meorae

Oh life... I notice as I'm happier and less stressed out, I feel less of a need to spend time online, or to feel it worth my time to read fanfic or fill out memes or update this journal. These days, yes I still check lj and facebook and email at least once a day, but I haven't been spending the hours online that I used to. I check at most a few times a day for only about 15 minutes each time. I don't think I've read fic (and I include Sam's original fic in this) in more than a month. Which when I think about it, is surprising and somewhat sad, considering the amount of fanfic I read even just two years ago. And yet, I'm filling my days with interesting classes (and so little work this semester it is wonderful), juggling, my girlfriend, my friends. And this month has flown by. Occasionally I think about the online interaction I may be missing, but the thought quickly fades while cuddling with Karen and watching Doctor Who projected on the big screen surrounded by friends only recently converted to its awesomenosity. I could post about everything awesome that's been happening in the past month (Alex and Jule visiting for a weekend, creating a snow TARDIS, converting my girlfriend and friends to Doctor Who, going to an amazing juggling workshop with ex-Cirque Du Soleil performers and with that finally being able to do a four-count and two-count to pass clubs with Leah, spending hours talking and watching Numb3rs with Rebecca, finally having an amazing math class for the first time in my life, etc, etc.) but mentioning them briefly is enough and instead I will go read some more of Good Omens before going to bed.

Summer is sortof settling down for me into a regular schedule with random parties thrown in all over the place. I'm babysitting for somewhere around 15 hours a week for the rest of the summer (5 hours each on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, although occasionally a Wednesday or Friday is thrown in there instead). And then having people over on Tuesday evenings to play board and card games.

And it seems I'll also be juggling every other Monday evening with my brother, Teddy and Morgenbesser. It was wonderful tonight. Bear and Morgenbesser were working on three club passing, which they got pretty good at, while Teddy and I just worked on random things. I got a different vibe from tonight, though, than I get from juggling with Alex, or the juggling that happened in Baltimore, or the random juggling my brother and I do. It wasn't a bad vibe, just different. I'm not sure what it was, but it prevented me from enjoying tonight as much as I normally enjoy juggling with other people because I noticed it and it kept me from fully getting into juggling (horrible sentence structure I know, shut up; I'm too lazy to fix it...). It was still wonderful and I can't wait for Monday after next, but it was just off somehow. Maybe it was just the humidity or the fact I didn't sleep well last night and then had to wake up at 7:30 on 5 hours of sleep and babysit. It might also have been the fact that I wasn't teaching anyone anything (I was with jugglers of around my ability instead of lower) and it was an actual scheduled meet-up to juggle rather than randomly happening at the airport or at my house. But I dunno.

Other than that, had fun at the spontaneous party at Carol's house last night, went to see Narnia with Katy on Saturday, realized it's two short months away before I'll be at Colby, have mostly gotten used to having Kristen living with us, AP scores are released by telephone tomorrow and my mind is all over the place right now, so I think I'll stop now before I end up discussing Taft in a wet t-shirt contest or something. (Why am I referencing an old XKCD comic, you ask? Because XKCD is awesome and is applicable in any situation.) I'm done now really I am. Humidity makes me insane. As does Doctor Who. ("You cannot blame Doctor Who for this!"). And lack of sleep. I'm going to bed now really I am.

Went to see JK Rowling at Harvard Commencement today with Katy, Pam, Maya, Carol, Emily, Miranda, Danny, Rosalie and Rebecca. Lots of waiting around doing nothing and listening to lame music and boring speeches, but Rowling was wonderful. (Transcript of her speech with video and audio here). Then went to the Senior Awards Night. Ugh. Three hours to give out 114 awards. I got two awards and some money, so whatever. Just now I'm utterly exhausted.

This week's felt incredibly busy and long, mainly because it's involved a lot of waiting around for things. Sunday, I did some juggling, but not much else as I was still feeling antisocial. But on Monday, my mom took my brother and me to the DMV to get Mass State IDs as neither of us has a passport or driver's license, and therefore neither of us has a valid form of identification. My brother also needed to get a new driver's permit as he let his old one expire. We spent three hours there waiting around for things, but Bear managed to pass the test by the skin of his teeth so got his permit and we both got the IDs. Afterwards, I went over to Katy's house and we played some badminton, watched some of the first Harry Potter movie, made lemonade popsicles and worked a bit on a puzzle.

Tuesday, I went over to Claire's house with Pam where we watched The Three Musketeers, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and 1776. So much fun. Wednesday was graduation rehearsal in the morning. Afterwards, I followed Miranda and Carol around as they gave their wonderful drawing to all of their teachers and then 12 of us invaded AHOP for pizza. We had a few hours to kill before the yearbooks were being handed out, so we bused to Alex's house and watched a kung-fu movie. We got a ride back to the high school and waited around forever for the yearbooks to get handed out. There was definitely a better way for them to do that.

And then tomorrow is prom. I'll probably sleep in really late and then get ready for it. Saturday, we're celebrating my mom and Kristen's birthday, as Sunday is graduation so we can't celebrate them on the actual day. My mom's friend Carol, who is in Boston for the Harvard activities, is coming over for dinner and dessert. And Sunday is graduation and then Last Blast. And then I have a week to recover before leaving for Florida, although I've actually already said I'll hang out with a bunch of people next week. Busy busy busy.

I stayed up most of Saturday night (I think I went to bed around 5:30 or 6 in the morning, but I don't actually remember) to finish watching the first season of Torchwood. And then watched the first two episodes of the second season last night. So much &hearts for Torchwood and John Barrowman and, at least in the second season, Ianto. Spent the afternoon today watching clips of Barrowman on youtube (such as this one - Tennant asks Barrowman 'marry, shag or throw off a cliff?' - and this one - Barrowman's cabaret show) instead of doing my homework. Oh well... Barrowman > homework especially during second semester senior year.

He has an autobiography and a new cd out in the UK and I'm almost tempted to buy them on amazon.co.uk. Shipping's not too bad, and although the cd is out in the US as an import, it's like $45 plus shipping from .com while only 5 euro or $8 plus just a bit more shipping from .co.uk. Having a debit card makes it too easy to make impulse buys (I see shiny, one click and I can have shiny :D)... I'll think about it some more, but will probably end up buying them. The first season of Torchwood is finally out on dvd in the US as well...

Outside of Torchwood, I got I1 privs for support in entries and gunk which makes me happy. I should get into a habit of answering a few requests a day, but I lost momentum with the end of term and after I answered 40 in a week... Not that anyone cares or knows what I'm talking about.

Saw Sweeney Todd again on Friday as Carol convinced me to see it with some people who hadn't yet. And then didn't really do anything else this weekend. Submitted a few scholarship applications, at least. And finished my prog assignment. Although I have to redo one part of it because it doesn't actually work the way I want it to.

&hearts Went to Margeneta's party this afternoon. People played Guitar Hero for a bit and then we walked down to Jade Garden. It reminded me a lot of the caf crew invasion of Mr. Sushi's two summers ago (although this time didn't lead to invading Robbins Farm afterwards and being told off by police). 20 teenagers taking over a restaurant without reservation ^^. So much love for my friends, especially the fact that there was someone in every grade from sophomore in high school to junior in college. After pigging out on the buffet and talking for a while, we figured out how to split the bill and tip, walked a few doors down to Hollywood Video, got Stranger than Fiction (so much <3) and then went back to Mag's house to watch it while eating ice cream cake.

Carol and I dropped the platypus off at Pam's house this morning. We arranged it on her trampoline and drew Pam and Carol's depiction of Grendel on a sheet attached to it. Then Donald came over and he and I hung out at my house for awhile before we went to see Hairspray at the Capitol. John Travolta is <3 and the movie was better and funnier than I was expecting it to be. We took the bus back to Donald's house afterwards, bumping into Gianna running late for work. Donald showed me some of the better computer games he's created and then we watched Porco Rosso, which I've somehow never seen before. I then went home, supposedly to get homework done, but I've accomplished absolutely nothing tonight, other than editing my college essay a bit. Ugh, I don't know when I'll ever catch up in Physics if I keep putting off the work. But this weekend was enjoyable and I'm feeling a lot better than I have for the past month, so whatever. Bedtime now, Physics some other time.

I'm not sure how to mention this, plus half of you already know, but Donald asked me out a few nights ago.

Otherwise, this week of school has dragged by really slowly. Physics party Monday night was incredibly awkward but interesting and a bunch of Froshies attended SAVE club this afternoon, and otherwise not much is happening in school. I continue to like the majority of my classes and teachers, but Flynn is as bad as people have said she is and World History turns out to be the easiest class ever, as does Psych, while Physics is gradually getting more difficult and Calc is getting more and more boring. And Prog and English continue to be wonderful. I'm so very glad I took honors English this year. I'm starting to get piled up with homework each night, but no projects or essays have been assigned yet, so I can deal with it. Even if I am already slacking off on Physics homework...

And now I go to bed as I'm insanely tired and will soon fall asleep on my keyboard.

I'm back from vacation. Vacation was good although my family always seems to clash when we're together for long periods of time. Driving out to New York, we stopped by Tanglewood and listened to the practice for a bit before driving for the remaining 5 hours to get to our hotel. In New York, we took my grandmother out for a picnic which was all well and good until the lightning, thunder and rain started. It was right above us for a good half-an-hour and we had to wait it out as mom prearranged for the bus service to come back at a specific time due to my grandmother's wheelchair. The next day, my mom spent the morning with her mom while my brother, dad and I went to the Corning Museum of Glass, like we always do. We watched a couple of the glassblowing shows and also wandered around the museum for a while. The Glass Flowers exhibit was beautiful and the flowers were amazingly intricate and realistic. If any of you are ever around Corning, New York you should visit the museum.

In Maine, the first night and day were rainy but we played hearts in the Gathering Place and managed to stay dry. The Gathering Place sold trail mix which was amazingly good and I think my family got 10 or 15 bags of it throughout the trip. We went hiking and kayaking and stargazing (we saw some shooting stars which were the start of the Perseids) and my dad and I saw a dolphin while we were kayaking and a squirmunk (my brother came up with the name because we couldn't decide whether it was a baby squirrel or a chipmunk) tried to get into our food. We made s'mores on the two nights we lit fires and battled our deflating air mattresses until my dad went out and bought three new ones.

I read a total of six books throughout our vacation: The Tipping Point, Siddhartha, The Kite Runner, The Dark is Rising, Cordelia's Honor and Hawksong which, with the HP books brings my books read this summer up to 13 and makes me done with summer reading.

We drove home to a message on the answering machine for me from an Army Recruiter and no schedule... I guess they're sending them out alphabetically, but I'm impatient and want mine.

I had a weirdly realistic dream last night. It started out with me waiting for my dad in a car at night. He came back with a couple of maps and some food, mentioning that our plane would leave that time the next night. Over the course of the dream, I realized I was going to Australia with my dad, although I never figured out why we were going. My dad mentioned something about the plane ride only being an hour long and that I should pack a book to read. I protested that Australia is halfway around the world and that it should take a lot longer to get there. My dad said no it isn't, it's right here (and a map magically appeared showing that Australia was just a quick hop away from where we were). So we went home and I went up to the tv room and just sat there staring at the blank tv, thinking I should find out how far away Australia actually was and waiting for my dad to be ready to leave. Eventually, I realized that it was late and got up to look for my dad. I ended up downstairs where the mail was on the radiator and noticed something from the high school that must have been my schedule on top. I picked the mail up and somehow lost track of my schedule while going through the rest of my mail. The front door opened and I looked up to a crowd of talking people with my dad in front opening the door. Behind him I saw a bunch of my teachers (seemed to be most of the science and math department) who I came to the conclusion showed up to give me my schedule. My mom and brother walked downstairs and my dad closed the door on the teachers. And then I woke up.

It's obvious what I've been thinking of recently, including the fact that I haven't been on a plane since before 9/11 (as we used to go to see my grandmother in Indiana but then she died when I was in third grade, so we went out for her funeral and then a year later went out for my cousin's wedding. But since then I haven't been on a plane. 8 years with 9/11 happening in between...), that I want my schedule (which I assume I'll get Monday), and just general thoughts about school and applying to college (the teacher in front of the crowd was Morgenbesser, who I've vaguely been thinking of emailing sometime soon to ask if he'd write me a recommendation). I'm not sure where the Australia part came in though... Maybe something to do with Hugh Jackman's upcoming movie Australia? No idea. But that was one of the longest and most realistic dreams I've had in a while and the way my recent thoughts combined into this random dream amused me once I woke up.

Other than that, fandom's gone splodey, so I've backed up my journal with lj book which is amazing, and copied all of my entries to greatestjournal with antennapedia's transfer script. I am meorae at greatestjournal as well and other than fandom journals, have friended Elisabeth and Vanessa over there. If any of you have greatestjournals, friend me? I'm not leaving lj, seeing as fandom is not the only reason I'm here, but I am setting up at greatestjournal to follow the fandom people who are. As my brain sees links to interesting software thingies and I must clicky, I'll be using Semagic to post to both lj and gj at the same time from now on.

Last night was surreal and amazing. The concert was wonderful, he was pretty and funny and his voice was so beautiful, like always. He ran about the stage to sing to different parts of the audience and went out into the audience at one point to shake people's hands. And he sung Awake, which I wake up to on my alarm clock every morning, and a song from Sweeney Todd, and essentially all of my favorite songs. His random comments made me laugh and squee at the same time, like "There are guys here?" and "I love you more" and he hugged a girl from the audience who gave him a really cute picture before saying something about being in Mr. Roger's neighborhood. Someone started the wave in the balcony shortly before he came out and there was spontaneous applause as he called it a number of times throughout. He played the piano and drums and danced and it was all just amazing. So, essentially last night can be summed up by "ohmygod."

It's strange getting back into things. My sleep schedule has been completely thrown off and there really is a complete difference from just plain survival and living by the clock. I think today would have been fine except for the fact that I had to take a midyear exam in math, another test in history and a vocab quiz after school, none of which I was actually prepared for. I think I did fine on the vocab quiz and history test and decent on the midyear by anyone else's standards, but I wish I had reviewed more than I did for all of them. And I could have, but no I had to watch Castaway with my mom last night and then I had to take a hot bath and then I had to go to bed at 8:30 because I was insanely tired. Eh, whatever. Now if only I could research and write a five page Chem paper in like five minutes before I fall asleep in this chair...