I have half an hour here, so let's go team!

We are in the midst of AP exams. Now, normally I would be panicking like crazy, but I have accepted the fact that I am going to college. Nothing is going to change this fact. I am at one with my graduating. Oooooommmmmmm...

For those of you unaware of the wonders of the AP exams, they're put together by the ruling entity over high school students: The College Board. These people are not your friends, and they control your ability to get into college. The College Board makes and administers the SAT and the ACT tests, which are common tests for students to take so that colleges can compare the scores of incoming freshman and take the top pick of their admissions. The AP program is nothing new, though less heard of than the SAT and ACT; exams have been administered since 1955. Instead of giving you a score which can compare you with other students, passing this exam will give you college credit for whichever course the exam is over. You get a score on a scale of 1-5, 5 being extremely prepared for the college course and 1 being not prepared at all (I guess 0 is actually a score, but I think you have to do nothing and spell your name wrong to get that). Most colleges will take a 4 or a 5 on a test for credit but sometimes you get luck and can slide by with a 3. Unfortunately, the University of Missouri has high standards for me. All my scores this year need to be at least a 4. In and of itself, that's not too bad but senioritis has definitely kicked in and I have no motivation whatsoever to study for exams that I haven't had a class for since January. Good news, at this point that only comes down to Macroeconomics and Statistics. Bad news, those are mathy classes. 

Seriously though, this time came way to fast. It seems like I hardly know anything about Government, but I guess that didn't stop me with Environmental Science. The important thing is just to stay calm and take each exam as it comes. Deep breaths.

As the AP exams go on, class continues. Which means project time! On the table this weekend is my recyclable outfit for APES. It won't be styling, it won't fit right, but gosh darn it it will be made of plastic bags! I'll attempt to upload photos for the hilarity of the internet, but I won't make any promises.

I had more to say about graduation and the end of time, but it seems as if a crisis has occurred that I need to fix elsewhere on the internet. TO BE CONTINUED

This might be my last post for a little while but I'll try to keep this thing updated. Not like I've been very diligent for the week or anything.

So two things are worth squeeing about that have happened in the last week: my last issue for the next two months of The Caledonian went out Friday and I'm leaving for Europe tomorrow afternoon. It's hard to contain my excitement.

For those of you who don't know, The Caledonian is my school's newspaper. We used to win awards and stuff in the '90s but a lot of that has gone by the wayside now. Granted, we're miles better than most of the other school papers around here but we're still lacking in, well, writing skills. I love The Caledonian dearly, and I'm proud of every issue we put out, but I'm definitely in need of a break. I can finally have my Sundays to myself and I don't have to worry about anyone getting their stories into me on time! Best of all, it's going to give my arms a rest - I was getting tendonitis there at the end. Ouch. It'll be interesting to see what those sophomores and juniors put out. I may only be out for one issue, but that's like two months in real time. Then it's just that awkward issue where nothing happens and then the Senior issue, which is entirely pictures and we pass out at graduation. Three issues from the end folks! That's how close we are.

And then there's Europe. We're going to be traveling nine days through France, Switzerland, and Germany - and it will be amazing. Just the sheer number of pictures I'm going to take is astounding. There's going to be so much to see and do! Best of all is that our chaperones are trusting us to go off into little groups by ourselves and explore the city for a couple of hours at a time. We can go where we want and do what we want, provided we're back at the rendezvous by the right time.
So. Much. Excitement.
I can't even fathom the amount of fun we're all going to have. Just chilling with my friends in foreign countries for spring break. Yay! So I'll try to post pictures when I come back.

One more things: I've decided with some people I'm dorming with next year that I'm going to do Script Frenzy! Only problem is, is that I have absolutely no idea what to write about. I'm thinking something along the lines of a musical... Anyone got any suggestions for me? I'd love the creative help!

Due to packing I have to continue, this'll be me signing off.
Good luck everyone!

80 days till graudation

Upon figuring out that I'm going away for nine whole days and that I'll actually have to pack clothes for those days, I realized that 90% of my jeans are full of holes that I didn't buy them with. That's right people - it's time for colored skinny jeans. Scary, I know. If I'm going to college in four months though, I may as well go in fashion. It might not exactly be a new trend but I'm always late on fashion. I'm actually so behind that when I saw that crochet and batik were in the magazines now I got excited that half my clothes were now in. I'm retro, without having been around for the first time it was cool.

Speaking of jumping on the train late, I broke down and got a Pinterest account the other day. At first I thought that it was the stupidest idea for a website I had ever heard of, but once I gave it a try it was actually a lot of fun. I've found some great recipes on there so far, as well as some good fashion and craft ideas, and some things that made me giggle. I'm still a newbie, so I haven't learned all the ropes yet, and God knows that most of my boards are bare, but I'll get there in the end.

What I really need to do is give the Books board some more exploring, because I'm out of good books to read. I mean, I've got some classics stacked up on my kindle (because, hey, they're free!) but I need some more contemporary material. And not nearly so depressing. Every book I've read for the past couple of months has had nothing happy in them. The only exceptions to this I can think of are The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Power of One. Both of these are absolutely amazing books. TGLaPPPS is short but you fall in love with the characters right from the very beginning. It's about a journalist who sparks up a correspondence with an island that was formerly occupied by the Germans during WWII. The book is written entirely in letters, so everyone's perspective is covered. You hear about their stories though, and what they went through during the occupation, and your heart just melts. Wonderful. TPOO is much longer, but completely worth its 513 pages. It depicts the life of an English boy growing up in South Africa around WWII, dealing with the hatred and racism that run through the country. This kid goes through some horrible stuff, and you experience it just like he would as a small child. It's magical. You feel connected to this kid and it honestly inspires you to be better, more courageous than you are. People say that about a lot of books, and I find that most of the time they aren't true - this is for realsies though. So, both of those are on my list of books you have to read before you die.

That's about all I've got. My advice of the day comes from the ever-amusing Government class: "No matter how tough you think you are, there's always someone tougher than you... that will sexually molest you." Straight from the mouth of Coach.

Goodnight and good luck everyone!
88 days until graduation

If there's ever a year for it, Senior Year should be the year of breaking free. Forget that we're going off to college and breaking the close bonds we had with our families for the past 18 years, but we're breaking free from ourselves - we're shedding the skins of our younger selves and emerging as the adults we were meant to be. We can drive, we can work, we can vote, we can serve in the military, we can have sex (and you can drink, if you're one of those Non-Americans). You can't get that much more adult than that.

Then, despite all that, why do we sometimes feel the need to tie ourselves down to things we really don't enjoy anymore?

We're Seniors for the love of God! Who's going to care in a year if we drop this club or don't hang out with this group? I can tell you: no one. We are our own people. It's not doing anyone any good if we continue to do things we don't like. If you hate it, drop it. If those people annoy you, stop going near them. If you stay where you are, you're just going to end up getting more upset, stressed, and angry than you should. There are few things in this world worth your tears, and baby, high school certainly isn't one of them. You don't have to feel obliged to be in something just because others want you to be. The thing we all have to learn this year is that we are our own people.

With those "Words of Wisdom" out of the way, let's move on to something lighter. Have you ever seen a mascot get thrown out of class? I have. He had to sit outside for the entire period. Class was actually a lot quieter and no one got in any controversial arguments about laws. And I got actual work done! Oh Government, you amuse me so.

Seeing as it's Thursday night, and I know that it's going to be a fight to get through Friday (at least for me), here's a little something to get us all through until the weekend. C'mon guys, we've all felt like that.

Through your victories and defeats, battles and classes, goodnight and good luck.
89 days until graduation.

P.S. - Romania is a developed country. It has a per capita income of about $11,700, whereas the richest developing countries are only around about $5,000. For the nerds! ^.^

Today will have to be short because my arms are killing me. A word of advice: never spend four straight hours writing by hand.

So, what exactly is Romania? I'm doing a project in APES where I compare certain population aspects of a developed country and a developing country - I have Romania as my developed country and Indonesia as my developing country. I think I might have picked two from the same list, because if Romania is a developed country then we set the bar low. Granted, everything I know about Romania comes from Top Gear specials and browsing the web today (oh, and Dracula lived there), but it doesn't seem like a country that has a firm grip on developedness.
Romania, as depicted by the U.S. Department of State; what Romania is probably really like.
Plus, it's had more distinct famines in the last 80 years than Indonesia. Indonesia. As far as I remember, a lot of people go hungry in Indonesia on a regular basis. Maybe there was a famine that never stopped and then it just became normal. I'll have to be looking into that.

Also, I have seen the light! God came down and touched my kitchen today because I finished the cheesecakes! You can really only have one in a sitting otherwise you'll get sick but they're like heaven in your mouth. I love baking. My next feat will be Better Than Sex Chex Mix, in which I do not tell my mother what I'm making. Telling my mother would be bad, and I value my hands.

Have you ever seen a kid's eyes light up? I get that every week, and no matter what mood I'm in I'm always a lot happier when I leave. I went to meet with my intermediate school kid today to help with his reading. He's such a sweet kid. I wouldn't want to piss him off though (he goes Hulk and flips over tables). I've got to find a way to get him off comics though. They're fine, but I think his biggest issue is following story lines and descriptions that don't go along with pictures. He's got pronunciation down pat. We go through a ton of Naruto, Spiderman, and now we're on Maximum Ride manga, but it seems like the plot lines in regular books bore him. I don't help much; my genre of books when I was his age is way off from what he wants to read. *sigh* If only he could see the good in Eragon! Anyone out there have any good suggestions for me?

My arms are giving out. Mayday! Systems failing!
To everyone, goodnight and good luck.

90 days until graduation

So, since I've been feeling like I want to punch someone every day for the past couple of weeks, I'm deciding to blog about my life.

Bring on the cliches!

I know that no one will probably read this, but I'm okay with that. I just need to get it out there. And if someone gets a kick out of the things going on in my day, then I've done some good.

Here goes nothing...

I am declaring today a Good Day. I woke up and it just felt like it. Maybe sleep is the key to happiness. I like that. It should be promoted more. Also, I should not almost be done with my first block class and shops aren't open. That's just wrong. Because the world obviously revolves around high school students. Just saying, if everyone was up with the high school kids there would probably be a lot less crime at night. No one would want to be up that late! Maybe my logic is naive and optimistic, but I think it could be going somewhere.

In a Good Day, I find that I dress nicer; I actually put on shirts that I want people to see and don't just pull on a hoodie. Also, I like to bake. Today's Good Day recipe was Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bites. Heart attack in a cupcake, I know. Sometimes you just have to break loose though. Yeah, baking incredibly delicious and sugary food is my definition of breaking loose. So far I've only made the cheesecakes (they're setting in the fridge now) and I'll leave them until tomorrow so that they'll be all set for the chocolate glaze. I don't think I'll be able to eat more than one; all that richness in one bite will knock me out for a while. It just feels good to get back to baking though. You can't be mad or upset or sad when you're baking; you just smell the cake batter and get a little taste of that frosting and you remember all the sweet things in life. And then all of a sudden, whatever you were going through doesn't seem so bad anymore. You just focus on the mixing and the timing, and sit back to watch the cookies brown. Life would be a lot more pleasant if some people just took the time to bake once in a while.

Anyways, back to my day. Gym was, well, gym. AP Government was hilarious. As always. My government teacher is one of those types where you never know whether he's kidding or not. He can scare the crap out of you, but when he's in a good mood (usually a diet Coke is involved) he gets a lot nicer. Story time is usually involved. This gem was from one of his high school football recruiting trip stories where some kids got really mad that they had their beer stolen in a dry county they were visiting:
"They rammed the curtain rod through the wall and tossed a TV out a six story window into the swimming pool. Good times were had by all."
We get these a lot.
By now we know that 10 degrees is the optimum angle to put your trampoline at so you can jump off the roof of the garage and bounce into the pool, that by putting pieces of pencil lead into an electrical socket and laying another on top you can light a cigarette in prison, and that someone with ABDL tattooed on them is probably a White Supremacist. We haven't had a lecture on government once this semester but I'm probably learning more this way, what with the commentary on articles from The Googles, The Yahoos, and Them Left-Wing Liberals (msnbc.com).

You know that one class where you just want to put your head down and never bring it back up? That's my AP Environmental Science class. A girl in 3rd block accuses my 4th block class cheating on the test, so you'd assume that the teacher would yell at us right? Nope. You're dead wrong. She's gives 3rd block a pop quiz because they listen to gossip. Now, I love my teacher (Ms. A) because she's such a sweet lady and so random, but she really should have gone with 3rd block girl. The people in my class just take advantage of Ms. A all the time and it pisses me off. Royally pisses me off. And not only do they convince Ms. A to let us not have lectures (which screws us for the tests) and get away with cheating on everything they can't get out of, they make fun of her behind her back. If there's one thing I can't stand it's talking about other people behind their backs.
Really people? You're the future of the US? I might as well move overseas right now and take away the middle man.
Just keep thinking of college.

Seeing as my study packets are calling my name and that I value my sanity, it's time to sign off. In the words Edward R Murrow, good night and good luck.
91 days until graduation.

 P.S.  I posted my November novel on my inkpop site, so I'll post the link to it here. I haven't edited it yet, so it's still a work in progress, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway. ^^

I have successfully failed at being a frequent LJ poster, I will admit it. But to make up for this lack of posting I have a special offering...

DUN DU DU DAAAAAAH!

Novels! Woo!

So, I spent the whole of November writing a 50,000 word novel which I actually did finish, so I've very proud of that. It is far, far too long to post here though (even with an LJ cut) so I apologize. On the other hand, I have started a new novel in the Steampunk genre. I've got chapter one written so far, so I will post that ->
( here ).

As I write more I will post the other chapters, on the condition that anyone out there that reads it will do two things: 1) please don't steal my writing. I work really hard on this stuff and I would hate to pop in to the bookstore one day and find my story out for sale without my name (or pseudonym) in the byline. I trust you guys, peoples of the interwebs, so respect the effort. 2) I would appreciate any feedback that you can give me, even if it's as trivial as a comma out of place or a wonky sentence. I very much enjoy other people's opinions and take each and every on of them into consideration when I'm working on a story.

So enjoy guys! And get back to me soon.

Until Chapter Two...
Moony

 OK, so I have finally figured out what I am going to do with this LJ account, and that is find my favorite news story or video clip of the day and write an article on it. This one is about a pretty awesome bus that got hijacked in Kansas City, Kansas  and then caught on fire. If you They got a dash-cam video of it, so if you want to see the flames here's the link. And here goes my story....


Residents of Kansas City, Kansas were baffled September 10th as news of a bus hijacking gone wrong hit headlines.

The incident began Friday morning, September 10th with a failed carjacking. Running, alleged bus-jacker Steven Donnell (46) tried to catch a bus at a local Area Transport Authority (ATA) station to escape police. This is when things turned sour.

"I'm takin' this bus, get off the bus," the bus' operator Monique Madison said, describing what was said to her by Donnell. "So he started pulling me, like to pull me out of the seat, kind of rough... [A]nd I let him have it."

About six people were on board at the time, but Madison ordered them off before Donnell took off on a 30 minute chase across the city which ended in flames.

"Apparently one of the tire was blown out during that chase," KMBC Team Coverage correspondent Peggy Breit said.

The bus rolled to a stop at an intersection where police then caught up with it just before the entire bus burst into flames. No one was killed or injured in the incident, including Donnell who was taken into police custody from the scene.



Ah, ah? What 'cha think? If you want to compare it to an actual, published news story on the event click here, or if you want to see the entire broadcasted coverage of the story from the KMBC news station click here.

I only have one question in all of this: why in the name of god would you steal a bus? Sure he was on the run, but a crazy bus crashing into stuff and flaming isn't exactly inconspicuous. Plus, he could have just gotten on the bus and ridden. Sometimes I think people are just completely infatuous.

Yeah, so my college admissions piece got edited and sent off to the article dump yesterday, so this officially means I don't have to do anything in newspaper. Funny, I've been out of J1 for about 6 months, but I still want to call newspaper 'journalism'. Anyway, so this means that my first official news story as a staff member is going to be printed soon. Yay.

Sadly enough, we only have 4 ads sold and we need $900 to print this issue. Does this mean I have off campus more with my friends and look for ads, and possibly get fast food? I think so.

In other writing news, essays to be written and a feature story on the golf cart security guard is in the works. We'll just see how those turn out.