Yes, it is finally second semester for me. Which should be a great feeling, but it just means the approaching of more deadlines.
I have so much to say, but the readers lack the attention span to read it all.
This is not an insult to you. I love you and appreciate you and regret not posting about you all in my Thanksgiving post. But SO many things have happened in the past few days since I've blogged that even the most patient of friends would most likely walk out on me in a huff if I were to truly reveal what I'm thinking all the time now.
But because this is the internet, I can be a complete jerk to strangers. =] Thank you.
First and foremost--Gunn Titans WAWOOT! Quiz Kids round 3 has been won against MSJ. Hawk deeply regrets that she was not as much help as she would like to be, but she will definitely step it up against Harker for the final match.
One problem. My Certificate of Merit test is on the same day...and those at the Certificate of Merit office only allow specification of either a "morning" (anywhere between 8 and 11:30) and an "afternoon" (until 5) time. Just great. It's a 2-hour test, so requesting a morning time could very well cause a spillover. Besides, cranking out a 1.5 hour music theory test will wear out my brain (since music category questions have yet to make an appearance in the question set, it's unlikely that this information would be useful (though as a wise teacher called Mr. Stallings once said, there is no such thing as useless knowledge. Oh man. I have so many inside jokes I'm tempted to whip out now, but I shall suppress the urge). Additionally, playing through 30 pages of music at my speed (Hammertime, I like to call it--hammers? pianos? get it? ha..ha) will wear out my buzzer fingers.
There is no way I'm giving up this test. I've played piano for 10 years and this is what I've been aiming for the entire time--my level 10 test. Maybe somehow I'll be able to pull a miracle out of my ass and memorize the 25 pages of music I'm still lacking..and maybe I'll be invited to State Convention again. Or at the very least, the Branch Honors recital. It's doubtful, and I'm looking at memorizing only 3 pieces (still about 15 pages) to just pass the test and hit the Advanced (yes, capitalized) level.
But the alternative is to ditch my Quiz Kids team. Yes, I do mope about how useless I am for a large part of the contest. But the fact is, I do help during the collaboration round, I know a compendium of the most random information ever (which usually helps when divining what John Keats and ancient pottery have in common), and without me, there is a lack in the general sciences and lit department. Perhaps the defeatist attitude does not help much.
What do I do!?!?
Meanwhile, SciOly is coming up. I'm extremely excited about Write it Do it, as Quail and I will be returning state champions in that event. We've also signed up for the Pictionary-like Picture This, and I'm returning to the Ecology event (it's pretty much a test. Last year, my partner and I tackled the vocab crossword rather viciously. For a 7-letter word meaning "native," I drew a total blank and scribbled in "erotics." Shockingly, we got second place at States).
ON TOP OF THAT, in the less brainiac department.
Swim season starts soon. Having quit polo this year, I feel rather fat and blobby and would really like to get back in the water. But I barely managed to scrape by my six AP classes this semester. Besides, I am (finally) a second semester senior and I'm wondering if I really want to drive myself insane with 2-hour practices on top of all the trivia stuff and other things I'm doing to hold down the fort. Moreover, swim meets eat up about 5 hours each time, and I really can't afford to miss classes (which I would have to do at least 5 times, judging by past years). Additionally, conflicts arise for Friday and Saturday.
I'm still lion dancing, and New Years' is coming up. It's fun playing with (or scaring, as the case may be) little kids and wearing foofy pants, but each show eats up time I should be spending on practice for CM. You see, I don't have 24/7 access to a piano... I really don't want to throw lion dance on the backburner, since it'll be my last chance to get anything done, and I've recently hit a big milestone that I've been aiming for for a while. Of course, I could skip Fri and Sat swim practices, but then I'll never get fit if I miss 33% of practices.
I would like to quote my econ teacher, Mr. Lyons, for my summary statement of this monster.
I am in deep shit.
(P.S. The answer is "endemic." I realized this when I was walking out of the room with Tammy, feeling like we'd failed the test. I hope the examiners at least got a laugh out of it.)
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