Christmas

So Christmas 2007 has finally come and gone. What a relief! My parents dragged me out of bed this morning shortly before 9 o'clock. We opened presents for about two hours and then got to cleaning. I vacuumed like mad and was done with enough time to play some Scurge and read some of Neuromancer (which I highly recommend to those of you who read--i.e. Orion). The family came over at about 3:00. It's funny because although I have always felt weird about family gatherings, I've only recently matured to the point where I grasp the subtleties of their interpersonal relationships. Here's a breakdown of everyone who came.

Grandpa Bob
("You'd better watch where you wear the topless swimsuit, Meredith.")

Grandpa Bob is a good guy. He's nice and he'll usually relate half a dozen funny stories of the good old days by the time the night is through. However, he is kind of stressed because my Grandma has Alzheimer's. His hearing is not that great either; this makes for some interesting moments. Also, he is kind of losing it. The younger parts of the family feel like they have to take care of him. And they do.

Uncle Tom
("That's not a Christmas present. That's used crap!")

Uncle Tom is kind of a loner. He acts really gruff and pretends like he doesn't care about what's going on, but then after about half an hour he starts to talking to everyone. He's really dark and makes some funny jokes along the way. His speech is peppered with the occasional swear word. He's usually pissed off about his job because he works for Boeing and they have a really high turnover, even though he eventually gets rehired every time. He acts like he doesn't like children and can't stand being there but inside he really enjoys it.

Aunt Jeannine
("And she said, 'oh, you mean the seven fingers? They're inbred.'")

Aunt Jeannine is married to Uncle Ken (detailed below). They live in Shelton, which is at least two hours east of here. She and Ken are my favorites from this side. She's funny and nice, and lenient enough to let kids have fun without being a pushover. She's a teacher and she has funny stories about her kids and related activities, and she appreciates the irony of living in a place like Shelton. Someone I'm always glad to see.

Uncle Ken
("FRUIT?! Dude, this is CHRISTMAS! What the hell are you bringing out FRUIT for?!?")

Uncle Ken is my favorite personality of the bunch. He is a big, jovial man with a mustache and came wearing a Santa hat. When I was smaller he would always address me as Lad, Laddie, The Lad, or Boy. He used to work for Microsoft and he would always be the one who gave me video games and let me play on his computer and watch movies all night long (he enjoys television very much). He's really funny and fun to talk to. He uses his Outside Voice no matter where he is, which made conversations extremely funny (talk talk talk *Uncle Ken starts* TALK! TALK! TALK!). Also, he talks a lot. However, he is definitely very awesome and the person I am most glad to see.

Charlie
("Davis, if I ever end of like one of these, I want you to put me out of my misery, okay?")

As always, Charlie remained cool-headed and calm. He drove Grandpa Bob back and forth because he is a nice guy. Mostly he sits and waits for someone to talk and then joins in the conversation once he understands what's going on.

Janice
("I was walking up the hill and then I was going down, on top of the McGreely boys!")

As per usual, Janice talked a lot. She is the most coherent and vocal of all her siblings present. She is usually really stressed because meeting with her family is hard but this time she was better, due to the absence of certain persons. Sometimes she gets pissed at Grandpa Bob and manages to only hold it back just enough so that she's not raising her voice. Funny to watch.

We talked for a few hours and then when it became boring Meredith and I went downstairs to entertain our guests with some live music. We put on a terrible show; however, no one in my mom's family is musical so it probably sounded great. Dinner was good, presents were good and less awkward this year (thank God), and cookies were great. Finally everyone left and we went for a walk. I am tired and I will go to sleep soon. New Year's party, anyone?

Delicious Christmas

Mario


Link


The Great Deku Tree


Navi


Samus


A Metroid


The Mirror Shield


A Pokeball

Merry Christmas! May all receive awesome stacks of games and gear!

Today

Today I have not done much. I finished a college application and began some new scholarship applications. I must apply for many different scholarships so that my college experience will be FREE!!!!
Today I have finally resolved to make a post about the pretzel bag from the trip back from Florida when I went to visit Keir oh so many months ago. First, some backstory. I booked my flight with Airtran Airways. Heard of it? I hadn't, but darn if it wasn't cheap. The bag is appropriately titled "How to eat GOURMET PRETZELS on a low'fare airline." The back of the bag says this:

1. Think about our wonderful low fares at airtran.com as you open packet.
2. Place a pretzel in mouth. With each crunch, be reminded of our low fares.
3. As you swallow, remember again just how low the fares are.
4. Repeat until pretzel packet is empty.
5. Keep empty packet to remind yourself to book at airtran.com for our lowest fares and no booking fees.

Of course, the worst part is that I did.

So, we need to get our Starcraft on. And by 'we,' I mean me, since the rest of you guys are probably buried up to your waist in Snowballs. But really, I'm going to try to play. Because I know that everyone will probably get great new video games for Christmas and will play them exclusively for the week afterwards. I, who do not receive video games, shall be left alone.

More to come

The message displayed when I completed the last unit of my online Excel course:

Congratulations! You've excelled in this assignment. Put forth the same effort as you finish the course.
Moani Revoir

OUCH. That pun is so bad that I think my brain just hemorrhaged.

It's been a long time...Comrade

Well, Jack made a real post, so here I will try to make a real one as well.
This week:

Monday: Boring. School. Boring. Boring.
Tuesday: School again. Essay Fun. Not Fun. Boring, in fact. Yes, very.
Wednesday: School again. Pwnage in Wind Ensemble and then in Physics. Music Theory wasn't really that bad either. In all, a good day. I had to take Meredith to the physical therapy place and I read a good book in the car. The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. Then I had piano. THen I studied calculus. Then I finally went to sleep.
Thursday: A less pwnage day. More essay fun, which was not productive in the least. More calculus, which was terrible. More psychology, which was long but great. Psychology is the best class that I have because I get to sit next to Josh Holguin and Emily Forman (who is a noob but fun to talk to, no less). Josh and I just sit back there and make sex jokes the whole time. And when I say the whole time, I mean the WHOLE time. We even made sex jokes about the obituary project (just don't ask). It's good that Josh Holguin is awesome.
Friday: my God, it came so slowly. After the final test in Music Theory, helped Diane carry fruit to her car and then went to Steven's for the paper route, Wario Ware, Mario Party, Deuce Bigalow, Two and a Half Men, and really good pizza. Then to Orion's for some Back to Baghdad ($#^*(^$%*&(^!%#(*%#)&($&$^#@($ BACK TO BAGHDAD) and some Ultimate Alliance, which was actually quite enjoyable. Or maybe it just stood out next to B2B (the graphics are really good)!
On Saturday I went to Archie MsPhee's with Tracy and she bought some stuff to give for people for Christmas. Me, I got out of it because I'm cheap. Heh. I spent the night reading. Today I woke up late and then started on my massive psycho project (a typo, actually, but a fitting one). I started at 1:30 and finished just a half hour ago. If Mr. Messner does not give me an A, I think I will have to stay after class someday and yell at him, vigorously.

I haven't played video games for a while (on my own, at least). I'm still working through Final Fantasy IV...I just haven't had time. Well, the Big Band Dance is in a week and then it will be Christmas parties and Christmas time and then finally Christmas break. It'll be great, except when the break is over then the real AP drive begins. Definitely not awesome.

Good enough for ya?

Since I'm waiting for the SAT scores to update...

I shall write a new post.

Observe: HE RETURNS!


(For those of you that are blind, egreggious's name appears in the center-ish)
(For those of you who don't know who egreggious is, just stop trying).

All right. School is fun. I am tired. I still like video games.
David is placated.

Done is Done

It's not fair. The Legend of Zelda is over. All it does is give you a title screen that says, The End. You can't press A to save or even to continue to the title screen. It's not supposed to work that way. There's so much that I missed--Pieces of Heart, Golden Bugs, Poes, chests, weapon upgrades, the secret dungeon--I'm not done yet! And yet it tells me that I am. And I will never have time to go and find all that I have missed--there is too much going on in my crazy maze of a life. I'll never have time to go and discover everything for myself--if I want to know, I'll have to look it up and follow a guide. It will gut my experience and make getting the items practically worthless. But it's all that I have left. Not to know closure, or to know closure, and know that it is fake, and wonder forever if I ever could have taken it all the way all by myself?


School has started once again. It is full of fresh new opportunities for fame and for folly. Perhaps I have taken advantage of both.
Mornings are the worst. Getting up at 5:30 is never fun. I am always tired, which I admit I was prepared for--but it's still a shock. Everything has been crazy lately, with jazz band, marching band, Honors Society collections, FBLA, filing for Torres, crosscountry, and weekend crosscountry meets. I haven't had a free Saturday yet--each week we have gone to all-day meets and I have had to gut it out on Sunday to get my homework done. Today our group started and finished the psych project all in one shot--and although it took longer than I would have liked, it was actually kind of fun. However, we weren't exactly off to an auspicious start. I forgot who we had signed up for, Josh was babysitting all day, I couldn't get ahold of Lizzie. But some thinking and a few phone calls and it all fell into place, and now it's done and we don't have to worry about it anymore. Now all I have to worry about is jazz band, wind ensemble, marching band, essay fundamentals, ap physics, ap calculus, ap music theory, ap psychology, crosscountry, college applications, working for my neighbors, getting enough sleep, keeping my legs healthy, and the Microsoft Excel course I'm taking online.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Well, now things are winding down, I guess. Honors Society dues are done; I have just a few loose ends to tie up (read: people that can't handle deadlines). Crosscountry is down to one meet a week; no more Saturdays. There are only two more football games left. Jazz is easier for me because I brought all of the skills that I learned over the summer. All I really want is time to play video games and hang out with friends. HALO 3 party sometime? I suppose as the school year keeps going I'll get more and more used to it, but Sunday nights are still hard for me to handle. Suddenly it's eight o'clock and I realize that I have to practice the piano and get my things ready for school and then go to sleep and wake up early for a long grind of a week of early rising and late resting. It's not fair because the game ends at eight o'clock when I have to get ready, and the magic is never supposed to end.