feels really good...yeh.
Oh, and I'm going to go to the Big Band Dance [thing] tomorrow. Y'all should come so I can have some friends there.

We Don't Care Anymore

I won't let it die...
That's not what we're fighting for
We don't care anymore

So. Weekend has been god. Good, I mean. Some Warcraft III...trying to do homework...and FAILING! I went to a cool Christmas party at my neighbor's house on Saturday night. It was soo delicious. Ahh...good food is so...good!
Sunday I went over to Boeing Creek to pull some ivy with Maxwell, Red, and Matt (from Boy Scouts). Needless to say, we were expecting some more people to come. So we did that for 3 hours or so, and then I went home and got ready to go to Zach's house. I went over. And we played his new Xbox 360.
Now, I've done some hatin' on teh ecksbocks before (but only because they started it). But I gotta say--

This thing's the shit.
We did some quick math and estimated our total play time at about 11 hours. We also watched Sin City (I stayed overnight). Sweet movie, sweet game. Perfect Dark Zero. We played online--so fun! I can't even describe it. Ask me.

So I came home and played some WC3 (Warcraft III). Did some homework; now I'm gonna play clarinet and go to bed. Yeah.

We don't care anymore...
Indecision. It's not too late.

2+2=5

Again, my post is late. Sorry 'bout that.

Day 7: All thoughts of video games are gone, except for my duty on Saturday (to beat Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow). I think only of finishing 1984.

So I went home, ate, did some stuff, and mostly read 1984. We had an early dinner of pizza at like 5:20. I finished 1984, and did some chores, watched some show with Charlie (Jennifer Love Hewitt is in it or something) and played some clarinet and went to bed.

I woke up...and PLAYED A VIDEO GAME! I beat Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. And yeah. I've been trying to do homework all day, but to no avail. So...I popped in Black and White to try it out. Pretty weird, but it could grow on me. Now I'm gonna go to a neighborhood party with FOOD. And maybe come home and play some Starcraft. Yeah.

Day 6: Snow! Shown here is Luna, my dog. 

Snow! WAR!

Day 6: It has finally snowed. This has been bad for my abstinency, since precipitation always induces gaming. I mean, really. I have really had a craving today, unlike the other days this week (except for 1 and 2).

Even day. Band: good but tough. Bob got mad at idiots. Yay. English: Socratic Seminar that talked about Socrates. Interesting, but sleepy. French: Fun. We learned new, random vocab today. No homework either. So I went home and made some hot toast and hot chocolate. I then began work on the Super Snowman, which was scrapped when I went to Jacob's for a snowball fight with him, Kyle, and Jacob Fults (freshmen). First it was a 2v2m then ffa, then 3v1. Suddenly four kids materialized and challenged us. They were about 10 or 12. Actually, to be more specific, they attacked and we retaliated. So we threw back and forth for a while until Jacob F. and Kyle left. The kids threw snowballs at his mom's car. In fact, the whole fight can be summed up in four words:

Those kid were dicks.

They kept fighting and retreating to their house. Eventually, it was 9 on 2 (Jacob and I being 2). And one kid almost got hit by a car. He was in the dark and walked in front of it. The space between them was at most two inches. Anyway. I was chasing their best arm and he fell, putting him out of commission. Eventually, Jacob and I both got hit hard in the eyes. We then decided to resolve this conflict. We ground the ringleader (meaning I ran up to him, he fell, and I smashed his head into the ground with a handful of ice). This effectively crushed his resolve until Jacob accidentally hit his little brother (of 6 years, the one who almost got run over) in the face. Then he resolved to "fucking kill us." So then we just had worthless battles and chases for the next half hour, until a car came and unloaded two kids. One was small. One was big. We heard a deep voice grumbling, and a snowball whizzed--as in flying at a speed greater than 30 mph-- past Jacob's head. We retreated, knowing that we would be badly hurt and humiliated if we stayed. I went home and that was that.

Day 5: No Picture. This is a D+D Zergling. 

One Hell of a run

Day 5: Forgive me, for this post is a day late. Last night was very hectic, and I had not a chance to sign on to the internet.

Cravings were at an all time low. I seriously did not think about games today. Whoo!

So school again. Odd day. Social Studies was okay, I suppose. We spent a long time correcting HD outlines and then finished our timeline presentations. Science was kinda boring. We learned about cholera and other similar diseases and watched a movie narrated by Brad Pitt. Math was long and eventful. I got full marks on the test I made up. And we all talked and junk. Yeah.
So I got home and did stuff until I read Plato's Apology. It's good stuff. I went for a run at 6:12. It was really fun, in case you didn't catch the title. I ran maybe 1.5-2 miles in 20 minutes and my knees didn't hurt at all. I ran hard and fast, and was eventually persuaded to run shirtless, which turned out to be a little colder than I in fact expected. It was great, though. So I got home and contractors were here, so I didn't get dinner until I made it at like 7:30. Then Jack called; he just set up his phone. We talked until about 9. I got ready for school and read 1984 until like 10:20. THen I went to bed.

Day 4: I suddenly realize that I have only one of four roman numerals completed. 

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Day 4: School again. I have learned one, and only one thing from school this week:

Mornings around here are COLD. But not cold enough to stop wearing t-shirts :)

Update: I woke up and I did not think about video games. In fact, I really didn't think about them at all today. There is that subconscious part of me that always thinks about how to best counter Zealots, but... It was like seeing an observer without a detector. You know it's there, but you can't REALLY see it.
Last night I almost had an accidental relapse. I almost opened DOOM by habit. Just to check out a level! Luckily, I stopped myself before double-clicking. Phew.

Yes. Band was okay today, I guess. Bob didn't really get mad at us firsts, but we definitely need to shore up #13 in that Christmas thing. English was actually kind of fun. We talked about the meaning of reality and stuff (with an excellent shadow show by Mr. Rose). Alex read my story and told me that "it kinda kicks ass, dude." That's cool to know. And French was okay. Elodie came to take Jack's seat; it was nice to have some company. I stayed after school grading papers for Ms. Torres (don't ask why--I don't know). I then went home and realized that I needed to actually work on my HD outline. D'oh! So here I am, posting late.

Day 3: I am introduced to the Holy Grail of skincare products. 

Blank

Day 3: Most game yearnings are gone. I no longer have any desire to build with LEGOs (until I get myself worked up about a possible Carrier:) ). School was boring. It was the first day in a long time that I went home and did not play video games at all. Yes indeed. I screwed around/prepared for Search Story until 4, and then I sat down and did it. Yes indeed, 6 double-spaced pages of high quality narrative in 2 hours. Score. I then went to Boy Scouts, which would have been boring except for the excellent firearms talk by Mr. Phillips. Kudos! I finally learned the difference between a .22 and .223: .22 is rimfire, .223 is centerfire (considerably more powerful). And now I am blogging with an empty mind. Well...not quite. I have a few ideas about how to improve our Clan Teriyaki website, such as getting a good one. Yes indeed, stop using those Vultures against Bunkers. You're an idiot.

Oh yes, and be sure that you've caught all of my recent posts. I posted about 5 on Day 1. Scroll down. A lot.

Day 2: Battlecruiser operational. 

Gonna party like it's 1984

Day 2: At this point, I have realized that even without videogames, my time-wasting skills are still frighteningly effective (like Carriers combined with Disruption Web). I got up at 9:11 this morning, which seriously must be a sleep-in record for me. I did some work, tried typing some Eagle Scout stuff, mowed a lawn, and, above all, read 1984 and built my Battlecruiser, which has a funny conversation attached to it:

Me: "Look Mom, I built this today."
Mom: "Oh! What is it?"
Me: "It's a Behemoth-class battlecruiser!"
Mom: "Can it fly?"
Me: "No. It's called a battlecruiser but it can only sail."

Actually, that was yesterday, when I was test-flying the rough draft. It was an ugly piece of plastic. Anyhow, today was working and slacking. Like when you suddenly remember that you need to get some gas, but ten minutes later decide to only build Zerglings.
Oh, and I had a weird dream last night. Truth be told, only Zach would really know what I'm talking about.
Okay, so I was infiltrating some sort of warehouse or something, Metroid Prime 2 style. I pumped 4 missiles into a Hydralisk, but to no avail. It alerted the Goliath guards, whom I Screw Attacked over. Unfortunately, I could only jump twice while screwing (the usual is 6 times). I made a hard landing, and the FP view pulled out to reveal my body. I was a Chozo, by which I mean a Luminoth, by which I mean a Zora. I had on a cross between Samus' Dark Suit and a slick, teched-up bodysuit. I kept jumping, and barely avoided 8 Zerglings by landing on a ledge above them. I then questioned what the hell Zerglings were doing next to Samus. I don't remember much after that.

Day 1-- I amuse myself with LEGOs (from left, Marine, Goliath, Firebat, SCV, Ghost, Vulture, Medic) (Battlecruiser not shown) 

Game-less

Okay, here's the deal. My mom will give me $25 if I can go a week without video games. Don't ask me why; it's a dumb idea. But profitable. Plus, if I don't do this, Charlie will probably PWN my games for at least a week, if you get my meaning. So I pretty much read and built LEGOs all day. Yeah. I worked with Charlie a lot, too. I'll be giving updates on each day in my 7-day trial, as well as pics for each day.

Day 1--

I woke up thinking about Starcraft. I walked around thinking about Starcraft. However, after doing hard physical labor all day, and being really tired, I'm not thinking about it anymore. Seriously. The new Nintendo Power got me revved up this afternoon, but now I'm just dern tired.

Pokermon--Insomnia Version

Well, last night there was a sweet poker party at Steven's house. I came, along with Orion, Steven, Sai, David, Zach, and Jake. We paid a $5 cover, except for Sai, who threw in two boxes of mints. It was decided that the ultimate winner and chip champion would get the pot. And so the gambling commenced. Zac, David, Sai, and I were at a table for less-good people; Steven, Jake, and Orion were at the good-people table. Long story short, David won it all. Meanwhile, those of us who were out spent the time watching Zach surf Myspace for "hot chicks," which in Zachian means "soft-core porn that's okay because the website doesn't contain the word 'sex.'" Oh, and I drank about 75% of the 2-liter Mountain Dew throughout the night. It was fine until I got home. I went to bed at 11 and tried to sleep until 12, when I started 1984. Great book. Probably easier to read when your eyes don't hurt and you're not trying to stave off vomiting. I finally drifted off sometime around 1:30 and woke up, of course, at 7:14. Damn.

<[Davis] gives thanks>

Thanksgiving! What a wonderful holiday!

We drove to my aunt's house (yes, the one on Lake Washington). We got there, and Charlie and I were suddenly drawn to the snack plate by the mystical Snack Plate Magnet. So, blah blah--talking to relatives, eating, drinking, eating. I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Meredith downstairs--we both felt like worked-over Zerglings that day. Stuffing yourself in that condition isn't too good, either. Blurgh. So, long story short, I only got to play a little NES--and then I kept dying. Gah! We went home and I went to bed early. Didn't work.

Running in Squares

The other day, I tried running again for the first time in about 2 days. I've been sick, you see, so I feel like a Zergling worked over with 12 Gauss rifles (=doubleungood). I got about 10 feet, and then my knees started hurting, and I had to stop. It's been a year since I've run. I just stood there and had a sudden wave of sadness, like when a Zealot is closing in on the last Marine. Blast away, man--there's no use. It's all futile. So we just have to dig in and try harder. Because who can stand up to a good Terran anyway?

Jacked out of a good Jack

Yep. So on Wednesday, I decided to accompany Jack to the office to withdraw from Shorewood. Damn good thing, too. So we went there and met Mrs. Scudder. It turned out that he didn't have to withdraw at all, so we headed back to their house. Mrs. Scudder went off to collect Luke and Jack and I hung around. We later got turkey wraps from Fred Meyer (delicious!) (I ate both wraps, and half a Sobe--don't ever try it) and then Maddy came to get us; her father was providing transportation to Harry Potter. We met up with Robin, Linnea, Lucy, Rosa, and eventually Orion. It was a sweet movie with lots more violence :). So then Jack and I headed back to his house. We basically sat in his room and talked for about 2 hours. We finally went and closed his bank account, then back to their house to wait for Mr. and Mrs. Scudder to get home, then to Los Guyanas (or something like that), that one Mexican restaurant by Costco. It was good. Oh, and Joey Phillips and his dad were there, too--they had been hanging with us at the Scudder's since...a while. We finished, then I was driven home. I said my goodbyes and watched as their car drove into the night. I realize now that it's the last time I would ever get to see that license plate. I can't even remember what it is now. So I then Starcrafted myself to sleep.

...

Good luck, Jack. Have fun in Ariz--I mean, Wisconsin. And don't forget us (it's hard, especially when you get spammed with IMs and emails every day). Yeah.

Strangled Cries

...Punk is dead.

Age of...Narcotics?

Blitzmoose9 (8:12:27 PM): you get this one guy and he has to save stray dogs and raise bear cubs
Blitzmoose9 (8:12:48 PM): and i used him to snipe this other guy that does he same thing
Blitzmoose9 (8:12:55 PM): he was the mayor
bananaoracle89 (8:13:02 PM): ...are you...
bananaoracle89 (8:13:05 PM): are you high?
Blitzmoose9 (8:13:09 PM): no
Blitzmoose9 (8:13:10 PM): lol

To Another Abyss

Not long ago, and yet the image is so vague
I hesitate to label it a memory
There was a show of local color and I felt astray
Cause I had nothing to offer but insufficiency

And you know that it's such a bitch
When you learn to scratch that itch
A blatant fallibility
Sooner to some, but eventually
All gets pointed in the same direction
While the human masses and their vain conceptions
Obliterate each other with impunity
And you wonder, what's in this for me?

To another abyss
To no avail
The search is bound to fail
To another abyss
To no avail
So long ago I set sail
And it chills me to the bone
That I'm so far away from home
To another abyss

So what should I do now? What should I celebrate?
Given finite means and a penchant to depreciate
How can I still avow and depend upon a state
That cares nothing for my happiness, welfare, or fate?

And I know I can't explain
The commotion in my brain
Like a terrifying reality
Deconstructed but inadequately
All gets pointed in the same direction
While the human masses and their vain conceptions
Obliterate each other with impunity
And release the weight of history



So long ago, so long ago...
I set sail
And I'm struggling on the way
And I'm waiting for the day
And I'm looking for the way back home
So far away...
So far away...
So far away
(to another abyss)

The search for the perfect desktop is over. 

Lonely Days

Hm. Hmm. Hmmm. The 4-day weekend has finally come! I'm home alone, trying to do my History Day notecards. It ain't workin.'
And our phone line doesn't work right now (no, I don't have any idea how I'm getting internet access). And it's cold in here. Maybe the homework will just do itself...

Spackle is overrated. 

That One Post that You've Looked Forward to for a Long Time...

Well, nothing much has really happened, I guess. There are a few highlights, however:

Well, for one thing, I beat Resident Evil, as much as anybody cares about that.

But before that... we went to

VIDEO GAMES LIVE!

Yes, a concert featuring video game music, played by an orchestra accompanied by a choir. I went with Zach, David, Jack, and Orion. It was really sweet, especially since we paid for cheap seats in the far right back corner, and got switched to Uber-seats in the main middle section. It featured Halo, Metal Gear Solid, The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, Advent Rising, God of War, Mario, and other stuff. There was also a part where two contestants played Frogger on the stage. This 25 year-old guy got owned by a 10 year-old kid, who won a Ferrari laptop. David's dad picked us up, and he took us to Dick's! PWNage!

Also, Halloween rocked. I went with Jacob. I was a viking and he was a Greek dude. Response to 2 teenagers trick-or-treating was good, bad, and just plain nasty. It was way fun, however. Plus we got some loot. Sadly, we decided that this was our last year.

Oh, and by the way, my computer isn't online anymore (I mean it doesn't get power). My mom touched a wire in the fuse box to the metal part of the fuse box (for those of you who are not versed in electrical stuff, this is BAD)! It blew out my surge protector, and the cord doesn't reach the outlet by itself. That, and I have three separate cords. So...looks like I'm out of comission for a while.

And check out the recent picture[s], too.

"Do you boys go to Shorewood?"
"Yeah. I mean, what? No! Elementary school..."

Evil Has Taken Residence

You thought the horror was over...well, thanks to THE TIME MACHINE, it's not. No, it has just begun. Literally.

Yes, a package arrived for Art Black on Tuesday, October 18, 2005. It was Resident Evil, ported and enhanced for Gamecube. I didn't get a manual, so I popped it in and discovered that Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4 are very, very different. Resident Evil makes Resident Evil 4 look like Elmo's Singalong. In fact, the two games can be summed up in a sentence each:

Resident Evil: No more bullets too many zombies RUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!
Resident Evil: *chkchk* Gonna cap a foo'!

Yeah. I actually lost sleep over Resident Evil. Scary zombies + enhanced graphics = BAD for my imagination. Oh, and I was reading this thing on Joan of Arc and it suddenly mentioned a shotgun. I looked again, and it turned out to say a shogun. My bad.

Homecoming Uber-SMashfest!

HAhahahah. Hahahaha! Oh, that's good. You went to Homecoming, didn't you?

Yes, I hosted a Super Smash Brothers [Melee] party at my house. There were a bunch of guys there, including Steven, Orion, Jack, Zach, David, Jake, Rob, Jack Lee, and Sai (actually that's all of them). We played a lot of SSBM, and then SSB when David came with his TV and N64. We jammed to some music, played foosball, and even cranked up the Goldeneye 64 a little bit. Of course, it was all a big contest to see who was the best. It was Zach. No guessing there. But, yeah. It was a really sweet time. I would post some pictures, but I don't have any. You'll just have to imagine a bunch of guys playing video games, eating pizza, and using bad language. It was great.

brittlebrit187 (6:06:45 PM): some days you just want to see how much of a socialist you are
bananaoracle89 (6:07:08 PM): indeed

"Sarge! We're gettin' attacked by Zerglings! Send air supp...oh...nevermind." 

Avast, me hearties! 

Kimi's: Keep Clan

Behold! The hour of your annihilation is nigh! Know that the Order shall obliterate your puny bases, crush your massive armies, and defile your most revered technologies! Know that the Sacred Order has now achieved its greatest dream, and along with that dream, acquired world-shattering power! Know that you have no hope to run, and have not faith in the faulty belief that you can somehow survive...know this as you shrink, quivering, against the smallest corner of the map, hearing only your own heart...as you writhe and squirm, fearing the bloody, painful end...

Know that you will die.


Behold! The Sacred Order of Teriyaki has united to become a true clan, and that nothing will stand in our way. Our members have been emblazoned with the prefix "SOT)," to show our allegiance to the Sacred Order of Teriyaki. Bear witness to the great power:

DawnoftheTurkey~~~~~~ SOT)DawnTurkey
ProNoob5~~~~~~~~~~~~ SOT)pronoob
brittlebrit187~~~~~~~SOT)LastRedCoat
RunningInSquares~~~ SOT)RunInSquare
blitzmoose~~~~~~~~~SOT)blitzmoose

Run, enemies of Teriyaki! Let none stand in our way!

Teriyaki! Teriyaki! Teriyaki!

Pokemon in the Dark

Sometimes, you just ask yourself questions. Why are we here? What is the meaning of life?


When was the last time you crapped by candlelight?

Our house had no power from 5:30 on Saturday until 11:45 on Monday. We lived with candles, ate cookies for dinner, spent the night at Charlie's school. After all, it was both warm and lighted. This prompted some interesing talks with teachers ("Why was this late?" "I, uh...didn't have any electricity..."). Kind of like camping. It was almost fun. Except for the part where I smashed my knee into a 150-lb piece of machinery and had to lie around with ice on it for 5 hours. And it still hurt.

Well, since the power was out, I couldn't do what I do best: play video games. At least the kind that require a power outlet. Naturally, I spent a lot of time playing Pokemon on my gameboy. In fact, I was scooting closer to a lamp to get better light on my GBA screen when it clicked off and we lost power. But it's back on now. I daresay I'm good to go.

Snagged

Today was a pretty okay day. If you forget about all the boring parts.
Band was fun, and I didn't have to march because I told Bob about my knees. Our power went out, and then Mrs. Peppelmeyer came in and made us do the earthquake drill right. English was okay; we did online questions about word definitions and then watched the National Geographic "Making of the Lord of the Rings." It was really cool. Jack and I did a funny skit on how to be intelligent in French class (ne fumez pas STUPIDE! STUPIDE!) and then I had to converse with Oliver, Albert, and Amy for fixed amounts of time. I did my Science homework in the library after school, but didn't work out. X_X. I talked to Todd for a while, then came home and played some Starcraft. Watched some of the news, played some more... now I'm going to play the piano and stuff. Yep.

Oh yeah, and I studied a little bit for Social Studies. Except she was pretty vague...

Marching with the Underground [Network]

Look at that title. Look at it again.

You don't get it, do you?

I have waited long for this day. The day when the demons that have plagued me for so long are finally buried, interred in the hard, hard earth so that they may never torment me again. That's right. I finally beat Pokemon Colosseum.
YES!
Also, one of our neighbors came over to help set up our wireless network. But it didn't [net]work.

A Stark Raft

[insert picture of stark raft]

All I gotta do is jump onto my raft and see where it takes me down the river. Whee....

Today was cool. School was okay. I did some weights after school to make my arms big. And I came home and iced. I then realized that I have wireless Starcraft in my room. Carefully pondering, I did what any clear-headed, responsible, mature 16-year old male would do.

I jumped in headfirst.

Let's finish this... 

Hangggggggggggggggggggggggggg

The worst thing in the world is a hang. Well, one of the worst things, anyway. You've been gaming for 7 hours, gained 37 levels, and you're just about to go talk to the save person when BAM! your game hangs. It just freezes and stares you in the face. This is usually accompanied by some sort of horrid noise to remind you just how many problems you have. There's nothing you can do but curse and restart.

Yeah. Second week of school has come and gone. Classes are boring. That's all there is to it. Although making posters in English is really fun...but that was last week...
Football game was pretty cool, I guess. I think we won, but I didn't see the end. David and I were hillbilly farmers. Dutch hillbilly farmers. Boy howdy!

Yeah so Jake had his birthday party yesterday...and today... We all went there at like 5, except my parents made me late. We played some halo 2 and Super Smash, then played poker until frikkin 12. So I got home early early Sunday. Today. And I haven't done anything except play video games and a little homework. I gotta think of 3 topics for History Day. Suxorz.

Hmm yeah.

Warning: Virus Detected!

Well, it's official. Fall has started. Yesterday morning I got my first cold of the 05-06 school year.
*fanfare*
It was pretty bad. I was spitting all the time, and my nose and ears were clogged up. I got headaches. I dreaded going to sleep last night. It's always hell when you're sick. Luckily, though, I got to sleep quickly, probably within 20 minutes, which is some sort of record for me (sick or not). On top of that, it was the best sleep I've had in months! 10:40 to 7:20...boy was that a good one.
As if that wasn't enough, I felt great this morning, and I feel better right now. Good enough to get up at 6 tomorrow and go do some weights. YAAaR!

Anyways... I'm typing this one my very own (somewhat) computer. It runs pretty well, by which I mean that Warcraft III is set to highest quality on all graphics and sound and STILL doesn't lag whatsoever. Unfortunately, I've already glimpsed the Blue Screen of Death, and my computer rejects iTunes. But I gotta say, those orcs look pretty.

This picture was snapped in the summer of '05 by a little-known British newsboy. 

Ski Safely!

Well, last night my family went over to the Powers' house for dinner. We had tortillas, bean salad stuff, and meat. MMmm. I introduced Jacob to Resident Evil. Four hours later, I just realized that I had watched him play it for four hours! That was okay, because I read his MAD magazines.

I had a really weird (but actually quite predictable) dream last night. I was walking with my party (included Jacob, Jack, Charlie, and probably Zach and others) through...somewhere. And there were Ganados (zombies) there. We had to shoot 'em up, and I lost my pistol. Well, I eventually found another, and 4 extra boxes of ammo! Suddenly, we were in the border crossing to Canada. I was faced with the realization that I was carrying a loaded weapon and lots of ordinance, but I needed it or else I would die. So I said to the customs agent, "I really need this. If I tell you I'm a Boy Scout, will you let me keep it?" She said yes. I said, "I'm a Boy Scout." I got through, but was then faced with a dilemma. Should I trade one box (10) of my pistol bullets for some rifle and magnum ammo? My mom said no, so I didn't.

So today I went waterskiing with him and his dad on Lake Washington. It was really sweet. I got "up" and skiing on my first try! It was cool, but kind of hard. As soon as your ski begins to dip and you feel yourself go under, you have to let go or else you'll get hurt when your face meets the water at 20 miles per hour. I also went on the innertube, which was crazy. I was going at an insane speed, and as Jacob's dad started to turn, I was suddenly filled with the realization that I would not be able to hold on. I tightened my grip and wiped out.

When we got back here, Charlie wanted us to take the flag pole down (we're going to redo the deck). It took our dads a collective hour and a half to figure out how to get the flagpole down without a) killing anybody and b) breaking the flagpole, since Charlie was filled with the idea that we can put our 54-foot iron flagpole back up. My idea was to let it go, thus smashing the supports for the deck and saving us a helluva lotta work. Nope. We finally got it down, and I spent a hot, dusty half hour pulling out the staples that hold our dog fence to said support beams (we are good dog owners, we put those ^#*^@&@ in deep).

Oh, and the orange "man-out-of-boat" flag the Powers have says "SKI SAFELY!"

Rock on, dudes. 

Who Broke the Butterfly?

I'm giving up, I'm giving up slowly
I'm blending in so you won't even know me
Apart from this whole world that shares my fate
This one, it's good that you mention
It's my one last shot at redemption
I know to live that you must give your life away
I've been housing all this doubt
And insecurity
And I've been locked inside that house
All the while you hold the key
I've been dyin' to get out,
Though it might be the death of me
And even though there's no way of knowing where to go
I promise I'm going, because

Hoo-ooh, gotta get outta here
I'm stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake...

And this life sentence that I'm serving,
I admit that I'm every bit deserving.

--Be my Escape, Relient K





I got a haircut today. Finally. And I must say, it is very, very stylish and suave. Oh, yeah.

And guess what else? I visited both my joint doctor and my physical therapist within the past 5 days. Basically, they told me that I should go *$(#&)@ myself &#(*@&^(*& and #&*(@^(*^&. Yes, indeed. The news is grave. My kneecap tissue needs time to regenerate, so I cannot run for 4 weeks. 4 weeks. 4 weeks of broken dreams, shattered goals, and clinging despair. And there is, of course, no guarantee that I will recover within that window.
... ... ... ... Is this the lowest point of my life so far? Perhaps. Well, I'll get through it. At least I have popsicles and Resident Evil...mmmm...

My butterfly is positively broken. However, 7 KILLERS have come to my aid.

"Y'all need some good old-fashioned discipline! That's what you need."
-General Edmund Duke

The double-edged sword of being lazy and being bored.

Damn.

How could Hell be any worse? Charlie told me to clean out my closet, so naturally I took all foreign objects and dumped them on my floor. I hope Orion reads this. I have MORE...erm...ALMOST AS MUCH stuff as you! HA!

Here's my room some six hours later. Notice the sign on the door. I put it there to increase the overall safety factor of the house. 

This is about 6 or so...looking good! 

The Week of the Lucky Shorts

First off, I shall start with a one-word summary of the last few days: nothing. I have done absolutely nothing. True, I read Harry Potter, and cleaned out my closet and my dresser (which I am very proud of, to be sure), but, let's face it, compared to a social life...nothing.
I do, however, have an interesting and lucrative argument as to why you should always wear the same pair of pants (or, in this case, shorts). After wearing that same green pair for somewhere around a month, I noticed some strange growth. No, really, I put on a different pair when I was clearing out my dresser, and lo and behold, a $20 note. Sweet! I later put on another pair, and found $13 in that one. It was a hard day's work. Thus, this week has been dubbed "the Week of the Lucky Shorts." Now, look above for a visual timeline of my room-cleaning operation.

Enlightenment?

(I've been needing to write this post for the last 4 days or so, but never got around to it)

Recently, I've been thinking about ends. Not 'ends' as in 'bookends,' but 'ends' as in the end of a cause, the end of life, of the world, of things good and things bad. Deep ends. Several stories have prompted this thinking:

The Speed of Darkness, a Starcraft book that I read, in which Ardo Melnikov, a Marine, dies defending the surrounding cities from the Zerg Swarm;

Cry, the Beloved Country, that infamous novel, in which Stephen Kumalo realizes the death of his son and the end--but also the beginning--of a way of life;

Some movie that we watched in Oregon, in which an asteroid smashes into the Earth (and a young Elijah Wood who marries his girlfriend to save her, but that really isn't important) and most of the Earth's population is destroyed and civilization knows it will have to start over;

The songs "Anesthesia," "Suffer," "You Don't Belong," "You," "Generator," "Live Again (The Fall of Man)," and others, by an un-named band ( Bad Religion);

And countless others that my memory has forsaken. I thought and thought and finally grasped that
1) Everything must end
2) It's foolish to be afraid of the end, because it is a natural, healthy, and beautiful part of...well...everything.

And that's my piece for tonight. Or most of it, anyway.

Evil Takes Residence

Well, I just returned from the MS 150 (kind of). A quick overview of the preceding days:

Monday-Wednesday 1-3: A faint blur, like the snow shown when Salazar hacks Leon's radio thing.

Thursday 4: Zach came over. We played some SSBM, and then journeyed to Fred Meyer for a noble quest, which will be discussed more in-depth at the end of this post. I scrambled to get ready that night.

Friday 5: I got it all together (literally) and headed over to the Burt's house to depart for the MS 150! ('priceless relic' music). We drove down there, and I tried to read Cry, the Beloved Country, but to no avail. I did, however, succeed in leaving most of my things at my house, so I had to borrow some stuff from the Bangs, our Oregonian friends. It turned out all right. Orion and I tried to beat the high scores on all of his Wario Ware minigames to unlock the final games. Needless to say, we didn't have enough time. So we finally got the campground and set up the most expensive and confusing tents I have ever laid eyes on. They were campground tents, sturdy, big, heavy, tents, the kind that I haven't even thought about for the last 5 years, because all I do now is backpack. We finally got those up, then went to a delicious Chinese dinner (ha! ha ha!).

Saturday 6: The first day! It was a lot of bike ridingee, obviously. There were rest stops every 15 or so miles. It was hot and hard at some points, and I lagged behind the other two, but ti was sweet. I got back 20 minutes after them and followed their sack-hitting example. The stupid place ran out of dinner (maybe I shouldn't have helped myself) so we went to a pizza/pasta place for dinner.

Sunday 7: Second day! It was considerably more hilly than the first. We had old guys ahead of us, then we'd pass them on the climb, then they'd scream past on the downhill. Madness.
Nick and Orion waited for me before finishing; they're such sweethearts. So we finished, us 3, and took showers. Then I went home with my parents ('home' being the Bangs' house, of course). I slept in their hammock and we later saw a movie about the destruction of the world (more on that later).

Monday 8: We ate breakfast and stuff and talked and all that and then and and and we finally left to go to what must have been a city planner's cruel joke. Yes, strip malls or plazas or whatever you fancy they be called. Sheer Hell. I must have spent close to 3 hours in the car, waiting for the end. We didn't get home until about 4, at which point I refused to remove my hands from my Gamecube controller. I kind of started Harry Potter, reading only up to page 167.

Tuesday 9: I woke up, ate, and began reading Harry Potter. Yes, yes. My bliss was interrupted by Charlie's gleeful proclamation that I had chores to do. After their completion, back to the book. I finished sometime around 4:30 in the afternoon (the reader may notice that the author has skipped practice yesterday...but come on).

Wednesday 10 (Today): Woke up. Ate. Thought about haveing someone over. Realized that everyone was gone. Played Resident Evil for a while. Warmed to stretch, got distracted by the piano, and now here I am blogging. Perhaps an update later tonight. Yes, that is in order.

But, for now, I must explain how Evil came to take residence in my downstairs. Zach and I went to Fred Meyer to unlawfully purchase Resident Evil 4. After it was rung up, however, I realized I had only 43 dollars of the required $43.51. For lack of a better word, ^#*#$%@!!! I found 4 cents in myt bike bag; we were now only 47 cents short. We could have looked for change, asked for change, or gone home. We did none of these. We went to Jack's house. After some long, heated dialogue, and then some friendly chatting, we procured the necessary monies. Oh 7es 1ndeed. And that's it. We played it until he went home, and then I played it some more, and more on Friday before I went to Orion's house. It's good. What's even better is that it only took 3 hours of shotgun blasts and screams to realize that the TV should not be turned up very loud at all.

PHILMONT!!!

The following is the revised notes from our expedition at Philmont, the largest restaurant in the Kimi's Teriyaki chain. We had to sell it, naturally. My personal notes will be in italics, because I certainly didn't write the troop's log or anything. Anyway. Here goes:

Philmont Day 0 (1)
7/12/05

Attendees: David Cook, Reid Mortimer, Daniel Strong, Maxwell Vincent, Davis Hill, Jack Scudder, Jacob Power; Red Robinson, Peter Strong, Charlie Hill (advisors).


We traveled to Philmont in two groups: Reid, Maxwell, David, and Daniel flew and camped in the Garden of the Gods; Davis, Jacob, and Jack drove with Charlie and his wife Janice. The boys met around 10:30 at Philmont. We all checked in and met our ‘Ranger’ guide, Will Ennis, from Longwood, Florida. We got assigned tents and did lots of unmemorable and boring things—We had a medical recheck and a map thing before that. After many trips to the car, we finally had all our things. We headed off to an opening campfire, where music such as Relient K and Linkin Park was being played. There was a skit to tell of the history of Philmont (and the Wild West). Then we finally hit the sack. There was a terrible lightning storm during the night, and it was really cool. Jacob’s joke: What’s the difference between an American flag and Davis? A flag is patriotic!

Philmont Day 2

7/13/05

We woke up around 6. Most of the boys took showers, which consisted of hot water. After breakfast, we headed over to the Villa Philmonte, the summer house of Waite Phillips and his family (Waite Phillips was the man who donated the Philmont land to the Scouts). It was a beautiful pueblo building, with many intricate carvings and pictures. Davis played the ancient but fine piano (worth $200,000)! After the tour, we scrambled to ready our packs. They were packed and waiting for us when we finished lunch. We then sat around and played cards for and hour of two, until the bus came. Unfortunately, our gas bottled needed a topping-off—and the gas place bottomed out (technically, Jacob forgot to get gas)! Luckily, we got all filled up, and headed out to the Kit Carson Museum, where we saw the building that was home to Kit Carson for many years. We learned about the history of the Santa Fe Trail, and watched Nora, our tour guide, fire a black powder rifle. We also threw tomahawks (Davis was the best, of course). We finally hit the trail and camped at Olympia, an unstaffed camp (We also had to forge streams without removing our shoes). Olympia was a piece of crap. Seriously. A big field with a fire pit. Whoopee. While coming back from getting water, Charlie almost stepped on a rattlesnake and jumped into the air with a “whoa!” We finally went to sleep—Charlie and Davis had to turn their tent around! Man, our tent was the wrong way on a hill. Sucky.

Philmont Day 3

7/14/05

We woke up and headed out for Zastrow. There was some tense confusion about separating the food, but it turned out all right. It was a short hike to Zastrow. We saw a buck and a doe on the way. It was a short hike to Zastrow, but it was hot. When we got there, we did the fabled orienteering course. It was fun, but Davis and Maxwell stayed at one clue to solve a huge math problem. After that, we got showers and cleaned our clothes. There was a very nice Red Roof Inn, the finest fecal establishment in Philmont. We went over to Zastrow for some delicious dutch oven cooking. WE later came back to play Zastroball (Zorkball) and saw some deer. We owned the staff at Zastroball, 3 games to 2. After that, we climbed up on a ridge and participated in a rededication ceremony. Once we were sufficiently rededicated, we headed back to camp and looked at the stars for a while before going to sleep.

Philmont Day 4

7/15/05

We woke up at 7 and started packing up. However, we were delayed by a vicious discussion on the merits of different food distribution methods. After breakfast, Will, our Ranger, left us (we hope to catch him in base camp). It was, once again, a short, hot hike to Abreu, our midday stop. First we hit the cantina for root beers, and Davis spilled one on the counter, sacrificing his own handkerchief (because the lady was already quite cranky). Next, we headed on over to make some adobe bricks (We all got different Spanish names). Before the bricks, we toured the homestead, which had the nicest stove in all of Philmont. By that time, the trail needed a hitting, so we set off for Carson Meadows. It has a beautiful cabin for the staff, completed with a spacious porch, where we hung out before setting up camp. After setting up, we went to go do Search and Rescue (we saw hummingbirds fighting over a feeder on the porch). Orange Team consisted of Davis, Maxwell, and David; Blue Team, Jacob, Jack, and Daniel; Reid was base camp. Orange Team found Red in 20 minutes (it must be some sort of record), We sat on the porch and watched as storm come in before realizing that dinner needed making. Alas, we were too late. As the pot began to boil, hail started pouring down. The hail soon became a vicious torrent, and we were caught in the center of a swirling maelstrom for a cold, wet hour and a half. Our packs were under the dining fly, but a stream surged down to take them out. The crew frantically rerouted the water in the nick of time. Davis braved the storm to make dinner, but to no avail. WE finally ate lukewarm beef stroganoff; it was quite delicious. When the storm subsided, a bunch of guys went down to the porch for food. After a verbal beating from Charlie, however, they hustled guiltily back to camp to salvage and repair. We finally got all ready and got to bed, which is where this is being written.

Philmont Day 5

7/16/05

It's in your head

It's in your head
It's in your head
Zombie, zombie-ie -e -e

"Everybody's gotta die sometime."

Well, I woke up last night with the sound of some woman crooning above lyrics in my head. It was 1, and I was just SCARED. Of...stuff. I just finished this really weird book; that may have had something to do with it. I dunno.

So today I got up and mowed a lawn with The Jackob. So then I just did nothing, until Zach called to tell me that he and Preston were going to see Star Wars at 3:15. Sweet. I got down there at 2:30, and we hung out. The Huge Fairy has visited Preston, and now he looks like a normal person (acts like one too). Ha ha! Just kidding, old buddy (wasn't kidding). So yeah. We went down there, and what can I say? It was Star Wars. We rode the bus back, and then finally stopped at an AMPM for some crappy, as it turned out, hot dogs. We did get those pink cookies though. MMMmmm... Yeah. Today has been a light training day, as I battle my unavoidable lack of sleep. Grr. Which reminds me, why in Heaven and Hell am I still awake?

"Shut up, Arcturus!

...If I wanted your damn opinion, I would've beaten it out of ya."
-Raynor

Sunday (yesterday): Well, I woke up, and I must have done something. Yeah. Around 12, I went to Fred Meyer with my mom and Meredith to get some shoes, and also to return Now 18, which my mom bought for me for my birthday. So we did all that junk, except that it took forever because Meredith took forever trying on swimsuits (cause and effect here). Also, I scored this sweet Galaxian shirt. Y'all have to see it. Then we went to the Shoreline Library, where I picked up 5 books. 2 are Orson Scott Card; one is about Ender's game. I also got this book called Orcs by some guy. It's supposed to change the way we think about them. Well, I'm just gonna say that it's about 700 pages long, so it's gonna change the way I think about something! I spent the rest of the day reading First Meetings in the Enderverse (the aforementioned Ender book). It was really good. Now I'm reading the one about some guy who's an ex-cop in the future and is being hunted by all these people. He says f**k a lot.

Today I woke up and decided to run, then screwed it because it didn't work out yesterday. So I just read and played some Starcraft and did some chores until about 11, when Meredith and I went swimming in the neighbors' pool. It was reallyn fun; we got some water pistols out there, and I kept stealing the noodle from under her:

"Mom, Davis is kicking my butt! Make him stop!"
"Oh, but the butt-kicking has only begun."

Then we had a big water fight for about an hour in the yard, which climaxed (sort of) when Meredith locked me out of the house for about 20 or 30 minutes. Yup, she remembered every door. A chip off the old block (that's me). So I think I just moped around and played S*******t for 3 hours, then my mom told me I was wasting a beautiful day, so I read a book instead. I ran up to Shorewood for practice at 5:10, but no one was there, so I did 4 painful laps. 4 laps! 4th of July! Ha Ha Ha Ha! *dies*

EDIT: Oh, and 4 "ha"'s too! Ha!

Weirdo Cyborgs, Fatty Bugs, and Hicks in Spacesuits

Yep. I've been livin the Starcraft life. I dream of Battlecruisers....gahhhh *drools* Keir, you have infected me again!

Well, yeah. I don't remember anything that happened on Wednesday, or THursday, or Friday, for that matter. Well, on Saturday, we went for a hike. It was supposed to be really long, but Jacob and Reid and David Cook and I didn't want to go any farther. Well, maybe David did, but too bad. So yeah. I've been biking and running and stuff. Maybe if I got some sleep I could be good...

 

Who Am I?

I am a runner a thinker a runnerLINK a thinker a friend a guya biker a gamer a son LINK a fool a genius a hiker LINK a color a friend a guya biker a gamer a son a fool a genius a hiker a color a runner a thinker a friend a guya biker LINK a gamer a son a runner a thinker a friend a guya biker a LINK gamer a son a fool a genius a hiker a colora runLINK ner a thinker a friend a guya biker a gamer LINK a son a fool a genius a hiker LINK a color a fool a genius a hikerLINK a color a runnerLINK a thinkerLINK a friend a guya b iker a gamer a LINK son a fool aLINK genius a hiker a color a runner a thinker a friend a guya bikLINK er a gamer LINK a son LINK a fool LINK a genius LINK a hiker LINK a color LINK LINK LINK LINK LINK LINK LINK

LINK!

I am Link. And Ganon has been destroyed.

iii^
^iii ^

Summer Begins

Well. It has been quite a long time indeed... This is going to be a recap with less detail, because I just don't remember. D'oh!

Saturday 18: The Long-Awaited Piano Recital(tm)! I moped around the house until about 2:30, when we decided to finally get ready and go. We arrived only about 5 minutes late, but they started about 10 minutes after that. So then I had to stay awake for an hour and a half, and then I got to play. I beefed. Badly. But, hey, I'm not dead. It's all good. After that we went to my grandparents' house, then to Romeo's with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle for a little my birthday/my aunt's birthday/Father's Day thingie. They even had Enrique, a 'national recording artist,' play guitar there. It was pretty cool. Yeah.

Sunday 19: We woke up early for a day hike, because apparently Father's Day takes precedence over my birthday. So we did that. It...sucked, because my mom and Meredith went. We'll just say that they're not hikers. We got home and I just...didn't really do anything that I remember. Cut a lawn, or a few. Played some games. Then I got to dig into the sweet, sweet cake my mom made. My parents also gave me some stuff; among them were two razors and shaving cream. Bah! That was like the year I got 2 pimple cream tubes in my stocking (subliminal messages, heh heh). But before I could retire, I had to shave! It looked weird, and I managed to cut an burn myself with an electric razor. Yeah...don't ask.

Monday 20: Nothin'. An odd day, indeed (ha HA!). Yeah.

Tuesday 21: School. Mmmhm.

Wednesday 22: SCIENCE FINAL!!!! It was pretty easy, to tell the truth; I scored 47/50 (But Robin got 49 (OMFG!)) Then...ENGLISH PRESENTATION! It turned out to be only 10 minutes (it felt like an hour), but we scored highly. 39 or 40, I think. Then... MATH FINAL!!! I thought that was mostly easy, and I think I got 38-42 out of 50 or something like that. Luckily, my 98.9% grade cushioned it.

Thursday 23: BAND FI...no wait. Nevermind. The lights were off in the bandroom, though. I broke a chair (or maybe that was Tuesday) and Mr. Harshman got really mad. Oh yeah, he signed my yearbool. I should read that. Then... SOCIAL STUDIES FINAL!! 44 countries and capitals from South America, North America, and Southeast Asia. I scored a cool 88/88 (that's 100%). Then... French....stuff. We finished The Phantom of the Opera. Or something. Well, anyways, that was a really sweet movie. Some of those songs are so good....yeah! Oh, and I finally got Michelle to sign my yearbook. Michelle is this really awesome Junior (erm, senior) in French. Of course, Amy is really awesome too. She's in French (or, she was in French).
But that's not all! THIs was Staten's going-away 'party,' because he's moving to Ireland--I mean, Leavenworth. It was Sai, Alex B., Staten, and me. We hung out at Sai's house for a while and played some games. He had the cool Starcraft book that I got jacked out of when I bought the game and expansion together. I read that a lot, and yeah. Then we went to Staten's and played airsoft. So, so fun! I had the MP5, which, unfortunately, has pump action. GAH! THen we saw Batman Begins, which totally ROCKED! Except I didn't like part of his hood. But hey, you can't have everything. THen we ate at McDonald's, which turne dout okay. I made lots of fun of Alex, but we're buds, yeah.

Friday 24: Well, this was it. The last day of school as a freshman. FOr me. No, wait, for you too. Yeah. Well, it was lots of hanging out and doing stuff. David and I walked over to Dale's to crash Jacob's eighth grade party. Now his dumb blonde girlfriend thinks that we're brothers. Yeah... (oowah..) THen a bunch of peeps went to Maddy's for a little party thingy. But my birthday party was at RIchmond Beach!! Yeah! Lots of people were there, like Jack, Jack, Zach, Alex, Orion, Steven, David, Jake, and some darn girls (Lucy, Maddy, Rosa). We played volleyball, explored the drinking spot, and made an illegal fire. I got some sweet stuff, too. It was a good day.

Saturday 25: Mowed some lawns and hung out. Nothin' special.

Sunday 26: There was some reason why Zach couldn't come over until like 2. But he did, and we banished the Pig-Monkey! Took us quite a while, though. We biked over to the Shoreline Arts Festival and saw Jake, Stefano, and Matt. We also ate some greasy, undercooked curly fries that made us sick. Bleh. I went to crosscountry and met up with Michelle, Jakob, and Jack, but I didn't really do anything.Then my family and I went to these peoples' house. So Jacob and I and Molly (The girl whose house we were at) dressed some salads and I think I even frosted a cake. HAHAHA!

Monday 27: Bike Ridee with Orion and Wilfred. Wilfred got really tired, but Orion and I discussed quantum mechanics. We had a Philmont pack check at our house, but Reid and I just drew silly pictures of each other the whole time. Hee Hee.

Tuesday 28: I played som Starcraft, DOOM, and The Legend of Zelda. Jacob and I played 007: Everything or Nothing. Pretty boring day, and lacking in Triforce...

Radically rugged. 

Seductively smooth. 

British Fire

bananaoracle89 (3:38:47 PM): she is embarrassed of you?!
brittlebrit187 (3:38:56 PM): probably
brittlebrit187 (3:39:08 PM): i have about 7 paperclips in my mouth right now

Back in Black

When the hills of Los Angeles are burning
Palm trees are candles in the murder wind
So many lives are all debris
Even the stars are ill at ease
When Los Angeles is burning...


More where that came from.

Monday...there was no school. Read my previous post[s].

Tuesday: I did my final in Band. It was....kind of crappy, but it turned out okay.

Wednesday: We spent the whole Science period talking about the universe and stuff. It was really awesome, and I asked a whole lot of questions, because it was too awesome. We did universal addresses, which of course eventually led to

QUANDUM PHONE! (Hello? is Quandum there?)

Thursday: I did my platypus presentation today. It rocked everyone's socks off, because the platypus is really awesome. Ask me about it!

Well, that's all. Tomorrow is the moving up ceremony, and you're supposed to dress up. When Orion said that he heard shorts were not allowed, he asked me what I would do:
Fuck 'em.

"No really, what are you going to do, Davis?"
"Did you hear me the first time? Fuck them."

I'm going to wear my Minish Cap shirt, and I might throw on my Spiderman tie. It's going to be hella sweet. I hate the way 'hella' sounds; it's so cheesy.

So, as for the title. Maybe 'Back as Black' is more appropriate. I was lost but now I am found. Ha ha ha...

HA HA HA
*shouting*

FUCK THEM ALL!

The Black is back...

YAH

brittlebrit187 (5:38:36 PM): but i need to tell you all the lyrics
brittlebrit187 (5:38:41 PM): and what each song is about
brittlebrit187 (5:38:52 PM): sinister rogue is about raping in the catholic church
bananaoracle89 (5:38:52 PM): what is sinister rouge about?
bananaoracle89 (5:38:58 PM): is it red for republican?
bananaoracle89 (5:39:08 PM): or blood
brittlebrit187 (5:39:09 PM): social suicide is about the problems youths of america face when they try to act and think for themselves
bananaoracle89 (5:39:13 PM): ah
bananaoracle89 (5:39:16 PM): yes of course
brittlebrit187 (5:39:20 PM): atheist peace: talk abotu how religion is behind all wars
bananaoracle89 (5:39:25 PM): to another abyss is about us going in circles
brittlebrit187 (5:39:46 PM): all there is is just pondering about god and the world
brittlebrit187 (5:39:55 PM): los angelas is burning is about the media
bananaoracle89 (5:39:59 PM): electric dreams?
brittlebrit187 (5:40:02 PM): let them eat war is abotu how bush is a fucker

THE APE-MONKEY!

So yeah. Some crap happened. School and stuff...yeah

Friday: After piano, I went to Jack Lee's house. We played some GCN and saw some Linkin Park videos, as well as Family Guy hee hee. It was sweet.

Saturday: I volunteered from 12-4 with the cross country team. We fixed up some lady's lawn and crap. I did lots of weeding with Jack and Mike, and then talked to Chris Aagaard for about and hour and a half while pawing through dirt. I also made a dirt castle. Yeah. Then we had pizza for dinner, I think.

Sunday: I went bike riding with Orion and Nick (and the rest of the Burts). We rode 50 miles (nick rode 56) in/around Carnation, and stopped at KFC. It was crappy. REALLY, REALLY, CRAPPY. NEVER EAT AT KFC. So then on the way back my legs died, and started spazzing out. The wind from a passing semi truck made me fall from standing onto the ground. It was that bad. So I finally got back, and us three guys hung out until the parents came back. Then we went home. Oh and I saw a dead deer on the side of the road, as well as many other exotic fauna (opossums and racoons).
Then, when I got home, Zach came over and we played Four Swords Adventures from around 4 to 9. We got to the final boss, Ganon, and he jumped out. Zach described it as "something from KISS" and then "THE APE-MONKEY! (later known as the pig-monkey, because ape-monkey is redundant). So we're gearing up to seal away that bad boy, and then we hear a knock, knock, knock. "[expletive deleted]!," exclaimed Zach. So he's still waiting to be killed, and Zach had to go home with Trae. Or however you spell it.

Monday: I slept terribly, and woke up at like 6;45. Sucked. I can't quite remember what I did, except that I played The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap until 12:30-ish. Then Jacob and I cut some lawns, I cut a lawn, I cut our lawn, then I finished my Platypus project, after going to Boy Scouts, which was capture the flag at Shoreview. Whew.

Campus Day!!!

First, I must tell of my weekend. I spent the whole weekend learning to be a special member of BOy Scouts. We fasted, refrained from speaking, and did manual labor to show our devotion. That, and we sat around in the cold with biting insects for at least 6 hours total.

So I went to school, and I actually did bring my backpack, because Charlie got mad when I told him that I wasn't going to. So all the classes were boring, and yeah. I went to get my yearbook and learned that I needed picture ID. The following scene ensued:

"Yeah, Davis Hill"
-"Do you have picture ID?"
"No."
-"Well how do we know it's you?"
"Why don't we look in the yearbook?"
*OOOOOOOH*
-"Oh yeah, that's definitely him."
George John: "What, no. That's like, his brother or something. You in any sports?"
"Cross country and track."
GJ: "Okay."

Then some lady walks up and makes a big scene about how I have to have a teacher vouch for me. So I start walking away, and I hear a whispered "Hey! Come back here!"
GJ: "Dude, what was the name of that lady?"
"I dunno."
GJ: "Look dude, just give me a fucking name, okay?"
"Boroumand."

So then I got it and hung out until the end of Campus Day. The end.

Good thing my gloves are bigger than his head.

He's watching you... 

Home Sweet Home

Well, it has been a long journey, and now I am finally home. Over hill and dale, across icy peaks, down through the fiery depths of the bowels of Hell. I have persevered, and I am home. And I ain't leaving.
All of the anger has melted away, and I feel listless. What to do now? Nothing matters. I am whiter than the whitest sheet of paper, drowning in apathy. Life is worthless.

Tomorrow I will attempt an induction into the Order of the Arrow.

En Taro Adun.

My Neck Hurts

and I have to pee, but I keep on whacking.

...I tell myself as I finish weedwacking a certain lawn.

V-I-C-T-O-R-IA!

Yo yo. Though it's a little late, I'll talk about our awesome VICTORIA BAND TRIP!

So David came over at 9 on Saturday, and Charlie took us on an REI adventure to get "the perfect map." Then we went back to my house, got our crap, and went to school to board the bus. We rode and talked, and I saw a real live fallout shelter sign!!! YESSSSS! Then we got on the ferry- erm, Clipper; Zack, David, Orion and I played poker (for money!) the whole time. I came out out two dollars (yes, there were supposed to be 2 'out's back there). We got off and Orion got hald back at Customs, likely because he is Asian. We got to our hotel room and realized that the window opened onto the roof. Hehe. Unfortunately, we were all too scared of chaperones to utilize this special attribute. We spent about 30-50 minutes deciding where to eat dinner, until I found a fish and chips place and realized that I would sell my right leg for some fish and chips. We walked down Douglas Street, but could not find Old Vic's Fish and Chips. So instead we headed towards the nearby comic store. Beyond that was a Gameworks shop, so we naturally gravitated toward that (Orion and I more than Steven and Jack, of course). Then, we took a look-see around, and LO AND BEHOLD, I spotted it!!!! Old Vic's Fish and Chips!! YESS!! They were deliciously greasy, but it took forever to pay and get out of there.
We hung out at the hotel for the rest of the night, and there was much partying in our room. Minus substance abuse, of course.

On Saturday, we took forever to get up and finally met Willy, David, Rob...and..somebody else at Smitty's. It was good. Before that, I went running with Jack, and we wrote a note. Jack didn't know what to write, so I said "write 'we went running. Love Jack and Davis.'" SO he did, and we tried putting it in Orion's hand only to get THE FINGER. We worked out and crap. yeah. So after Smitty's, I went to the wax museum with my comrades (roomies) and Jack took a picture of every exhibit. It was pretty cool, though; they had lots of death stuff (note semicolon use). Then we got all dressed and played in front of the Parliament building. It was fun, and I was really hyped up! Unfortunately, a bird crapped on me during the performance. After that, everybody hung out...yeah. Then there was the banquet, and it had good food except for crappy meat. And Superb chocolate mousse. Yum! Awards were given amid much random applause. Then Steven, David and I went to go play ultimate frisbee behind the parliament building with a large conglomeration of upperclassmen, that included Mickey [Hansen] and Maris [Bickeboeller], two of my senior chums from cross country. We had an awesome time, then walked over to Beacon Hill park to play a game that starts with an 'm. Basically, Mickey and Marisa hid and everyone else tried to find them. David, Steven, and I found them first, OF COURSE. So that was fun, and then we went back to the hotel when it got dark, and hung out. I watched stadn-up comedy with Chung, ROsa, and Robin. And maybe Katie and assorted others. I finally went to sleep at a decent hour, having slept at 4 the previous night (or day, whichever you prefer).

Our alarm went off at 6:40, and Orion and I both made mad dives for it to TURN THE DAMN THING OFF@!@ So we all got dressed, then boarded the top story of a double-decker bus to go to THE MALL, where we ate breakfast and then would begin to march for about an hour in the hot, hot sun. It was fun, and everyone sweated profusely. We netted second place, and Mr. Harshman was kind of disappointed because he suspects we could have gotten first with a bit more practice. Oh well. It was totally sweet. Then we got back and were loading the truck at 12:30. Everyone except for me and Orion made an apparent mad dash for the 12:30 showing of Episode III and did that. Orion and I were inside turning in our keys, and we came out and were like "WTF!? Where did they go?!" So we set up Rob with the ultimate music backpack and were playing such favorites as Get on Top at full blast while walking down the street in Canada. We went to the Elephant Castle or something for lunch, and it was sweet. The motto there was 'Bang On!,' which we later learned is a British term for 'awesome or totally cool.' GO figure. Then we hung out at the mall for the rest of the time, except that we went to Tony's Trick and Joke SHop, where I acquired crowd-pleasing items such as an atheism bumper sticker and corresponding button. We finally headed back, and after checking in, Jack, David, Orion, and I snuck off to the grocery store one more time for chips and Jones Soda. Or something. Then we all boarded the CLipper and off we went. I played some GBA, listened to some tunes, and hung out on the windy deck. But mostly I just hung and chatted with peeps. Then we got back to old U.S.A., and I made myself even MORE hoarse by jamming with Braden on the bus on the way back. THen we were home, and I caught a ride with Mr. Altena. I avoided my mom's questions and hit the sack.

Highlights of last week:

Tuesday: I got nothing.
Wednesday: I got nothing
Thursday: Our final pre-concert band practice. Mr. Harshman makes off-color joke about his whacking, and I respond with "Bang on, Mr. Harshman!" noice. Our concert was all right, I guess; we played Rise of the Firebird, In the Forest of the King (La Furet, King Dagobert), and The Marriage of Figaro
Friday: Piano, I suppose. Yeap. I tried to pack for the hike (which is detailed in the following post), but failed.

But how could I forget Orion?

"OH SHIT!!"

it rox my sox.

Extra quotes...

Man the British are funny:

brittlebrit187 (4:17:00 PM): the girl i like, the boy who likes her, and the boy people say she likes are all going on it
bananaoracle89 (4:17:20 PM): Jeezus
bananaoracle89 (4:17:25 PM): that's like a love quadrilateral

Some quotes...

scuddybuddy23 (6:47:39 PM): u dressing up for the banquet?
bananaoracle89 (6:47:53 PM): why would I
bananaoracle89 (6:48:00 PM): all my clothes are crappy anyway

sunschoice (6:56:41 PM): why does your blog email me each new post?
bananaoracle89 (6:56:55 PM): oh...I wouldn't know anything about that....
sunschoice (6:57:15 PM): sure?

Like turning off a light

Turning off a light. Know what that reminds me of? Energy. Know what that reminds me of? ANWR drilling. Know what that reminds me of? Stupid people who waste stuff. Know what that reminds me of? Every second of my life, and yours, that has been squandered in the pursuit of...something. Know what that reminds me of? I should get some sleep to improve my mood.

Well, today was a nice, big, day 'o school. Science stuff, TKM essay test, Math problems in which I PWNed...yeah. Yesterday, we marched with band and stuff....yeah....

There was something really cool I was gonna post OH YEAH

[those who don't know how to pronounce 'Dragoon' should stay away from this part]

So I play this idiot online on Starcraft. Me and jHack against him and a computer. So he's like boohoo I don't like this map. I'm like, is it because it's a REAL map? You gotta learn how to play sometime. Then he breaks out with all this crap about my homosexuality. I'm so tired of that shit. Anyway....about 20 minutes in, he sends 9 cloaked Wraiths to attack my 3 bunkers and 2 Missile Turrets. Well, that lasted for about 10 seconds. Then he left, giving the fascist a loss on my account! VICTORY! Then the comp kills me and jack off.....but it was still a victory. Huzzah. I think that I shall read, perhaps, and then turn off my brain, if it's at all possible.



It ain't.

Click.

Staten is a Girl

So, yesterday was THE BIG ENGLISH TRIP YAHHHHHHH!!!
So we're in Science (first period) and the intercom comes on to tell all of Ms. Lachman's students to go to the buses at 7:55. I've never seen a person get up so quickly--but Ms. Fawcet put an end to that. So we missed the lab, and went out to the buses. Chung, of course, had to put his pack in my locker because his locker "is all the way in the 100s, man, come ON!" So we got out there, and I was the cut-off man. Yep. Me. Ms. Lachman called all the way down to Jenni Herold, then that first half went with dumb 5th period while my half got to ride with cool 1st period. I played 13 with Alex, Yi, Staten, and....yeah all the way down. Then we went in there, and it was this dude with a handheld camera that showed on screens. It was pretty cool, though I didn't get any of it, because I dont know the play at ALL. So then we get out at 10:50, and Ms. Lachman tells us to get back where we entered at 12:25!!!! First we went to eat lunch. I wanted pizza, but the line was really long, so I resolved to get it later. Staten and I were going to go to the fishing booth, but then some other dude told us about the arcade. ARCADE! I had only $3, and that was reserved for pizza, but who cares, anyway? We looked at some stuff and helped Alex get the second-highest score on the arm-wrestling game. Then we crammed six of us ((excluding that guy whose name I don't know) Hereafter referred to as John) into a picture booth and got pictures. Unfortunately, Staten's big, feminine face blocked the rest of us out of the pictures, so they weren't so great. Oliver kept them but then lost them. No biggie. So we all chipped in 50 cents for that, so I couldnt' buy pizza. We went fishing and I scored a bubble pen. Alex went twice and tried to exchange his coin purse, haha. Well, we were daring Alex to go toucht the big fountain, but he was too chicken, even though there was a nice dry path leading right up to it. Well, I ran in there and touched that sucker, and then John paid me and Alex a dollar each to run two laps around it in the streams. Alex only got 50 cents, because he was a poser and only did 1 lap. Then we weren't sure if Ms. Lachman was amused or mad, so we ran to the bathrooms to dry off. Then we hung out, and I FINALLY got my pizza. Alex and I got to Math 5 minutes later than everyone else on the field trip, and we were wet, but shoot, we had to go dry off, right? So yeah. THen I went home and had physical therapy and my parents took us to Romeo's (right across the street!) for dinner. SHwee+!

Oh, and the reason that this post in on Friday instead of Saturday is because I didn't know we had to write a page reflection on our project. Bummer.

Appreciate your yogurt!

Well, today was a pretty good day. We had band, and the clarinets were not tested AT ALL, making this two days in a row. With Mr. Harshman's mood lately, I think that's a-pretty-pretty good. Then Rosa bursts into Ms. Chertocks' room during STAR and tells some story about yogurt on the bathroom floor. It went a little something like this...

Rosa: "Oh my GOd! Somebody spilled yogurt all over the floor of the girl's bathroom!"
Robin: "Yeah, it was REALLY disgusting!"

*Orion and I glance at each other*

Orion:" Uhh...well...yogurt isn't that bad, really. Y'see..."
Me: "Dude, we have, like, PISS all over our bathroom."
Orion: "Yeah people like.....on the walls...."
ME: "...so APPRECIATE YOUR YOGURT!"

Another one o them 'gender differences,' the only difference being that female bathrooms are relatively clean, where ours are regularly defiled, i.e. urine on the floor, urine on the wall[s], urine on the ceiling (gets shiny somehow), feces in the crappers, urine on the wal....wait. Yeah, that's about it.
And we did research in Social Studies. It was cool, I guess, seeing as how I have to write a 3-4 page paper on Laos' culture and geography by Tuesday.
And French...boy. French was AWESOME! We played charades-ish thingies, and I owned (but not as much as Robin) in the "name in English what's written in French on the card" game. Robin scraped up a win by finishing the whole stack with 20 seconds left to go. YAYR@@

You might notice a change in my blog, as in the background is not, in fact, a fleet of Terran Wraiths, but is now Ganondorf, the Prince of Darkness. Aah...feel that Zelda-y goodness.

Morpha...
And today I remembered. I remembered Morpha, and the thrill of///uh.....hm. Let's just say that lots of time has been wasted playing Starcraft, and I had forgotten. But now I remember!

Long Live Tutenkhamen!!! (sp?)

It's time for my quais-annual picture of my dog, Luna... isn't that cute?