This One Time, At Band Camp...

Guess where I've been every weekday since last Thursday? Band Camp! It's not an overnight camp, but lasts all day every day. It's a lot of fun, and pretty tough.

I'm lucky enough to be the only freshman trumpet player, because our third trumpet decided to become a drummer (dummer?) and our first trumpet became a flag girl. There's only five trumpet players in all, from senior to freshman. We have the melody of virtually every song, so we have to make it sound like there are about 20 of us. Needless to say, my chops are dead at the end of each day.

I'm kind of shocked at how much I've been able to learn in just this past week. Roll steps, how to turn, managing to cover a distance that would normally be 2 steps in 44, while playing an instrument. We've got very ambitious formations for the half-time show, and it's tough. In one song, we have 56 steps to move about three yards. In another, 16 steps to move 15 yards. Running backwards, in time to music you're supposed to be playing, is very difficult.

Our theme this year is "decades", with a song from the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's. They are:

• Rockin' Robin
• Surfin' USA
• Old Time Rock 'n' Roll
• Mickey

"Rockin' Robin" is incredibly easy, and has pretty simple moves. The toughest part is going backwards and ending up as part of a diagonal, but I'm managing. "Surfin' USA" is about the same, although we have a solo we need to memorize. I can barely hit all the notes in it, so at a few points I just mime the fingerings (don't tell anyone!). "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll" is the one with the whole "44 steps, 1 yard" thing going on. The one trumpet player literally stays on the same yard line the entire song. "Mickey" is the toughest, with lots of running, both backwards and forwards. At one point everyone forms two circles and the guys have to go inside of them. At that point, everyone stops playing and the girls do the "Hey Mickey" cheer thing. I get to stand in the middle, looking embarrassed while being serenaded. Then we literally run across the field, to form a giant triangle thing.

Despite how tough it is, it's pretty impressive. I'm proud of myself, and how well the section is doing. My back, feet, and lips kill at the end of each day, but it's still a ton of fun.

(P.S.: I wrote this entire post on a Windows 98 powered by dial-up, at an elementary school's library. I've been sliding the rolley chair between two different computers, just so I can achieve about the same things I could with one window and tabbed browsing. Mad props to those who have to surf the net like this every single day.)

Green Day!

Guess where I was last night? A GREEN DAY CONCERT!!! Woohoo! It totally rocked. This was my first actual rock concert, and quite a good introduction to the concept.

We got the tickets off of Craigslist, a nerve wracking experience for my mom. She was afraid they would be counterfeit, which is a valid concern. When we met the guy in the parking lot, my mom wanted to be able to write his license plate down so we could track him down if they were.

"Drew, do you have a pencil?"

"Only this unsharpened one."

"Here, let me see it."

She proceeded to use my dull pocket knife to sharpen it, leaning out the window to avoid getting wood chips in the car. That is what he pulled up seeing: a person leaning out the window waving a knife about. Poor guy must have been terrified.

They said "obstructed" on them, which we took to mean a score board or something in our way. It turns out we were directly behind a huge black curtain. Needless to say, we weren't happy. Fortunately, they were redirecting everyone with tickets for there to seats parallel to the stage, with a great view.

The were opened for by The Bravery, whom I had never listened to before. For those of you who don't feel like looking them up and haven't listened to them, they sound like Coldplay, with a bit of The Cure thrown in when they're live. The singer was very New Wave, which was amusing. Their set was pretty short, and riddled with technical difficulties. I still really liked them, and thought, "I'll probably be opening for them in the future."

Then Green Day came on. AMAZING!!! I swear, they played for three hours. Billie Joe came on stage and immediately cussed us all out because we weren't all dancing. I was, though! I danced the entire concert, and am paying for it today...ahaha.

He did this weird thing during the song "East Jesus Nowhere" that I thought was pretty cool. He started out by asking the audience who wanted to be saved, and everyone started screaming. He was saying all this biblical stuff, and then launched into the song. Towards the end, he asked the audience to send a child onstage, from the mosh pits. This little nine year old came up, and said his name and all that good stuff. Billie Joe held his hand to the kids forehead and said biblical stuff again, and then BAM! The band launched into the loud parts of the song again, fireworks went off, and the kid fell backwards onto the ground, spread eagle.

When the song ended, He shouted at the kid, "Get the f**k off my stage now, you little brat!!" it was pretty funny.

They managed to make every song last 10-20 minutes, with audience participation. He had people come onstage and sing, and at one point a guy came up from the mosh pits and played guitar. He was incredibly ADHD, with all his running and jumping and stuff. I want to write a description of all the songs, but then we'd be here all night. "Holiday" was sweet, and "Hitchin' a Ride" went on forever.

One other cool song was "King For a Day". I'd never heard it before, and thought he was singing "Gay For a Day". I had good reason to think that, too. The lights were rainbow, and the whole band was dressed up like Village People. Billie Joe did...inappropriate things to the stage, and launched into falsetto covers of "Shout!" and that song from Back To The Future Pt. 1. It was hilarious, and incredibly well done.

It was freaky, towards the end. They had cameramen all around the catwalk into the pit, and the images were being projected onto the screen behind them. The images were all filtered, so they looked like the cover of Transformer (old Lou Reed album - anyone heard of it?). He was singing right at the camera, and my mom tapped me on the shoulder.

"Drew, he looks just like you on screen!"

And he did, in a way. His hair was a bit shorter, but other than that we looked alike. It was pretty crazy.

All in all, it was a pretty amazing first concert. I wish I could go on about it for hours, but then of course you'd get bored (if you're not already). My parting comment is: No one knows how to pogo anymore, and not enough people get into the music as much as they should. My neck hurts, and my throat absolutely kills, but it was SOO worth it. Someday I'll be the one onstage!!

Indiana (Pt. 1?)

Does anyone remember me mention I was in Indiana a few weeks ago? Well, I believe the time is here for me to post about it.

The place in Indiana I was in specifically was a small town called Friendship. It actually has a Wikipedia page, which is interesting considering I could stand on top of the town bank and see all the way to the other side. It's significant because of an event that occurs there twice a year: the NMLRA (National Muzzle-Loading Rifle Association) has it's national shoot there. I've been to it before, once when I was four and once when I was eight, but there is a difference between those times and this time; this time I was actually shooting in it. A national competition.

The reason I was there before was my family has always been involved in the NMLRA's functions, My grandparents especially. They have a booth set up on the commercial row to sell stuff at, and my grandpa, mom, and uncle used to shoot in the competitions they have there.

Shooting on a national range was pretty cool, actually. It was like a giant pavilion, with a big bench running down the middle. Most of the people there had enormous tackle boxes filled with loading supplies and who knows what else, while I stood there with my little pouch and tiny box. It wasn't bad, since my grandpa functioned as coach and was there to chat with the whole time.

I shot well, scoring in a few different matches. I took second in an NRA match, and third in a 4H match. The medals were really cool looking, and I got a certificate. In addition, I got bragging rights that I shot and placed in a national competition. Woohoo!

I'd like to update you on the other cool stuff there, such as the flea markets, and the not-so-cool stuff there such as the southern accents, but I have to go to work. woohoo...! If you remind me, I'll post about them soon!

Another COS Update

Quick post today, my apologies. I just want to ask you dear readers to take a look at the following link:

http://www.myspace.com/crushofsociety

that's right - it's Crush Of Society's MySpace! It is very plain at the moment, but I guarantee it will be completely glorified in a little while. As it is, you can add us and see the line-up, perhaps read a bit about our style. Oh, and of course - listen to us play! That's right, I have a song up. It's a horrible recording, because I broke the mic on my MP3 by setting it on my amp a while back. Despite that, it's still us.

So, check it out. Who knows, maybe you're all lucky enough to be fans of the next world-famous band!

Crush Of Society Update And Me Losing The Battle

When WAS the last time I posted about Crush Of Society? I have no clue, nor the motivation to check.

We finally have all instruments necessary to play music. At our last - and only - practice, I borrowed a snare drum from the school. Now that's it summer, we can't really do that anymore. So, I used my vast network of musician friends to find a cheap drum kit. By that, I mean I was chatting with the band's former drummer when I found out he was selling his old kit for $75. I saved up, and went over the other day to pick it up.

It's actually in nice condition, which surprised me. I mean, only 75 bucks? That's pretty crazy. There's only one hole in the skins, and the cymbals, while dented horribly, are still playable. They're black, my favourite colour.

I'd like to have Bobby and Stephen over so we can actually use it, but Stephen (the drummer, for those of you not in the know) is on a scouting outing the whole week. I'm not, because I finally dropped out.

It's kind of a bummer, because I feel like I lost a three year battle with my evil leaders. However, it was just becoming so painful and worthless. They had given up on me, I had given up on caring. I started wearing my leather jacket everywhere, not showing in uniform, ignoring instructions, what have you. The people I actually liked in the troop are currently fellow future rock stars with me in COS, so it's not like I'll fall out of contact with them.

Anywhoo...I'll post any songs recorded on here, for all of you dear readers!

OH NO!

So - I'm at the public library typing this. Want to know why I'm sitting here, surrounded by weirdos, instead of at home with Scrubs playing in the back ground? Read on.

As a few of you may already know, I spent the last week in Indiana. I was there for a national shooting competition with my mom and grandparents, and had a lot of fun. I'll probably post more about that later, when I have more time.

Anyway, my mom decided to bring our computer. Even though we were going to be in a giant valley with zero coverage, it seemed like a good idea. Not so much. We kept it in their trailer for "safekeeping", and left it there when we were packing. While I am sitting here in a library in Michigan, the dear computer is in my grandparent's trailer in Indiana. about 9 hours away. DUDE!

The G&G aren't coming home until Wednesday, either, so there's no hope of getting it before then. Am I going into withdrawals? Yes. No point in acting tough right now. The computer is my main source of entertainment, as well as communication with friends. I hate using phones, although it looks like that's my only option for now.

This is a very long way of saying, I'm sorry if I fail to comment on your blogs the next few days. We'll probably be coming to the library again, before Wednesday, but there's no guarantees. Please, Dear Readers, wish me luck. It's gonna be a long four days.

The Winner Is...

Aquafina Chapstick!
I'm glad people actually voted, and took the difficulty away from me with figuring out a post. So, Aquafina Chapstick. Good choice, if I may say so myself.

I discovered this stuff last year, around the beginning of the school year. My mom and I were both running low on chapstick, so we made a trip to the local Walgreen's and took a look at their selection. I quickly grabbed some crappy Blistex, not caring enough to look at the other stuff. My mom, however, opted for a kind we'd never seen before, the previously mentioned Aquafina stuff. She raved about it, but I really didn't care.

A few weeks later, however, I forgot to grab the crappy Blistex when I was getting ready for school. Panicking, already feeling my lips start to crack and bleed and cause people to vomit at the sight of me, I asked my mom if she had any chapstick. "Well, I have an extra stick of that Aquafina stuff. Want to use that?" Too desperate to care, I took it and used it. Little did I know, it was the best thing on earth!

It tingles when you use it, and stays hydrating for almost 3 hours! Plus, if you drink Aquafina water, it feels weird (honestly, I think it would work with any cold water. Our school's vending machine only supplies that, though). I used it non stop the whole winter, glad we had bought a 3 pack.

However, one fateful day, I ran out. When i looked for another stick of it, I discovered we had run out. I forced my mother to take us into town immediately, so we could get more. After three different store's chapstick displays, I realized it wasn't going to be easy to find. Eventually, we found some at WalMart, but it was in a different form, with fruity flavours. Also, it didn't tingle. I was unsatisfied, and checked the lipbalm display at every store we went to. I experimented with other stuff, but none of it was quite as good. I had given up hope.

Fast forward to last weekend. We were at Meijer, getting some plants, when my mom wandered over to the chapstick thing. "Drew, come quickly!!" I ran over, and felt my heart fill with joy as I saw she held three three-packs of it. "Can we get them all?" I questioned. "of course!". I was a happy person.

When we got out to the car, I grabbed the bag it was in and pulled them out. I ripped the packaging open, and selected a stick. Finally! Joy was once again possible.

Are you glad you all selected that? Me too. I might post about the other things, too, but for now you will have to make due with that. I wonder if Aquafina will pay me money for writing this...
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to put on some chapstick.

Writer's Block

Hello. I'm sorry for my absence, but I have had a bit of writer's block. I've currently got 3 different drafts in my post list, all about various topics I've given thought to writing about. Chapstick, left handed-ness, and bands I like. However, all of them lack inspiration. "Does anyone really want to read about this?" I've asked myself.

So, I will ASK everyone what they want to hear about. If you scroll around the side, eventually you'll discover a poll asking exactly that: what should I write about? Vote now, please, before all th good statistics are taken! I'm only keeping this thing up for one day, so be quick.

Week Highlights, Featuring A Starring Role By Thursday

Wow, this week has been a boring-ness record setter (although it's always fun to make up words!). On Monday and Wednesday, my only major tasks were to go to the gym and sweat too much, then play my bass guitar when I got home. Not too impressive, I know. On Tuesday I went shooting, once again something not worth writing about.

Yesterday was a little more interesting, but only in a slight sense. We had our music awards assembly, which is separate from the regular awards ceremony because, well, band is awesome. I stayed in my mom's classroom the entire time between school getting out and the assembly, which was about 4 hours. Can you say boring? Even though I was reading a really funny non-Blogger blog called The Sneeze and listening to David Bowie.

Finally, at 6:15, a good quarter hour before it started, my mother and I headed over to the High School it was being held at. "Hey mom, why do you think there are so many cars already?" Turns out I got the time wrong, and it started at 6 instead of 6:30. As I walked into the room, trying to remain unnoticed, they called all 8th graders who had been in band all three years to the stage. Super. It was actually pretty cool, because we got medals for our varsity jackets, a pin in the shape of our instrument (or multiple pins for those over-achiever types), and a polo for Marching Band next year.

There was quite a problem with shirt sizes, because of warehouse issues. I got a children's medium, with a girl's cut none the less. Ironically, my mother and I had a conversation about how one should not want to be like David Bowie because of cross-dressing just a few hours ago, haha. I found a friend who could actually fit into that size, and traded for a slightly larger shirt. However, still not satisfied, I went up on stage with the rest of the upset polo-people and got a different shirt. This one might fit, but I'm concerned about what will happen if it shrinks in the wash.

Today Ashley is having a party, and I'm looking forward to it. It will be the fourth party on a Friday I'll have been to in a row, and if I get to go to my friend Tessa's party next Friday I'll make it to five! Of course, I'll be the only guy at this evening's event. I was even the only guy at my own party, for goodness sake! Fortunately, I don't really mind.

Well, I've got to go to work so I can hopefully make enough money to buy a drum kit from my friend, thus completing Crush Of Society's equipment needs for the moment. Have a great weekend!

Musical Monday

Does anyone remember the time I said, "I'm not going to participate in Musical Monday until it's my own work"? No? Well, I remember saying it. You've waited a while, but today is the day. I had to play my bass guitar for a mock-interview at school, and had a friend film it. It's a horrible performance, possibly due to nerves, so please excuse me.

I know, I messed up the song Money pretty bad. After the first riff, I couldn't seem to find the bottom string with my pick. Also, I messed up the second part of it by totally forgetting how to do it. Notice, however, that I did not stop playing. That, at least, is pretty good.

The dude who walks in at the end of the video is my school principal, Mr. Haynes. Apparently my playing was so loud it could be heard at the end of the hall. He said, "Were you just playing Cream?" He must be a fan.

I played again for the teacher's 4th hour class, because of some little joke they have going. I guess whenever a person did an interview as a musician or singer, this one kid shouted, "Play Smoke On The Water!!" No one had, so the teacher felt I should. I then played the rest of my "set" for them, including a non-horrible version of Money.

One last thing - If you look closely at my leg, you'll see I'm wearing the skull bandanna I received with that cool prize pack. Thanks again, Eve! My teacher commented how I really pulled off the "rocker" look. I dressed the way I normally do, and it seemed to work.

Prize Pack!!

Yay! I got my prize pack from Eve @ Through Eve's Looking-Glass today! For those of you who don't know, a few weeks ago I guessed the number 42 on a contest to see how many buttons there were in a box. I wasn't even aware what the prize was, I just like to guess The Answer (look in my archives if you don't know what I'm talking about). Turns out I was only 3 off, so I won. The prize pack was as follows - Eve was kind enough to throw in some guy stuff for me, and I plan on giving the rest to Ashley and a few other peeps.

• A Pixies CD - I've been wanting to look them up for a while, but they don't have any CDs at the library
• Two packs of HT mints
• A bunch of sweet buttons and pins
• A pen that changes sayings when you click it
• Two bandanas - the pink one shown, and one covered in multi-colored skulls that I had tied around my leg at the time of the photo-taking
• A lanyard
• A lunchbox full of stickers and nail-thingys
• A compact mirror
• Chapstick - lime flavored!
• A HT baggy
  
• A music download thing
• A CD with a bunch of the songs she's featured on her blog, with a list

Plus, a very nice written letter! I was really glad when I saw it in the mailbox. Actually, I thought it was the CD I ordered A MONTH AGO, but then I realized it was due to come any day. The mail person stuffed it in the mailbox sideways, despite the multiple arrows pointing "UP" drawn on the side. Darn mail people always do that to stuff, too...no matter.

I let my mom scavange through the girly stuff, and she took the stickers, box, pen and chapstick. I'll give the rest to Ashley, 'cept for the pink bandana - one of my friends dyed her hair pink recently, and I think it will match.

Thanks a ton, Eve, for this awesome prize pack! I totally love it! Although, with the CDs, you're contributing to my juvenial delinquicy - I'm even more of a pirate, now! Haha, I'm kidding. Three cheers for prizes won with 42!

Tagged...

Ashley at mehh blog. it's kewl. ;] tagged me for a survey yesterday. Not being one to disappoint Boyd's World readers, here it is:

•Think back to yesterday; what were you doing around this time?

Probably reading blogs, and IMing friends.

•Was the last time you went to the doctor's an unpleasant experience?

It was today, and although they stuck (3) needles in my arms, it wasn't too horrible. I go every week, because I need my allergy shots.

•Who is your favorite person on the radio?

Umm, the people who play THE MUSIC!

•Do you have a pop-up blocker?

The one that comes with Mozilla.

•Did you enjoy the last thing you ate, and what was it?

It was some decent tortilla chippage.

•How's your hair at the moment?

flat, because I've been wearing my new hat since school got out.

•Who was the last person to insult you and what did they say?

John, screaming, "Impeach the Class President!" It's not my fault I punched him (and embarrassed him) in front of the entire class. He was asking for it!

•Look at your planner for March 14th; what are you doing?

Who knows, that's in a year.

•Do you think marriage is only meant for a man and a woman?

Nope, not at all.

•What is your display name on Yahoo! Answers?

I have no clue, I think I've used it once...

•Why don't you tell us your password, for anything?

Sure! It's **********!

•Where did you take your profile pic?

In my basement, at my party a few weeks ago.

•Would you ever move to Canada?

Nope.

•Do you have nicknames for your friends? If so, what are some of them?

Some friends, but not many. I call Will "Willy" to irritate him, and I call Ashley "Ash" when I am to lazy to pronounce more than one syllable.

•Have you ever made up a song about a teacher?

That doesn't really make sense, and no.

•Are you allowed to swear in front of your parents?

Everything except for f**k.

•Have you ever had a black and white cat?

sadly, I've never had a cat.

Now, I get to tag people. I tag:

Everyone!

I'd like to say I did that so everyone would be encouraged to blog more, but really I just don't feel like spending 15 minutes extra getting everyones' hyperlinks. I apologize, but I think all of you should do it. Just make sure to wait until it's a day I don't have any homework, so I'll have time to read it in the morning.

My Week In Paragraphs

Hmm, what to post about? I have a bunch of topics, but I can't choose which to post about. I know! I'll do all of them!

On Tuesday, we had the most important Quiz Bowl thing of the year. It's called the Tournament of Champions, and is unlike other matches because it is all solo. You are chosen to do different categories (math, science current events, etc.) based on test scores you submit a few weeks before. They have trophies for each one, as well as a medal for the top ten places in the quiz bee (more on that in a sec) and a scholarship for the person who gets the most collective points. I had planned on beating the record set by this one cool dude named Matt last year, 8 trophies (and the scholarship). I didn't, but I did get first place in the general 8th grade match and sixth in the quiz bee.

The quiz bee is this thing for everyone to participate in, and is set up with a two strikes you're out system. They go in a big circle, asking progressively more difficult questions. Each question goes to up to three people before it is thrown out. It's really fun, but takes FOREVER. In sixth grade I took third place, which is pretty good. I got a trophy, which was cool.

The second cool event I wanted to blog about was a party I went to on Friday. It was at this one dude's house I'd never been to before, and sounded fun. IT WAS! I think most of my fun was contributed to by the fact I had about three Mountain Dews, and was totally hyper. I seriously haven't had that much fun at a party since my friends the Eisenharts moved. We played some GH (turns out singing on that is tough), sat around a fire for a while, and then chilled in his basement. It was fun, all in all.

Finally, yesterday I went to a Detroit Tiger's game. It was very cool, even though they lost. I got a sunburn, though, because it was REALLY sunny out. We were in the nosebleeds, but I didn't care, because when you are you don't have to pay as much attention to the actual game. I envied those just a little further away, under the shade of the awnings that are at the very top of the stadium. I also had a VERY delicious breakfast before the game. It was an omelet, with bacon mixed in and tons of cheese all over it. YUM!!!

Basically, I've had a very fun week. I would have blogged about it all sooner, but well, I was busy having the fun. My apologies for that.

8th Grade Awards

Wow, two posts in a week. Freaky, right? I'm trying to write more often, to make my readers happy people. Also, this is something I want to blog about while it's still semi-in my head.

Monday night was our 8th grade awards ceremony, which is like a small-scale graduation. Everyone dresses nice, we all get awards and stuff, it's very well run. I have always enjoyed awards ceremonies, because, well, I tend to get recognized a lot. I'm a bit of an attention whore, so this works well for me. This year there was a major award up for grabs, the Ted Stine award, and there were ten people eligible. I was one of them, and had made getting it my personal goal. More on it later, if you'll bear with me.

I was dressed for success, with an all black outfit. The only non-black article of clothing I had on was my awesome red skinny tie, as can be seen in my profile. I also had my black studded punk belt on, although I took off the screaming skull bottle opener belt buckle before hand. I doubt I would have been able to find a situation that night that it would have been necessary to risk spilling a liquid all over my crotch just to open a bottle.

Before it started, both the band and choir performed. Band played a song we've been working on the last few weeks, called "Rock Around The Clock". Despite the name, it's a pretty jazzy piece, with a trumpet solo in the middle. It sounded great, although both the other trumpet and I were a little nervous. The choir sang some song after that, with lots of solos. Then, the ceremony officially started, and we played the Star Spangled Banner (well, I might add). We also played one more song, a medley of songs from Grease. It transitioned into Pomp And Circumstance, a little trick we planned that no one but the band knew about. It was great!

After that was really the focusing moment of the ceremony, for me. They called up the Class officers, and recognized us all. Then, the teacher in charge turned and said, "Now Drew, I believe you have a few words?" I said yes, and headed to the podium. I had figured giving my speech wouldn't be that horrible, because I enjoy public speaking. However, I've never spoken to a PACKED gymnasium in front of all my teachers, fellow classmates, and everybody's parents. I'm shaking just writing about it, quite honestly. Every single person I've spoken to has said I sounded incredibly confident, and really relaxed. The reason they think that is because they weren't close enough to see my entire body shake. I've never been so nervous, and I was the whole way through. My last line was "Honestly, this classes' future is so bright, I'm gonna need shades" and I had planned on pulling a pair of sunglasses that I had conveniently hidden up there and putting them on. I had them up there, but I just couldn't do it. Everyone tells me I should have, and I respond by saying "If I had moved and inch, my knees would have given out". 100 percent of my concentration was on keeping my voice calm.

Halfway through it, right after I thanked the principals, the audience erupted in applause. Umm...I'm not done yet!! I held up my hand to try and silence them, but it did nothing. I actually considered just ending the speech there, but I spent too long on it to do that. I finished it, and was pleased with the applause.

After that was the part where everyone walked up and got their packet 'o' certificates. It was boring as all get out, because there are about 150 kids in our class. I was fidgety, too, because the next award was the one I had been waiting for. It was the Ted Stine one I mentioned earlier. In order to get it, you have to have a 4.o (except for in algebra 1, because that's a high school class), show leadership qualities, participate in extracurricular activities, and have no major discipline problems.

I achieved all of those (yay), and it pretty much came down between this one girl I don't really know and I. She got it, but they gave all ten people eligible a plaque. Ashley was another one of the canidates. Really, I'm OK with just the plaque. I think she got it because, well, she is a bit less of a trouble maker. Award winning students tend not to wear biker jackets, possess a rock and roll attitude, and talk as much as me. Now it's time to work at Valedictorian, ha ha.

The past few days I've felt a bit like a celebrity, what with all the congrats I've been getting on the speech. I was really proud of myself, and I think that's good.

Shooting Competition

Yesterday, as anyone who is friends with me on Facebook or MySpace probably already know, I went to a little shooting thing. It was about an hour away from where I live, at a club that seems to be suffering in both the membership and equipment departments. I went to it last year, and had a lot of fun, but I wasn't exactly looking forward to it this year. No reason, just a case of the "I don't wanna".

However, it turned out to be a lot of fun. It was exclusively muzzleloader, and only with caplock and flintlock guns. There were a bunch of competitions, and we shot in all but two. Last year when we went there were a ton of people shooting, but this year there were only 13 (at the peak). This was because a guy who's been a member since the beginning was having his 50th anniversary party that day. I enjoyed it with fewer shooters, because that meant fewer introductions to people who seem to know me but I don't know. I get tired of hearing, "My, last time I saw you, you were only this big!" It gets tiring.

The first couple of competitions were just regular shooting, and I did pretty good. I used my own gun, which probably helped, and the targets were easy. After that, we had lunch, and i figured that would help me because I was literally shaking with hunger. It might have helped my shakiness, but I still did pretty horrible. WE went and shot a caplock pistol, which was deceptively difficult. It seems all easy when other people do it, but I didn't hit the target any of the five times I shot. That definitely brought my scores down a bit. After that, we shot a flintlock smoothbore, which was just horrible. I took forever to get all five shots into the target. I'm going to blame that on the equipment, because my patch knife was dull and the roundballs were too small for the gun. Eventually though, after nearly cutting myself on the flint a few times, I got the entire thing shot. WE brought the stuff for throwing knives and tomahawks, but I took so long they were pulling down the targets and adding up the scores by the time we were ready.

I got a cool mug thing with "1776" in this sweet script across the front of it, as I was the only kid there. I also got bundle of rope, of which purpose I am as yet unaware of. After that, this one dude who spent half the time napping on the ground (seriously) pulled out an acoustic guitar and started playing some weird country ballad. It was really, really odd.
however, all in all, it was pretty cool.

Party And Review

Today was my birthday party, finally, and it was pretty fun. The only problem was, the more people I invite, the fewer actually come. I invited about 7 people to this one, and two people showed up. I think it has something to do with my shrinking friend base, which is concerning. I got in a fight with one of my only friends that is a dude, and I had to go out of my normal circle to try and keep the gender balance even today. It was not, as the two that showed up were both girls. It was still a lot of fun though, despite the fact we had very little to do.

A more monumental event occurred today, though: the release of Green Day's new album, 21st Century Breakdown. It is a rock opera, like it's predecessor American Idiot. It is all about two kids in my graduating class, and refers to my mom's generation as well.

It's split into three acts, like a play. It is like a play in it's story line, as well: it describes various events in the two kids' lives. It is incredibly long, somewhere around an hour and a half. That may not sound like much, until you put it all on one disc. The Wall was put into 2 discs, and so was Tommy, so there isn't much to compare it to. I'm guessing it will be made into a play, like American Idiot is. I it ever comes to my neck of the woods, they had better cast me.
This post was a little like a review, so I'll rate it:

five out of five stars

It is seriously great. Better sounding than American Idiot, more in depth than The Black Parade. If you have the means to get, I'd recommend it. Oh, and if you get it from Target, they throw in a bonus disc of live performances in Japan. It's worth the extra couple bucks, in my opinion.

Second 5K

Today has been pretty eventful, I have to say. I haven't gotten enough sleep yet, despite my 2 hour nap this afternoon.

It started out with me being woken up at about 6:30, to run a 5K. Seriously. I'm not even ready to be awake at that time of the morning, let alone run a freakin' 3.2 mile race! My mom also wanted to show up early, so she could verify some problems with our bib numbers. We got there an hour before it started, and got to stand around and look dumb most of that time. There were a few of my old Elementary teachers there, but most of them didn't recognize me. Well, not at first, until they saw my mom. Not shocking, considering my hair is down to my shoulders now, and I'm about a foot and a half taller than I was then. We also saw the son of one of the guys I shoot with, and spoke to him for a while.


Finally, the race started. It was a bit more accurate than the Lansing one, because they gave us little sensors that activated when we crossed the lines, not when the actual race started. My goal was 30 minutes, and it was a tough one. It didn't help that, practically as soon as I crossed the starting line, the rain they had been predicting started down. Soon, it felt like there was hail coming down. I didn't have to stop to get water, I just held my mouth open and tilted my head upward. As soon as I crossed the finish line, the sun came out. It looked, and felt, like I had jumped into a swimming pool with all my clothes on. It was horribly wet.

I ALMOST didn't make my goal, either. The first mile went by really fast, but after that, it dragged on. I thought I was going to run off into the grass and puke towards the end of it. I blame the fact my clothing was about 2 pounds heavier than usual because of water. I ran the whole way, though, and finally made it to the finish line. The giant digital display read: 30:02. I cursed silently, because if I had said any of it aloud, people's ears would fall off. Then I remembered the chip thingy they used, and that I had a late start. *phew* My final time was 29:34. I beat my goal, and with 26 seconds to spare!!!

It was a fun race, but I wouldn't advise running to those who consider themselves sane. It's not a sane thing to do, torturing yourself for no apparent reason. I'm still waiting on the 6 pack and zero body fat, but it hasn't occurred yet. I have kind of lost my chipmunk cheeks, which greatly pleases me. When people see Jim Morrison as my default on sites occasionally, they sometimes say, "that's not you" with a hint of doubt, or ask me when the picture was taken.

Seriously, someone save me from the insanity that causes me to want to do this. It's fun, and that's concerning. I shouldn't have fun while torturing myself.

Jumper

Would you like to know one of the best retorts ever, especially if someone says you're a wimp or something? I can tell you.

The context it would be used in follows:
Annoying Person: "Haha, I'm so tough, I'm not afraid of anything!"
Me: "bet you've never jumped off a 50 foot cliff."
Annoying Person: *shocked silence* "have you?"
Me: "yup."

Our troop went to West Virginia for a white-water rafting trip two summers ago, and one of the things they let you do while on the river was leap off a cliff into the water. The first day, it was a 25 foot jump, but during the second day we went all or nothing. I, being stupid, did it. It was actually pretty cool, but terrifying.

I'm mentioning this because I remembered it last night, and just thinking of it gives me chills all over. No one was injured, because it was proven safe, but there's always the question of whether you'll be the first. I did a cannon-ball both times (bad idea). The 25 foot ripped off one of my shoes just from the impact, and i could barely sit down after the 50. If I had landed on my side, I would have blown out an ear drum.

I didn't do it without making sure it was safe, though. I asked the guide, "How deep is it?" thinking 15-20 feet. It was just a river, after all. "40 feet where you land, near the edge," he replied with complete calm. If it wasn't for the life jackets, I wouldn't have been able to go any further.

After you actually step off the ledge, there's the usual feeling you get when jumping, for a brief moment. Then your stomach realizes you should have landed already, and does a trapeze as a response to the fact you haven't. The guy filming everyone for the DVD of our trip didn't help, either. "OK, I'll count to three so you can jump. One, two, FOUR!" one girl couldn't even do it after he did that.

Now that I've experienced the feeling of free fall for about 2 seconds, 50 feet, I'm thinking it's time to go skydiving.

Birthday Weekend

Hello, dear readers. I've been needing to post for a while, but life is pretty packed full. Quizbowl, work, school, all that stuff. However, I do need to post a bit about my weekend. You see, on Saturday I had a band concert, and Sunday was my birthday.

Let's get to the concert, first. It was our school's annual "collage" concert, which I believe I've posted about before. The concert itself went pretty good, except it was really long. I personally blame the choir. Not to be mean, but they really suck. OK, rant time: how are you supposed to hear them when the microphones are actually tilted away from them, the backing tracks are too loud, the piano playing is REALLY obnoxious sounding, and half the songs are in another language? I feel bad for them, that they have to put up with that. The choir teacher is not favorite among band students, for pretty much the reasons I listed above. The concert is to show off how good the students are, not how well you can drown them out with your piano playing.

Sorry about that. We may come back to it later.

I had a solo, a quartet, and a duet, as well as one solo during the entire band arrangements. I totally nailed my personal solo, which was the song "Chariots of Fire". I was worried third trumpet was going to start pretending to slow run in his chair like he had every other time I played it, but lucky for me he was out of it on pain killers due to a track injury. I messed up a few times during my quartet, but because I wasn't the only person playing it wasn't too noticeable. My in-arrangement solo was way messed up because I couldn't get the right pitches, but apparently it sounded OK. I played really quietly and it seemed to work out just fine. I also nailed my duet, which was "The Victors" a.k.a. the Michigan Fight Song. I was worried state fans were going to boo, but they remained uncharacteristically quiet at the end.

My birthday went well too. Sunday started out pretty much like any day, with us going into town to buy the stuff necessary for the preparation of my birthday dinner. I was made fun of by my family for my food choice this year, but hey, it's MY birthday. We had corned-beef hash, cheesy potatoes, and Swiss meatballs. I thought it was pretty good myself, but that's probably just because I'm a freak. For dessert we had one of those Dairy Queen ice-cream cakes, which was really tasty.

I'm sure this description of the food has been boring. You want to hear about what I got, don't you? OK, I'll oblige. My mom got me my bass guitar and amp 2 weeks ago, which I already told you about. My grandparents helped this out, with a gig bag and a few lessons. My uncle and aunt pooled and got me a tennis racket, because I'm planning on joining the school team next fall. Our friend Joe got me a sweet Jimi Hendrix shirt, that is purple and says "Purple Haze". My grandma is also making me an old-school shooting hat, but I probably would have gotten that anyways.

Of course, there was also my grandpa's gift to me. My grandma handed to me first, and insisted I opened it because she had no idea what was in there either. My grandpa was laughing uproariously the whole time, and my mom was teasing my grandma by saying, "I know what it is". I shook the box it was in, and it rattled a lot. Hmm. I pulled the paper off, and checked inside. There were five empty shotgun shells, which were the rattling parts, and a box from the jewelers. I ignored the shells, because I've gotten used to him putting stuff like that in boxes to throw off what it really is, but I was wondering what on earth was in the box. A watch? I honestly had no idea. I opened it, and inside sat a twinkling diamond earring. I busted out laughing, and showed everyone. My grandma had no idea my ear was pierced, and I don't think my aunt knew either.

Overall, a pretty good weekend. Wouldn't you agree?

Survey And Awards

Diane @ Good Mourning, Glory! tagged me for this thingy like, a week and a half ago, so I figured instead of stumbling about the internet I'd post this. Eve also gave me an award, so I'll put that at the end of this post.
What is your weirdest obsession?

Hmm, good question. Probably concept albums. I, for some strange reason, love them. I tend to respect an artist more if I find out they've made one, too.

What are you wearing today?

Jeans, a T-shirt, and an unbuttoned longsleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

Why is today special?

I don't know, possibly because it's the day before my Birthday and I had a concert today (I'll post about it later).

What would you like to learn to do?

I'd like to learn to play bass a bit better, and I'd like to become proficient in computer programming (HTML especially).

What is the last thing you bought?

Umm...a bottle of water? I've been totally broke the past few days.

What are you listening to right now?

Scrubs.

What's your favorite weather?

overcast days.

What's your most challenging goal right now?

finishing this survey...haha

What do you think about the person who tagged you?
she's pretty cool! She started following me a few months ago, and introduced me to a bunch of other bloggers.

What's your favorite guilty pleasure?

I have a small caffeine addiction.

Favorite vacation spot?

I don't really have one, but Chicago is a contender.

What would you like to have in your hands right now?

The money to buy a bunch of CDs.

What would you like to get rid of?

all the useless crap that seems to make my room perpetually cluttered.

If you could go anywhere in the in the world for the next hour, where would you go?

I don't really know, somewhere cool.

Which language would you like to learn?

I'm fine with just knowing English, but if I had to choose it would be German.

What super power would you like to possess?

I think it'd be pretty cool to be a vampire. Not really a super power, but still awesome.

What's your favorite thing about the city you live in?

umm, it's small? I can't think of anything.

What's your favorite piece of clothing in your own closet?

my button-down shirts.

What's your dream job?

Rock Star... it's gonna happen, dude.

If you had $150 now what would you do with it?

save up for my own computer.

Do you admire anyone's style?

lots of various rock stars and a few actors.

Describe your personal style?

I reflect a few different styles.

Who's fashion show would you want tickets to?

I don't know any fashion people...

Who's closet would you want to raid?

A bunch of people's. How could I choose just one?

What are you most proud of?

having straight A's the past three years.

If you could choose one person who has passed to have lunch with, who would it be and why?

I'm not sure...lots of cool dead people. Probably Jim Morrison or Joey Ramone. Most of the people I'd be interested in having a conversation with are still alive, though.

There we go, all done. That was kind of hard, mostly because I'm a bit tired. I have to choose 5 victims to do it, now. let's see:

1. Ashley Jones @ mehh blog. it's kewl. ;]
2. sAm
3. Eve Noir @ Through Eve's Looking-Glass

I'm sorry, but I'm just too lazy to try and think of any others to tag. Sorry...
OK, I'm sorry, but the award image-ey thing isn't working, and I'm too tired to work on it. Thank you for it anyway, Eve. It states that I'm ready to survive a Zombie Chicken Apocalypse, which I totally am. I've even got the non-perishables and weapons stocked up.
So, I'll post again soon, when I'm not so tired and what-not. About the band thing, probably. Peace out, Boyd's World readers!