Friday, 26 April 2024
Life, the universe, pies, hot-pink bunnies, world domination, and everything
As noted in Part One, May isn’t exactly brimming with New Years for us to hang a thread on. Fortunately, astute MBers discovered that the early Roman Consular Year began on May 1.
The picture shows a bust of the early consul Lucius Junius Brutus, who founded the Roman Republic. Good work, Luke!
(Users’ Manual: Obey The Rules. Consult The Guide. Have fun!
Date: May 13, 2011
Categories: At the Top of the Blog, Random craziness
Idea: Lady Gaga should go to the final shuttle launch in July. According to what I just read in Time, her fans are already incredibly inventive and enthusiastic, so let’s get them on NASA’s side!
Discuss.
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Could work, but most of the people who would get interested in the space program would only be interested in that for as long as they were in Lady Gaga, so I don’t see all that much promise.
Still, hopefully a few people would find interest and stay, so I say it’s a great idea.
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I am gaping at my computer screen in astonishment. I was writing a post in the comment form for the Part One thread when a still-adored GAPA closed it. I lost the post. That’s never happened to me before. Ah, well. It can be re-typed.
Firstly, I am having a most excellent sort of day that encompasses eating ice cream, cookies, and leftover Chinese take-out in my pajamas–and illness, surgery, or other unpleasantness is not the cause of this.
Next, some replies to people on the Part One thread:
168 & replies–Midnight Fiddler: I am very glad that Circles is okay! I am sorry the raccoon hurt him. I’m always sorry when a need is felt to shoot an animal (or person, for that matter), but I’m glad you have the ability to protect your territory from such.
168 & replies–Multiple Folk: Oh, the GAPAs are indubitably People of Unusual Powers and Talents. They created an alternative world, didn’t they? I think they do have superhero/crime-fighter names. My own thoughts are:
Rebecca: Lady Bunniful! (Obvious, perhaps, but a capital pseudonym.)
Paul: The Valourous Hedgepig!
Roseanne: Something to do with roses! Briar Rose, maybe? Is that a superhero already? Ah, no, but it is a fairytale character and “a traditional heavy metal band from…Massachusetts.” (Isn’t heavy metal–actually, all rock–non-traditional, by definition? But I digress.) Hm, roses don’t lend themselves to crime-fighter names as well as bunnies and hedgepigs do. (There’s a sentence you shall never see elsewhere.)
Robert: The Stork? Captain Stork? The Stork Avenger? Ah-ha! The Sagacious Stork! Yes, The Sagacious Stork. It’s alliterative. And I am now picturing Robert wearing a feathered white cape, top-hat, spotless suit, and bird-beak Plague mask. Carrying a cane.
169.1–KaiYves: I adore Treasure Planet. It’s steampunky and whimsical, and the hero is more complex than Disney tends to go for, and Captain Amelia has some delicious word-play and banter (and she uses the word “neophytes”!) and the music is very good. Which, of course, started this conversation. And I do think the only song John Rzeznik sings by that title is Jim’s Theme.
(Incidentally, I don’t understand the cross-over shipping of Jim and Ariel. I just don’t.)
185–Piggy: Eek! First Ace of Cakes and now Alton? Nay!
Whew. Long post. Thank you for reading. I bestow virtual cookies.
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Ace of Cakes is not remotely on the same level as Good Eats. Good Eats has been on for more than twice as long, and it has a virtually unique format. Alton Brown has legitimately been a huge influence on my life.
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I love your nicknames for the GAPAs, but I’m pretty sure Robert’s avatar is a heron.
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It is. A heron is also the symbol of Coontz House at Muse Academy.
Still, I do like storks. They’re such strapping, stiltlike, stalky birds, and the word “stork” is fun to say — maybe even more fun than “spork.” Stork, stork, stork.
By the way, Lady Bunniful has at least one other alter ego, which I’m sure she will reveal in the fullness of time. Or not.
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She has several. To which are you referring? Rebecca Lasley, SQ?
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Nay. Nor is she Rumpelstiltskin. I’m mum. You’ll just have to keep blogging.
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((She has mentioned the name on the blog — fairly recently, in fact — though it wasn’t identified as such.))
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Wasn’t it Lady Bunniful, Ruler of the Universe or something like that? I wasn’t around yet, but I saw it on the Who’s Here page.
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You’re of course correct in stating that Lady Bunniful is ruler of the universe, but her other alter ego is something completely different.
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Are you Piggy?
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I didn’t say you were ruler of the universe; I said you said you were the ruler of the universe.
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I didn’t say it, I merely acknowledged it.
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In your name, yes. I’m pretty sure that counts as telling us.
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“Stork” sounds like a sound effect.
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Actually, so does ‘spork.’ It would be like that sound Skype makes when it loads. Ssspooooooiirrrk!
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There is nothing more fun to say than ‘spork.’ Spork! Spork! Spork!
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The Heron Hero, perhaps?
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Or the Blue Heron, Master of Cutlery? It would be fun to throw forks.
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Wouldn’t a heron throw fish? That could be a useful talent, too.
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Bitten by a radioactive heron, I develop a superhuman ability to throw fish? That’s not much of an incentive to fight evil. I’d better have a darned good costume, or I’m staying home.
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No capes!
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Do you remember…Thunderhead?
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Nice man. Good with children.
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NOVEMBER 18! OF ’58!
All was well, another day saved, when…his cape snagged on a missile!
*has The Incredibles script memorized for no apparent reason*
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*loves that movie*
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Look, Thunderhead was not the sharpest tool in the-
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^brightest bulb
STRATOGALE! April 23 of ’57! Cape snagged on a jet turbine!
*knows Errata is going to tell me not to generalize about these things*
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You could cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring.
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Imagine what you could do with a whale shark!
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Or a heron.
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Oh yeah, I meant to ask Robert on the old thread before it closed. Is your cat Mishmish named for apricots?
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FF: That’s right. She’s apricot-colored, an orange tabby. When I lived in Egypt, every cat that color seemed to be called Mishmish. It seemed to me the perfect name for a cat, and so it is.
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My other cat, Mina, is named after one of the two heroines of Dracula. In the book, Mina survives a vampire attack while her friend Lucy turns into a vampire. In the stage play and movies, it’s the other way around. I keep changing my mind about which Mina mine is. She’s one of those Schroedinger cats — a quantum phenomenon. (Mishmish, by contrast, is a Cheshire cat, apt to vanish without notice.)
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2 (Cyrulean)~ I really dislike the thought of having to kill anything as well, but for the very sick animals it is the safest and most humane way to take care of them.
I’m incredibly relieved Circles is okay as well.
(Also, always good to see your posts. You’re cool; I like you.)
I went out to my favorite bakery with my aunt today, which was nice. Except that my throat feels worse from the talking. Ah well, lots of throat soother’s tea is in order. Tea is a nice beverage to drink while watching Dr. Who.
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Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannins, just the thing for healing the synapses, yes?
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Standardized testing is OVER!!!!! Yes!!!
Now I can breathe.
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…I am shocked, amazed, and possibly a bit concerned.
I couldn’t stand it anymore, you see. I’d always managed to stop myself from calling the Ministry of Magic on the grounds that A) It would irritate the real person the number belonged to and B) I’d be disappointed that there was actual, you know, PROOF that the Harry Potter books weren’t real, because then I wouldn’t be able to suspend disbelief as much. Oh, sure, I could make up a convoluted theory that it was the phone that was enchanted, not the number, but that never seemed likely to me, and it would ruin the fun. But I couldn’t stop myself just now. I called them. And do you know what answer I received? “We’re sorry, your phone is not authorized for use in this area at this time. For further service, call…” etc. I feel like my whole world just changed. To make sure that wasn’t just what happened when you call a nonexistent number, I made up another that was too short to be anyone’s real number. I was informed that that number didn’t exist.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED.
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Well, you live in the US and you were calling a British number without going through the necessary protocols.
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Well, yeah, but I doubt the MoM would care about something as petty as long distance. It must be because I’m a Muggle. After all, if it wasn’t a real number, why didn’t it say so, and how did it just happen to be from that particular country?
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They might be more used to being contacted by magical means.
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Did the automated voice have an English accent?
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Well, no… Maybe it’s charmed to sound like anyone’s native language in their native accent, so that anyone can understand it? Selenium, could you try and see?
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I can try. Is it the 62442 one?
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Yes.
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Okay, I’ll get back to you guys after I try it.
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Well, I tried it. I don’t even get a voice, just a beeping – it’s the same beeping tone that I would get if I called someone who was on the phone at the same time. I suppose I could try again later…
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Almost a week later, same response.
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i really hope that when i die i’m lucid enough to throw in a “O! I DIE!” as a last homage to shakespeare
rome reminds me of caesar which reminds me of dying in a way that the audience understands (this will clear up any confusion for my loved ones)
biblio — once we dialed 666-6666 but disappointingly the devil did not answer the phone
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I wish to have enough presence of mind to rattle off Ophelia’s flower speech. That seems unlikely, though.
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What would you have done if he had?
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Said “meh” and hung up, probably.
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No, you got my mother’s old math teacher. That used to be ens phone number.
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Going to go spin FIRE POI oh my god so excited
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0.0 How long has the thing I added to my name said “no linger” instead of “no longer” without me noticing?!
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We finally translated Catullus’ Poem 16 today, which my Latin class has been waiting literally for years to do. Oh, such new vocabulary….
A select group of my friends and I are planning questionable shenanigans based on an offhand joke that I made and they consequently ran with seriously. I won’t go into details here (wouldn’t want to encourage rulebreaking), but my suggestion for a codename was Operation Mesa, which, in my opinion, is much better and more fitting than the previous suggestion, Operation Bro.
Does anyone else here love Campbell’s “Bean with Bacon” soup?
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Operation Mesa sounds very cool.
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I’m staying on the planning end. Someone else can do the dirty work.
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Yes. Campbell’s bean and bacon soup is the BEST.
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Smock. Smock, smock, smock.
Don’t knock my smock or I’ll clean your clock.
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Spock?
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Maybe Spock’s smock will clean your clock…
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I call it “Symphony in Orange, No. 1”.
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Re:Agent Lightning’s comment on the other thread: “I’m saying that oxlin’s ideal personality to be thought of seems a lot like how Luna was perceived by her friends.”
But that isn’t how I want to be perceived. I want to be seen as fierce and elegant and Luna isn’t really. Luna is on the inside but on the outside she is childish. Luna might be an exaggerated caricature of how my friends see me now but she is not how I want to be seen.
I like the character, but that is /not/ me whatsoever.
Er, sorry. I needed to say all that because I hate being misrepresented or perceived wrongly and it frustrated me when I couldn’t reply directly because the thread closed. I’ve been traveling and I’ve only been away for a day or too but I had to pack up after college. Sorry, I’ve been busy and haven’t read much of this thread or the rest of the old thread.
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Luna is a fierce friend.
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She isn’t generally perceived as elegant, though.
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True.
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I’m going to write a post about my plans for the future, starting with the ones I’ll do soonest.
I mentioned this on the last thread just before it closed, but I’m going to learn the knack to lucid dreaming. Because it would be cool to have an entire reality to control.
I just spent around an hour on ThinkGeek, making a list of all the t-shirts I plan on getting sometime soon.
I’m going to get a cat someday.
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An entire reality to control… Isn’t that called imagination?
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We call it video gaming.
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No, that’s a world created by someone else’s imagination where you have more control than in a book or movie, but not as much control as in your own imagination.
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Minecraft?
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If this is what you are saying, I still think you don’t have nearly as much control in Minecraft as you do in your imagination. With imagination, you can fly (without cheats/hacks/mods) you can build things that aren’t made out of stacked cubes, and you can explore far more than you ever could in Minecraft.
Or I could be misunderstanding what you meant.
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Wait, what’s Minecraft? I thought it was a video game about mining…
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It is. But everything is made out of cubes. And you stack them.
Like Tetris?
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Not really like Tetris. You build stuff with them.
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It’s all Tetris to me.
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You mine the blocks, like cobblestone, and then you place them down in the world anywhere you want. You can create bases, then make torches to put in those bases out of sticks and coal, then make a bed so you can sleep through night without getting blown up by creepers…
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Be careful. This game is addictive — not merely “one more hour” addictive, but “it’s two in the morning and I no longer care about life” addictive.
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So did I.
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Like Kodu? It’s a computer-game building program for Windows computers, where you build a 3D world and fill it with objects that you can program to do stuff. You can make an actual game with a point to it, or you can just fly around your world because it looks cool. I tried to make Discworld once, but I couldn’t figure out how to make the elephants.
Still, not as awesome as lucid dreaming would be.
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What does that have to do with mining?
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But sleep is an entire 9 or so hours wasted. It’s the perfect time to control your own reality, since you can’t be doing anything else. Doing something awesome is better than doing nothing.
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Sleep is far from wasted. Your brain is extremely active during many portions of the sleep period. Indeed, sleep is probably more important for your brain than it is for the rest of your body. That said, lucid dreaming is fun and creates a different kind of experience than waking imagination.
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I mean that it’s wasted for your consciousness. I’ve always wished it weren’t necessary. Lucid dreaming is much more interesting than just sitting there.
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Not wasted, indeed, but it is a period in which you can do nothing but lie there and dream. You can’t be distracted by a need to do school, or walk the dog. You can’t get bored and go off to do something else. You have to rely on imagination.
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I call it writing.
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Well, yeah, but the dreamworld is not only under my control, but also allows me to walk around and talk and actually fly.
Flying in your imagination isn’t nearly as fun. You can still feel the ground under your feet.
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That was supposed to be a reply to Robert.
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You can?
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I suppose you could ignore it, but I always find that there’s a little voice telling you that this isn’t real, that you will never fly, that stories don’t exist. I don’t like that voice.
But it disappears in dreams.
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But if you can lucid dream, you’d probably know you’re dreaming…
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Yeah. I’ve been thinking about that. Maybe I could rationalize it to myself by saying that it really is a different universe, one that I’m visiting for a while, where anything is possible. Or maybe I should be content with remembering my dreams.
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“Funny how your feet in dreams never touch the Earth…”
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Maybe your feet just haven’t figured out how to let go.
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The trick is to throw yourself at the ground, and then miss.
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Dear Yves Rossy,
Can I have a jetpack? Pretty pretty please?
-Kai
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Just looked him up. That is so cool. He’s flown across the caking Grand Canyon with that thing.
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Yes. And the English Channel. And the Swiss Alps.
Of course, I’d have to overcome my inherent fear of jumping out of an airplane to be able to use it, but with enough training, it would be awesome.
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The bone on my wrist has swelled about two or three times its normal size. This can’t be good…
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I accidentally pied that, but I didn’t mean to.
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Bones can’t swell.
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See a doctor. See a doctor. See a doctor. Now. Please?
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“Judgment Day does NOT occur (despite considerable hype) on Saturday, 21 May 2011”
Oh god GAPA’s, I love you. Made my day. I’ve been hearing about this for the past moth from my dad, how the world is going to end, and how “We’ll see what happens when God judges you.”
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Can someone explain that to me? I’ve heard absolutely nothing about it and was a bit confused when I saw that.
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So, apparently, because of a system of common numbers in the Bible and patterns found by theologists, something to do with 7,000 years from the date of Noah’s flood, May 21rst will be judgement day, in which God will judge the unworthy and 5 months of torment will follow, until October 21rst, in which the world will actually end.
Which by my knowledge contradicts so many other things in the Bible anyway, and from the website I found their conclusions seemed to be reached on the basis of very wide assumptions as to what things mean, but hey, to each en’s own.
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We’ll know soon enough. That said, I completely agree with you. I’m almost positive that the Bible says that it’ll come like a thief in the night, and people don’t generally know that someone’s going to steal from them until it happens.
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As far as I know, that *is* what the Bible says- Jesus says to be on your best behavior because you can’t know when the end will come.
Which is, of course, very good advice.
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Of course, which is precisely why, from a theological standpoint, any predictions as to when Jesus will return are inaccurate.
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Which is why you must predict every day but 1 day, and then that one day will be it!
Wait… But then you’re predicting that day… But then it can’t be a day… But if it can’t be a day you aren’t predicting any days… AHHH PARADOX!!!
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You mean have the other humans predict every day but one? If one person predicted multiple days, en wouldn’t know which.
If humans predict every day but one, though, that means no-one will notice that one day and use logic to figure out that that must be it. I’m not sure what would happen if they did and predicted it, though; maybe everyone who guessed right will die beforehand?
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Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Matthew 25:13
Funny how that particular phrase is so commonly ignored
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Oh man, that must suck. Tell us his reaction when it doesn’t happen– that’ll sure be interesting…
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It might be kind of late to notice this, but people who have never posted might be on here pieing things all the time. We would never even know.
Ghost pies in the machine oooOOOOooOOoOOOOOooooOOoo!
“By the time I finish this sentence my fingernail will have grown 5 nanometers.” -girl on the science show I’m watching.
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That would make a lot of sense, seeing as one of Robert’s first posts on the 2011 February random thread has 39 pies… Do we really have that many seriously active members? And even if we do, what are the chances that close to all of them would pie that post? I guess since it’s on top, and people see it a lot, more people would pie it… and it’s possibly some people could have double-pied it… But still, that is interesting.
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I just checked, and we’ve at least 56 active members, possibly more.
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How would you go about checking such a thing?
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I went to the Who’s Here page, read the first 95 or so names, and subtracted the ones who used to post all the time but don’t anymore.
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It’s probably due to people like me pieing multiple times.
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I know I pied all the time before I started posting.
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Ugh. It’s 1:30 am, I’m making a powerpoint presentation, and my mouse is acting glitchy. Can’t wait till I’m done with all this…Please tell me I’m not the only one thoroughly sick and tired of class, teachers, and stuff to do in general at this point?
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Believe me, you aren’t alone.
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FIIIIIIRE
Oh my god fire poi was SO MUCH FUN. Waving around flaming balls on chains=best idea ever. We’re hopefully going to do another burn before we leave campus as well. WOOO!
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A multitude of replies!
2.1–Piggy: Okay. I very much liked both shows, they’ve been recently ended, and they were on the same network. That’s why I mentioned Ace. If you didn’t consider it worth your time, that doesn’t bother me.
RE: Superhero conversation:
2.2–Insatiably Quaeritating Bibliophile: {Groans} Of course it is. While thinking that up, I even thought to myself “just like the heron-headed cane he brought to the May Ball!” It didn’t click. I’ve no idea why.
2.2.1–Robert: I am glad you like storks. ‘Tis such a fine word, I agree! And maybe…maybe your superhero costume is meant to look like a heron, but someone mistakenly began calling you “that stork chap,” and it stuck. (Yes, that is a desperate attempt to pretend that I do actually know what I’m talking about.)
Multiple posts–Rebecca’s other name: I’m sure that all the GAPAs have multiple identities. I picked that one because it makes me laugh. As for the mystery name in question: I know Rebecca was in a production of Cabaret!… And here my brain goes skipping merrily down Tangent Lane. (Swab the cat! Rebecca was in Cabaret!) If I think of something relevant, and recognize its relevancy, I’ll come back with it.
2.2.2–Sudo: That occurred to me earlier. I also thought of “The Heroic Heron.”
2.2.2.1.1.1–Robert again: You, in the outfit I described, with fish-flinging equipment, standing on the deck of your armadillo-captained airship to chase down an individual bearing a Reek of Wrongness. I wish I could draw this properly.
4–Midnight Fiddler: I agree that the raccoon is probably suffering, too. Yay again for the safety of Circles! (I like you lots, too. And I’m now feeling very loved. Thank you!)
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CP:
I’m not sure anybody could draw that.
Speaking of superheroes (and thinking of Captain Stork), why are they always captains? Why no lieutenants, majors, commanders, or colonels? You’d think Captain America would have been promoted to Admiral America after so many years of service. For that matter, are they Navy captains or Army captains? So many mysteries to ponder…
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That reminds me of a certain post by… KaiYves, maybe?… about designing an international superhero team that acknowledged ethnicities that most comics seem to ignore. It sparked a very interesting discussion, but I can’t remember where it was.
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Oh no, that was FantasyFan on the Manifestos thread. I can’t take credit for something so well-thought-out.
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It’s flattering that you guys remember that. And think it’s well thought out. 
I’ve still got ideas running around in my head for that, by the way. I think I may make it my next NaNoWriMo story.
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Starfleet captains!
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Steve Rogers (Captain America) was in the army, I can clear that up.
Captain Marvel (the first Marvel Comics version), was an alien with a rank in his planet’s military that he said “captain” was the closest equivalent to.
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And, sorry for responding twice to the same post, but one of the superhero characters in One of My Many Stories That I Have Not Finished *is* Commander Volt, so that’s something. (Although it’s in reference to being the guy who flies a space shuttle, not a rank in the military.)
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I finally received the second half of my birthday present: a pound of tea. I got 4 ounces each of: “Almond Biscotti”, genmaicha, rooibos masala chai, and yerba maté. I don’t have a guampa and bombilla, though, so I’ll have to make the maté like tea instead, more like a maté cocido.
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Trying the chai now. My rating: daaaaaag
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I have a bombilla but no guampa. Well I have a funny one but it isn’t actually made of a gourd.
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It doesn’t have to be made of a gourd.
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We’re (re)reading Lord of the Flies in class, and so I decided to share that one of the main reasons I love that book is because of you, Piggy. It’s kind of ridiculous, but in a good way, I suppose.
Um. Enjoy all that tea.. cx
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I JUST GOT MY FIRST CAR!!!!!!!!
It’s a nice little Honda Fit. It’s got quite a bit of cargo room for a vehicle it’s size and it drives nicely too. It’s white which really wasn’t my preferred color but it’s not bad. And color, while nice, really isn’t going to be a determining factor for me……
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AWWW THAT’S THE CUTEST CAR!
Congratulations! And it’s good to “see” you. 
You’ve probably been around, but I haven’t. Oh well.
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I’ve not been on much recently either, so probably we’ve just missed each other.
Thanks!
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I really like using the computer with all the colours reversed… it’s strangely relaxing…
I also like the poem The Hunting of the Snark. I read the whole thing for the first time last night (much of it to The Younger Sibling, who got quite annoyed). It’s brilliant.
“They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care,
They sought it with forks and hope.
They threatened its life with a railway share,
They charmed it with smiles and soap.”
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I agree. There was a Muse article once with Lewis Carrol quotes added to Victorian cut-and-paste artwork; I really liked the one they used for that quote.
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Ackpbth. I just inhaled tea.
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Daisy*chain- To clear up any possible misconceptions, my pseudonym is in no way to related to the character in that book. And I will certainly enjoy every last bit of this tea.
Also: I have received my mother’s consent to buy a rice cooker with the money my grandma gave me for my birthday, under the condition that I put all my graduation money in the bank.
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Regardless of that, I end up thinking of how awesome you are whenever I’m reading that book, so there. I think. 
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Today I poked holes in a cream cheese container and received an e-mail from a stranger that made me very happy, even though I don’t think English was her native language. I’m wondering how long it will take for you to figure out something that has to do with why, though you don’t need to be specific.
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Tardigrades?
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Isn’t that the answer to everything? (Tardigrades. The new 42.)
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So tardigrades + life + the universe = 42? That makes sense. *isn’t kidding*
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Are you getting some sort of pet that can fit into the cream cheese container, and buying it from the woman who couldn’t speak English very well?
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28.1: 17 seconds. I knew someone would guess it, but that’s definitely quicker than I expected.
28.1.1: When I’m involved, yes.
28.2: Well, no, but it isn’t too far from the truth. I wanted to look at tardigrades under the microscope, and I got moss in the container, and I know tardigrades don’t need air holes to survive, but I didn’t know what other microscopic creatures could be in there, and I wanted them to be safe, too. The woman just sent me some completely unrelated (translated) articles, though I don’t plan to say who she was. I’ve been having a lot of exchanges like that lately…
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I just passed a truck blaring the message, “I URGE YOU TO VOTE FOR THE P.A.P.!”
Elections were two weeks ago.
The P.A.P. won 81:6. Surprise.
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Well, I ordered my rice cooker. 150 bucks (eek). But I think I’ll be using it a lot for years, so I feel it’s justified? I guess we’ll find out.
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In my experience, it’s always worthwhile to buy good kitchen appliances.
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I concur. If I wanted something that scorched rice, I’d just dump it in the toaster.
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Roger Ebert is a huge fan of rice cookers. He even wrote a book about the multitudinous ways you can cook with them. The blog post that inspired him to write the book is definitely worth a look if you haven’t seen it. Certainly made me want one.
blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/the_pot_and_how_to_use_it.html
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ours is like the first one pictured! except it is, if possible, even more low tech….i don’t think it has an setting except for on/off.
i have never had this mysterious minute rice (that i know of) but i will say the rice at college is not at all satisfactory…
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also i appreciate and and all use of “multitudinous”
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Me, too! It’s so pulchritudinous.
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Yesterday my mom was chaperoning the big trip to the band festival for the symphonic band, and there was an opening so I tagged along too, even though I am in concert band. They have the awards ceremony at a theme park, so it justifies staying time there and nobody can claim they’re just there for fun (because heaven forbid we ever have any fun on field trips), because you have to be there for awards. Anyway, it was my favorite theme park ever, so that was awesome. They won second, but they got superior so that was OK. Next year I want to bring the jazz band. I listened to the one jazz band they had, and it was cute. (This is an insult in the world of music.) If our jazz band went, we could win without even trying.
Anyway, today at my church they were selling fair trade products. FAIR TRADE IS AMAZING!!!
I know it’s hard to switch entirely to buying all fair trade chocolate, but I always buy fair trade coffee (well, my mom does… I don’t drink coffee). It’s more expensive, but it’s sustainable and the workers harvesting beans need the money more than I do.
FAIR TRADE CHOCOLATE TASTES FLAMABLAMULOUS.
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Ugh. I’m sick and I look like a pound puppy/kitten, only without the adorableness. This morning when I woke up my eyes were completely glued shut with eye-goo, and they’re really red. Pink eye? I don’t even know. Whatever it is, it’s unpleasant. And I’m coughing and my nose is running and my entire throat/deep inside of my ears feel gross. I hate being sick, and this has been going on way too long. I wasn’t even recovered from the last nasty bout, which was a few weeks ago.
UGH.
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*sympathy pies*
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Aww… *cuddles, carefully* I hope you feel better soon.
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Feel better soon.
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Feel better soon.
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*offers choklit*
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Ummm… I would hug you but I don’t want to catch it soooo… *blows hugs across room*
Also, though I am sorry for your sickness I am slightly bemused because of what I just read on the Rants and Plaints thread about the May 21 doomsday scenario. You might want to be extra good for a few days! 
(this is in a jocular tone!)
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You might’ve caught it from me. Sorry. At any rate, huggles and tea to you.
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Get better soon. *gives pie*
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Okay, people, this is the final push. The launch is tomorrow.
1) If you haven’t already, print out your cards for tomorrow.
2) Make sure you’re wearing pants with pockets so that you have somewhere to carry the cards and pull them out easily.
3) If you want, wear space- or Sci-Fi-related clothing tomorrow.
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So, I know this belongs on the Kokonventions thread, but no-one would see it there, so I’m posting it here.
I’m going to be in the Vancouver, British Columbia towards the middle of June, and I’ll probably be passing through Seattle. If there’s any MBers that could Kokon, that would be absolutely flamablamablous.
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There’s a chance that I might be over there for a soccer tournament at that time, but a Kokon with me would be far more likely if you’d mosey on over about 300 miles to the east. :3
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I missed Hot-Pink Nail Day.
Drat.
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NaNoWriMo camp.
My life will be awesome if I can go.
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i am so confuse about this. is it an actual camp or just an alternate time for nano? i’m not a cool kid and missed out on all the writing camps so if this is an actual thing i would love to do that but then again idk
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hm just kidding it seems to be online only AWW MANNNN
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Yeah, it’s not an actual camp. The idea, as far as I can tell, is that you can do a WriMo in any month you choose.
Still, it’s gonna be TOTALLY COOL AND EPIC AND AWESOME AND I CAN’T WAIT.
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Third Blog Anniversary for me. I think. It’s been such a while…
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Congratulations! May you be here for many more!
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Going to the doctors tomorrow, to get an X-ray.
It is really hard to type now, and I have a huge report due tomorrow that is half as long as it should be…
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I think I just made a gravatar! The website looks like I did it, but I don’t know if it’s working yet.
In other news: I’m currently annoyed with my tendons. I am blaming them for the pain in my neck, back, and knee.
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Ditto about the tendons, but it’s my Achilles that’s acting up. Yay commiseration!
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I hate vaccinations.
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‘K, clarification. I think vaccinations are a good idea. I hate the way Singaporeans do them. Nurses should not be able to dance to heavy metal on their iPods while injecting you.
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So. Many. Questions.
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I thought that summed it up pretty well…
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Nurses? Dance? Heavy metal? iPods? Injecting you? Belong in the same sentence?
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A nurse danced to the heavy metal music blaring from her iPod while giving me the six or seven inoculations I need for school next year. it was dreadful.
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But, but…..why?
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You do seem to run into a lot of dancing nurses, don’t you?
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“The Adventure of Choklit Orange and the Dancing Nurses” — now there’s a book title just screaming for an author.
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WIN.
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Actually, it was the same one, only not drawing blood this time.
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France, here I come! See you guys in a week
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Have fun! Nice is a nice city. (See what I did there? )
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Have fun! Where in France are you going?
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^Nice.
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From the musical “The Boy Friend”:
They say it’s lovely when a
young lady’s in Vienna,
but it’s nicer, much nicer in Nice.
In Amsterdam or Brussels
the men have great big muscles,
but they’re nicer, much nicer in Nice.
I’ve heard that the Italians
are very fond of dalliance,
and they’re also keen on it in Greece.
But whatever they may say,
this is where I want to stay
For it’s so much nicer in Nice!
Some people’s one desire is
to go to Buenos Aires,
But it’s nicer, much nicer in Nice.
The laws are rather vague in
the town of Copenhagen,
but they’re nicer, much nicer in Nice.
And some may like a flutter
in Bombay or Calcutta,
But they might have trouble with the p’lice.
Other places may be fun,
but when all is said and done,
it is so much nicer in Nice!
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Enjoy yourself!
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Allez-y!
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Allons-y, Allonso!
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WOOO! I got my friend the computer teacher to put the launch up on her SmartBoard, and I also got the librarian to put it up on *hers*, and I watched with her in the library and she counted down with me and we cheered and I explained everything to her and everything was nominal and…
It. Was. So. Great.
And the period changed in the middle of ascent, so they announced on the loudspeaker that they were streaming it live! And a whole group of kids came in for study hall and we watched the ascent and the orbit burns and then the replays, and I explained everything to them.
And the Tweet from Ms. Giffords’ account… so sweet.
The only bad part is, I forgot to wear my lucky gloves today. But I think everything went okay anyway.
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Now I’m listening to Jimmy Buffett’s “Good Guys Win”, which was my theme song for the day:
“Even those these are cynical times, bear it in mind:
Good guys win, every once in a while,
Full-grown men, get to learn from a child,
Now and then, just when you think it won’t happen again,
Once in a while, the good guys win.”
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Why isn’t that song in the iTunes store!?
…Oh, okay. Part of a movie soundtrack which for some reason isn’t in the store. Cake.
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I was messing around in Photoshop today and I made a desktop wallpaper for the mission using that song. I want to finish it tomorrow.
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You can see the wallpaper here: [Image gnome conjures.]
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Today I went downstairs and the glass pane on the microwave had shattered.
We filmed our dance routine today. We’ve named it Epic Fail, because that’s what it is.
We have a jazz fundraiser concert tonight to raise money for new instruments and trips and stuff.
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If anyone knows of any painters who liked to paint tropical or forest scenes, please let me know, because I need to find a few for a project in Ceramics.
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Especially the jungle.
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Henri Rousseau might be helpful. He painted wonderful jungles quite a lot. My understanding is that he had never been to one, but he pretended he had. I have heard that he also pretended that he wasn’t a tax collector.
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Yeah, I found him I really like his paintings and chose “The Dream” to put in my project. Oddly enough, I also discovered that he was the creator of this one painting that was in my French textbook. Thanks for the help, CP and Shadowfire!
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Alfredo Arreguin did some as well, although the style is what’s most appealing to me. Look him up; I can’t describe it.
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So: my mom won’t take my money, saying that the rice cooker is now my graduation present, even though she’s been saying for months that I wouldn’t get a graduation present. Hurm. Okay? I was willing to pay for it, but okay. Free rice cooker!
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She probably couldn’t believe that was what you really wanted. Or that she’d have to return the car she’d planned to surprise you with.
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No, she can believe it (she’s spent 17 years with me at this point), and if she had her way I’d’ve bought my own car for the life experience of it.
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Swell. Nothing we like better than rice cookers… sorry. Never mind. Rice cookers are good.
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I AM WEARING WINGS I AM THE PRETTIEST MOTH. I EMERGED FROM MY CACOON AFTER SCOOCHING AROUND THE FLOOR IN IT FOR A WHILE. AND WE JUST HUGMOBBED THE MAGIC GATHERING AND NOW THERE IS A DANCEPARTY AND I AM GOING TO FAIL MY FINALS BECAUSE THOSE START TOMORROW BUT IT IS OKAY, I AM THE PRETTIEST MOTH
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?
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An explanation to this post would be helpful because you can’t even comprehend the mental image I have right now.
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I just got back from my choir’s end of season banquet thing. I’ve been in this choir for four years now, and I think this was probably the last year, because of things like (a) next year I wouldn’t be in the intermediate choir anymore (which is the one I’ve been in for the whole time) and (b) next year I’m going to Hogwarts*, so I will already be in a choir for an hour and a half every school day (yay!) and (c) I was thinking of doing different extracurricular activities next year to balance out the “going to an arts school” thing. Also, I don’t want to be in the advanced choir because (1) the advanced choir director is kind of scary, (2) I don’t like the stuff they sing–it all seems to consist of wailing in mostly Latin, (3) they do waaay too many things and practice for two hours instead of the intermediate choir’s hour and a half. But, on the other hand, I really love this choir and if I leave, I’m going to miss it. A lot. 
SO CONFUSED.
*The arts school I auditioned for.
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Recent happenings in the life of UP:
I managed to go from zero to half-finished research paper in 2 days.
I spent most of the day absent-mindedly chewing a small hole on the inside of my lower lip.
I felt like a gossip for a few minutes and I’m still a little upset about it.
On Thursday I am going on a Spanish club trip to FANCY PLACE in CITY and I get to dress up and I’m super excited! I plan to pretend to be a secret agent the whole time for two reasons: 1) It’s really fun! 2) The dress I will be wearing looks like something a femme fatale would wear. (meaning it’s tight and black)
Yayyyy!
This is the obligatory “I’m procrastinating right now” statement.
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Has anyone heard from Zinc lately? She hasn’t been responding to my emails. Maybe she’s just busy. 
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I heard from her today.
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Thank goodness.
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Okay, I think my math teacher just genuinely does not like children. Which seems like a pretty lousy attribute in a teacher.
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A lousy attribute, perhaps, but a sadly realistic one in a lot of cases.
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I’m now thoroughly convinced that the only place I can go to find a hot, intelligent and well-dressed man is Ireland or Great Britain.
(The accent helps quite a bit, too.)
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Or scotland, in the case of David Tennant, the Tenth Doctor
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New Zealand is full of them, although in Wellington they tend to be a bit drunk.
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We’re doing mythology skits! I get to be Icarus and fall out of the sky!
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Ughh… When I was in a skit I had to ask someone to marry me and have 12 kids…
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I know how you feel. My friend Tuba has to “lust after” Alto Sax…
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SFTDP but:
I was finding clip art saxophones on Microsoft Word, and when I scrolled over it I was appalled to see that it was tagged under “brass instruments”.
HOW CAN PEOPLE BE SO IGNORANT?????
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I am writing as part of my attempt to post more on Museblog, which in turn is part of my attempt to have a more meaningful life in general. Unfortunately, I have this tendency to just consider everything in my life, blah, or not worth writing about. No, that’s not strictly true. There are plenty of things I would write about, but when inspiration strikes I am far away form a computer and then the moment passes and I can’t get it back.
Still, the most noteworthy things that happened me today were: one of the janitors at my dorm being surprised that I was wearing an abaya, and a rather interesting anecdote told by one of the other international students.
Regarding the abaya, yes, I do wear one sometimes. Mostly when I am too lazy to get out of my pajamas, or don’t have enough time to get dressed. Stop making such a big deal about it…I’m not planning on becoming mtjallaba anytime soon.
Regarding the anecdote. Yes, I laughed. It had some funny moments. But at the same time…Good lord, who does that? I dearly hope that not everyone in college acts this crazy…
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I wore an abaya once. Kind of baggy.
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Pretty much the point. Of course, the bagginess is worse if you wear your mom’s hand-me-downs, like I used to before finally buying one that fit.
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The guy who runs the cafeteria at my school has started giving me free food because I’m a Giants fan. Today I got a whole thing of chow mein without paying and we discussed yesterday’s game and the fact that the Giants are making an “It Gets Better” video.
I would say this was an ethical dilemma, but free chow mein.
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I voted! In a school board election to increase approve increased funding for the school!
I’m a citizen! I voted!
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Congratulations!
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My English teacher was sick yesterday, so we had a substitute. My teacher had left instructions to let us sign yearbooks. The sub, however decided this wasn’t satisfactory. She told us that she had worked at a boot camp for three years, then told us that if he saw any cell phones out she would call security. Then she read us a passage entitled “attitude,” upon which we were suppose to reflect in small groups. She decided to add some of her own thoughts to the passage, and ended up telling us that during the Holocaust “almost everyone with a good attitude survived.”
What.
The.
What.
When we were sharing our thoughts, my friend called her on it, saying “I challenge you to find a case where someone was so plucky that they escaped murder.” The entire class just about applauded.
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Snorting saltwater isn’t fun. Neither are uncontrollable coughing fits. Ugh.
We got to see Circles today! He’s not coming home yet, since he’s still pretty out of it and we’ve not really got a place for him yet. We went to visit him though, and that was nice. His leg is still pretty bad, and he seemed kind of frail, but he was happy to see us, and we were happy to see him. He purred and drooled and shed all over us, and when the nurse came to take him away he scooted behind Mom with a “no no no no no no no don’t take me away from my people NO!” look on his face.
I love that cat so much. ♥ ♥ ♥
Birthday tomorrow. Meh. I can’t really get excited about it. I’ll celebrate later, when I feel better and I see Pip again. Bleh. Being sick blows.
Then day after tomorrow is Cyrano at the Folger, unless we change the tickets to a later date, which we may do. I’d rather not explode in an uncontrollable hacking fit in the middle of the play. Ugh again.
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Eurgh.
I just realized I was supposed to email a professor about a special project by the end of the semester. Our semester ended last week… oops. I don’t really know what topic I want, though I have a couple ideas. I hope he’s okay with me emailing within this week with a couple ideas.
And I’m a bit worried that I offended a friend on voldynet. I apologized to her and it really isn’t that big of a deal but I still feel really bad. Bah.
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Okay. Lovely GAPAs, I am going to have to use this email address for a while, as my classmates seem to have thought it worth their while to begin leaving extremely rude comments about the internet using the other one. And to think I trusted them…
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So, update on my life, since I never seem to be on here anymore….
I had a wonderful weekend, as I think I mentioned, Dad had a business trip down in the lower 48, so after that was over, he flew into the state where i go to school, and was here from Saturday morning to yesterday (tuesday) afternoon. It was a great time, we get along for short stretches, so the weekend was a good length for us not to kill each other, even with the stress of car shopping.
which, as I mentioned before, I got a car, my first car. 
I spent the weekend at Alan’s apartment, since I had to move out of my dorm by Friday night at the latest, and ended up moving out THursday evening. But I ahd a great time with Dad, we spent most of Saturday, Sunday morning, most of Monday, and all of Tuesday morning hanging out and car shopping/running errands/just chilling. Sunday was Alan’s birthday and me, him, and a couple friends went out to dinner and a movie, which is why I wasn’t hanging with dad that afternoon.
I’m now at Alan’s house, as in, where his parents live, not his apartment…I think I’ve mentioned to y’all that I’m spending the entire summer here at hsi house, becaus I’m trying to establish residency in this state, to save $25,000 a year on vet school tuition. So I feel like I should feel rather sad and depressed, since the earliest I’m probably going to go home (and likely see any of my family) is Thanksgiving at the absolute earliest. But I feel okay right now. Alan’s parents are both at work, I just had two bowls of leftover homemade chili (yum) and watched the most recent Doctor Who episode (my bloody firefox crashed ten minutes before the end, and I had to wait a good 30+ minutes to get the end rebuffered, *sob*). I unpacked all my stuff last night after I got here, so I’m pretty much all moved in to “my” room.
I think it’ll be a pretty decent summer, it definitely beats spending the entire summer not only away from home, but in an apartment by myself, hours away from Alan. Because then not only would I have been miserable being away from home, I wouldn’t have even had somebody (like the boyfriend) to distract me. So while this summer is still going to suck in terms of not seeing my family, at least I’ll have Alan readily available….
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Of course, these first couple days of the summer will be very awkward, because until Friday evening, it’s just me and Alan’s parents, because Alan is still 3 hrs away back at his apartment at school, because he’s studying his butt of for his MCATs. So I’ve got about 3 full days of just me and his parents, which is just going to be me trying to combat the urge to go completley antisocial and hide in the basement (where my bedroom is) for the next 3 days….i mean, I like his parents, but…still. It’s kind of awkward enough living with, say, a friends parents for a couple days, but your s.o.’s parents? Bit more awkward, I think. *shrug* I dunno. I know his mom thinks I’m sweet, according to Alan….
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Squeee!! I get to sculpt my stuffed tardigrade for school!
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Nice! Will you post pictures?
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Sure!
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For the second time in the last 4 years, I went on a field trip today.
The class went on a boat out to a lake I live near and took random tests relating to water, using things like secchi disks. (Thats fun to say- secchi secchi secchi)
Someone dropped a $400 piece of equipment that had weights attached to it off the side of the boat. It sank and will most likely never be seen again.
Good day to you all!
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That reminds me of that Calvin and Hobbes strip where they go camping and Calvin drops the camera bag.
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It reminds me (the other twin) of the time where Calvin is painting and Hobbes is just saying “Smock smock smock” in the background. I loved that one.
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JOHN WILLIAMS IS THE MAN
Ok, I know I took that from a YouTube video, but still. It’s true.
We sightread the Olympic themes today in band, and I almost cried for joy.
I have the songs on my iPod. I’m going to listen to them tonight.
What reason would a microwave have for spontaneously shattering the glass panel IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, with no marks \?
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Yes, yes he is.
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I’m not dead yet, guys! How’s life been treating y’all?
Guys! I’m graduating from middle school in a matter of weeks! (Admittedly, that’s not much of an accomplishment, but exciting/sad none the less to know I’m going to be leaving a lot of my friends as we go to different high schools next year.) Although it’s been a little stressful, school has been pretty good lately. We’ve been allowed to eat outside in my school’s mini “courtyard” for the last couple of weeks, which has seriously lifted up everybody’s moods. This past week has been dress down week, so everybody’s been chilling in jeans, sweats, and t-shirts. I wore my Harry Potter shirt to school yesterday. We’re reading Romeo and Juliet in English class, and if I didn’t have a big history test to study for I would rant on a little more about that, but in short we’re doing scene studies and oh-my-gosh I’m Mercutio. It’s fun. Basically, life is good.
Also, next week I’m going to Boston with my whole grade which is basically this big 8th grade tradition at my school since it’s the last big event before graduation (Excluding the last dance.) where we’ll all be together. There’s been a lot of excitement building up for it lately. I’m really excited – I haven’t been to Boston since I was really little, which I don’t remember at all, so it’ll be fun.
Off to study, but just thought I’d pop my head in the door and wave.
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Hello! Congratulations on getting Mercutio, that sounds really awesome! I too will be graduating from middle school in a few weeks. When do you get out?
Pff. Lucky person who gets to go to Boston. That’s a tradition at my school too but my class won’t get to do it.
You must pop in another time and tell us about Romeo and Juliet! That sounds like a lot of fun…
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I can’t believe my brothers are going on their 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. next week. It seems like just yesterday I was on that trip…
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HELL DAY OVER
had a final from 2-4, two online portions of finals that I had to take before 6, and then another final from 7-9 (though I only took till 8:15ish, thankfully). After staying up till 5am the previous morning studying (I work a lot better at night, and then sleeping in later than getting up to do work). Except then I woke up at 9 when I meant to sleep till 11. I stayed in bed till 9:30 but then I was too stressed so I got up and studied more >.<
Soooo been running on four hours of sleep today. Oops. But going to take a break now, before spending most of tomorrow also studying… two more finals to go, one friday morning and one saturday morning x_x
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You know you’re addicted to MuseBlog when you see a book titled “A World of Cake,” and you think “is that appropriate for a public library?”
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You win at life.
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Today was fun. We finished up STAR testing, and we had to take a survey on our school. I did what I’ve been wanting to do for a few months now and when they asked if I was a) male or b) female marked c) on the SCANTRON.
I also made an utterly spectacular playlist, which took me over an hour because I wanted it to be so utterly spectacular, and illustrated it in color. Which was very pretty.
I’m doing tech for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)! Our school is doing it and everyone in it is absolutely hilarious. I’m doing lights for the first time ever, and it’s amazing and everything is amazing and I’m happy.
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WHY AM I STILL AWAKE
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SLEEP, WEAK, ETC.
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*tears hair*
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Considering the way you’ve been dissing sleep, it’s no wonder that sleep is now avoiding you.
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All right, just to let you know, I’ve deleted the Gravatar for my previous email address. Certain classmates of mine may or may not have stopped using my usual email to make comments. I don’t think they got around to commenting on here, though, so any comments marked “Choklit Orange” are most likely by me.
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Three near-death experiences this month and still no epiphany. Blast.
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I’m glad you’ve survived them!
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Maybe that’s the epiphany.
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Yikes! Take care of yourself!
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So grades are out this semester. I have 3 B+s and one B. This makes this year entirely A-free somehow. I never seem to get anything but Bs in college and it stresses me out because I don’t know what kind of GPA I need for grad school and I try my best and I still get Bs and my GPA is 3.323. GAPAs, is this okay? Will I be able to go to grad school? Anyone, advice?
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oxlin: I’ll ask around. When I went to graduate school, Bs in undergraduate courses were considered perfectly respectable, not at all unusual, and certainly no barrier to even-higher education. But that was in the pre-grade-inflation era, and things might be different now. What are you thinking of studying?
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My favorite grad school program (right now) has a requirement of at least 3.0. I seem to be a bit above that, so I’m probably alright though I’d still like to raise my GPA. On the other hand, this grad program is super shiny! *gets distracted by looking at it*
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Graduate admissions look at other factors, too, such as GREs, what school you attended (all Bs are not created equal), whether your grades improved over time, what other skills and experience you bring to the table. My first year undergrad transcripts were such a disaster, I was afraid the MFA writing program I wanted wouldn’t take me. I was prepared to camp on the doorstep, take make-up courses, badger the department head until he begged for mercy… Fortunately, my writing portfolio was very strong, so no such extraordinary measures were necessary. They did require me to take the English subject GRE, since I had taken only the general test. [A word to the wise: taking the GRE my first year out of college proved to be a Very Smart Move, one for which I can take no credit. I didn’t see the point, because when I completed my undergrad degree I swore I would NEVERNEVERNEVER go back to school (or North Carolina) ever again. Well, you see how that turned out… Luckily for me, my mother insisted. She even dragged me kicking and screaming uphill through the icy, snow-piled streets of Georgetown to take the test. Actually, I was not so much kicking as hacking and sniffling and running a fever.]
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See, my grades haven’t improved (yet). The year of all Bs is this year, my junior year. For my freshman and sophomore years I got at least one A every semester.
Hmm. I guess I should take the GRE sooner rather than later then. I wouldn’t want to take it rusty.
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Thanks for your advice, GAPAs! I also talked to my cousin, who happens to have just graduated grad school for the thing I want to go into. It is so handy to have here available to give advice.
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Hi.
Orientation is tonight for people coming next year. *yawns* So I’ll act what I know what I’m doing and show some fifth graders around, dropping sneaky, underhand hints that band is the best elective choice you can make, and out of all the instruments percussion is the least fun to play. *coughcoughTROMONESAREAWESOMEcoughcoughANDSAXOPHONESARETOOcoughcough* Sorry, I seem to have something in my throat. Anyway, the cafeteria is that way. *points* The band director is giving demonstrations of different instruments. *subtle nudge*
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If I knew anything about video editing, I would want to make a NASA fanvid for “Firework”.
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You can learn about video editing if you want. I don’t know anything about it yet, but I plan on making a tardigrade documentary over the summer.
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Do you think you’ll be able to find some who’ll pose for reasonable rates? You know how actors can be…
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I won’t need any actors; I think I’ll do it myself. It’s not commercial or anything; I just think it would be really fun, and it’s a documentary that probably won’t involve many people, so I think I’ll be fine.
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I meant tardigrade actors.
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Oh, that makes sense! No, I don’t think I’ll have trouble with that.
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That would be epic. I don’t really like that song, but everything’s better IN SPACE!
I’ve always thought “To The Sky” would make a good NASA video.
Bird’s eye view (Earth from space)
Awake the stars ’cause the’re all around you (star map)
Wide eyes will always brighten the blue (Hubble telescope)
Chase your dreams (Mars rover)
And remember me, speak bravery (Challenger crew or Columbia crew)
And after all, those wings will take you up so high (panning along the wing of a shuttle)
So bid the forest floor goodbye (Crowd watching a shuttle launch)
As you race the wind and take to the sky (Endeavour launching)
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I hadn’t heard that song before, but I looked it up and it’s great!
And I really like your outline, I think it would make a great video.
I think my Firework one would go like this:
Do you ever feel, like a plastic bag,
Drifting through the wind,
Wanting to start again? (Newspaper blowing down empty street with space-related headline, in black-and-white)
Do you ever feel, feel so paper-thin,
Like a house of cards,
One blow from caving in? (Paper sticks to window, showing the headline, then gets blown away again)
Do you ever feel, already buried deep,
Six feet under, scream,
But no one seems to hear a thing? (Little boy walks down street, looking at his feet sadly)
Do you know that there’s,
Still a chance for you,
There’s a spark in you (The paper blows in the boy’s face, he pulls it off, reads it, and his eyes light up. He looks skyward, and the video is suddenly in color)
You just gotta ignite, the light, (Older video, maybe STS-1, shuttle on pad)
And let it shine (Engine sparks before ignition)
Just own the night (Main engines ignite)
Like the Fourth of July (Boosters ignite)
Cause baby you’re a firework (Clouds of steam, shuttle begins to rise)
Come on show ’em what you’re worth (Clearing the tower, a different angle)
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh!” (People watching the launch, jumping up and down)
As you shoot across the sky-y-y (Column of smoke and fire arcs overhead)
Baby you’re a firework (Climb continues)
Come on let your colors burst (Boosters burn out and fall off)
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh!”
You’re gonna leave ’em fallin’ down-own-own (Tank separates and falls away)
You don’t have to feel like a waste of space (ISS construction sequence)
You’re original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds (Pan over concept art of astronauts on Mars)
After a hurricane (Photo of hurricane from orbit) comes a rainbow (The picture of the shuttle silhouetted against the colors of the atmosphere)
Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed, (Quick clips of various commercial partners and new technologies being tested)
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow (Test-firing of engine)
And when it’s time, you’ll know-
You just gotta ignite, the light (The same shots as the previous shuttle sequence for this chorus, but this time a recent mission, and in HD)
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July
Cause baby you’re a firework
Come on show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh!”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby you’re a firework (Launch of Delta rocket carrying Mars rover)
Come on, let your colors burst (Enters atmosphere of Mars)
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh!” (Airbags inflate, bouncing)
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe-awe-awe (Landing, deflating, wakes up and starts roving)
Boom, boom, boom (LCROSS in lunar orbit)
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon (Drops impactor)
It’s always been inside of you, you, you (Dust cloud)
And now it’s time to let it through (Control team celebrating, headline announcing discovery of water)
Cause baby you’re a firework (Supernova animation)
Come on show ’em what your worth (Hubble, Chandra, Fermi, Spitzer telescopes turning to watch)
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh!” (Images of nebulae flash on the screen)
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby you’re a firework (In-space assembly of future Mars vehicle)
Come on, let your colors burst (Fires engines, heads off)
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh!” (TV screens showing astronauts walking on Mars)
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe-awe-awe (People celebrating, ticker-tape)
Boom, boom, boom (Freeze-frames of people cheering and smiling, which fade to black-and-white before cutting to the next person)
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
(Animation of the NASA logo, as appears at the end of all NASA TV videos)
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That. Is. Awesome. You should definitely make it.
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I managed to have a lucid dream! I think. Either that or I was having a dream about having a lucid dream. I’m not sure.
ALSO GUESS WHAT MY EDITING ON MY BOOK IS DONE AND I CAN BE RID OF IT FOREVER
…once I copy and paste 42 chapters, that is.
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What was the dream about? *anticipation*
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I’ve had several dreams that I’m having lucid dreams. It’s rather confusing.
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It’s better than dreaming you’re awake and can’t go to sleep. Then you wake up not knowing how much sleep you got at all.
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I did that for the first time 2 nights ago. At least, I think it was the first time. The only way I could tell it had been a dream was because in the dream, I gave up and went to the computer, which I wouldn’t have done IRL.
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Last night I had soccer tryouts, but I left after less than 10 minutes of warm-ups to go to WICKED! (It was for the same team that I played for last year, so the coach knew me and I still made it.) Of course, Wicked was amazing, as anybody who’s seen it could have predicted! I could not have gone in with higher expectations, but I was still extremely impressed.
Then, I spent all of today at a theme park with my pre-calculus class for a “Math and Physics Day at [Theme Park]”! We didn’t actually do any math, but we got discounted tickets and food, so it was great!
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In my history class, we recently finished a unit on the Cold War. When my teacher talked about how the USA and the USSR tried to best each other by furthering the space program, I thought “Well, at least one good thing came out of the Cold War.” And I thought of Kai and Urania, in that order. Go figure.
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Oh…
I’m touched. Really touched.
:happy:
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I think that not many people have had the experience of carrying around a clavicle in their pocket for two weeks.
I am very happy that I am one of the privileged few who has.
Unfortunately, tomorrow I have to give it back to the person who owns the rest of the skeleton; I’m debating buying another one just so I can continue to carry it around with me everywhere. There’s something just awesome about having a clavicle in your pocket.
And that is all I have to report today. Good night, everyone.
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What species? A human clavicle would be rather large to carry in your pocket.
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No, it’s a human one, yes. It’s about five, six inches long… but I have deep pockets.
I talked its owner into letting me keep it for another week. Perhaps I’ll even get to keep it for the rest of the term…
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I took the math placement exam for UNL a few minutes ago. With my incredible, near-inhuman math skills, I can jump ahead all the way to 106! Yegads! Unheard of!
So yeah, being away from math for a year rather diminishes one’s skills. But I doubt I’ll have to take much (or any) math for my major, so whatever.
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The Recent Comments bar seems to be displaying comments that were made day ago…any reason for this?
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*days
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Er, now it seems to be fixed. Never mind, all.
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And my paranoia that no one likes me sets in in the summer because I can’t reassure myself by wandering over to where my friends are to hang out.
And it is a silly paranoia because at the same time I know it isn’t true but it persists and is frustrating.
Bleh.
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So every year my school publishes a magazine-book-thing that is a compilation of art and writing submitted by students (we’re K-12, so there’s a lot of variation). I submitted two poems and a drawing this year, of which one of the poems was accepted, which was pretty good. I received no feedback at all on the drawing and was a bit confused. Then today as I was walking up from PE the head of the high school passed me and told me that apparently everyone had loved the drawing I submitted. It’s gonna be on the cover.
*squee*
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HELLLOOOOOOOO
Chem final tomorrow. Went to pirates 4 instead of spending 3 more hours studying. We dressed up because we were bored, even thoughw e knew it was going to be terrible (which it was). Gonna have to make it up now/in the morning though. Alas! Less sleep again. Whatever. I can sleep forever saturday after 12pm when I’m leaving.
Still hasn’t really sunk in I’m going to have to go. Hum.
82- yeah… I’m worried about that : /
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I suggested the addition of velociraptors on my school survey.
They told us to be honest about what would help us! I think that learning survival skills on the run (literally) would be very helpful.
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EPIC WIN.
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DRE: Dromaeosaurid Recognition and Evasion. The most important class you will ever take.
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Has anyone read the newest press release by Newt Gingrich’s campaign? It’s written by Rick Tyler. And I quote,
“The literati sent out their minions to do their bidding. Washington cannot tolerate threats from outsiders who might disrupt their comfortable world. The firefight started when the cowardly sensed weakness. They fired timidly at first, then the sheep not wanting to be dropped from the establishment’s cocktail party invite list unloaded their entire clip, firing without taking aim their distortions and falsehoods. Now they are left exposed by their bylines and handles. But surely they had killed him off. This is the way it always worked. A lesser person could not have survived the first few minutes of the onslaught. But out of the billowing smoke and dust of tweets and trivia emerged Gingrich, once again ready to lead those who won’t be intimated by the political elite and are ready to take on the challenges America faces.â€
Smoking cocktail-drinking sheep… I love this guy.
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Liberati…it’s like liberal Illuminati. And can’t you just see sheep at a cocktail party?
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So, I didn’t get the job that I applied for. The one at the 18th century fort that I’ve been waiting to hear back from for over 2 months. Which isn’t so bad, except that I waited to hear back from them for so long that I now won’t be able to apply anywhere else (because I’ve only got two more months at home), which is vexing.
On the upshot, I now have a completely free and open summer schedule, which means that I can work on doing all the things I want to do, like visit Niag, go camping with Eboo, visit Pip, go to the lake, maybe even go to Mystic Seaport or something. And hopefully I’ll still be able to play music with that band…I need to send an email to what’s-his-name about that.
I also got a birthday card from Grandma Dee. She had written and addressed it before she passed away, so Grandpa sent it. It was so familiar yet strange to see her handwriting on the envelope.
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So, anyway. Death by substitute band director, but other than that it was okay.
Except for science, because our rollercoaster (despite being the only one spraypainted green and silver) is turning out to be an EPIC FAIL. Every time I fix one thing, another gets broken. Everyone’s getting ticked off at each other. And Tuba is rubbing it in my face.
At least it’s Friday. *tries frantically to get stupid annoying song unstuck from head*
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I haven’t been hit on by a creep today! Huzzah!
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I AM THE MAN WHO ARRANGES THE BLOCKS
…
If you haven’t seen it already, look up A Complete History of the Soviet Union As Told By A Humble Worker, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris. It is very good and will get stuck in your head.
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My last AP test: done. Finally. Good riddance.
And my graduation party is tomorrow, but it looks like it may be raining. Drat. There’s nowhere inside to fit any large number of people. And I have to be “friendly”, too.
My friend Justin and I went planking during a free hour at school today. We didn’t get any impressive shots, but there’s a few on top of the lockers and a balcony. He wanted to climb on a pop machine, but there were too many teachers lurking about, so we nixed that idea. Last week we made him a full suit of Optimus Prime armor out of the cafeteria chairs. The security lady watched with disinterest but didn’t stop us. It should be an interesting couple of years, living in the same room as him.
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I imagine so…
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I finished the “Good Guys Win” STS-134 desktop wallpaper and showed it around at school, my physics teacher asked me to make it his background, and two people wanted printed copies, so I obliged. I also made another one with the lyrics for “Mission” by the band Rush.
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So. I got an email from the UNL Honors Program saying that, since I had not accepted the Textbook Scholarship by May 1st, I had declined entry into the program and was removed from their roster. The day I got my acceptance letter in April, I immediately accepted that scholarship. Apparently something went wrong and it got lost. CAKE. The email said they’re finalizing the class roster next week and may have room for some people on the wait list. I sent the director an email, as his email instructed, explaining the whole thing, so hopefully I’ll be re-accepted. If I’m not, I won’t be able to room with my friend or do a lot of the classes I really want to do. Cake cake cake cake. *headdesk* *sob*
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Oh no. I really hope that it works out for you, Piggy.
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Oh dear, I hope they accept you again!
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Tess, oxlin- As do I.
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Oh, goodness. It sounds like you’ve done nothing wrong, so I hope that they understand and fix the problem. I really hope that they do. *sends four-leaf clovers for luck*
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65.1 (Mikazuki) – I wasn’t really “picked” to be Mercutio – they’re scene studies, so basically we get into small groups, pick a scene to perform, and then decide who’s going to be who all on our own. But being Mercutio is fun, nevertheless.
Also, I get out on June 10th! I only have 8 days of school (Not including the four days we’ll be in Boston) left. That’s a very weird thought. It’s so fascinating to me how different people react to this whole “oh-my-gosh we’re not going to be in middle school anymore” thing. Some people are being really emotional about it, while others are dying to get out. I’m sure that’s pretty normal, but still, I have no idea how I feel. I’m sort of just hovering in between. The people I’m probably going to miss the most, though, are the many people I talk to every single day and yet never see outside of school. Since both of my younger sisters are still going to be at my school for awhile, I know I’ll still be at least partially involved in what’s going on there, but the idea I’m never going to see some of these people again…weird. SO weird.
I might talk about Romeo and Juliet more, but trust me, a post about R&J from me would probably go on the Rants and Plaints thread. I’m not really enjoying it that much, to be honest, I thought I would really like it but I’m finding myself horribly unmoved but all the romantic stuff. I mean, I know most (all) of it is for dramatic effect, but I just can’t get over the fact that I don’t think Romeo and Juliet are truly in love. Hmm.
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Some scholars have a theory that it was actually supposed to be a parody of tragic love stories, not the real thing. If you research that, it might help you enjoy it a bit more. Possibly. Unless you’re like me and just can’t get over how pathetically sad it is that we literally can’t tell a parody of tragic love stories from the real thing.
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Hmm, that’s an interesting theory. Maybe I should research that more, it might help…. (Also, my English teacher is a self proclaimed romantic, which is so out of character for her. I mean, she would be the last person I would guess to be even slightly romantic, and yet…weird.)
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English teachers generally mean something different by “romantic.”
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Maybe Romeo and Juliet started out with one kind of love and ended up with another. A lot of things change in the course of the play.
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“Therefore love moderately, long love doth so.”
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But they didn’t, did they? And was it really in Romeo’s power to control how much he loved Juliet? I’m not sure Friar Laurence knew what he was talking about.
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Happy Judgement Day! Oh, I love reaching holidays before the rest of you.
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It’s not supposed to start til 6 PM. Have fun in your remaining nine hours!
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Happy Judgment day to you too! (would that be “judgment” or “judgement” there?)
Anyways, you’re alive, so I assume we’ll all survive. 
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No, you don’t! I’m here too!
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But I posted first. Mwa ha ha ha.
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I will be at a party the moment the Rapture starts.
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Is it a Rapture party? At the symposium I attended today, I overheard some people talking about attending one.
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No, it was a birthday party. Sadly, they did not have any of the songs on my Apocalypse Playlist (even more so because of the *amazing* sound system).
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Partyin’ partyin’ partyin’ YEA
Partyin’ partyin’ partyin’ YEA
Everybody’s waiting for the Vogons!
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I think I am alive at this moment, although I did somehow manage to get a quarter inch of a fish hook stuck in my finger while practicing ping pong, that sharp end and backwards hook thing included. And it ended up being pulled out by brute force. And had lots of alcohol used to wash the wound. Whee.
On the bright side, I can still type my project up.
I am on an amazonkindle right now…
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Poor Cskia!
Wait wait wait… while you were playing ping pong? How does that work?
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When retrieving a ping pong ball, I did not notice a fishing line with a hook attached to the end. So the next thing I knew, I was staring at a hook in my finger. Careless me.
At least it got pulled out.
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My mouse Chai just died. After two years. More than twice the lifespan of either of my other mice.
She was always such a survivor. So many times I’ve found her freezing and starving, having escaped from her cage and on the brink of death. I always managed to bring her back. So many memories. And now she’s gone. The last of my mice.
I always wanted a mouse as child. One of my two greatest dreams when I was young. I finally got a pair for my birthday, a few years ago now. Whisper and Feather. Then Feather died, not too long later, and I got Chai. Sweet, adorable Chai who came and sat under my hand when I put it in the cage at the pet shop, who was so fond of slipping out of her cage and exploring the house. So many times we’d see her running across the living room, so many times we woke up to discover her in the pantry.
I sent in the two best pictures I have of her. I’ve been meaning to do that for so long.
I apologise for the disjointed nature of this post.
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Aw, I’m sorry. *hugs*
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Oh, Errata, I’m so, so, sorry. I had mice too, and I was heartbroken when they died. Mice are such wonderful, warm, friends.
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I’m so sorry, Errata. 
*hugs* *choklit*
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*hugs and offers hot tea*
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Aww, Errata… *hugs and choklit*
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i’m so sorry, errata. *hugs* that is a wonderful name, by the way!
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I’m sorry, Errata. May she always be in your heart
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I’m so sorry.
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I’m really sorry, Errata. *hugs* Keep thinking of all the good memories you’ve had with Chai. I’m looking forward to seeing the pictures of her.
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Sending hugs and choklit your way, Errata. It’s so hard to lose pets.
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Thanks, everybody. *hugs back*
We buried her today, out front where I can see her through my window.
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Errata sent us these two pictures of Chai:
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My heartfelt condolences… losing a cherished pet is one of the hardest things. *hugs*
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*huggles and choklit*
She looks so sweet. I’m so sorry she’s gone…
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Oh hon I’m so sorry. I know how much it hurts to lose a beloved pet.
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I’m alive, everyone!
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So am I. Let’s all be alive and happy together!
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It’s not 6 pm where you are yet, right?
Anyway, 6 pm has come and gone here and we’re all still very much existent, so I think it’s safe to say that Judgement Day was/is not real. Even though we already knew that.
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AMEN TO THAT.
I’m probably subconsciously quoting something here, but I think one of the worst possible things is to be so worried about dying that you never learn to appreciating living.
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er… appreciate.
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“It is not good to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
(Maybe? I’m probably slightly misquoting)
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Maybe I was thinking of “The Rose/Some Say Love”:
“It’s the heart, afraid of breaking,
That never, learns to dance.”
“It’s the dream, afraid of waking,
That never, takes the chance.”
“It’s the one, who won’t be taken,
Who cannot, seem to give.”
“And the soul, afraid of dying,
That never learns to live.”
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Hey, me too! Yay us!
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Well, it’s 6:00 EST, and no Rapture.
I’m alive too!!!!
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Happy Doomsday everyone! *checks limbs* Arm, arm, leg, leg, head…yup, the gang’s all here!
@Errata-I’m so, so sorry. We’re all here for you. *offers choklit and cat bellies to rub*
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Happy Judgement Day!
To fit the whole “apocalypese” mood, my mom’s taking me swimsuit shopping.
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The iPod woke me up to “If Today Was Your Last Day” by Nickelback.
No, really, I’m not even joking. I swear, if machines could have a sense of irony, this one would beat all the rest.
But the point is, I’M ALIVE! Death can’t even handle me.
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Another potential entry in my Apocalypse Playlist.
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Happy Apocalypseday! Doomdoomdoomdedoomdedoomdoom!
Drama Club had a 1920s murder mystery banquet. No giant alien wasps, but it was still fun.
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Cool! I’d love to do one of those. I’ve always wanted to go to a mystery party.
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My school did a reenactment of Pickett’s Charge yesterday! I was one of the survivors! I even got to carry a flag! Yay! *waves flag*
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Meh. I have nothing to do. I am bored out of my skull. No books to read, I don’t have anything to practice on any of my instruments…
Maybe it’s not that I have nothing to do, but that I’m too lazy to do it.
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Logic puzzles. Google them. Or research a topic that interests you. I used to get bored all the time, but that doesn’t really happen anymore.
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Actually, I’ve decided to re-read the Narnia series. Thanks for the advice, though- I’ll keep that in mind.
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Wikipedia is a grand website on which to waste a few hours. So is MuseBlog – look up random threads or read through some of our ancient RRRs.
If you’d rather do something not involving technology, I think the most important part is getting started. If you have a backyard or a park nearby, just go outside and lie in the sun. Or find some random “task” to do (I once spent about an hour picking woodchips out of my sandbox) or find the proverbial stick and string and find some way to amuse yourself. Or, grab some (clean) junk from your recycling bin or trash and make something out of it. According to my friends, I made quite a lovely flower arrangement the other day out of a Nerds box, a fruit snacks wrapper, a lollipop wrapper, and, of course, a flower. Something imaginative is always fun, and you’ll feel better later knowing that you haven’t wasted your time by being bored.
Really, the possibilities are endless, but you do have to start somewhere.
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Spent Prom Night watching NASA TV. No regrets.
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You’re the best.
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*high fives*
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I accidentally broke the thing you pull on the ceiling fan in my room, so we’re thinking of replacing it with a Kokopelli one.
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Or a tardigrade one. Wouldn’t want to anger them.
Then again, it’s probably not that good of an idea to anger Kokopelli, either.
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There aren’t any tardigrade fan pulls for sale, and there is a Kokopelli one. Unfortunately, though, what’s left of the old one still works., and my mom thinks that getting a new one would be such a WOMBAT that she won’t let me get one, even on my birthday, even if I pay for it, even if I hang it (with a stepstool), even though I’ve told her that it’s really awesome and I love that particular one.
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Darn
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Grrr. I still don’t know what we are going to do about our rollercoaster. It is hopelessly broken for life.
We’re thinking about calling it “Suicide”. Of course, that’s never the answer, but maybe for a model coaster, it might do the trick…
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Selenium – I’m glad you’ve survived thus far.
It’s FINALLY sunny out. I’m slowly reviving. And the Red Sox are on tonight ( pending the survival of the world ).
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Is it bad that I like the smell of gasoline and exhaust?
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Nope. I like it too. ^_^
Or, well, it might be bad, but if it is then you’re not alone. XD
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I was just reading Erin’s Twitter account, and on the day of the launch, she wrote “Why isn’t #endeavor trending? Come on, #endeavor!”
That would be because it’s “Endeavour”.
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I have final exams tomorrow. It’s the last bit of school I have here. Then I’m going to be packing up and heading back home in June. Time’s flown so quickly…I must get on with it and post a big long post about everything.
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MAKE SURE YOU DO! LOUDLY DO I DEMAND THIS
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6:00! I’m still alive.
My sisters and their friends are trying to kill me at an early age. They broke into my room and I drove them back with a hairbrush.
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Just checking in with you all to notify you that I am still alive ( at least for now ). It is 7:25, which means it’s 6:25 in Tennessee ( are you there, fireh? ) and I am off to check Harold Camping’s website and the major news sources, and then to watch Jeopardy!.
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Darn. www. familyradio . com isn’t loading.
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I am rather amused that it’s taking forever to load on my computer. Is it dead yet?
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Yes, I am here.
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This was a triumph.
I’m making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction.
The Rapture’s Unscien–
Tificness* was exposed to all who can
Observe, including all of us, except the ones who are dead,
But there’s no sense crying over every mistake; you’ll just keep on trying till you run out of cake, but the science gets done, and we’ll make a neat gun
For the people who are
Still Alive.
I’m not even angry.
I’m being so sincere right now,
Even though I’ve a still-beating heart; no-one killed me
Or tore me to pieces
And threw every piece into a fire.
As we didn’t burn it hurt because I was so sorry for you.
Now these points of data make a beautiful line,
And we’re out of beta; we’re releasing on time,
So I’m GLaD we’re not burned; think of all that we learned
For the people who are Still Alive!
Go ahead and leave me.
I think I prefer to stay alive.
Maybe you’ll find another time to prophesy of!
Maybe it’ll come true!
THAT WAS A JOKE. HAHA. FAT CHANCE.
Anyway, this life is great; it’s so existent and there!
Look at me still talking when there’s Science to do;
When I look out there, I’m glad the Rapture’s not true!
I’ve experiments to run; there is research to be done
On the people who are Still Alive!
(And believe me I am still alive)!
(I’m doing Science and I’m Still Alive)!
(I feel FANTASTIC and I’m Still Alive)!
(In 2012 I will be Still Alive)!
(And when we’re dead someone will be Still Alive,
Still Alive,
Still Alive)!
*If E. E. Cummings can end a linne in miid-word, so can I.
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I am impressed.
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WOOO GLaDOS!
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Sorry about that. Nice parody!
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If there were any earthquakes earlier, I missed them, as I was taking a nap when 6 o’clock rolled by. Seems I didn’t miss out on anything though, though I’m sad there won’t be any post-rapture looting. I was quite looking forward to that. Alas, maybe next time.
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I won’t be on much anymore. It’s hard to get a good wifi signal up here in Heaven.
(Kidding.)
The grad party went well today. The rain even held off, astonishingly. And I got a ton of money (mostly from my overgenerous grandparents). Not nearly all of the 40-ish people that RSVP’d on Voldynet showed up, but there was a decent turnout. The assistant pastor of my church even made it, though he was rather late because there were ordinations at the seminary today. Now it’s hailing. And my rice cooker is expected to arrive on Monday!
Also: one week from now, I will never be in high school again.
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Went to a great lecture by a climate scientist about the Little Ice Age- it was really incredible to see how much eyewitness data we have on its effects based on tax records, literature and paintings.
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So a very minor earthquake shook my area at roundabout 6 PM. But I’m pretty sure that was related to the fact that this is an earthquake zone. XD
Can we get reports from people who knew people who actually thought the world would end?
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I know some people who were scared that the world would end, but I don’t know anyone who was sure the world would end. However, I’m sure Choklit Orange could tell us some funny stories.
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Actually, aside from the random neighbor-kissing it was pretty quiet over here. Though around five, the family next door started singing hymns.
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By the way, have you talked to him since?
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I think I’ve actually a band.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Where have all the verbs?
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I don’t even.
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You not even.
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They just away. I don’t where.
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What? She used a contraction. I don’t see any grammatical error in her post…
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True, the “have” is the operative verb. Confusing word order, though.
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This is true. *shadowfail* Still amusing.
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Perhaps I should move to Mars. It’s probably nice there.
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MARS IS A WORLD OF WONDERS
IT HAS CANYONS, RIVER VALLEYS, AND GIANT ICE SHEETS
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Exactly! I’ll ask NASA about getting a ride sometime.
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I COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF
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Giant ice sheets? Thank you! That song has been stuck in my head for a while, but I couldn’t remember how that bit went, so I kept hearing it as ‘places of disease.’
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It’s from Symphony of Science. The song’s called “The Case for Mars”.
And yes, I’d like to go to Mars, too.
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I know, but I don’t listen to music much, and I somehow never got around to checking the lyrics. Thanks, though!
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Have you been there? Of course Jade-y has, being a giant space squid, but you’ve been there too?
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My goodness. Thank you, thank you for introducing me to those videos.
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I feel like I don’t really understand the way my life is supposed to work…
I d’no, everything seems to be going just fine, so why do I feel so… odd?
*sigh*
I think I kinda need a curl-up-with-a-mug-of-chai-and-reread-MegaTokyo-vol.-4-for-the-third-time evening. Let me go see if I can facilitate this in any way.
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I’ve been feeling the same way…
Tea makes everything better.
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I know the feeling.
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I think everyone gets that way once in a while. *chai*
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Today I watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
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I know…
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That movie made me cry so much.
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Went to the aquarium to see a friend of mine who’s an intern because I promised her I would. They added some new stuff since the last time I was there, and it’s pretty cool. I bought a plush stingray in the gift shop, and I think I’ll name him Hawley.
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I have Bolero stuck in my head. Again.
I have listened to it a total of 3 times so far over the entire course of my life.
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The Shakira song “Hips Don’t Lie” got stuck in my head a few weeks ago, and I know for certain I’ve never sat down and purposely listened to it.
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Have you seen my “Quick Reads” version of that song?
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Of course I have.
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Robert, you’re a genius.
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Date: May 22, 2011.
Condition: “I feel FANTASTIC and I’m
Still Alive.”
Comments: “HA!”
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“I feel fantastic,
And I’ve never felt as good as how I do right now,
Except for maybe when I think of how I felt that day
When I felt the way
That I do right now, right now,
Right now.”
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Hi everyone! Official returning post time!
I’ve been gone from the ‘blog since March, indicated by a quick search of previous random threads. And pretty much this entire time has been spent studying, doing homework, and lurking on the random threads.
Information time.
Spring break I went to Germany with my orchestra. It was pretty awesome, and I think I actually made some friends in my orchestra. Maybe. We were only in Germany for two days, most of the time spent recovering from jetlag, so Munich was not as spectacular as last time. Plus it was raining and we couldn’t go anywhere without chaperones. Ugh. Salzburg was a bit better; we could actually go places without adults and the weather was spectacular. I bought a ton of chocolate at a grocery store, unlike the suckers who bought it at the touristy shops. By the time we got to Vienna, everyone had wised up and we frequently ran into each other in the Billa grocery stores.
Vienna was AWESOME, by the way. I felt like I didn’t get to see half of it. We got to have a master class with the conductor of the Vienna boy’s choir, which was pretty cool. He had great advice for us. He seemed a little mystified that there were only two boys in the front stands, though. I won’t blame him, I guess; he’s used to being around men all the time.
Next we went to Prague, which was really what I expected. It was dark, mysterious, and ancient. Shops called “S*x World” were everywhere, even in shopping malls. That didn’t really help Prague’s image. We toured the main palace place. There was a great view of the city and I saw a sculpture almost directly below us that looked disturbingly like a wall of bodies stacked on top of each other, as tall as a two-story house. I didn’t get to investigate it, though. Prague is so strange. We perfomed in a cathedral, and a lot of people came because it was very cold outside and we had heaters. Not to mention the cathedral made us sound spectacular because of all the echoes.
That’s the short version. So many other antecdotes keep popping into my head, about the hotels we stayed in and the extra trips we took. But I would be sitting here for an hour if I tried to type it all out.
I got my college acceptances. The first one (Washington University in St. Louis) came two weeks before the others. The second one, my top choice, came while I was in Germany. It was online, so I could get it even in Germany. I knew that if it was a rejection I would be really upset for the rest of the trip, but I opened it anyway. It was an acceptance! HUZZAH! Overall, I got accepted into 4, waitlisted at 5, and rejected from 1 (Yale, of course). (One person from my school got into Yale, and I don’t like him for applying to all the other schools I applied to and getting accepted so I would get waitlisted. Humph.) I think I only got accepted into my top choice because of my awesome supplemental essay. It was about math.
Needless to say, my top choice is where I’ll be going next year. As I won’t be 18 when I move there, I won’t reveal exactly which one it is yet, but I can tell you all it’s in Chicago. My family and I visited in April and it was awesome! It looks a little run down, but I think I’m going to love all the people there. WashU (we went down to St. Louis, too) looks like a resort in comparison, but I think that the people won’t be as accepting towards my kind of personality and interests. So Chicago it is. I’m going to love it there!
I’m officially done with IB tests! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHHA! The poor suckers taking French have another test on Monday. The math HL one really sucked. I barely knew half of the questions. And a couple I realized what I needed to do after the test was over. Ugh. The chemistry HL one was a nice break. Despite rumors of it being the hardest IB test, I found it the easiest. I’ve always loved chemistry and I did study the hardest for this one. It was strange how the exact stuff in the study guide was on the test. I guess that’s why it’s a study guide. English HL was okay. History HL was definitely my hardest test. Papers 1 and 2 I felt really confident about. Paper 3 was a disaster. I didn’t study the right things for the interwar years, so I couldn’t answer either of the questions. I didn’t study enough for the Russian Revolution, so the one question I answered from there was complete BS. The only two questions I could answer were about German and Italian unification. I think I did okay on those. I talked about economic policies and not just foreign policies. That’s gotta count for something, right? I had fun doing the German SL test. Paper 2 was very entertaining thinking up things to do for my Sport Week.
So right now I just have a bunch of projects to do. It’s really weird having all the pressure taken off at once. It’s also weird thinking that I’ll be graduating in what, two weeks? No, it’s still three weeks. Three weeks minus two days. My dad’s creating a graduation display of stuff from his and mom’s graduations. I don’t feel like an adult. I don’t feel ready. I’m going to be living more than a thousand miles from home next year. I feel confident that I’ll get used to it in the first couple of months, though. I realize that this is how I felt coming from middle school.
I wanted to speak at graduation, but I was too bogged down with homework to write a speech or anything. I wanted to to talk about how much I’ve changed since freshman year. I unfortunately curse a lot more now. I still have the same cell phone, even though I had hopes that I would get a new one. I love orchestra more than math now. I love chemistry more than math now. I know what I want to study in college: physics. You know, stuff like that. The more I think about it, the stranger it is. I kind of want to have a get-together specifically for that; all of my friends talking about our memories of high school.
Orchestra state was last week. We got double third (third in both string and full orchestra). A lot of people were sad about it, but I was neutral. I was disappointed, but I never thought we had a chance of winning throughout the year. I always maintained that last year was the best year ever for me, and anything we got this year didn’t matter. That’s the way I felt last week, too. This year just didn’t have the vibe of last year. Last year the juniors and seniors had been together, playing every day for three years. We were a unit, we all knew each other. There were a couple of sophomores, and no freshmen. This year, I felt incredibly seperated from everyone else. The only people I knew were the seniors and a few juniors. Most of the orchestra is sophomores and freshmen. I didn’t make friends with any of them. I felt like I was a failure as a section leader. That lack of connectedness created an orchestra that couldn’t possibly win the championship. I mean, I only really got to know some of the the sophomores and freshmen in May. The rest I know nothing about. Last year I knew at least something about everybody.
I’ve been realizing that I’m going to really miss high school. All the friends I have now. I’m not going to see them, with the exception of maybe once or twice a year. Some I don’t want to see again; even though they’re my friends, things have been disintigrating in the past year, and I want to just end it at graduation. Some I’m going to miss. Some juniors I’m really going to miss, strangely. I’ll definitely have more to say on this subject after graduation.
I want to write a muserology article about graduation, for the benefit of those younger Musers who are afraid of high school like I was, and to the older ones in high school who frankly have no idea what it’s like to be a senior.
Man, I really feel like writing right now. I’ll definitely write more on MuseBlog more in the future! I’m so glad to be back!
P.S. I’m super bummed that my favorite thread, the May Day Ball Rooftop Garden, has crashed and burned. Maybe I’ll try to rectify that tomorrow.
To end: Hello again, all!
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Hi, C-PM! Welcome back!
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Anatomy final tomorrow. I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared…
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Good luck!
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Muchas gracias.
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Good luck!
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It’s amazing, the things you can do with ground hamburger meat.
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Dare we ask?
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Oh, I love email. The last one I got made me want to scream, cry, and throw up all at once. Which one should I do first?
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…What did I say?
Just kidding; wow, I’m lame.
*hugs*
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Well, that cheered me up. Thanks. For the record, I ought to state that it was someone else.
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Sorry.
And I know. I’m just being odd. Eh..I’ll shut up now.
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Don’t!
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Aiya, you sound so distraught. Don’t worry, I’m still here. *keeps talking*
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Nix the vomiting. Scream first, and then cry.
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Too late for the vomiting, but screaming was averted and crying was done quickly.
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Checking your FB messages always brightens up my day~
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Well, our rollercoaster has improved. It goes from start to finish without the marble flying off the track or the whole thing collapsing. And we put UFOs on it.
Victory!
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Nice!
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FINALS WEEK! Oh, help, help, help….. My hardest final is tomorrow so at least I get it over with, but my teacher for that class is MURDER.
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Best of wishes for you tomorrow! *squid?*
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Mark Kelly and Mike Fincke, talking live to students from the Elementary School in Tucson where Christina Taylor Green went, from the space station… *heart does happy gymnastics*
… and they brought up a copy of the school’s yearbook, and they’re all going to sign it and give it back to the school when they come back to Earth… Ohhhh… so sweet…
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ohmanohmanohmanohmanohmanohmanohman so many phone calls in one day MY HEAD ASPLODE. Can’t I just be 5 forever?
I mean seriously, for someone who is TERRIFIED of talking on the phone to people outside my “close friends” circle, I’ve made/received 6 of them today. *dies* I know, 6 phone calls is not a huge deal, BUT STILL. IT’S MORE THAN USUAL. MY HEAD IS ASPLODING.
And these were even “pretend to be a responsible adult” phone calls, like checking in on the cat and scheduling doctor’s appointments for a physical and arranging a meet-up with the band guy and I DON’T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THIS STUFF, GUYS. *sob*
thankfully though the health form deadline isn’t as soon as I thought it was, so I have some time to breathe and get stuff sorted. (“Whee! more time to procrastinate!” “NO, SELF.”)
And also on the happy side I now have 15 itty-bitty zip strips from the raccoon cage. I don’t know what I’ll do with them, but I’m sure they’ll be useful someday. BE PREPARED. I’m such a good boyscout.
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How many MBers are in band? It seems like a decent proportion.
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Are you in band? I don’t think so if I remember correctly.
Heh heh heh.
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No, 2/3 of my posts are about band because I really really wish I were in band. : ( : ( : (
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Oh, you poor thing. Too bad you can’t play the oboe. Or the cor anglais.
So sad.
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Oboe is my favorite instrument and it makes me cry a little every time I think about it because I just wish I could play it so, so much.
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Me
P_M
Um….
There’s a lot more that I don’t remember.
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Meeeeeee!
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Meeeeee, Fireh, um… idkhahaha
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Moi aussi.
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Me.
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It’s never too late to learn … Hibiscus just switched to cello this year and she’s doing pretty well.
I’m in orchestra, does that count? But I wish I was in band because all my friends are, and band kind of overshadows orchestra at my school.
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I think it does at most schools.
So that’s…
AL
Pseudonym
Zinc
Fireh
Ducky
P_M
Counting orchestra:
Rainbow*Storm
agrrfishi (I think?)
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If the first part of that was a response to my and Beedle’s conversation, we were totally joking. I do play oboe/English horn and I am in band.
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So I finished my finals yesterday. I think I did…well, I’m not sure how I did, and I’m not going assume anything because if I’m wrong that will just make it all the more painful. Which is, in fact, an assumption itself.
I spent so much time staring blankly at my paper I had to finish the last few questions in seconds. My handwriting went to hell, and I’m sure my grammar did too. Also, the exam had a lot of vocab words, which is my weak point–I just can’t memorize off a list. So of course I forgot the meanings and the synonyms and couldn’t use them in sentences or whatever it was we were supposed to do. Also there was no grammar. I studied for grammar, but my teacher continued a semester-long trend in which we did not take grammar in any shape or form. I’m upset with that.
I mean, no Arabic grammar? I know that stuff is not exactly a walk in the park, but it’s important. And I asked her, I asked the teacher because she said we could request what we needed to study but every time I asked she said the other students didn’t want too or something but she never asked</i. the entire class what we thought about it and only said stuff like, "Oh, the entire class isn't' here, I can't ask." Well, most of them were, and that’s about as good as it’s ever going to get. One of the other students eventually told me to stop asking because i was the only one who hadn’t taken the grammar rules before. I would have thought this was a consequence of skipping levels, but I know that I was hardly the only student who wanted more grammar lessons. There are at least two others, but…
That was just a failure of this semester in general. I feel like I didn’t learn as much. I didn’t like the teacher as much, her attitude, teaching style, what we were taking…I’m not going to say it wasn’t worth the money, because I have no idea what it would have been like without the course to occupy me from nine to one (approximately) every day. Just glad it’s over with honestly.
Anyhow. After the exam, I went to pay my last internet bill (20 JD per month) and went with some of my friends to a restaurant. I also heard that my class was meeting at another restaurant at six to celebrate finishing the finals.
Then I went to meet my tilawa teacher. I was late. Rescheduled it for today.
Went to meet more friends in Jebal Weibdah. Noticed I have gotten better at taxi rides since the beginning of my trip here. Particularly in the ‘answering question’ department. But then everyone’s asked me the ‘where are you from question’ 50 times at least, and I’ve figured out how to cut down on the fluff. Visited art museum there. Was nice, I guess. I’m not terribly great with contemporary art. Not that I hate it or anything, my mind just skips over it like it isn’t there. I only find I small portion of art moving at he best of times, but some I can appreciate form an aesthetic sense and admire the patterns/complexity/etc. I can’t do that there.
There was a berry tree. I kept on eating berries off it. Met some Polish people there. Went back home. Did not go to the aforementioned dinner because I was late. Ran into someone else I knew from class, though, and talked for a bit. Basically spent the entire day on my feet going form one place to another. Is it any surprise that when I got home at about 7:30 I crashed? I woke at ~10:00. Prayed, ate, went on computer. Wrote this out, but didn’t post it until the next day.
And that was how my last day of school in Jordan went. …Any questions?
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Are you staying there?
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Choklit Orange– Mmm, no. It was only intended to be a gap year while I got my feet back on the ground and applied to colleges after the devastating college rejection fiasco of 2010. I do hope I go back to visit in the summer more frequently, though. Before this gap year, I’d only visited my family on this side of the ocean twice. And, well, I have made friends here, and it’d be nice to be able to use some of the skills I learned here again.
And just between you, me, and the rest of Museblog, I’m not entirely sure I could stand living there for extremely extended periods of time. It’s not just homesickness, it’s a general frustration that builds up over time about culture clashes and being unable to communicate properly or being sarcastic and things like that.
But I’m sure you’d know about that as much as I do.
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My dad came back from visiting some family friends and brought some seaweed pills. Take twice daily to improve health. (They also gave him a seaweed recipe: Empty out powder from caps. Fry with a little sesame oil on a saucepan. Mix with anything your heart desires. “It’s good!” ) I don’t normally mind the taste of seaweed; actually, I like fresh rockweed fairly well, but these pills are completely and utterly disgusting. And you can’t even swallow them, because they give off this flavor at all times, so by the time you have had them in your mouth for thirty seconds you start gagging. Perhaps puffin puffs taste a bit like seaweed pills?
Anyway, my parents have threatened me with seaweed pills if I misbehave. (They’re only half-joking. I’ll be watching my step. )
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Oh, have you ever tried dried seaweed? My friend’s mom always buys it from the Chinese market and brings some back for me. It’s like an oceany potato chip. :3
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VIOLINISTS/VIOLISTS-
I need your help- How difficult is a tremolo from G to E (On the staff, but on the top half of it) and a tremolo from F to D?
PLEASE HELP AND THANK YOU
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For me, not very difficult…why?
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Good, I’m just writing a piece for choir and string trio (violin viola cello) and I put in tremolos, and I have no idea how difficult tremolos are (french horns are not the most popular instrument for tremolos- for good reason too, we’re not very good at it.)
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Not bad, provided you don’t twist your finger to the left. That can be very painful.
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…I hope you don’t speak from experience. Ow.
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GAPAs, I think something’s wrong with the RC bar. I just got yet another Internal Service error while trying to click a link from there; it’s happened a lot over the past few months, although it seems to have gotten much better.
Meanwhile, I’m considering converting to Zoroastrianism. I’m Christian at the moment, but so many of the things in the old testament don’t seem like the sort of thing God as I see him would say/do. (I think of God as a personification of or metaphor for the good qualities of things and the things like compassion that I consider to be inherently good. I think they have power. Those are what I worship, whether or not there’s an actual sentient being out there who embodies them. I look at many other religious things metaphorically, too, so I can convert from one religon to another without too many problems). I seem to agree with much more of the Zoroastrian scriptures than the Bible, at least so far. I haven’t finished my research yet. I may or may not actually do this. If I do, I’m not really sure what I’ll say to my (Christian) parents, especially since my brother rejected Christianity a year ago so A) It might look like I was under his influence even though my beliefs are very different from his and this is completely unrelated and B) Neither of their children would share their religion, so they might feel a bit let down, but I want to do whatever’s best for my spiritual life, so I’m not going to worry about that at the moment….
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I just realized that even the things I disagree with, such as homophobia, are in later texts not used originally and not written by Zoroaster. If I just go mainly by the original things–and some people apparently do–I don’t disagree with anything I’ve seen. In fact, most of it’s things I’ve believed for years. It’s like someone wrote down all the ideas I had about God and morals and turned them into a ‘religion–‘ although many people hesitate to call it that, because one of its main principles is that goodness is more important than many of the things found in so many religions, and God is never anthropomorphized in Zoroastrianism. I really think I’ve found something perfect for me. I’m really, really happy.
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It’s nice to have someplace to fit in, isn’t it?
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Yes, it’s wonderful. I was so happy that I had trouble sleeping last night. It isn’t the best time for something like this, really–my mom just discovered a Christian school that looked really awesome–but oh, well.
I told my mom about it. She doesn’t know what to think. I think… She understands, but she’s a bit disappointed. Probably. Or maybe just resigned? Or maybe she doesn’t have a problem with it at all but just doesn’t know what to do? I can’t tell. I’m not good with that sort of thing.
She wants me to talk about it with the leader of the youth group at the church before deciding anything definitively, though. I think it might be a good idea as long as she doesn’t just keep trying to convince me to change my mind; she’s an understanding person. Anyway, I’m willing to try it. I just hope this all works out.
I told my brother, too; he’s really glad I’m thinking for myself and trying to figure out what’s best for me in this area; he’s very supportive and gave me some links. I still haven’t told my dad, though, and I’m a bit nervous about that: he’ll accept it, yes, but he won’t like it. I really can’t blame him, either; we never had much of anything in common, and my beliefs just keep getting more and more different from his, and he respects that, and he loves me very much, but it’s confusing for both of us, and he probably doesn’t know what to think either, but he… I don’t know… I have a feeling he has a good reason; I just can’t quite tell what it is. That happens a lot when I talk to him. The rest of the time he doesn’t seem to have any reason at all…
I’m still not certain about it, of course; I just think that it seems to be suited really well to my individual needs and beliefs.
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I need recommendations for mp3 players. I want something with decent battery life, and I want to be able to go from Pink Floyd to Neil Young to Coldplay, etc. fast, unlike the two previous ones I had, with which I had to go through evey single caking song to find the one I wanted.
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What sort of a price range are we talking about?
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No rice cooker today. Alack, alack, alack.
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Five Nyancats open at once certainly gives the feeling of headtrip.
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Overthinking life and careers and relationships and things in general so started watching My Little Pony* online. 20 episodes watched today alone and now in a total catharsis.
What have I become
*stop judging I go to a hipster college and everyone has been telling me to watch it
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Also, left college and am back home for the summer, which is probably part of this
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My Little Pony? pshh, that is so mainstream.
I only watch My Little Space Squid. You probably haven’t heard of it.
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You’ve never heard of the Utilidoors?
Probably because they’re so underground.
(Okay, that’s not going to be funny unless you know Disney theme parks, but if you do, you’ll think it’s funny.)
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POINTS TO YOU GOOD SIR.
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WOOO I WAS AWARDED HIPSTER POINTS
Of course, I’m not a hipster- they’re too mainstream. I’m a legster. *eye roll*
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No. Not hipster points. Just unit-less points. The immaterial sort that can’t by any means be placed after one’s name.
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Mini Jadestone?
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None of those are anywhere near as good as My Little Hippogriff. The episodes are really hard to find, but you can find a drawing of one of the characters on the Internet.
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My brother is home /and/ he came bearing a TARDIS mug for me!
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Score!!
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Release the toast!
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PLEASE BE CAREFUL
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At least two items on Endeavour’s launch in the latest issue of Time.
I am content.
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Win.
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Welcome to Bordertown has come out! Those of you who like urban fantasy, I would highly recommend it. It is the next book in a series of books that was originally published in the ’80s and ’90s about a city where Faerieland has crossed with our world. It is very cool and the newest one (the first in over ten years!) just came out today!
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oxlin: If people are new to the series, which book should they start with?
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Either the newest one, Welcome to Bordertown, or the one before that that is in print, The Essential Bordertown. Essential comes with a mini guide to Bordertown mixed in with the stories and that is super cool. Both are in print.
Finder, a Bordertown novel by Emma Bull, is apparently out of print but is really easy to find. The other collections, Bordertown, Borderland, and Life on the Border, are also out of print and much harder to find. There are also the novels Elsewhere and Never Never by Will Shetterly and I forget which of those is first. Essential is not a collection of stories from the first three collections, it is all new stories. Welcome is also all new stories.
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I think I’ve utterly forgotten to mention that, unless otherwise specified (that is Finder, Never Never, and Elsewhere) any of these books are short story collections and you can start wherever.
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Sounds interesting. *makes note* I haven’t read much urban fantasy, but I like what I’ve seen and I want to read more.
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I really should check it out. My honor as a fantasy fan is at stake. Unfortunately, I have not been doing much non-fanfic related reading lately…
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We’re studying the Titanic in school and I get to dress up like Alfred Nourney who’s this guy who was a total jerk and lied about everything! sQUEE. We also get to do stop-motion animation about the Titanic, research it, research it, write music…It’s a fun unit. We make a live museum at the end of the year, with everybody dressed up like a character on the Titanic and saying a speech.
{Big dog eats little dog’s food. Little dog barks up a storm. Little dog attacks big dog. Big dog runs. Big dog hides. Big dog puts his tail between his legs and whimpers. Little dog bites big dog and snarls. Little dog chases big dog outside. Human gets up from computer and interferes.}
Er, farewell.
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Oh man, that is AWESOME. I would give anything to get to do that as a final project.
You are really lucky. We never got to do the Titanic in school. (*Goes off to be incoherent Robert Ballard fangirl somewhere else*)
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Hello, all.
WALL SHARPENER!
SHARP PENCILS FOR ALL!
Goodbye.
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make a chuck norris facts thread! please?!
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Watership Down Is Better!
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Didn’t the last Chuck Norris thread we had cause the first ever pie war in MB history?
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NOT THIS AGAIN
Sorry. We shouldn’t be too harsh on halomaniac, en doesn’t know about the Great Pie War.
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Um…I don’t either, and I consider myself totally a paleophyte. When was this?
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March 29, 2006 ♥
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Admittedly it’s really old history. I was a decorated veteran from the Pie War Lovers side. Then the war ended, we began exploring Museica, and I became inactive on MB. *sigh* I know I missed out on some good stuff those years…/nostalgia
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Huh. I was actually on the blog at that time. Admittedly, I was more of an annoying neophyte/lurker, so I would likely not even have noticed.
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Today was the last actual day of school! Our graduation (into high school) is tomorrow. I am expecting it to be quite boring. Also I’m not allowed to carry my towel during the ceremony. 
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Not sure where this should go, but:
I have been studying Blog Dynamics for years (read: a few minutes) and I have discovered some basic physical laws:
The First Law of Thread Specificity: As specificity of a thread suggestion increases to infinity, the chance of that thread’s creation decreases to zero.
The Second Law of Thread Specificity: As the specificity of a thread increases to infinity, the lifespan of that thread decreases to zero.
The Third Law of Thread Specificity: As the specificity of a thread decreases to zero (such as the Random Threads or Stop Making Sense) the popularity increases to infinity.
The First Law of Thread Death: Thread in motion tends to stop its motion, and a thread at rest tends to stay at rest.
The Second Law of Thread Death: …Until spambots invade, or neophytes discover that thead, at which point it begins motion.
The Third Law of Thread Death: Revived threads are much more likely to die than others.
The Law of RPG Accessibility: As the lifetime of an RPG increases to infinity, the less likely new people are to join, and the more likely old people are to drop out.
The Law of Meteodynamics: When it is nice outside, traffic is low. When people are stuck inside, traffic is high,
The Converse GIFT: As a discussion increases in length, the likelihood of rudeness decreases to 0.
The First Law of Neophytes: As time on blog approaches 0, the likelihood of leaving approaches 1.
The Second Law of Neophytes: …Unless that neophyte has others around it ((It’s true- look at the MuseBlog generations- those who occure in between are few and far between- having other ignorant folks helps everyone learn))
The Third Law of Neophytes: ….Unless an active MBer is really trying to get them to join.
The Fourth Law of Neophytes: When one no longer considers themselves a neophyte, one is not a neophyte.
The First Law of Inactivity: As time inactive approaches infinity, the chance of return approaches zero.
The Second Law of Inactivity: As age approaches 18, the chance of remaining active approaches infinity. As age surpasses 18, the chance of remaining active approaches 0.
The Third Law of Inactivity: …Unless time spent on the blog is of a sufficient magnitude.
The Law of Refreshes: As page refreshes per minute increases, the number of posts moderated by the GAPAs decreases.
The First Law of Pies: As the number of pies approaches infinity, the likelihood of receiving more pies approaches 1.
The Second Law of Pies: As the age of a post approaches infinity, the likelihood of recieving more pies approaches 0.
The Third Law of Pies: …Unless that post is legendary.
The Fourth Law of Pies: Any post made by a GAPA will have more pies than if it was made by anyone else.
The Fifth Law of Pies: As hope for pies approaches infinity, likelihood of recieving those pies approaches 0.
The Sixth Law of Pies: As inanity approaches infinifty, likelihood of recieving pies approaches 1, until inanity reaches a point where it becomes annoying, where the likelihood approaches 0
The Seventh Law of Pies: As heartwarming approaches infinity, the likelihood of recieving pies approaches 1.
The Eighth Law of Pies: As a sequence of posts all discussing a similar topic increases to length infinity, the likelihood of the main post recieving pies approaches 1, and the likelihood of the most recent posts recieving pies approaches 0.
The Ninth Rule of Pie distribution: …Unless one of the new posts is a sequence breaker.
The Law of Chuck Norris: Any mention of Chuck Norris will get a mention of Watership Down.
The Law of Watership Down: Any mention of Watership Down will get a mention of Chuck Norris.
The First Law of Post Length: As post length approaches “WALL OF TEXT”, repsonses approach 0.
The Second Law of Post Length: …Unless the post is long enough to warrant its own thread.
And finally:
Schroedinger’s Principle: Any attempt to categorize MBer behavior will result in MBers breaking the rules as many times as possible.
Schroedinger’s Second Principle: …Until they revert to being “normal” (whatever that means for MBers)
*gives spamfilter a bribe so it won’t eat me*
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This should go on the HG2MB or something.
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LOVE THIS.
One more:
The Tenth Law of Pies: If any blogger asks why a post of theirs got so many pies, the question will receive more pies than the original post.
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So young, yet so wise.
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I bet it was the last two that really made the icing on the pie.
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I disagree with The Fourth Law of Neophytes. As probability of the violation of at least one staple of blog etiquette in any given post by an individual neophyte approaches 1, the neophyte’s awareness of this approaches 0 until en reaches enlightenment.
I’d also note that I seem to be a very large exception to The Fifth Law of Pies.
I also think that there should be a Law of Pies in between the Fourth and the fifth saying, “…Except maybe Piggy,” even though I don’t think that’s nearly as prominent as he does.
Still, that is an absolutely flamablamablous list. Squee!
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Except The Fourth Law is essentially a reworded definition of Neophyte given by GAPAs and Piggy.
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I love the Schroedinger’s principles.
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RICE COOK HAPPY FUN TIME
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MUSIC! YES! ALSO, YUMMY SOUP.
Explanation:
Fortunately, after this morning/afternoon’s badness (read about it on the rants thread, if you want/care), things took a turn for the better. Which is a Very Good Thing, because I was terrified of what would happen had the day gotten much worse. Blah.
Anyway. Met up with Roger, who is the guy who is part of a band that plays celtic and maritime music that I am (most likely) going to be playing with, which is awesome. We went to Panera, and, for one, I love Panera and will always jump at a chance to eat there (breadbowls, omnomnomnomnom), and we talked about logistics and music and living history and ships and lime green and alcohol and insanity. Y’know, regular job interview topics…right? Oh, I guess not…never mind. Anyway. This coming weekend I’m going to go hang out and play music with them to see how it all comes together (which means if you guys see me on here tell me to go practice), and then if that goes well and I don’t manage to scare them and they don’t manage to scare me (I think I’m probably the scarier one, honestly. I say this humbly. Mostly.) then the weekend after this coming one there’s a gig at a pirate festival and I can go perform with them.
EEEEE!!
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Note to self: Do not watch news coverage of recent tornado devastation when the forecast is calling for (an albeit moderate) tornado risk in your area the following day. :/ I think that’s what I like least about this part of the world. Not the heat and humidity, not the ticks, not the fact that I’m away from my family. But tornadoes. *shudder* The idea of them scares the crap out of me.
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Happy birthday Sir Ian McKellen! (Same day as Towel Day)
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Happy Towel Day!
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Towel Day and Geek Pride Day! Yesterday, I ran around my school with my friends sticking up random geeky posters. We even printed out a giant banner saying “ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US” and hung it up in the main lobby. And we also taped letters saying “What do you want” in Klingon on the wall with “Hello” in different languages. No idea how long it will be until someone notices the last one.
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I currently have a foot-long plastic caterpillar sitting on my monitor. It greatly happifies me.
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The finals of the National Geography Bee are being held today here in Washington, D.C. Are any MBers taking part? I suppose that if they were, someone would have mentioned it by now.
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