Summer Job, Back-To-School and Water Polo

It has been a long time since I last posted a quality entry on this blog-- something that is neither a blurb nor a rant. Tonight is the night, three and a half readers! So get ready to hear just about everything that's new with me.

I'll start kind-of where I left off-- the end of last school year. School let out, and my grades were certainly lower than I would have hoped. Oh well, I'm not worrying about that. I'm focused on this semester now. A week into summer, my job working for my uncle began. I have to say, it was the best thing I did all summer. My job was to lift the kids onto the ponies, get them talkative and smiling for the pictures, and put the cowboy outfit on them. It sounds silly, but it was a lot of fun, and I am extremely glad that I did. I saved and spent a few hundred dollars in paychecks, the savings to go towards my car (hopefully I will have one by the end of this school year) and driver's ed (which I will be starting as soon as water polo season is over-- more on water polo below). My uncle said that if the position is there, I could work for him next summer; it depends on whether or not the preschools and daycares continue to drop in attendance numbers (gee, thanks, economy). It's not all bad, though, as I turn sixteen in a month and a half, and I plan to apply for jobs the day after my birthday... or maybe two days after. I don't imagine I'll get a lot of sleep on my birthday, seeing as it's on a Saturday.

So that's what the large majority of my summer consisted of-- working. I hung out with Cole, Daniel, and Jill quite a bit (separately, most of the time :P). I dropped Puget Sound Polo (just for the summer!) so that I could work more. Because of that, I did not go to the Junior Olympics, which I'm still getting over. The school season started up fairly soon, however, so I wasn't without water polo for too long. This year I'm playing swing (a combination of varsity and junior-varsity) for Wilson, primarily as a wholeset. We are off to a great start this year, winning our pre-season jamboree, and every game so far. At the jamboree (which was only games of two quarters), we beat Lakes 11-0, we beat Puyallup 8-0, we beat Curtis 8-4, and we beat one of the Auburn schools 9ish to 4ish. I'm not sure about the score of the last game, as nothing really mattered after we beat Curtis (our rivals in water polo and the school that took first at state last year). As far as regular games go we are 2-0 having beat Rogers and Emerald Ridge, both decisively. At the Emerald Ridge game I had a couple of varsity assists and in the junior varsity game I had 8 goals and 4 assists (it was a 2-quarters game and we beat them 14-0). Enough with the water polo, though. I imagine reading scores is boring.

The only other thing that is really new is the school year. I'm a sophomore now. Here is a rundown of my schedule: 1st- Honors Biology, 2nd- Honors English, 3rd- Spanish 3, 4th- Honors World Cultures, 5th- Pre-Calculus, 6th- Health 2. As far as I can tell, my schedule is alright. I think that I'll like my Biology class and the teacher, and the same goes for English. Spanish looks like it is going to be my boring class each day. The teacher is not as enthusiastic as Senora Tabares (too lazy to do the enyay~) was, but I think I'll be fine in his class. My World Cultures teacher seems AWESOME, and I also think he'll actually teach. It's a delicate balance, finding a teacher who is cool and actually teaches. I have the same math teacher for Pre-Calc as I did for Algebra 4, so I know what to expect. He is a good teacher and a nice guy but you have to work hard in his class. As far as Health, I expect it to be an easy class, albeit one with a medium workload.

Well, that's all I've got for the moment. A few things I'm planning on doing are posting more often, and posting reviews of music, books, etc. I've got several lined up to do, but we all know how long it takes me to post something up. See you anywhere from later tonight to a month or four from now.

No Entries in Forever, and a Shameless Game Promotion

Well, howdy ho, handful of readers. It has been awhile, and by awhile, I mean a summer.

And don't think I made a post to, you know, tell you about my life, or something meaningful and interesting. I'm here to tell you about two very cool games-- Menulis and Miestas. Their lack of plot, unique art design, and simplistic gameplay and controls made them a couple of the best games I've played this summer. And that's saying something. They are also short.

Menulis

and

Miestas

On another note, I might post something important later. I don't know.

My Party, A Poem

So it turns out that I'm having the party of the all time, and you're all invited. Check it out.

I'm really happy with this one. I think I got the tone that I was trying to convey across to the reader fairly well, considering I am really a novice to writing. Let me know what you think.

Free Money, Star Trek

Something awesome happened to me today. After slaving away at our yard for about three and a half hours total for $25, I was (forcedly) cleaning my room, and, as a result, the massive pile of a combination of junk that I want to keep and general garbage that slowly accumulates underneath my bed. I found my old wallet, which has been missing for several weeks, and, with it, about $50. Now, I know what you are thinking: "Jeez, Dutty, didn't you think to check underneath your bed when you initially lost the wallet?". The answer is, yes, yes I did. Not only did I just check underneath the bed, but I thoroughly checked underneath the bed several times. I have absolutely no idea how I could have missed it. Oh, wait, that's right: it was underneath the massive pile of garbage that I cleaned out.

I also just got back from the new Star Trek movie. It was very good, and matched up very nicely with the Star Trek series. as far as I could tell. Besides, even if it didn't, that could be explained by pointing out that, because of the time travel, it could all be an alternate timeline anyway. I was expecting it to be okay, but was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I used to watch Star Trek all of the time before school on TV Land. I believe I still have some DVDs laying around from my days of watching it a lot. The movie had some very funny moments, as well. I'd recommend watching it if anyone really cares to read this.

It was a pleasure seeing Nimoy portray old-Spock. :)

Updates

Yes, updates. On "5,280 Feet" and "Teacher-Chosen Groups Suck", to be exact. We'll start with the latter.

The Spanish presentation that I was whining about went pretty well, as far as I am concerned. I spoke my lines clearly, with proper enunciation, and I am confident that my script was pretty good. I can't say the same thing for the rest of my group, though. They all mumbled their lines, mispronounced the words, and generally screwed up their grades. I did all of the work, yes, but at least I will get a good grade for it.

Now, onto the mile. Today, we ran the mile again. The goal that I was hoping to meet by June I met a little earlier than expected. Today in PE, I got a 9:54, just under my goal of 10:00. Ridiculously slow, I know, but it still feels good to set a goal and make it. And at least I wasn't the last one to finish.

I can't really think of anything else to post, although I'm sure there is something that I am forgetting.

Tidbits:

With my first paycheck (the week after school gets out), I plan on buying: ice cream (I have a bit of an obsession with Cold Stone, it's just so dang expensive), a nice webcam (I am going to start vlogging, hopefully in the style of Dan Brown), and then put the rest in savings unless if I can come up with something.

We are reading Romeo and Juliet in English. It's okay. I've read enough excerpts of it over the years that I have practically read the whole play.


I still have to see my counselor about a grade last semester that is on my transcript as an A- even though I got an A, and about (re)taking a math course or two this summer, preferably as contract school.

Listen to this.

Teacher-Chosen Groups Suck

Yeah. What the title said. I'm freaking pissed off right now, as my final in my Spanish class, our final is a group project. It's all good, though, right? I'll just choose my intelligent friends to be in my group, right? That's not quite the case.

The teacher, who I normally have no problem with (she's a great teacher, and I have learned a lot in the few months I have taken Spanish) decided that she would assign us to groups. Now, normally this would not be a very big deal to me, but this particular assignment counts not only as a chapter exam, but also as part of our final.

Naturally, I want to do as well as I can on my final. However, if I split up the work evenly in my group, it's just not going to cut it. I don't want a C on something that is 10% of my grade.

So here I am, doing all of the work.

By choice. Meh.

Listen.

Updates on Small Things, and Poetry

Some updates: During the last few weeks, I feel like I have found out who my real friends are, and I am extremely glad. I have rooted out the "weeds", of which there were only a few, and had some conversations which proved to me what I knew in the pit of my stomach-- some people that I want(ed) to be friends with are really just too big of idiots. I'm not making a fiasco out of it or anything, but I am definitely changing things. I still have one conversation to have to tonight before I am done with my weeding process.

Junior Olympics: I might be going to the JOs. My coach will be sending me and email with fundraiser information soon. We'll really have to wait and see.

I wrote another poem (2 days ago), that I am just now getting around to posting up. Please read the author's comments, as I do not want anyone thinking that my home life if that terrible, or that I am seeing a shrink. I embellished quite a bit, as well as the fact that I enjoy writing from a point of view other than my own (that of a patient with similarities to me, in this case).

Today, I had one of the most elevating and humbling experiences in my life. A person, who will remain unnamed, whose opinion and respect I value extremely so, gave me a backhanded compliment like I have never had before. I now know what it feels like to be on top of the world, and to feel like shit at the same time. Next year I'm getting a 4.0, just so I can be congratulated by said person.

Anyway, this entry turned weird. Back to normal happenings.

We ate at El Toro on Cinco de Mayo, and it was extremely good. I am going to heat up my leftover enchilada right after this entry. I'm glad it was good, as we need a Mexican restaurant to go to (our old favorite, El Jimidor, closed), and we've previously had bad experiences at El Toro, but now we might start going again.

I had my student-led conference last night, and it went surprisingly well. My adviser seemed impressed that I had won second place in the science fair and that I had done several sports and clubs. Senior year is the only time that sudent-led conferences count, though.

I'm helping out the girls at their water polo practices in the morning again (I took a short break-- I couldn't get up early enough). They have about a week until state, so I'll try to make every practice until then so that our varsity girls can do well. They are looking to take second or third place, depending on the bracket they are in (If they are against Curtis before the championship game, they'll get third), and how they do against Gig Harbor (their record against them is 1-1). Go Rams!

7 Weeks

There are exactly seven weeks of school left. I think I'll make it, but it won't be fun. My plan for a 4.0 is destroyed, though. Next year, I'm getting my shit together. I'll get a 4.0 next year, as I can no longer afford not to if I am going to MIT. I'll get it. I swear.

Tonight I went to my uncle's house for dinner. It was a lot of fun, and we watched Australia, which was surprisingly good. I wasn't expecting it to be that great. He made great chicken on a spit, and we brought over a salad. It was nice, and unexpected. He is not the type to just invite company over for no reason. It was really nice, though.

I am hyper-aware of whether or not my documents are saved, now.

The classes I'm redoing (not because I got Fs!): Algebra 1/2, Geometry 1/2, Spanish 1/2, Health 1.

My Digitools grade from last semester is still an A- even though I got an A. I still have to see the teacher / my counselor about that.

I'm still riding on the good feelings of my good friend Erick's comment on my poem. I wasn't expecting it to be anywhere near decent. I still have a lot of work, though.

And the Junior Olympics are looking bleak. My parents want me to wait. They don't understand the importance of this being my last (and first :P) year in the 16s bracket. *sigh*

That's all I've got.

Ctrl+S, Use It

So, on Thursday I was working on this assignment for English. Several questions to be answered, and I was doing pretty well. I had just over three pages typed, all answering questions for an assignment. At the same time, I was, of course, playing RuneScape. My mother walks in the room. I scramble to close non-homework-related windows.

Do you want to save the changed to Document1?

No.

I thought I was going to cry.

Ctrl+S. Use it.

Loose Leaf Tea

I have a new goal in life. I want to make loose leaf tea, and I want to make it regularly. I have decided that if I am able to do this, I will be the most badass kid you will ever meet.

Seriously, what's cooler than, "Yeah, I'm drinking some tea I just made... no, not Lipton... oolong / Earl Grey... yeah, I just brewed it."? What is cooler?

I've even found a tea shop. Mad Hat, A Tea Company. I was looking at their website, and some reviews, and it seems like a great place. I just need to figure out what kind of tea to buy, and how to properly brew it. I'm going to some of my friends for this.

I can't freaking wait.

Also, I want this blog to be active again, so expect a lot more tiny entries, like the last one and this one. I decided that I would rather have insignificant entries than no entries.

"Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" was surprisingly good.

Of Poetry

I have always loved poetry, especially reading it.

I have never wanted to write it like I did earlier today, though. I know my writing is bad, but it's coming from the heart, so it's okay... right? :P

So, here's a link to the first poem I've posted online (not the first I've written, by any means).

I believe there is a poem by Erick with similar wording of the "Shit" part. So thanks to Erick for inspiration, to A) write poetry, and B) I used similar wording to him.

Enjoy. Expect more, maybe.

The Junior Olympics... Maybe

Well, my four devoted readers, I have some great news, that I know two of you already know (No, I don't know the point of posting this either...)! There is a chance that I will be attending the Junior Olympics of water polo this summer, to play on Puget Sound Polo's 16-and-under team (I'm 15 :D)!

Nothing is final, yet, however, so that's why I put "... Maybe" in that nifty little title ^up there^. The problem is, the trip will cost several hundred dollars (it's a 5-night or 5-day trip-- I don't remember), and we aren't sure if I'll be able to pay. My father recently had a lot hospital work done on him (he had multiple stints put in), and I have a brother in college, so the money isn't exactly flowing into our house right now. I believe my coach mentioned fund raising, which will take down the cost, and I'm working for my uncle this summer, and can put some money aside, so I think I'll be able to do it :).

Now, I know what you're asking-- you're asking, "Dutty, why don't you just wait and go next year, or the year after that?" Well, my answer is that, even though I am 15, and most of the kids on team are 16, it is the last year I can play in the 16-and-under bracket, because I was born in 1993. Don't ask me why, but in water polo tournaments, your age group is determined by the year you were born in, and not your actual age.

I don't get it either.

Oh well, though. Let's just hope I can save up enough money that my parents are able and willing to pay the rest, and I'll be in San Jose this summer :D!!

Ideas for entries escape me, and I'm tweeting.

That sounds naughty, doesn't it?

Anyway, as the title makes pretty apparant, I don't have ideas for entries at all. I like my entries to have substance, and be more than "I had a bad day at school, going on a walk," and because of that, my entries are beginning to come fairly infrequently.

Besides, those types of entries are what my Twitter is for.

That's right, I'm using Twitter now. It is nice, because I can see what some famous people are doing, talk to Jagex, and at the same time give my friends quick updates. I'd recommend joining, it's safe and easy to use. Be sure to follow me :).

Anywho, that's all I've got for you. I might do a random thoughts entry just so I can have an entry. It'll be soon if I do it. We'll see.

Science Fairs And Water Polo Clubs

First of all, my apologies! When I decded to re-activate my blog I decided/promised that I would post regularly. Which I have not been doing over the past 2 months-ish. That's changing, right now :P.

So exactly one week from today, I entered the South Sound Regional Science Fair (if you click that nifty link on the front page that says "Grades 9-12", I'm on the list). Get this: I won second place in my category! I really did not expect it at all. I thought if I was lucky, I would get an honorable mention, because, in all honesty, I don't think my project was very scientific. Anyway, I won second in the Plant Sciences category, which had the most entrants with 23. The girl that got first place was a senior from Bellarmine Prep. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. As for how my friends did, my two best friends also won: Cole won an honorable mention (Plant Sciences), and Jillian won a fuckton of specialty awards from the air force and shit like that :P.

Also happening last weekend was the Siesta Spring Water Polo Tournament (I believe that's the name) at the King County Aquatic Center (side note: I REALLY want to swim a 50 in that pool-- it's Olympic-sized). Anyway, long story short, my water polo club, Puget Sound Polo, got destroyed. Between the 18 and under team, and the 16 and under team, we did not win a single game. Going to the tournament taught me that I may be decent in high school polo, but in the club circuit, I'm nothing at all. In the wholeset, the 2M-D were literally drowning me, and doing it so that they didn't get called for fouls. It really ticked me off, but I guess it is drive to get better.

Tidbits: I will be working for my uncle for sure this summer, and spring break started this week. Fun stuff.

Listening to:
Tiffany Blews ~ Fall Out Boy
TTHHEE PPAARRTTYY ~ Justice
Blindfolds Aside ~ Protest The Hero

The Working Class

I'm a part of it! In June, that is.

So, here's the skinny. My Uncle (Tom) owns a business called Farmland Foto, and basically, he goes all over Western Washington, and takes pictures of kids on ponies with cute little cowboy hats. Don't laugh, because he lives pretty comfortably, and only works for a few months each year. My oldest brother, Ruel, has, in the past, worked under the table for him, and it's my year now.

If I do what Ruel did, my tasks are (A) scooping horse shit, and (B) lifting kids onto ponies. My brother got paid $.50/kid, and I think Tom said that I could be paid $.75/kid. So since he only does fairly large sized daycares, that's about $40/day or more, and I'd be back home by early afternoon at the latest. I'd be doing this about 3 days a week, maybe 2 or 4, depending on how many daycares he is doing on this side of the bridge.

So yeah, I'm really excited. I also might be getting a job at the Metropolitan Market. We'll have to see.

5,280 Feet

We ran the mile in P.E. today. I got a 13:27....

Sad, I know. I just couldn't do it. I planned on jogging the first two laps, taking the third easy, and running the fourth.

I swear, that track is a lot bigger than it was a couple of years ago at Truman.

I ended up jogging three fourths of the first lap, and alternating between jogging and walking the rest of it.

I'm out of shape.

This will change.

June: 10:00.

EDIT (11: PM, February 4th, 2009):

Damn. I just realized how close I was to getting a 13:37.... If I had known that, I would have walked that last bit. A D is a D is a D.

What's Going On

So, here we go with another pointless blog post that a small, small, small handful of people will read. This is just a little tidbit to let you know what I'm up to lately.

To start, the new semester started last Thursday (hehe), and I am successfully maintaining a 4.0! It would be sad if I wasn't, because I have only had three days of school. Right now I am working on my math and English, and I am extremely determined to get this 4.0! You know what the sad thing is? The class that I am most worried about getting an A in is P.E. ... wow, I know, right? The thing is, I can get 70% just by participating, but the other 30% is in tests, and to get a 93% A, I would have to average 76.6667% on my tests. So far I've gotten mostly B's on the tests, but that might change tomorrow, when we run the mile. Oh well, at least I have the swimming unit to look forward to. I may be a fatass, but I looked at the times, and I have an easy A in that.

Something else that I haven't talked about yet is knowledge bowl. It's pretty much the coolest thing at Wilson since water polo. If you aren't familiar with it, it's basically those geekfests that are in all of the movies and on TV where there's a bunch of nerds sitting around buzzers and answering questions about obscure wars and chemists that no one has ever heard of. I'm on my school's B team, and aside from the A team (the best), I'm the second best person there (if you ask me). Not counting the seniors, I can honestly say I'm the most consistent person there (although there is one kid who is a close second). Next year I will probably be on A team, which is just awesome. Right now we're 12-1, I believe, and regionals are in a week or two. Wish me luck!

I also have a job (starting in June)! I'll post about that later. Now, everyone go and listen to this song, as it is AWESOME.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Cpr9gy9Qc

Sorry it's a GHC, all I could find.

Poetry Recitation... Not My Thing

A week or so ago, I entered a poetry recitation competition after school on a recommendation from my teacher. It didn't go well. In fact, I would say it went disastrous.

The fact that I had to go first did not make me any more comfortable, either. So I walked into the room. Quinn (that's not his real name-- he lied to me!) Nguyen, Van Ry, and two other women I don't know are looking at me. After what seemed like an eternity (it was at least 5 minutes, I swear) of them writing stuff down and "getting ready", they tell me to go.

And so I launch into "It was not Death, for I Stood Up", by Emily Dickinson, and I must say, I nailed it. From the tricky pronunciation of siroccos to my many-times-practiced emphasis on the final line... to justify despair. I finished the poem, pleased with myself, although my legs were shaking beyond control.

After another eternity, it was time to do my second poem. You know, the one I had just recited perfectly several times in a row ten minutes ago? That one. "Sonnet 130" by the wonderful William Shakespeare. "My mistress' eyes look nothing like the sun"... and I drew a blank. I stared at the judges, searching for the second line. "Umm, can I start over?" I asked politely in a tiny voice. Four nods. "My mistress' eyes look nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red. If snow be white, why then, her breasts are dun? If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head".... And then I had recited four out of fourteen lines, and I could not remember a thing.

I had no idea what to do. Should I apologize, and leave? Should I wait for them to give me a line, even though they're not allowed to? I did the latter. And so I stared at the four judges before me, particularly the one with a copy of my poem. And they stared back. And what had to have been a full thirty seconds passed. And eventually, Quinn Nguyen fed me a line: "And in some perfumes..." "Oh! And-in-some-perfumes is-there-more-delight, -than-in-the-breath that-from-my-mistress... reeks!" I spurted out. And then I stared at them for another 30 seconds or so, until he unwillingly fed me another line.

And this is how it went, me saying a line excitedly when I found it, only to sit and stare at the judges. I left the room with the feeling I was disqualified, since they aren't allowed to feed lines.

And to all of you who didn't believe me when I said that I did terribly, suck it. I don't exaggerate about stuff like this. I hold myself in the highest regard, and do not just decide that I suck at something if I don't.

Of Sleeping and Caffeine

I have to say, I am now genuinely worried about my sleep habits. They've always been poor, but now I rely on my triple shot mochas more and more in the morning, and I find myself staying up later and later. It hasn't affected my grades or social life, but who knows when it might?

Oh well. For the time being, I've purchased some caffeine pills... I honestly only plan to use them when I need them. Like tonight, with my take-home English final. We'll see, though. At least if I get addicted, it's only $4/7200mg. A lot cheaper than those darned energy drinks. Caffeine pills are my new sleepover fuel.

So, I'll be taking the first of many tablets in four hours or so.

About Me

So, since I have one and a half readers not including myself at the moment, this post is intended for my thousands of readers to come. This is just a post to let you know a little bit about me, so you can get to know me better.

I am Dutty. Don't bother with my real name. Online, and half of the time in real life, I am called Dutty. I have had the nickname since I was an infant, and I believe it comes from me not being able to pronounce my real first name, Dustin, when I first learned to talk.

I am fifteen years old. My birthday is on Halloween. Upon turning 16, I plan to get my license and a job. The job would most likely be in food services, but not at McDonald's or anything like that. I think that I would enjoy working at a pizza or ice cream parlor. A restaurant would be nice, as well.

My family consists of my mom, an English teacher, and my dad, a retired pipefitter (overhead fire systems), my brother Andrew, 18, who will be graduating this year, and my brother Ruel, 20 in February, who attends WSU.

I live in Tacoma, Washington, and attend Wilson High School.

Now, enough with the factual stuff. Have some personality things:

I consider myself to be a horrible friend. Seriously. My friends must like being treated like shit or something. It is amazing to me how many friends I have when I am so rude to them. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends, I just don't always treat them as well as I should. I am a very hypercritical person.

Music a huge part of my life. Immeasurably huge. Astronomically huge. I listen to music all of the time. I do not limit myself to genres, I just listen to what I like. This means that I am a huge fan of everything from country to 70's R&B to heavy metal to dance (electric). I think that limiting yourself to a genre is just kind of stupid. Like what you like. Another way that music is a part of my life is playing it. I played to violin for three years, and I am going to be learning to play the guitar soon.

Some other things I like are sports (water polo, swimming, maybe field), video games (mainly on the computer), and computers in general.

I'm a pretty smart kid, although my grades do not always show it. You can hold an intelligent conversation with me, I promise.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I think I'm going to paraphrase this and put it on my right sidebar.

www.wheresgeorge.com

Have you ever received a bill with a stamp on it, something about tracking it, or a url? Well, that's what this post is about-- free advertising for www.wheresgeorge.com, a website that lets you enter serial codes from your money, and track it as it moves around the country. When your measly one dollar is found in a bar in Boston, or when you find an already stamped bill to find out that traveled all of the way from Tennessee, you'll be pretty impressed. I have used this website for years, and many of my bills have been found. Just don't write "track this bill at www.wheresgeorge.com" on your bills. Don't do it. It's illegal. It's also how the bills are found. DON'T do it, cough cough.

There's also a version for Europe and Canada I believe. Info will be at the website.

I don't talk about how much I like a website very often, but if you have patience, this site can provide you with a lot of entertainment in years to come.

www.wheresgeorge.com

New Year's Resolutions

Ah, do you smell it? I do. It's that new year smell-- fresh off the lot! I hope that this will be a good one :).

Anyway, on to the point of this post: my new year's resolutions! I'm keeping it fairly simple this year. I'm sticking to three major ones: wight loss, grades, and water polo.

There's no getting around it-- I'm overweight. However, something I am very proud of is that I have already lost 15 pounds this school year. Around December, though, I lost my focus on weight loss, but I want to change that in 2009. I'm not aiming for a specific weight, in my opinion that's just discouraging and kind of stupid. I'm just going to lose weight until I feel comfortable where I'm at. I think that will probably be another 20 or 30 pounds, but I can't really be sure. I'm not looking to be thin, I just want to be not fat. I really don't have much of a game plan other than to exercise and eat healthier and less. After all, that is how I lost 15 pounds earlier this school year. Wish me luck, as this is the most important of my resolutions! :)

My second resolution is to improve my grades-- drastically! I won't say just how bad I did this semester, but I screwed up bad. Really bad. I could blame it on many things, but I think it all comes down to being unprepared. The change from Truman to Wilson was... astounding. I went from getting A's by doing two or three homework assignments a week, to getting B's and C's with three or four assignments a night. I'm going to start doing better, though, I promise. In fact, I'm challenging myself to get a four point next semester. I know this might not happen with teachers like Van Ry and Rehberg (my tough English and Science teachers), but hey, if I aim high, I'll land just a little lower. Or who knows, maybe I'll get that four point. My tally of classes that I have to retake because a screwed up so badly includes: Algebra 1/2, Geometry, and Spanish 1. Maybe Health, I'm not sure about that one. It's not that I failed those classes, it's that I didn't get an A when I could have. After all, every A counts when I'm trying to get into MIT, right?

My third major resolution isn't really all that complicated-- I just want to continue playing water polo, make varsity, and go to state. This is the first sport that I have ever felt passionately about, partly because I'm actually good at it, and partly because I find it much more fun and challenging than running around bases :P! I can't even explain how much I love this sport... it has made me hate swim team because I can't play polo in the pool any more! I'm going to do Spring and Summer seasons with Puget Sound Polo, and I think that by then I'll be good enough to make varsity. I am not planning on being first string until 2010 (we've got some good sets who won't be gone until the 2010 school season), but nonetheless, going to state with our varsity would be awesome. I will also be doing track and field (specifically, field) to help stay in shape, and lose wight (see resolution #1).

Well, that concludes my worthwhile resolutions. Some smaller ones off of the top of my head are: stupid stuff related to video games (RuneScape, hehe), start to save for my 2012 summer trip to Europe, work for my uncle and take driver's ed this summer, get a job and a license in October, learn to play the awesome guitar I got for Christmas, and to maintain this blog. I may invest in a webcam for vlogs. I may also start writing poetry and doing artwork again. The last two are iffy, so I can't really resolve to do them.

That's all I've got for you right now, but you can expect more entries with the new five minute logout timer. Enjoy your 2009 :)!

Long Time, No Post

Hello, readers. And by readers I mean Phillip, possibly David, and myself. But hey, maybe that will change someday.

This is just a post to let you know that I plan on posting some entries again. I really kind of let this blog die... but that will soon change! As was the case with my past attempt at blogging, my posts will be irregular in both timing and subject matter. I'll be telling you about (mostly) everything in my life. Some frequently recurring topics will probably be music, gaming, and sports, but other than that, you'll have to take what I give you. I might incorporate a vlog, or updates to my deviantART, but no guarantees.

So! What have I been doing since my blog became inactive? Homework. That's pretty much what I did in between my last post and this one. A lot of homework... boring, I know. I also played water polo, which was really nice, and my first high school sport experience (I'm in swimming right now, and field next season). High school is fun, but I was really unprepared. That's really all I have to say about school right now; it's a three day weekend, and I'd rather just forget.

So, I'll see you guys in my next entry... probably later tonight or tomorrow when I am bored.

Here, have a link to the song I am addicted to at the moment:
Who Knows Who ~ Muse and The Streets