Anti-Shell Matter

Whoa, the last twenty-four hours have been a trip, starting with Lecter-Cake from white_manjushri. Tracye, I love you.

Given that oats_n_honey (Pat) and I share the same birthday, he invited me to share his birthday party with him, and inherent madness ensued. Five hours blurred past in an orgiastic stupor of good conversation, good company, karaoke, and good food. I got thoroughly spoiled by multiple people, which I honestly was not expecting. I guess I thought seniors are too old to bring presents to parties, or something, but I've been proven wrong. I had an amazing time; it makes me realize that I need to hang out with my Saguaro friends more often. I'm going to miss them terribly come next year.

All of you guys, thank you. You made my night.

Since I was up until 3:30 AM playing StepMania last night (yes, I got the pad on a whim last night, the last straw being that my down arrow on my old pad completely gave out--and the new pad is sexxxxxx), I woke up rather late when Rachel barged into my room demanding that she buy me lunch right now. We went to the China Star and had a sisterly good time, and then I let her practice driving around a bit before her driving lesson later this afternoon.

At exactly 2:45 PM (the normal hour I get out of school), chrissykitty called demanding that we hang out right now (,bitch). Since I have not seen her in a long time and she desired to do birthday-like things to me, I obliged and we ended up at Fantasia, the local magick emporium. Christianne is a practicing Wiccan, and given her fundamentalist household she has to purchase items on the sly.

( The benefits of placebo magic. )

My birthday present from chrisskitty was CLAMP no Kiseki volume IV, which, of course, was released two days ago because somebody at TokyoPop knew that Lauren Cook in Scottsdale, Arizona, was turning eighteen that week, and he or she was like: "Oh, we'd better release the set with the Seishirou piece about that time." It's an adorable piece, and it combines my eyeglasses fetish + my suit fetish + Seishirou in one piece of plastic. It rode with me in the car. He's just shorter than the Subaru piece. Whatever. It's all good.

I almost killed us because I did not realize that the turning lane was a traffic lane during rush hour.

I've got to do my five nights' worth of calculus, government, and that guitar paper now. But this is my own damn fault.

Memething from finmefiant and tanuki_dono.

1. Reply with your name and I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you what song/film reminds me of you.
3. I'll pick a flavour of jelly to wrestle with you in.
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
5. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something that I've always wondered about you.
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on your journal.

Half-days are glorious. I went to Chipotle with the Nerd Herd, visited Lizzy in the hospital and watched some quality daytime television (today's topic: bisexual male gigolos confess their night jobs to their wives), picked Rachel and her friend up from the mall, and I am planning on spending the rest of the afternoon working out, doing homework, and researching stuff for college. And looking for community service. For college.

I should just scrap this and go to Saguaro Continuation College to take advantage of Jeff's money laundering scheme. I could get a degree in something-computer-related and give up on excelling. And stuff.

And junk.

I'm pretty sure that if I go in-state I'm going to the University of Arizona in Tucson, so that at least narrows something down. Maybe that would be the best option until I decide in which direction I want to go. It's a top-tier school, the best for the money, and two hours from home. I can hit up UCLA and whatnot for post-grad.

Maybe when I take Rachel to her dance lesson this evening I will stop by Goodwill to attain some new pants, finally.

Today at lunch I was waiting in the sammich line, reading Gulliver's Travels and minding my own business, when the pre-pubescent boy in front of me started this conversation:

Boy 1: Hey, nice star. Are you Jewish? Oh, wait, that's not the Star of David thing; it's the Satanic symbol.
Lauren: Nope.
Boy 1: Are you Satanic?
Lauren: No. Are you a freshman?
Boy 1: Yeah. How'd you know?

There is a silence.

Boy 1: Are you a witch?

I said I was not a witch, and gave my usual two-sentence response about how the pentacle has been used as a symbol of balance for centuries before Wicca. It didn't do much.

Boy 1: Hey, can you do magic?
Lauren: Yes. I can shoot laser beams out of my eyes.
Boy 1: (holding up a pen) Can you take this from me magically?

The boy's friend turned around and snatched the pen from him, and then they started arguing about something that degenerating into them calling each other gay. The absolute best line to come out of this was:

Boy 1: You fucking faggot! Why don't you go fuck some men, you democrat!
Boy 2: Hey, shut up. Her (nodding at me) voice is deeper than yours is!

This made me happy.

Boy 2: Hey, I was thinking of getting a shirt that says "Vote for John Kerry. Sponsored by Al Qaeda".

They talk some more, etc. I try to read and pretend I'm not listening so they will continue.

Boy 2: (fake-whispering to me behind his hand) He's gay.
Boy 1: Hey, can you shoot lightning out of your hands like Darth Vader?
Lauren: Yes.
Boy 1: (noting my book) Hey, do the midgets in that have huge dicks?
Lauren: What?
Boy 1: The midgets. Do they have huge dicks?
Lauren: They're proportionate, I think.
Boy 1: WHAT?
Lauren: They're proportionate.

At this point, they lost interest in me in the general turmoil of the lunch line, and we soon reached the counter anyway.

Note: is anybody else annoyed beyond all reason by the term "frosh"? Something about calling freshmen "frosh" makes me want to kick the crap out of the student council. Just like all of the signs in the hallways last week saying things like "Saguaro is FUN!" and "Frosh!" and "Sophomores!"

I can't wait until high school is over.

Anarchy continues to reign in the New Orleans and Mississippi area. Prather mentioned some particularly sickening stories in the Arizona Republic regarding rape and murder. It sickens me. The hurricane's destruction is bad enough, but to take advantage of the anarchy in such a horrific manner... We can only do all we can, send aid, help refugees, and hope things are straightened out soon. I hope this disaster leads to tighter urban regulations in low-level seaboard areas. I never want this disaster to repeat itself if at all possible.

What the HELL was with all of that spam on the last post? If I find whomever(s) is(are) responsible... I'll probably walk away like the doormat I am.

The last two days have been rather busy. I've been reading diligently on Gulliver's Travels, which I am quite enjoying but need more time on, and doing other odds and ends homework. I have quite a bit of stuff due tomorrow, so I am trying to cram that together.

And it looks like I'm going to have to pull some of my Jedi mind powers so that Annie can go to the con, because if she doesn't, it just won't be Yaoi-Explosion part whatever-we're-on. And I just won't be able to live with that.

Today it was miserably hot, and tomorrow is supposed to be even worse. 108*F is not the hottest it gets in Phoenix, but since it is monsoon season, it is all that more unbearable. Today was also the day I got two more textbooks, and I was late to school, so I had to carry every single binder and textbook along with my guitar until I got my locker combination at lunch. That guitar case is heavy; it's this super-industrial rockcase since the guitar I am borrowing is worth more than my life. But I didn't drop anything once.

I've also come to the realization that just because I've switched Spanish teachers does not mean that my class will not be treated like the kindergarten class. Is this universal to all non-honors high school academic classes, or did I just strike out again?

Today during guitar I figured out how to play "Ode to Joy" and the chromatic regression from "Phantom of the Opera", much to my own amusement.

I like the feel of tying up loose ends. It's liberating. After I finish Gulliver's Travels and my government assignment, I will breathe easily again. Aaah, school.

I've also got to start on scholarships, like, TOMORROW.

All things considered, today went fairly smoothly. It honestly felt as though I had never left. That's the problem, though.

Begin bitching.

Last year sucked. Academics, personal life, everything sucked. I'm determined never to have a year like my junior year if anything whatsoever is within my control, and thus far, I'm not so sure if this is going to be as relaxing a year as I was hoping it would be. I worked my ass off in multiple areas last year, and while some areas have gotten worse, others have gotten better; I've always been willing to work this year, but...

Well, maybe I'm just saying this because I couldn't transfer to Humanities due to a schedule conflict, and now I'm in IV AP without having done the summer reading, all of which (along with a reading log) is due on Friday, and I'm kind of burned about that. Or maybe I'm PMSing.

It's not so much the work this week--I can handle a heavy workload easily, and I'm a fast reader and, if it comes right down to it, good at bullshit--as the prospect of maybe, maybe having another year like last year, which is something I dearly wanted to leave behind. And IV AP is going to be a prime suspect in causing that.

I also know I'm so burned about this reading assignment because the writing contest deadline is August 31, and I'm determined to place. I'm almost done, but I have to work out the ending somehow.

Now that I have that off my chest, I feel somewhat better.

Other than that, the first day back was great. I saw the Nerd Herd, whom I have missed dearly, and went out for lunch after school with the chica faction of the nerds. I'm glad to be back where I see everybody every day. I didn't see my Saguaro friends nearly enough over the summer, barring Eurotrip. My ID picture resembles a squirrel, and supposedly tomorrow we get to start actually using guitars in class. The parking permits keep getting smaller and smaller, I know I have some good teacher recommendations guaranteed when the need arises, and, oh yeah, I'm a senior. It doesn't feel right yet, but there is that scary concept.

I need to get back to reading. I've paced myself a fourth of the book a night, regardless of anything short of a death in the family or hospitalization, else I'll find myself completely swamped. I guess I could completely bullshit the SparkNotes, but I'm quite enjoying this book so far.