OMG NEW POST :-O

Yep... I'm bored. And I'm procrastinating.

So remember that post way back when? A whole two posts down? About the free Xbox 360? Well I got it. Yep. For free. Well, all-in-all I paid about $50. I'd still say it's a good deal. Thanks to ALL of you who were willing to help (Matt) even if you weren't able to do it in the end (stupid lazy parents).

Anyway, after the 360 I was like "Well why stop now? This is AMERICA. And in America, we like to get new shit." So now I have a laptop for college :). It's niiice. And pretty. Prettier than your laptop. Or yours. I didn't really have any particular people/laptops in mind there, by the way, but I can guarantee mine's prettier. Okay, enough of that.

My parents are pretty enthusiastic about this "turn off the TV week" or whatever (I'll bet only one of you knows what the hell I'm talking about). They've taken it as far as to say "No TV, or computer, or screens of any kind for the whole week". Fuck that. I don't feel the need to prove to myself that I don't need TV or a computer or video games. I hardly have time for any of that as it is. So giving it up for a week would be dumb.

Umm... Spanish proyecto. Sucks. Gotta give it a week from tomorrow, and my group is just getting past the writing part. I'm not all that good at memorizing lines either. We're allowed to use note cards though, so that's good. Our project is gonna kick ass.

Web design is pretty easy though. Last exam (not really the final exam though, because the final "exam" is really just a presentation of our final project) is tomorrow. Multiple choice. Shouldn't be hard. Gotta practice my table and form code today though. Or maybe I'll do it tomorrow after Spanish. We've got a long but really awesome final project. No html (thank you). It's all CSS. I just have to make the page pretty. There are a shit load of divs and classes though, so it'll take awhile. But it'll be fun. If I ever get around to starting it.

Anyway. Gotta go get ready to teach. Fun.

Senioritis

I has it.

It's pretty bad too. I'm supposed to finish the Great Gatsby today. I haven't started it. I'm also supposed to be going through an AP World History review book. I should be on page 75 or something. Haven't started it either. I'm keeping up with Math, cuz that's easier for mom to check, but I'm looking at the answers the whole way. Physics is so easy I don't really have to do anything anyway... So the only thing I'm actually doing is reading the AP World textbook and doing my BRCC work...

I got a 4-year $8,000 scholarship to Maryland. Too bad I don't wanna go there. It would still be really expensive. I just want to get a decent scholarship to JMU, so I can "decide" formally and give certain people a reason that's acceptable to them.

I don't blog much. Have you noticed? But now that I'm uber-procrastinating, I'm bored and had a random urge to blog. Still don't count on consistent posts though.

I'm in a weird mood (it's not the good kind of weird, unfortunately). There's an epic battle raging in my mind (okay, it's not really that epic...). So far the logical side is probably ahead a little. The logical side is far more reasonable (go figure), but the faulty reasoning and indecisive side isn't out yet. That side isn't as well formed though. Lots of desperate, obviously incorrect assumptions/excuses. But it's still annoyingly present in there, trying its best to convince. And I'm tuning it out, but it's still putting me in a weird mood. I overthink things WAY too much. Meh, I'll get over it.

Joseph and I beat the story mode of Super Smash Bros Brawl on Intense difficulty last night. A total of 12 or so hours of gameplay. Took us 3 days. Yeah. We're awesome. Now I don't have any games to beat though... maybe I'll be motivated to read Great Gatsby tonight since I won't be hanging out. We'll see.

Okay, that's all for my semi-scattered thoughts. I guess I'll go read AP.

Don't get too excited about this one

I am trying oh so hard to get a free Xbox 360 from this site. Basically I have to refer 9 people, who then complete an offer from the site sponsors (signing up for a trial membership for something usually). The advertisers pay the site, and the site buys whatever it is that you want, then ship it to you (I've researched it enough to know it's legitimate, so that's not my concern right now). SO. If any of you are feeling particularly nice or helpful, or if you have some free time and don't mind spending 5-10 minutes helping me out here, here's what I'd like you to do. Also if you want to get an Xbox 360 for free, you can sign up under my link and start getting your own refs. Follow the link that I'll post at the end of the thread. Sign up for the site after following that link (this entails entering your name, email address, and mailing address) and complete one of the offers. The Stamps.com offer on page 5 is free, but you'll need a credit card, and you'll need to be sure to cancel ONLY AFTER 21 days. Another good one is the Yahoo Success Center on, also on page 5 (this one requires a credit card and cost $1.95). If you complete an offer and I get credit for it, I'll pay you the cost of the offer, unless it's an offer you actually want to try. What you need to make sure to do if any of you actually decide to do this (I'd reeeeally appreciate it...) then be sure to use Internet Explorer, clear your cookies before you do the offer, set your internet settings to "accept all cookies", don't navigate away from the offer page until it has been completed, and when you've finished the offer, wait a few minutes on the final page before you close it. Here's the link: http://www.360Elite4free.com/index.php?ref=4722988

So much for a blog post huh *rolleyes*

Oh, also, if you decide to help me out, make sure you comment me and let me know. I have to keep track of it all.

P.S. You can also use a debit card if you have one of those and you can't use your parents' credit card. And there very well might be offers you are interested in too (they have magazine subscriptions, Netflix, Gamefly, a coffee company, etc.). So if you can find one of those, all the better for you.

I just uploaded a video to youtube. Check it out and tell me what you think.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VJlu2WB6j7E

Fine!

How long has it been? Doesn't matter.

This'll be short, cuz I is tired.

Since I last blogged I've done/gone to things that I was like "hey, maybe I should blog about this." Then I was like "nah." So now that those things have passed, I really don't have a whole lot to say. School is starting to kick a larger portion of my ass now. It kinda sucks. And after sparknotesing Moby Dick all the way through, I feel like I have a bunch more to do now that I'm actually reading Huck Finn. Spanish isn't as bad as I thought it would be though, and Web Design kicks ass.

I have a really bad problem with NOT practicing. I really really need to practice viola more. I put in an hour on guitar today. Didn't practice viola at all. I just don't like to practice it that much. I like to play, but not to practice. I dunno why... I've got college auditions coming up and I'm not nearly as prepared as I should be. At least I'm not majoring in music.

I also need to practice electric more, but I just don't have time for that.

Anyway, like I said, short. Don't expect much more, but I'll probably post slightly more frequently than I have been.

Catch Up Time

Yeah, it's been awhile...

I guess we'll start with Chicago. It was pretty good. A little too Jesusy for me, but it was a good time. I finished HP7 while I was there. I have multiple issues with the book, but mostly I enjoyed it. Anyway, back on topic: The stuff we did for people was pretty cool, and it gave me a nice sense of fulfillment. I didn't really like the evening activities at the church though (except Brenda Matthews, the big hilarious black woman), because they were usually just typical annoying "reaching out to the youth" sermons, and I've heard all those before and they're not convincing. Other than that though, it was a good time.

Next we have the beach. The beach. I wanna go back... Really bad. I love the beach so much. It's always the highlight of my summer. When I get really rich and famous, I'm gonna buy me an island and live on the beach for the rest of my life. Sound good? mmkay. That's after we move to Ireland and tour Europe though (of course). You really fit in with my family too, so it wasn't awkward or anything, which was good. I want a peach shake...

I think I'll bitch about Harry Potter now, so watch out for those SPOILERS:
First of all, wtf@Harry shooting random gold glowy stuff at Voldy. I mean, it's all well and good, up until Dumblydoor explains it as Voldemort's magic that got infused with Harry's wand. Stupid. Let's see... Harry=horcrux. Retarded. I mean, sure, it's dramatic, it adds a "twist" to the last book in the series, but come on. Okay, so, horcruxes are made with ADVANCED dark magic. Voldemort kills people, his soul tears apart, he infuses that piece of soul with an object of some sort with ADVANCED dark magic. "Advanced" means "hard to do," or in other words, "not possible by accident." But if Harry is a horcrux, it had to be an accident that Voldemort made a horcrux. He killed Lily and James, and therefor couldn't kill Harry, but somehow managed to accidentally create a horcrux? I think not. I'm sure there are gaping holes in my argument there, but I'm not gonna go looking for them. What else... I feel like Rowling got to a point at which she was just killing off characters for dramatic effect. Mainly Lupin and Tonks, and a little with Fred. Hedwig was like the kickoff in the book that said "shit is gonna happen" to alert us that people will die. Moody I thought was a good decision. Dobby was disappointing, but that worked cuz he was saving Harry from a knife. Fred just died randomly. The wall exploded. I dunno, I guess I can live with that one, but it seems like she went over the top a little with Lupin and Tonks. She didn't even tell us how they died. She told us later that Rookwood killed Lupin and Bellatrix killed Tonks, but it just seemed a little unnecessary to me. I suppose it's supposed to show the "horrors of war" or something. Close friends, brothers, and new parents die. But still. Oh well. I'll get over it.

I can't think of anything else to blog about, so there you go. You'll probably have to wait another few months for the next one, cuz I never get around to blogging.

Here You Go

I told you I wouldn't post very much. But it's been awhile and I'm bored, so here you go.

Let's see, what is there to blog about... I guess I'll start with camp. Camp was amazing. To a ridiculous extent, camp was amazing. But only because of the people there (mainly the people in my dorm and hallway). The camp itself (meaning the organization and the activities and whatnot) was nothing special, even quite poor at times, but the people there were incredible. Of course there were those that were douchebags and those that were whiny little rich kids, but most were really cool. Andrew's metal guitar skills, Matt's ungodly intelligence and Plankton impersonation, Greg's never-ending hilarity, and James' quiet nature and passion for the cello, to name just a few. Yes, I'll miss these guys a lot. Maybe we can all reunite next year and have another fantastic two weeks. I certainly hope so. Anyway, on to what we actually did at camp. Months before camp started, everyone made an audition tape of about 10 minutes and mailed it in so that a group of judges could place everyone in an appropriate orchestra. Apparently my tape was the best they received out of the violists, so I was top chair in the top orchestra. Out conductor, Mr. Hong, was phenomenal. He is by far the best conductor I've ever worked with. Not only did he have a deep understanding of the music, he connected with each individual member of the orchestra on a much more personal level (and I think that greatly increased our playing potential). We played the Mendelssohn Octet (not that any of you know what that is), which is amazing. Aside from orchestra, some of us signed up for chamber music groups. At the first chamber music day, the horrid organization skills of the staff became apparent. We were waiting for nearly 45 minutes of out 2 hours to find out which groups we were in. Then, after supposedly getting everything settled, on the second day my group was informed that we would be gaining another cello (and therefor that all our work from the previous day was absolutely pointless). However, we played the Schubert quintet, which is a gorgeous piece, so I'm not complaining. Although I suspect none of you really care about the details of my camp days, I'm already typing, and you asked for a post, so too bad. Each day we were supposed to wake up and eat breakfast at 8 (which I rarely did). Then at 8:45 there was always a "mandatory" camp meeting (three of which I attended). After the meeting was orchestra rehearsal for 3 hours, followed by lunch. From 1 to 2 we went to our chosen "electives" (sight reading for me). After that we had an hour to practice by ourselves before leaving for chamber music at 3:15. Chamber music went until 5:15, at which time we left to eat dinner. Each day ended with a concert or event of some sort at 7. There were a few exceptions to this general day, but most of them looked like that. So the week went on, and blah blah blah lots of stuff happened blah blah blah, and then there were the concerts. I had a solo concert in the middle somewhere, which went pretty well. The chamber concert was the tough one. We had rehearsed and rehearsed, and we were good. God we were good. It sounded amazing on our last day of rehearsing, and we were psyched for the concert. However, nerves are also a factor in concerts, and they took their toll on our quintet. Matt was the most talented musician in our group, but unfortunately he was also the most nervous. Our first cellist Meredith missed a turn she had been a little shaky on, and that threw the rhythm off. It just kinda spiraled down from there. The piece wasn't a total disaster, but it was far less than we were capable of and was very disappointing. The orchestra concert was far better though. We did incredibly well, and I could tell we made Mr. Hong proud. So that's pretty much the gist of what happened at camp. On to something else.

Let's see... Well, I'll just cram whatever comes to mind into this last paragraph. We're going to Chicago in about a week and a half. I'm excited, though slightly less so than I would be if more of my friends were going. Sebby's in Europe, Nathan's in... somewhere (probably Nicaragua), and Hannah is away with LEAP. I don't know if Michael is coming, but I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't. So that leaves me with the sophomores and the seniors (though the seniors probably won't be there either), which will still be loads of fun, but I'd still like for all my friends to be there. At least I'll have two weeks straight with you. THE BEACH! Goin' to tha beach. EXCITED! Oh my God excited! I can't believe they agreed, they said you could come with me, but they did, and I am VERY happy about that. Mmm... peach shakes and hand and foot and salt water and spades and walks on the beach and sand and aahhhh... I can't wait for the beach.

Well, that's it for another profound, deeply moving installment of Ben's blog. Hope you enjoyed. I'm off to get my teeth violated by a man in a white coat.