Searched!

Wow - something freaky happened today. During second hour, the police brought the drug dogs to the school to sniff around and find drugs. I honestly didn't even know they were doing it - until I was pulled out of class.

The vice principal came by my class and said, "I need Drew Morgan." when I came out of the class room, he started walking and told me, "I don't mean to scare you, I know you're a good kid, but the dogs detected something in the group of lockers by yours. If you don't mind, I need to search yours." I knew I had no reason to be freaked out because there was nothing in mine, and I knew my locker partner had nothing, but still...

He pulled my locker partner out of class too, and he opened up our locker. He started pulling our bags and coats out, searching pockets and everything. He was making jokes to try and make us a bit less nervous, but it didn't really work. Neither of us could stop laughing, but it was kind of that "Oh crap" sort of laughter. He moved our books around, made jokes about what was in our lunch boxes, etc.

At one point, he opened my book bag and pulled out this little brown and dusty square of wax paper. It looked very "suspicious", and he said "What's this?" in a rather serious tone. I was trying to think of a way to reassure him it wasn't drugs when he threw it back in and said "Looks like an old muffin wrapper. Gross!"


When he looked in the pocket of my bag I put books I read for enjoyment in, he pulled out one that happened to be in there. Cory (the locker partner) busted out laughing, and I just stood there feeling mortified. I had a copy of the book Sex, Drugs, and Coco-Puffs by Chuck Klosterman in there. The cover art is a cereal bowl full of pills. I said, "Umm, it has less to do with that stuff that you'd think," as he studied it. He said he was just seeing who the author was, because he was an L.A. teacher before being vice principal and had never heard of it. That brought many a laugh in the retelling of the story, believe me.

After we passed the search, he told us to go and wait for him in the office while he conducted the rest of the searches. apparently, he calls your parents even if there's nothing found. Two by two, other people started walking in with a nervous look on their faces.

"You got searched too?"

"Yup."

"Find anything?"

"Nope."

That conversation went on a few times, until all eight people whose lockers were searched came in. One girl said they found Motrin, but she wasn't going to get in trouble for it. Even though everyone was done, the vice principal still took forever. By the time he started making calls, 2nd hour was almost over.

Each call took about 5 minutes, so passing time came and went with us still in the office. Something else happened that required his immediate attention, so he wrote us passes and said he'd call us down when he wasn't busy. We both went to our 3rd hr, Health, and got to retell the epic story a few times before my name came over the intercom. I went down, and he dialed my mom's number. She was in class, so we had to wait as someone was found to babysit her class while she talked on the phone with him. I had to sit there for a good 3 minutes making small talk before she came on the line.

Their conversation went pretty quick, although it sounded like my mom was a little annoyed at having her class interrupted. Later, I found out this was because she was somewhat nervous herself, even though the very first thing said was "Don't worry, Drew's not in trouble."


The rest of the day was pretty much spent making jokes about getting searched. Cory said he's going to bring in dog treats on Monday and keep them in our locker the rest of the year. I think he means it, too.


Now I'm prepared for Halloween; good luck scaring me more than that did!

Last Weekend

I realized that recently, I haven't been keeping all my dear readers informed of my day to day life. I also realize that I haven't been posting much at all lately, but when I do it's usually about one specific event. So, shall we get on with last weekend?


Last Friday was marching band's last game of the season (as far as I know). I walked uptown before rehearsal, and got totally soaked in the horrible rain. Everyone took shelter at a friend's house, so we chilled there until rehearsal. On rainy days, we practice in the High School gym, which stinks. It's impossible to really get any idea of where to go in there, because the yard lines aren't underfoot for reference. We went into the rain again after rehearsal, to get McDonald's (the Meal of Champions when it comes to band).


The plan was this: if it was raining after half time, the band would march back to the school and take shelter. It was raining the entire time we marched down to the field, and during the first half of our pre-game show. It stopped while we were in the stands, which was nice. It wasn't too cold out, so almost everyone took off their raincoats. It started raining again just as we marched onto the field for half time, but stopped during our second song.


Because it wasn't raining when we came off the field, our teacher told us we had the 3rd quarter to wander around and that we had to be in the stands for the 4th. During the said wandering, the skies opened up again. Everyone was running about, looking for raincoats, taking shelter under trees and umbrellas. We quickly got into parade block, hoping to be allowed to run back to the school chaotically, but we were forced to march. It was a long, long walk. When we got into the school, everyone had to hang their uniforms on the back of a chair to dry them. I was soaking underneath my uniform too, without a change of clothes. Still, it was a very fun experience.


On Saturday, I awoke to discover the fact my wallet was missing. I had left it (and my Aquafina Chapstick - Oh no!) in my uniform jacket. Well, it's not like I had any money anyway. Actually, the first thing on my schedule was going to work, to hopefully replenish said wallet. I've found I like working on Saturdays, before major evening events; it keeps me from spending the day talking about how excited I am for whatever I'm doing later.


The major event this Saturday was Courtney's Halloween party. I never actually received an invite, but since she had called me before setting the date to make sure I could make it, I figured I was invited. It went from 5 to 11 PM, which seemed like an incredibly long time for a party. she invited tons of people, and about 17 people came. Compared to my last 2 parties, where only 2 people showed up,this was pretty impressive.


It turned out the reason for the long hours was that everyone there was going on a hayride to a corn maze when it got dark. The hayride was kind of a bad idea in retrospect, considering most people weren't dressed warm enough for the 40 degree weather. It was also kind of illegal, since there were 17 people riding on an open trailer - no railings or cap - down major roads. It was just as bad on the way back, but we supposedly took a shortcut that time. I say "supposedly" because it still seemed like way too long of a ride.


The maze itself wasn't as horribly cold, because a) we weren't in the back of a moving vehicle and b) the corn blocked out some of the wind. Apparently, our group was supposed to supply it's own flashlights, but no one brought any. The people in charge of the corn maze had a few to let us borrow, but we ended up having to take the strobe lights off the back of the truck and carry them around. My group of five originally had a normal flashlight, but we ran into one of the groups with a strobe and they MADE us trade. They were getting majorly freaked out by the silence and the flashing, apparently. We took it, and turned it up as high a possible so there wasn't too much darkness between each flash. I don't think anyone in our group was scared by them, just annoyed by the whole "even more difficult to see" thing.



There were six stations throughout the maze, each with a "you are here" map on it. We also had maps, but they weren't of much use because we didn't look at them. The maze was enormous, and apparently in the shape of a stack of pumpkins. Everyone kept saying, "We're going in circles, we've already been here!" I'm sorry, how can you tell? IT'S CORN! Everything looked exactly the same to me. We only found three of the stations, and two of those we found by following other groups around.


The next day, was working a concession stand out at the gun club to try and raise money for our band's trip to Disney next year. Honestly, the concession stand isn't bringing much money in. We're a little over breaking even, but no where near where we thought we'd be. It\s kind of a boring job to do, as well.


After that was all done, Joe and I went on our annual haunted-house trip. This year, all the ones we normally go to were closed (because it was a Sunday). Instead, we went to one about an hour away, that was very professionally done. There weren't many actors, but the ones that were there would follow you around for a few rooms. At the end there was a dude with a chainsaw, which is always the thing that scares me the mot. The only way out of the room he was in was through a black-hole tunnel, one of those things where you're on a little bridge that goes through a brightly light tunnel that rotates. Joe had apparently never been in one, because he was totally freaked out by it. Both of us walked leaning to one side for about 5 minutes after it, because it really got into your head.


Overall, it was a pretty awesome weekend. Oh, and I finished this post just in time for the next weekend!

Rocky Horror Picture Show Live!

As mentioned in my previous post, there was a performance or Rocky Horror Picture Show Live! that I wished to attend. Now, the tale of said trip.

Since May, I'd known the local performing arts group was doing a theatrical version of RHPS, and I probably mentioned how excited I was about once a week. I wanted to audition for it (wouldn't I make a great Frank-N-Furter?), but it turned out you had to be 18 to get a major part, and I think 16 for a back up singer/actor.

I went with Courtney and our friend Leah, who is absolutely crazy about RHPS. Out of four showings, we could only make it to the Saturday night at 8 due to multiple band things. The theatre it was at allowed audience participation, as long as you didn't throw food items. We all got stuff together to bring, because no one wanted to pay 10 bucks for a premade pack there.

I must say: Courtney did not have fun. Th closest she came to enjoying the show was, "Well, it's better than being at home." It's a bit ironic (or is it just coincidental?), because my uncle and I were talking before the show (he went too) about how his friend used his girlfriend as an excuse not to go, saying she didn't like plays. My uncle thought the dude was lying, because "what girl doesn't want to be taken to a play?" I think RHPS is exempt from that rule, however.

I'd never been to an actual audience participation show before, and it was pretty awesome. I knew people threw stuff, but I hadn't realized everyone would be shouting things at the actors. A lot of the things they said seemed to be pre-planned, as in they say them at every showing. However, other things sounded pretty improv.

In all truth, the play was better than the movie. It had more jokes, and the audience participation was cool. I also enjoyed the fact that the character Rocky had speaking lines in the play. Actually, the Narrator was a close family friend of Leah's, and she had been in a play with the dude who played Frank Furter.

After the play, we were standing around in the lobby waiting for our ride. All the actors were in there, signing autographs and getting hugs and whatnot, and Leah wanted a picture with Frank Furter. She hadn't realized she knew him at that time, so she was deathly afraid of asking him for a picture. "You ask," she kept saying over and over again. Eventually, after listening to her say over and over how much she would regret not getting the picture, I asked him fro her. While he had his arm around her, I had difficulties with the camera phone, leading him to comment about "Poor dear must be so frightened, with this scary dude putting his arm around her for so long." Eventually I got the picture, and he wandered off for the next group of people. He was totally in character the whole time, which was slightly frightening.

Does anyone else have any cool RHPS viewing stories? From what I've heard, every showing of it is an experience.

Weekend At The Grandparents' Place

This last weekend, my mom went to Chicago to watch the marathon. I elected to stay home, because A) I had a muzzleloading shoot on Sunday and B) I wondered how it would be to stay home while she was on vacation.


This meant I spent the weekend with my grandparents, at their house half a mile down the road from us. I lived with them for 8 years (I was still living there when I started this blog), so it didn't seem like it would be too big of an issue to stay there for one weekend. I discovered that one grows used to their own house pretty quickly.


The plan was this: I'd ride my bike over to their place Saturday morning, work until the store closed (for those not in the know, they own a gun shop where I am employed), and then go into town. On Sunday, my grandpa and I would leave early for the shoot, and get home around 4.


Work went really well, and I made enough money to (hopefully) fund a viewing of Rocky Horror Picture Show Live! with my friends this weekend (trust me, I'll be posting more on that soon). I usually have fun at work, because it's easy, yet slightly challenging. Plus, the whole store atmosphere is very relaxed, and when customers come in it's usually like having a friend or acquaintance drop by for a visit.



After work, we went into town to get dinner and, apparently, go clothes shopping. I was not aware the second item was on the agenda, which was a nice surprise. The only problem was it was another school's Homecoming, so the restaurant we went to was packed with teens. It was a little awkward, especially when I recognized a few people. Still, the food was good! I got a new pair of skinny jeans as well, so you could count that as a victory.



When we left for the shoot on Sunday, I knew it would be cold, so I dressed pretty warm. Unfortunately, it's impossible to wear gloves when you're muzzle-loading, so I ended up not being able to feel my fingers for the rest of the day.


The shoot was a multi-discipline shoot, with four 50-point regular targets, a smoothbore target, a pistol target, and knife and 'hawk throwing. I included all this info because I now have a reader who knows what I'm talking about: the awesome Crush of Society guitarist Bobby! He shoots muzzleloaders as well. Anyway, I did well in all the regular targets. I managed to hit the paper all five times with the smoothbore, but kind of gave up on the pistol when I had only hit it twice out of 6 shots.


When they announced the winners, I was pleasantly surprised to discover I had taken third place in the regular aggregate. I was only four points away from first, and I had been up against a lot of very good shooters. I got a knife as my prize for that, and a mug as a thank-you for being a Junior shooter (I was the only person under 50 there).


All in all, it was an interesting experience. I had fun, but would I pass up going to Chicago again? Probably not.

Homecoming Dance

Tonight was my first High School dance. Usually before dances I am nervous and pace a lot, but I managed to keep myself occupied at work all day. My only major problem was that of my health, because all week I've been fighting with a cold/allergies. Also, last night was the homecoming football game, and I virtually destroyed my voice with cheers and cadences for band. I am not exaggerating when I say I was incredibly happy to get an entire raspy sentence out without my voice just disappearing. Fortunately, I got my voice to come back at least a little in time for the dance. Well, I was at least understandable.

When I got out of the car in front of the school at 7:30 sharp, I walked up to the giant crowd of people getting checked in by two guys I'd never met, and only seen in the halls once or twice. The one who seemed to be more talkative turned to me and asked "Do you play drums?" I told them no, I was a bassist. "Oh, we need a drummer for our band. You look like a drummer. Isn't it hard to find a drummer in this school?" We then went into a long discussion about drumming, and each of our respective bands. Keep in mind, I had no clue who these dudes were and they didn't know me. They were basing the entire conversation on looks. It turns out they were in a band with a friend of mine that also plays bass, which I found interesting.

The line to check in was about 15 minutes long, I kid you not. The air was really thick with a mix of every brand of perfume and cologne people were wearing, prompting the thought "smells like teen spirit." (yes, I'm a dork, get over it.) I went with Courtney as my date, of course, but we didn't actually arrive together. This was due to a lack of planning on my part, with us basically just saying we'd find each other once we got there. This was not a good plan. There were over 500 students in there, and I was starting to wonder if we'd even see each other at all in the entire 3 and a half hours. Thankfully we did, because I got there first and waited near the entrance for her along with my other friends who made similar foolish plans.

How can one really say much more about a dance? It was crazy! The differences between J.H. and High School continue to present themselves. At this, there were almost no people awkwardly standing to one side of the dance floor, refusing to dance. I was outside the main mosh, but I still busted a groove with everyone else. Apparently, the trick to it is being an idiot while moving your limbs in a semi-coordinated manner.

I showed up to the dance dressed all nicely,


but before long I had my tie loosened, and my shirt was untucked with the top button undone. All the dancing I did really takes it out of you! It became warmer and warmer in the room as the night wore on, which I mostly blame on extreme physical activity taking place.

Fast forward to the end of the dance. I really didn't want it to end, because it was so fun. As we walked out, the air was once again thick with the smell of teen spirit, only this time in a less perfumed manner. I turned to Courtney and stated, "This will make such a good blog post!"

First Game

So, guess what last Friday was? Our first performance for marching band! It was pretty fun, all in all.

We got out of school at 2:16, and had a rehearsal at 4. After the rehearsal, we had time to go and get a bite to eat, then head on over to the school to get into uniform. I decided to spend all the time we had in between things wandering around uptown with my friends, because the whole town is less than two square miles in size, and it was much more convenient than driving 18 miles home and back again. Isn't living in a small town fun?

All we really did in between the letting out of school and the rehearsal was head to places, such as a friends house to get black socks for the uniform and to the Marathon station to get something to drink. It was surprising just how little time we had, until you thought about the fact walking to the school campus took 5-10 minutes.

Rehearsal was a bit upsetting, because of a disagreement between I and a friend that I'd rather not get into. Fortunately, everything resolved itself, and everyone walked away a bit happier.

On the plus side, we did pretty good at rehearsal. We were trying out a new method of marching off the field we had only learned on Monday, and it worked like a charm. None of the trumpets played, because we had to save our chops for when it mattered, but I was pretty confident. I'm the youngest (read: least experienced) trumpet player, and I'm pretty good. If I could do it, everyone else could for sure.

After rehearsal we walked to McDonalds, got a quick snack, blah blah blah. We had to eat on our way back to the school, because we had to start getting dressed soon. The report time was 6, and the teacher advised we saved half an hour to get ready. All we really had to do was pull on our uniforms over our clothes, because they're made of thin material and it was going to be cold. I think the uniforms look kind of cool, actually, in a weird way. The only part I dislike are the hats.

We have to wear the bucket-style hats with plumes, and the rule is there can't be any hair showing. I have hair past my shoulders. The reason I grew it out (one of them, anyway) is the fact that I look like a freak without it. This was no exception. There was actually a row of chairs lined up with long-haired guys sitting in them, all grumbling about the fact we had to put it up as one of the girls helped us put it into a pony tail. The completed product was me with virtually no hair. No one recognized me, a few people said I looked like a girl. I took it down after Half Time, and was quite relieved. Strange, that in order for me to look like a guy I had to have my hair down instead of up and short.

Even though it was absolutely freezing cold, it was pretty fun. I'm seriously looking forward to our next game, which is Homecoming. Can't wait!

High School

Last week was my first week of High School. I was a tiny bit nervous, thanks to multiple people's warnings ("watch out for Upperclassmen!") However, this fear was totally misplaced. It was almost exactly like Jr. High, with the exception of the fact I'm no longer on top. Still, I think it's cooler to be at the bottom of High School than the top of Jr. High.

The first day was probably the worst, because I was still trying to find my way around and figure out where all my classes are. It was also a bit of a bummer that all we really did was cover the rules. I mean, by this point we should really be able to survive without being told basic common sense. After three years of the same thing at the Jr. High, and five more of a similar style in elementary, anyone who doesn't get how to avoid trouble probably has bigger issues to worry about than that.

The rest of the week started ups out with the curriculum, so it was a bit better. I wound up with a 100 question test, a 65 question test, and a two and a half page paper on the second day, and I like that. I'm definitely looking forward to having a bit more of a challenge from this point on.

All my teachers are pretty cool, so I'm lucky there. One of my friends, who has almost all the same classes, managed to compare every teacher we have currently to an awesome teacher from previous years.

Well, I actually have to be getting to school. I'm still typing theses on my mom's Jr. High classroom computer, but now I have to walk across campus to the High School. Better hurry!

(P.S.: this post is actually just an assignment from Language Arts I typed up, with a bit added to it. I think if I write all my assignments like blog posts, I'll do pretty well in class!)

Puzzling

Hey! How have all of your Labor Day weekends' been? I spent mine camping. We (me, my mom, Joe, and two other family friends) do every year, and it's always pretty fun.

We stayed at a state camp ground we hadn't been to before. It was right on Lake Huron, and the beach was only a five-minute walk. We spent most of Saturday on the beach, tanning and swimming. On Sunday, we went to an art fair in Port Austin, and played putt-putt golf (I lost).

When we were in Port Austin, we stopped at a cool little tourist store we visit every time we come up. They have tons of puzzles and stuff for sale, and I was goofing around with a Rubik's Cube that had numbers instead of colors. My mom and Joe were off somewhere else, and they called me over. Instead of putting down the cube, I carried it over to where they were.

They were standing by a little table that had a 9 square puzzle on it, and a sign that stated "finish in 5 minutes or less and keep the puzzle!". I don't mean to brag, but I am awesome at those things. My grandparents got a few for me a couple of years ago, and I solved them in about 10 minutes apiece. I handed the cube to my mom, and set to work.

I solved the puzzle in two minutes. The guy who was behind the counter gave me my free puzzle, congratulated me, blah blah blah. We left the store right after, to go to the grocery store next door and get some food for dinner. As Joe was off looking for something else, my mom was busy saying, "That was really cool, how you solved it that fast!". I responded with, "Did you steal that Rubik's Cube??". Apparently, she accidentally walked out with it. I called Joe over, and the look on his face was priceless. My mom was incredibly embarrassed, and had Joe return it to the guy.

There were many bloggable moments this weekend, but that one totally takes the cake.

Record Player Needle!

Hey everyone - guess what? I finally got a new needle for my record player! I broke the old one back while school was still in session, and even before that the speed setting on the player was broken. In essence, it's been forever since I've been able to listen to any of my records.

I had hoped to be able to find a needle for my record player while I was in Chicago; I had no idea how hard of a task that would be. See, I was under the impression there were a few different kinds of needles, but they were basically universal. Boy, was I wrong. After being rejected at a few different stores, I decided I would just try and find one online - again, a very difficult task. I discovered a nice company that "carries every needle made since 1930", and set out to find mine on there. This involved running up and down the basement stairs about five times, because I kept forgetting either the company's name or the model number. Eventually, I found the manufacturer and started browsing inventory. Of course, they didn't have my exact model. I gambled and got a look-alike, with a similar model number.

Despite the site saying it would take 1-2 days after shipping, a week later I still had no needle. I was getting upset, and relieved to see an email from the seller. Turns out the guy misread my address, and I had to spell out all the numbers for him. Fast forward 5 more days, and I got the needle! Yay!

Needless to say, I'll be spending a lot of my time hanging out in the basement, listening to the awesome sound of vinyl and playing pool and video games. Hey, it's better than playing "bejeweled" for four hours straight!

Cedar Point

Hello, BW readers. Lots has happened in the past few weeks! Of course, you all know I went to Chicago, but it's been almost 2 weeks since then - I'm afraid I waited too long to write a post about going there.

A more recent, very awesome event was going to Cedar Point this last Wednesday. For those who don't live in the Mid-West, Cedar Point is an amusement park known for having one of the tallest and fastest roller coasters in the world, the "Top-Thrill Dragster". They also have the record for most coasters in one park, 17. In other words, they are incredibly freaking awesome.

I went with my mother, one of her teacher friends, and Courtney. The four hour ride there was uneventful, but still fun. Once we got there, we headed over to "The Mantis", one neither my mother nor I had been on yet. The sign at the end of the line said it would be an hour and 3/4 to the ride, but it barely took and hour. A good thing, too; it wasn't that great of a roller coaster.

I don't really wish to bore you by describing each and every ride we went on, so I'll go with only one: the last one of the night, the one they're known for. The "Top-Thrill Dragster". My mom wouldn't even go on it with us, and she's not exactly a wimp when it comes to rides. I wouldn't have gone on it at all, but Courtney forced me to. The line was about an hour long, and it was a long hour indeed.
It may not look impressive in that picture, but let me tell you - it is. 420 feet tall, and gets going up to 120 mph almost as soon as you start moving.

I spent most of the wait panicking, because the closer to the actual ride you get the more you can tell about it. We timed it: it was less than 10 seconds from start to finish, and after half a second the car was already up to top speed (they had a radar gun thingy display on a screen).

The worst part of the wait was definitely a sign seen halfway through the line, with various safety instructions. The final one wasn't concerning safety, however; it was about "rollbacks". Apparently, sometimes they don't get it going fast enough on the first try, and it stops at the top. They then lower it back to the start slowly, and send you back on up again. I think the sign was there to reassure you this was normal and safe, but it didn't work for me. The only thing making it seem like you aren't perpendicular to the ground is the speed, and being lowered to the ground slowly would counteract that. Scary.

We finally got on, and were moved toward the starting line. It's supposed to have a drag racing theme, so it has a "1,2,3, GO!" light system set up and lots of noises. We had to wait for the car in front of us to be launched, and then got to sit and wait. The lights were really fast, so by the time you saw them you were pretty much already moving.

It...was...AWESOME. I loved it. I loved the feeling of acceleration, I loved slowing down at the top enough to be able to talk to Courtney for a split second ("My ears just popped - OH SH-!!!"), and I loved plummeting straight towards the ground at really high speeds.


The only thing I didn't like, actually, was the fact it twisted on the way down; it would have been much more dramatic had you seen the ground rushing towards you the entire time, instead of being spun towards the boring steel supports. Still, an awesome ride.

After the thrill of a lifetime, we headed home. I valiantly tried to stay awake the whole four hours - and keep Courtney up against her will, for company - but I wound up crashing around one. I slept in until about 1:30 in the afternoon on Thursday, too.

I can't wait until next time.

The Half-Marathon

WOOHOOO!!!! I ran the half-marathon on Sunday. For those not in the know, my mom and I (as well as a few of her friends) have been in the training for a half-marathon the last 6 months or so. The training has been brutal, but it's also paid off.

It was the Rock & Roll Half-Marathon, with live bands every mile. Of course, that really sweetened the idea of doing this run. I love rock, and what better way to run than while enjoying it?

I'll admit this right away: I didn't run the whole thing. Bummer, but I made it all the way to the 11th mile marker before having to stop for a walking break. Considering the furthest distance I had ran previous, without walking stops, was 3.2 miles, 11 miles is absolutely insane. In all, I ran about 12 of the 13.1 miles, with a time of 2 hours, 33 minutes, and 22 seconds. Yes, the seconds matter.

This is the course of the race, for reference:It wound through first the streets of downtown Chicago, and then along the water. At points, you could see the fastest runners on their way back from the loop, which was cool.

They had 21 delayed start corrals, each with about 1000 people in them. I was in corral 20, along with my mom and a few of her friends. By the 10K mark, I had passed a person we knew in the 17th corral, meaning I had moved forward 3,000 people. I started with a pace group of 3:15 (we would finish at three hours and 15 minutes). I ended with the 2:30 group, an incredible span of time to move ahead.

Actually, it was a really enjoyable run until the 10K mark. I had no trouble breathing, my legs didn't hurt, and I didn't get any cramps from lack of breathing. unfortunately, around that point, I started to have horrible stomach cramps, the kind many get when they run long distance. It was bearable, but made what could have been a fun run not so much fun.

I stopped for a walking break at mile 11 because my legs hurt incredibly bad. They had started aching around mile 8, but it was practically unbearable by that point. I walked for about half a mile, but the pain in my legs wouldn't go away. I started to run again, figuring I could make up for a bit of lost time. When my heart started feeling really funky, like it was missing a beat, I stopped again. Scary, huh? I walked another half mile or so, with a few little bursts of running here and there.

Finally, during the last half mile, I had a realization: my legs hurt just as bad whether I was running or walking. I figured running would just get me to the end, and end the pain a little, faster. I ran from that point on, but kept close watch on how my body felt, especially my heart.

When I got to the final stretch, surrounded by families of runners and people who had already finished, I was incredibly relieved. Despite that, the race wasn't over yet.

The P.A. system was blasting rock songs, tying in with the theme of the marathon. All of a sudden, the song "Pinball Wizard" by The Who came on. It's one of my favourite songs to run to, and it inspired me to use up that last little bit of energy I had to sprint the last 100 yards or so.

I finished, as mentioned, with a time of 2 hours and 33 minutes. Everyone who was with me kept telling me how amazing that was, and how amazing it is that I made it 11 miles without stopping. However, I'm not going to say it was amazing. I say it was an amazing tribute to the stupidity and stubbornness of a 14-year old boy. Only one of us could manage to do something so incredibly painful and dumb as this, without stopping and realizing that at some point.

Finishing was, well, an incredible relief. I was tired, in incredible pain, but I did it. My legs still hurt, three days later, and I move like a 70 year old man. But it was worth it.

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!