First Day of School

Ah, yes. School. A time of stress and learning. Well, the high school had a short assembly by grade level in the morning during homeroom. They ended up running a bit late, so the already shortened morning was shortened even more. I forgot my locker shelve today, so I’ll have to bring it in tomorrow. Oh, and my schedule...now that’s an interesting topic. Western Cultures (ancient history is it’s original name) for me was moved to third period. I would have had a study hall today...however tomorrow and Thursday, I had an Art Lab. Ugh. Oh, and I didn’t have an 8th period scheduled today or a 4th period scheduled on Thursday. Well, I went on to 1st period without a fixed schedule. Oh, well. At least I don’t have to worry until 8th period today, because they’ll get a new schedule to me before then! Right? I mean, of course...they have the whole day!

1st period for me is algebra 3 honors. I have this class with sophomores (I’m a grade ahead in math, just in case you don’t know) and five or so other freshmen. It was okay. We started working right away...it seems like it’s always that way with math...but nothing too hard. Just review. We also got a packet that isn’t due until two weeks, and we only have to do one section and a half. Next was physical education. It was too short to do anything, so they just gave us our squad order and talked. Apparently we won’t be doing anything tomorrow either (we have phys. ed. every day for the first semester, then will not have it for the rest of the year)...hm. 3rd period was Western Cultures. I have mixed feelings about this class...the teacher assured us no pop quizzes, which is good...and the current sophomores claim it was their favorite class...however, there’s just something about the teacher that makes me nervous about that class...well, I’ll just have to wait and see how he turns out. Anyway, 4th period was my second period of math (I have math six period a week). It was fine, too. Although, we got a homework assignment. “Page eleven numbers eleven through forty odd”. Oh, well. 5th period was biology honors. The teacher actually seemed nice and enthusiastic. She said she was going to try to make this class interesting, and if we didn’t understand something, it was her fault for not teaching it well. So, I think biology honors is going to be just dandy...now, after 5th period was lunch. I actually was kind of hungry during 4th period...because after that is when middle school eats, and I guess my stomach wanted to follow that schedule...but I survived until after 5th. Anyway, 6th was Latin 2...I had to “fight” over a Latin name because last year someone else had the same name as me, but had Latin 1 a different period then me. But the other person decided on a different name, and I got to keep the name Caia. 7th period was English honors, and new English teacher was a substitute teacher, but is quite happy that she now has a permanent job. She’s quite nice, and I think I’ll have a good time in that class. Now, you’d think I’d get a schedule that at least would tell me what I have 8th period...but no. I went to the guidance office to talk to them about it, and I found out that I wasn’t the only one! In fact, the program used to create the schedules had some sort of glitch, so that it wouldn’t let them edit 8th period Monday and 4th period Thursday for 9th graders. Weird, huh? I think it was just a Tok’ra conspiracy...but that’s just what I think.

I also had trombone lessons after school. My trombone teacher (who is also my school band director) was tickled at the thought that I didn’t have anything scheduled for 8th period...

Well, I haven’t had art class or band yet...although, band won’t be anything new until later when we get our concert music. Oh! But there were two funny things that happened today. One was that during biology, the teacher was telling us about materials we would need. “Oh, you don’t need a big nerdy notebook...” the teacher says. The person across the table and I started cracking up. After all, I had a huge five subject notebook in front of me...the second thing was a friend of mine, one of the freshmen in algebra 3 honors, has Western Cultures during 4th period, which is during the extra math period on Monday (she’s actually only going to have five periods of math and make up the work for that one the whole year; luckily she’s very responsible. She’s also a year ahead in science...very smart, she is). So, she asked me if I’d go up with her to the math room to get the missed work. So, nothing unusual...we’re just talking quietly...and so at the top of the stairs, I catch a glimpse of the earth science class (8th graders; I had this class last year). I realize some of the 8th graders are staring at us...must be bored, or something...but we just keep on walking. When we were a little bit further up the hall, the science teacher says loudly to the class, “I don’t like it when my students are staring out into the hallway at other students,” and shuts the door. He was obviously also making sure we heard, as if it was our faults. But my friend and I just cracked up. Hm...I think you’d have to be there to truly appreciate it...

Boy, the first day really wore me out! I don't feel like re-reading my post...sorry if there's some nonsense in there...Oh, and Happy Birthday, Nox!

The Brothers Grimm

I actually saw this movie yesterday with Granny Nox and the Tok'ra, but I didn't feel like posting about it until today. Overall, I liked this movie. It’s not near as cool as Stargate (well...that’s not actually saying much...since Stargate is the best thing), but I enjoyed watching it. I have a low threshold for scary movies, so of course, this movie did spook me out in some parts...but there were funny parts. The one part I absolutely hated and found totally unnecessary was when a kitten was kicked and killed. It was such a cute kitten...but I will try not to hold it against the movie. In my opinion, I liked the end of the movie better then the beginning, so if you watch it, do not let the beginning let you down (but, of course, you may really like the beginning; I mean, I liked it except for the kitten part, but I just really thought it was better near the end)! Anyway, I think it's a movie worth seeing and I would recommend it to other people. I got out of it without being scared to death, unlike after seeing the Ring, which means probably you guys won't be scared of it at all.

Today is my last day of freedom...I should make the best of it...

School Approaching

Yes! I have finally finished both the Iliad and the Odyssey! I know I probably should have finished it earlier in the summer, but at least it’s fresh in my mind for school. I didn’t really like those books...the Iliad gave too much information (i.e., I didn’t need to know every single group in the army, and who killed who, and how they died, etc...not that I was grossed by it, but I just thought it was pointless) and in the Odyssey, people talked too much. Anyway, I don’t recommend anyone to read them unless forced to.

Alas, school starts on August 29. The summer has gone so fast...oh, well. I spent most of today finishing the Odyssey (I read about 100 pages a day since Wednesday, when I finished the Iliad).

Oh! And now for my report on Stargate! (It’s on at 6:00 EST every weekday on the SciFi channel and new Stargate SG-1 is at 8:00 EST on Fridays on SciFi). Tonight’s Stargate SG-1 was awesome! Baal was in it, of course. I won’t say much about it, except that he made clones of himself. Is that giving too much away? Ha, anyway...I think it’s my favorite so far! Next week is the Viewer’s Choice thingy, so I can’t wait ‘til that! New Stargate SG-1 in two weeks, though.

Water? What Water?

Now, you’ve heard me complain about only having one water break during marching band practice. Well...today, the person who usually brought the water...didn’t bring the water. We had absolutely no water breaks. Strangely, however, I wasn’t as thirsty as some of the times when I did have one water break...I guess they didn’t work us as hard today...but come on! No water breaks? Thank goodness it was a bit cooler today then usual, or probably we’d have quite a few people pass out...

Uniform fitting tomorrow (though other upperclassmen had it today)! As freshmen, we’re the last to be fitted. Oh, well...oh, but the uniforms this year are really cool! It consists of black pants, a blue/silver/black top (might have brass-colored buttons...can’t remember, though), a blue and silver sequin sash, and a black hat with a silver and black plume (oh, and gloves...can’t remember what color they are...probably white...).

Pez

I was cleaning up my room yesterday, and I stumbled upon my pez collection! Anyway, just felt like sharing the picture...(I know it’s not necessarily a great picture, but you get the idea...Hey, you can see the pillow, the checker one, that I made in Home Ec! Neat, huh?). I think this is all I have...but who knows? I could have more lurking about the abyss of my room.

My personal favorite that I have is the Tigger one, and I think the Garfield in the nightcap is a better-suited pez for Haras than Pikachu ;)

Stargate Poll

"Cast your votes now for your ten favorite episodes of Stargate SG-1. The six episodes that receive the most votes from our users will be aired in our Stargate SG-1 Viewer's Choice Marathon, Friday, Sept. 2, starting at 8/7C!

Select your top ten (or fewer) episodes from the list below by checking the box next to the title. To read a synopsis of an episode, click its title. When you've selected your episodes, click the submit button at the bottom of the page.

The poll opens Wednesday, Aug. 10, and runs through Thursday, Aug. 25 at midnight. Vote now, and tune in Sept. 2 at 8/7C to see if any of your favorites made the top six!"

(Click here to cast your votes!)

If you curious what I picked, here's the list in order of season:

TIN MAN

UPGRADES

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

WORMHOLE X-TREME!

LIFEBOAT

SPACE RACE

PROMETHEUS UNBOUND

IT'S GOOD TO BE KING

RECKONING, Part 1

RECKONING, Part 2

Now, I know not all of you are into Stargate...so feel free (or almost obligated) to use my choices...

However, those who know about Stargate, you're still welcome to use the choices I picked. Though, I'm certain you already have a set of favorites. But if you don't...

Other episodes I suggest that are good are ENEMY MINE (the Unas are in this one, Doug), THE OTHER GUYS, AVENGER 2.0, and THREADS. There are tons of other great episodes, but those are the ones I remember being good.

Baal is Back!

...well, okay...next week he is...but he’s back! It showed so in the previews for next week’s episode. I knew he’d be back, but not so soon...but it is so cool! Oh, I am SO happy...

Anyway, I should talk about this week’s episode. I won’t give anything away, but I’ll say that the Goa’uld in this week’s episode is a shol’va! I mean, it was a minor Goa’uld who joined up with the Ori! It’s a good thing that the Tau’ri are punishing him by locking him up and not killing him (which would allow him to ascend). Luckily they’ll probably be also starving him, which will get him to see their ways since he’s such a pig. In this week, despite the damage the Goa’uld did, SG-1 did stop the Ori from building a super big Stargate. I just can’t wait for next week’s episode! Unfortunately, it’ll be very close to school time by then...I better stop talking about that...it’s making me feel all sad...

On a side note, the ground hog that lives under our shed today fooled Nod the Jaffa. He practically suggested that I blog it, so I decided too (even though I said I probably wasn’t, lol). Anyway, I was looking outside earlier today and I just happened to spot that the ground hog was out in our yard. Nod got quite excited, so he went outside, however he noticed that it wasn’t moving, even as he approached it. He actually got quite close to it and it didn't move. Puzzled by this, Nod decided not to get TOO close to it. I was outside briefly watching it, but it didn't really do anything. Literally. Nod moved the trap in front of it, then tired his best at sealing the front entrance under the shed. I went back inside...and Nod just moved aside, waiting for it to do something. Because this ground hog was smaller, it was able to squeeze into the back way under our shed. Even though Nod was defeated this time by the ground hog, it doesn't look like the ground hog can make it out the front way, so he stuck the trap right in front of the back entrance. Hopefully it'll work, but ya never know...it tricked Nod once, it might do it again ;)

Water...I Need...More Water...

Tonight was another tiring marching band practice. During skull session (practicing music standing in place, mark timing, and moving feet at set changes), someone actually fainted, apparently due to hydration. And we didn’t even start marching yet! I’ll admit, it was kind of lame, but after tonight’s practice, I’m surprised no one else passed out. After skull was our first and only water break...then we headed out into the field for warm-ups/block. Nothing interesting happened during warm-ups/block except the drum major almost ran into me when he was rushing back to his spot (he stands in front and conducts warm-ups, but marches with us during block). The rehearsal of the second part of the show went pretty smoothly...except that a drummer almost backed up into me, so I had to move my slide down in order to avoid him...oh, then we started the end of the first part of our performance (the Tok’ra had to stand out for this), which was okay except I almost got run over by a tuba player...Anyway, we practiced the entire performance (or rather what we learned so far; still haven’t gotten the third part yet) without playing (just counting, etc.). One of the drummers accidentally bumped into the bass clarinet (the other instrument that is alone, but I don’t think it’s as noticeably alone as the trombone) and I almost got run over by a drummer nearby at the same time. Though, besides that, it was okay. I got really tired by the end, though. Then, we practiced marching onto the field, warming-up, tuning, and then getting set. This time we played it...I was so thirsty and out of air that I didn’t play some of the notes during the first part...but since the second part is slower, I was able to recoup a bit...although I was very tired by the end of all of it.

When we arrived home, the Tok’ra played DDR Max 2...I mean, I would have died playing that! However, I must remember that I marched 42 additional sets (she didn’t do the first part...was at camp and all during that...). Though, I’m still surprised that she wasn’t too tired to do it...she even broke some records! Totally insane...I actually do like DDR Max 2, but I am too tired to play it tonight...

The Ori

The Ori are PURE evil. I mean, PURE EVIL!! At least the Goa'uld are very cool, and evil...but the Ori...they're nothing BUT evil, as proved by last night's episode. They're forcing people to believe in them by making them sick, even killing them, then reviving them (or at least they did to a certain group of people)! The Goa'uld wouldn't-erm...can't...um...they're much better looking (except for a few, including the "he/she", Nirrti)! When a person becomes a prior, they get all ugly (okay, slightly cool looking, but basically ugly). And even I am afraid of these Ori! Or I would be if they were real. The Goa'uld...now they are better. They're liked...or at least they seem 10,000,000x more likeable then the Ori.

Here's a pretty good section from the Wikipedia about the Ori:

“They can be simply described as evil version of modern ascended Ancients. The Ancients (known to the Ori as "the Others") are well known for their fierce belief in free will. As such, they do not interfere on lower planes of existence at all. Contrarily, the Ori believe that not sharing the secrets of the universe to those on the lower planes of existence is an evil act and those who practice it must be eliminated.

The Ancients who came to our galaxy considered this to be a terrible abuse of power. Therefore, they decided to hide knowledge of the second evolution of humans in the Milky Way Galaxy from the Ori. It is their policy that humans may find enlightenment through their own means, in the spirit of free will.

There is evidence to suggest that the Ori and the Ancients are on the same level of evolutionary existence, and that they exist with the same powers. As such, both are relatively contained to their own Galaxies. Whilst the Ancients manifest themselves as glowing ribbons of pure light, the Ori manifest as ribbons of burning fire, searing the air as they move. Also the Ori have no compunctions against taking direct control of living beings, or completely changing them to behave as they desire...”

Classical Music

Today, Granny (Tan Lucy Pez; I guess she’s a Nox since her daughter is) bought me some classical music CDs that I asked for because I was inspired to get some after the Penn State band camp (Thanks again, Granny Nox! Hey! That sounds kind of cool...). I haven’t listened to all of them, but what I have listened to so far (bits and pieces), I like a lot! I got four of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies: No. 1, No. 3, No. 5, and No. 6. I have currently listened to the whole first, and I really like it! Though, I don’t like the parts were there is singing as much, but it’s okay. It would be nice if I could understand it, but it’s in German...

I guess you guys deserve to know a little more about Gustav Mahler!

(From the Wikipedia)




"Mahler was born into a Jewish family in Kalischt, Bohemia. His parents moved to Jihlava, Moravia, where Mahler spent his childhood, in the first year of his life. Having noticed the boy's talent at an early age, his parents arranged piano lessons for him when he was six years old. In 1875, Mahler, then fifteen, was admitted to the Vienna Conservatoire where he studied piano under Julius Epstein. Three years later, Mahler attended Vienna University, where Anton Bruckner was lecturing. While at the university, he worked as a music teacher and made his first major attempt at composition with Das klagende Lied; the opera, which he later turned into a cantata, was entered in a competition, in which he was ultimately unsuccessful..."

You can read on if you like, but basically it talks about how he wrote more symphonies, and how he had to convert from Judaism to Roman Catholic because of his fears of anti-semistism. Despite the fact that he converted, he had to "resign from the Opera, in part forced by a largely anti-semitic press". The teacher who taught Orchestral Listening at Penn State band camp said he died thinking his music was a failure. Quite sad, eh?

Ow! I think I got a bug bite on my eyebrow during marching practice...or at least there is some weird bump that hurts there...we had a tough day today...learned the entire second part of the drill. Then we did the entire show! I am so tired from it...poor Tok’ra, though. It was technically her first day marching with the whole band, but the staff showed her no slack whatsoever. Oh! And our band director only gave us one water break! I hope he gives us more next practice...

Back from the Beach

From Sunday to today, Nod the Jaffa, Haras the Tok’ra, and I went to the beach for fun. Although a lot of the time was driving, I still had a great time (is too tired to sound enthusiastic). We stayed at a “Bed and Breakfast” (more like a Bed and Continental Breakfast) called Bryn Mawr, and despite of the cost of the room, it was tiny, and Nod found a cockroach. Oh, well. We had a lot of fun down at the beach, and I had a great time saying, “See Haras float. Float, Haras, float! Float, float, float...” although, I paid the price for it with a mouth full of salt water and being attacked by the Tok’ra, but I still thought it was worth it. For dinner, we went to a place called the “Chatterbox”. The food was okay, but I got something off the kid menu (12 and under) and now I’m the “12-year-old” to Nod. Afterwards, we spent time down on the boardwalk were we bought some stuff and played in one of the arcades. The next day, after a somewhat good breakfast (though, Nod and Haras didn’t like it; I liked the waffles and cereal...) we went on the boardwalk again and played in another arcade. On the way home, we got to go to the Cheesecake Factory, which was a great treat...since we got cheesecake...and now we’re home. I’m really tried right now, but believe me, I had a great time.

Yes! Band camp was over last Friday! However, I still have a lot of band practices coming up...oh well...

Marching Band

Today was the first day of band camp (or in other words, marching band practice). Boy...I don’t think I’d been in it if it wasn’t a requirement to be in concert band (unless you’re in guard, or have some complication against it).

Okay, so today I had to wake up at 6:30, because a person like me is obsessed about being on time (Alled the Nox can tell you all about it...), so I can take a shower, eat breakfast, and get ready for practice at 8:30. Oh, but my band director believes being early is being on time, so I arrived there at about 8:15, or something. First, we did our warm-ups, stretches, and “hindu”, etc. and did our block drill. I don’t really like the block drill, and still mess up at it, but I’m getting better. Next, we begin learning the actual performance. We kept on doing movements from one point to another point, then reverse (backwards; I suppose we’ll know the whole show front and back, seriously...well, okay, not seriously, because we only do backwards in clusters...), then forward, etc. However we did get to practice up unto a certain point from the beginning. We have a break, and then back to learning the performance. Finally, at 11:40, we get to go home and have lunch. I think my sun block gave out half-way in the AM practice, because my face was red, even after I had rested for a bit. Anyway, the PM practice started at 5:30, and we did some practicing of the music without marching, and then we had a block drill. It was different then the regular one, but I liked it a bit better. After that, we went back to learning the performance, then at 8:40, we finished! Oh, one cool thing is that in set #12, I’m next to the Tok’ra! However, since that Tok’ra is at camp, she’ll have to make up all what we learn in practice. LOL!