I just finished the Calculus project that was due yesterday.

I don't know if this makes me relived or anxious. Maybe both.

And here I thought I would get all caught up with my schoolwork over Spring Break. Ha. Ha ha.

My mom has decided that she needs to go through her things and throw out or give away mountains of stuff. My inner organization freak is happy.

First went most of my mom's economics textbooks from college and graduate school. This managed to free up about one or two shelves on her bookcases, so we decided to reorganize all the books by category. By now, my inner OCD book nerd was jumping for joy. I got to move books around on shelves and worry about things like genre, accessiblity of reference books, and size order.
Not too long ago, we went through old VHS tapes, leaving only about 10 left (I can't say the same for the DVDs). This also cleared up space for lots of new and exciting movies.
My mom and I are going through her CD collection as well. She just got an iPod, so much time has been spent uploading tracks to iTunes. As for the CDs the tracks came from? They can go straight in a box of items to donate to a thrift shop or something.

The downside to all this lovely organization is that we now have four Staples boxes of books and CDs to get rid of, and counting. We haven't even figured out where to put the movies yet. I find it hard to think of any way we can cart these boxes around Manhattan to find someplace that will take them. Books especially get very heavy.

We need more boxes. Soon.

Finally, it is Spring Break! Freedom!

Well, not exactly. I have enough homework to do over my week off to keep me occupied for a few days of nothing but work. I'm just really glad I'm not going anywhere on vacation, else I would be spazzing out right now.

However, it is such a relief to be able to sleep late and save my (nearly nonexistent) sanity. By the time I got to double period Physics at the end of today, I didn't care a fig about light refraction. I fear I missed the entire lesson while doodling on my do-now worksheet. At least they were good doodles! But ask me now, and I cannot recall a single academic thing that happened in that class today.  I guess I'm screwed over come our next test.


Now on to application forms... Due to my score of 2380 on the SATs, my dad is now saying I should go to Harvard and pushing me to do one of their summer programs. The courses don't actually look too bad (e.g. Perspectives on Islam: Religion, History, and Culture; Word Origins: English Etymology; and Global Energy and Environmental Politics). I could even do a short session and take yet more classes. The downside is the long application, which requires two recommendations, three free-response questions, a graded essay, and pages of forms. Why so much for a summer course? I don't know. Either way, it's time to buckle down and get everything filled out. Oh joy.

*goes in search of the leftover chocolate mentioned in the previous post*

I. Am. In. A. State. Of. Shock.


How? I didn't even finish my essay!

But I have the "Congrats!" balloon on the ceiling of my room and chocolates my stepmom bought me, so it must be real.

Then again, anything with chocolate in it might be a wonderful dream after all.

SAT scores come online tomorrow at 8:00! And darn it, I'll be at school, where internet access is restricted! Noooooooooo!

Oh the waiting is driving me nuts.

I have hardly known the meaning of true torture until today, when work started on replacing our kitchen.

Or, to put it more accurately, when work started on demolishing everything downstairs so that work can be started on the kitchen.

The ceiling exists only as the floor of the upper level. The carpet has made its way into the huge dumpster in our driveway, followed by the floor tiles beneath it that turned out not to be linoleum, as we had expected, but asbestos. The kitchen wall is gone. All of the light fixtures are gone. The only thing left in the barren region that might once have been a kitchen is the refrigerator.

I keep feeling like I'm about to fall through the floor of the top floor to the dungeonlike space below. It is not a comforting feeling.

On the upside, I just might get one of the bookshelves that was downstairs to fill up with the numerous volumes currently crammed onto my shelves. But where would I put it? I think I have as many bookshelves as my small room can hold without sacrificing something less important, like the dresser or the bed. Hmmm... Well, there's a thought...

My only real complaint with the musical was that the pit band was so loud that 20% of the time you couldn't hear the people on stage. But the crew was good, the costumes better than they seemed when on their hangers, and the acting was amazing - especially Mrs. Meers. My friend with the tickets had third row, so the view couldn't be any better. I'm glad I went, even if it didn't end until 11:00, by which time I was exhausted. I also had to bear with my friend, who had seen Thoroughly Modern Millie on Broadway, memorized the soundtrack, and was singing along softly or mouthing the words the entire time. *sigh* It was a bit amusing, really.

I have to go do my homework now - including the stuff that was all due last Friday. Let's just see how long I can get away with, "But I thought I handed it in already! No? Bad memory, I guess..." or "Oh I just found it in my Calculus folder, don't know how it got there, here it is. Silly me!" There are a few assignments my teachers might even forget about completely, but that might be too much to hope for. I am truly the world's worst procrastinator.

Ugh. Essays.

Ugh.

If you know me, please indulge me (and be honest!)...

Johari
http://kevan.org/johari?name=ashandareismai

Nohari
http://kevan.org/nohari?name=ashandareismai

As promised, I am here again to regale you all with my amazing LiveJournal entries.

Or something.

I'm just so glad it's Friday already. I can relax and enjoy myself for two days (when I'm not doing homework, that is). Tonight, I'm going to the school's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, and I hope it turns out well. And I actually have a date to see it! Well, sort of. I don't know if it counts. I was mentioning to one friend, who is in crew, that I wanted to see the show tonight; she said that a lot of people were going and it might sell out. So, I expressed concern that I wouldn't be able to get a ticket at the door. Overhearing us, my other friend commented that he had an extra ticket tonight (his sister is in the ensemble and the family got a bunch of tickets for each night), and if I didn't mind going with him I could have it. This is great news. 1) I get a ticket. 2) I get it for free. 3) I get to go with a friend who may or may not have an ulterior motive for sitting next to me at the performance but that I don't mind sitting next to either way.

Meanwhile the rain just made the rest of the day absolutely dreary, inspiring a sort of Who Cares? attitude about any and all schoolwork.

But that's what chocolate is for... :-D

...I posted on my LiveJournal.

Sorry, guys. I'm just really horrible at keeping up with journals of any sort. I try to make an effort, but I can never continue for more than a few months.

It doesn't help that the past few months have been among the most hectic in my life. There's been homework (lots of it, and hard), chorus rehearsals and concerts, SATs, and academic competitions - in which our school team got 15th in the state! Somehow it's all manageable, but it gets very draining quickly... But hey, the cloud of junior year has a silver lining: it's almost three-fourths over. We finished all the stuff we're going to learn in Calculus AB this morning; the rest will be review and fun. Gym will end in April, and then we'll go to air-conditioned First Aid class. SAT results come back in one week (!!!). The chorus trip to DisneyWorld, my birthday and driver's license, summer vacation: they're all coming up soon. It's such a wonderful feeling to know that the junior grind is almost over.

So on this absolutely beautiful, sunny day, I begin to post in my LiveJournal in earnest yet again. Oh joy! Oh rapture!

I am so pitifully behind in everyone's entries... I think I might have to completely skip some people and just get the newest of updates from others. Maybe I'll actually get around to reading all the new entries of a select few, but probably not today. It's far too nice outside.

So adios, goodbye for now.
I'll definitely be back tomorrow.

Just a quick update while I still have a connection:

My internet has been going on the fritz lately. It will work for five mintues, then stop. Sometimes you can reconnect it in another five minutes, sometimes five hours. So pardon me if I have been away from LJ. I am using every spare internet time to check email, do work for school, and then comment on all your posts. Put together with a very busy schedule, my apologies, but my livejournal is on hold until further notice.

It's been an eventful week or two, so I will only highlight. I got my school pictures back, yet the way my hair is placed and the severe cropping in the picture make my shirt invisible and I look like I had my picture taken in the nude. The laughter value is worth it to keep it in the yearbook. I went to Nightmare Before Christmas 3D last Saturday, and it was awesome, if a bit dizzying at times. I survived the incessant doorbell-ringing of Halloween, only to come down with a cold that I had to sleep off in art this morning. Tonight was National Honor Society inductions, and I am happy to say it is over and done with; I did not get burned during the candle ceremony and did not forget the words during the chamber choir performance. Yay me! So...yeah. I've been busy and the internet doesn't like me, so sorry I haven't updated more often and made this paragraph more coherent.

Dosvidanya,

Laura (In Laura-tongue: She-Who-is-Ready-to-Smash-Her-Wireless-Router)

I had a scare today. I turned on my computer and it said that my internet connection was "Disabled, Firewalled."  Only after much tinkering did it work, and I still don't know what was wrong with it in the first place.

Anyways, it's been an interesting weekend.

Friday afternoon I went to Grounds for Sculpture with my art class. Wow, was that place interesting. I must have taken more than 170 pictures, and would have snapped even more had my battery not begun to die. I definitely want to go back. They have a website here if you want to check it out.
Saturday morning I got up bright and early to take the PSATs. I think I did really well, and there is a distinct possibility that I got a perfect score. That would be absolutely wonderful.
Saturday and Sunday I spent cleaning out the house and helping to sort through the loads of stuff we got from my late step-grandmother. This involved rearraging furniture, looking through old photo albums, and making space in the closets.
Today we used the writing lab for English. I love how much our school can spend on hi-tech computers for the sole purpose of typing essays and such, yet leave other areas of our school underfunded. Oh well. It was nice to use though; I would have appreciated it more if I had been in class on Friday and had some idea of what we were supposed to be doing. At least I can continue at home. Apparently we can access the school network from the internet and work from the comfort of our own laptops.
We had double period gym today, which was not too bad considering we played tennis, in which I actually possess a modicum of skill. Incidently, I also found out that a certain arch-nemesis of mine can be polite - only if he wants something, e.g. you on his team.

</brain dump>

Apologies if I'm boring you.

It really shocks me that I go for a week without internet and I feel so deprived. It's scary, really. I didn't realize I was that dependent. *sighs* I should know better.

So this week has been a series of ups and downs:
*sighs* I really should be doing homework instead of complaining. But it's so much simpler to complain than to compare and contrast Dimmesdale and Chillingworth from the Scarlet Letter.

I need some cheese with my whine.

[ ] You have cleaned someone else’s house/room.
[X] You are picky about everything, even mixed CD’s.
[ ] You have wiped off a kid's face that wasn’t related to you. Eww.
[ ] You have taken three showers in one day.
[X] You “fix” things like photo frames that are sideways.
Total: 2

[X] A tag coming out of someone’s shirt presents a problem to you.
[X] You rock at making lists.
[X] You‘re very into details.
[X] You know how to do your own laundry. Just don't let on to my parents.
[X] If you can’t fix something it drives you nuts.
Total: 5

[X] Nothing is wrong with having things alphabetized. *grins* Mwahahahahaha!
[X] You don’t think anything is ever really perfect.
[X] You have to know everything. Did you expect any other answer?
[X] Everything has a place.
[ ] Untied shoes bug you.
Total: 4

[X] You’re walking through a store and something is off a rack, so you put it back. Especially if it's a book by an author I love.
[X] Things don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be the right way according to you.
[ ] You like vacuuming or mopping… it just makes the floor look better. But it's work!
[ ] If a cleaning product has ever blown your mind.
[ ] You think hot tubs are “unsanitary.” Mmmm...hot tubs...
Total: 2

[X] You have ever categorized something. Welcome to my library! And the giant excel file that stores all information about it, down to the ISBN numbers!
[X] Typos drive you nuts.
[X] You hate misspellings.
[ ] If there is something wrong with someone you will make it better.
[X] You have ever corrected a teacher. Often. Especially my freshman English teacher. I hated hate the bastard.
Total: 4

Grand Total: 17

Now count the checked boxes and multiply that number times 4: 68. Could be worse...

I just got the Open Door by Evanescence!

*issohappy*

(Except the music doesn't seem to be of the same overall quality as Fallen. There are some really good songs, but not quite as many. *shrugs* maybe it's just me. It's still awesome, just that the first album was even more so.)

I just went out to dinner, and lo and behold I see my art teacher (Barnsie!) and the librarian at the restaurant.

I guess I just never thought of them actually having average lifestyles. I knew they had lived in town their whole lives, but it seemed odd to see them in a somewhat-social setting. It was also odd because I had just been thinking about what I'd done in Barnsie's class today when I saw her, and she had been talking about how often she was running into students and former students of late. Ironic? Maybe.

I'm sorry I haven't posted much this past week. What with Chamber choir rehearsals, Select choir auditions, a monster calculus project, essays, splitting my lunch periods, driving practice, and recent family chaos, I've been busy.

So, an update! Yay!

I finished my six hours of driving instruction! I have my learner's permit!

So immediately after I got it I made my family go out for pizza so I could drive them there. Except I'm not used to my stepmom's car. The brakes require much more pressure, the gas seems harder to regulate, and the steering wheel doesn't turn as easily. Oh well. At least all I crashed iinto was the garbage can. I got everyone to the pizza place safely, though my dad was almost yelling at me every time I turned either too sharply or to widely. *sigh* I'm really glad that my first lessons were with an instructor who makes her living teaching people to drive. If my dad had to teach me, either he'd kill me or I'd crash the both of us. Parents. So paranoid.

Anyways, if you see me out on the road in the near future, stay away. I'll have no problems soon enough, but for now I need to iron out the wrinkles.

Hey, at least I can parallel park perfectly!

Hooray for three-day weekends! Hooray for three days off with hardly any homework from AP classes! Hooray for going to a friend's Sweet Sixteen on Sunday!

I guess you could say I am going to enjoy this weekend.

Though I think I lost my graphing calculator. Which could hurt a lot, because it cost a fair bit to buy. So I hope it turns up by the time I go back to school on Tuesday.

On a side note, I saw a production of Puccini's Turandot on Wednesday. My dad and stepmom's chorus did the ensemble bits, and the Someplace-I-can't-remember Symphony Orchestra played. They also had dancers act out the story in really neat costumes so that the soloists only had to sing and gesticulate. The soloists were actually pretty good, but the microphones were awful, buzzing all the time and making the soprano's loud high notes hurt the ears. It was interesting though. And because I had to come early with my dad and stepmom I had about two hours to sit down with a book before the production started. That made me feel good, because I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to read, and I finally got to make some progress in my latest book.