Free!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Talk to you later.
So the new soundtrack to my life, being a Chopin Nocturne in C# minor, proves to be harder than I thought it might be.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
And begin, too.
Failing an exam with grace, number 33:
From the moment the exam begins, hum the theme to Jeopardy. Ignore requests for you to stop. When they finally get you to leave, begin whistling the theme to the Bridge on the River Kwai.
Somehow, I don't think this was what Earl expected me to stumble across when he told me to look up Beethoven sonatas. Dudley Moore = Beyond the Fringe = a happy childhood memory.
Emma was brilliant in her piano concert. I'm so incredibly proud.
From the moment the exam begins, hum the theme to Jeopardy. Ignore requests for you to stop. When they finally get you to leave, begin whistling the theme to the Bridge on the River Kwai.
Somehow, I don't think this was what Earl expected me to stumble across when he told me to look up Beethoven sonatas. Dudley Moore = Beyond the Fringe = a happy childhood memory.
Emma was brilliant in her piano concert. I'm so incredibly proud.
END, k?
Yippee.
Isn't it odd that, in the midst of so much misery, you have yet to learn how to feel compassion for others? Isn't it strange that the innocents seem to be punished? Isn't it your fault, no matter how classically melodramatic that thought is? Because even though there is no direct and obvious link, you know it, and you feel it, and this knowledge risks feeding your egocentric nature. Egocentric is your new favourite word, because you have so much cause to use it -- and this, too, is a symptom of narcissism.
Well, I'm leaving for a week beginning on Friday, so I reckon I'll fill you in on some of everything.
1. My sister has diabetes.
2. My brother is finishing another terrible year of school. He hasn't learned anything except how to slack off. His future (grade five) prospects are dim at EBS, he never seems to be enjoying himself, and his best friend is going through a very difficult time.
3. There seems to be no hope for either of the siblings switching schools next year, despite how they both need to for very different reasons.
4. My mother has never been so stressed, so stressed that waking up in the morning is painful. There's nothing quite like injecting your youngest three times a day (and blood tests, too, and trying to figure out how the school will handle things next year...they haven't been very helpful).
5. My father has been, from my mother's point of view, largely absent. But he's getting older, and he's been tired lately. His birthday was this week...he's nearly sixty.
Just figured I'd brighten your day.
By the way, I've discovered the soundtrack to my life again. I'm supposed to play it, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsXRPvsUnHE
Well, I'm leaving for a week beginning on Friday, so I reckon I'll fill you in on some of everything.
1. My sister has diabetes.
2. My brother is finishing another terrible year of school. He hasn't learned anything except how to slack off. His future (grade five) prospects are dim at EBS, he never seems to be enjoying himself, and his best friend is going through a very difficult time.
3. There seems to be no hope for either of the siblings switching schools next year, despite how they both need to for very different reasons.
4. My mother has never been so stressed, so stressed that waking up in the morning is painful. There's nothing quite like injecting your youngest three times a day (and blood tests, too, and trying to figure out how the school will handle things next year...they haven't been very helpful).
5. My father has been, from my mother's point of view, largely absent. But he's getting older, and he's been tired lately. His birthday was this week...he's nearly sixty.
Just figured I'd brighten your day.
By the way, I've discovered the soundtrack to my life again. I'm supposed to play it, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsXRPvsUnHE
Wail is the best word here.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Notes from a School Year, Part One
The year in English is, thankfully, over. Looking back, I realize there is a total of three pieces I wrote this year that I was proud of. Each is an entirely different sort of writing, but each is distinctively my writing. A list is in order. (Just to make things more difficult, none of them have titles.)
1. Short (very! she suggested 400 words) story relating to themes of some other (lousy) stories (like much of the class, I chose death), winter.
I was proud of this not because it was particularly good, but rather for the sheer effort I put into it. We had very little time to write it in the first place (it was supposed to be in class, but we all know I find that impossible. I'll never plagiarize a story, anyway), and I wound up writing it twice. I wrote the opening to a story and brought it into class, where I let (had?) Marisa read it. She pretty well voiced my own thoughts, so I tore it up and threw it away. Too clichéd. Too normal.
I spent a long time trying to think up a new story. I don't think I've ever put so much effort into so few words. I lay on the floor, I stared at the screen, I ran up and down the stairs. Finally, I typed up something Marisa and I both liked better.
Excerpt: He was awake when the sky turned blue and the first rays of light crept across from the horizon. Pressing down the lever on the toaster, he took a spoon and slowly stirred his coffee, watching the milk diffuse. It was early. He had no longer any use for an alarm clock, for he barely slept: not wishing to descend into the horror of his dreams, he often lay awake until dawn.
2. Public speaking. Topic: Global overfishing. Spring.
I was proud of this for the sheer amount of work I put into it. I wrote it over a span of a day and a half, I practiced it, and I did an alright job of yelling at the class about one of my favourite subjects. I was also proud of this because I took something people had been laughing about and wrote a serious, angry speech about it.
Excerpt: The fishing industry stands at the brink of ruin. In the Mediterranean, bluefin tuna is being caught at four times the sustainable rate. Off the western African coast, villages are starving due to depleted stocks of their primary income. In our own dear Atlantic provinces, the decimated cod population threatens the future of coastal communities. Sharks are slaughtered for their fins, dolphins die in nets, quotas are disrespected and laws flouted.
3. Poem. End of year.
As you must well know, I am one terrible poet. But I wrote this poem (in Math class) and I turned it in, and that is enough for me.
Excerpt: No excerpt. It's not long enough to cite in part, nor is it good enough to post on the Internet.
1. Short (very! she suggested 400 words) story relating to themes of some other (lousy) stories (like much of the class, I chose death), winter.
I was proud of this not because it was particularly good, but rather for the sheer effort I put into it. We had very little time to write it in the first place (it was supposed to be in class, but we all know I find that impossible. I'll never plagiarize a story, anyway), and I wound up writing it twice. I wrote the opening to a story and brought it into class, where I let (had?) Marisa read it. She pretty well voiced my own thoughts, so I tore it up and threw it away. Too clichéd. Too normal.
I spent a long time trying to think up a new story. I don't think I've ever put so much effort into so few words. I lay on the floor, I stared at the screen, I ran up and down the stairs. Finally, I typed up something Marisa and I both liked better.
Excerpt: He was awake when the sky turned blue and the first rays of light crept across from the horizon. Pressing down the lever on the toaster, he took a spoon and slowly stirred his coffee, watching the milk diffuse. It was early. He had no longer any use for an alarm clock, for he barely slept: not wishing to descend into the horror of his dreams, he often lay awake until dawn.
2. Public speaking. Topic: Global overfishing. Spring.
I was proud of this for the sheer amount of work I put into it. I wrote it over a span of a day and a half, I practiced it, and I did an alright job of yelling at the class about one of my favourite subjects. I was also proud of this because I took something people had been laughing about and wrote a serious, angry speech about it.
Excerpt: The fishing industry stands at the brink of ruin. In the Mediterranean, bluefin tuna is being caught at four times the sustainable rate. Off the western African coast, villages are starving due to depleted stocks of their primary income. In our own dear Atlantic provinces, the decimated cod population threatens the future of coastal communities. Sharks are slaughtered for their fins, dolphins die in nets, quotas are disrespected and laws flouted.
3. Poem. End of year.
As you must well know, I am one terrible poet. But I wrote this poem (in Math class) and I turned it in, and that is enough for me.
Excerpt: No excerpt. It's not long enough to cite in part, nor is it good enough to post on the Internet.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
My Favourite Kids' Movies
I never "grew out" of childrens' stories, and I never will, although I now demand an additional sophistication to fantasies that makes it difficult for me to find books I truly enjoy.
The Last Unicorn
This is just such an incredible movie. I love it so much. It's funny how some authors' work just transfers so well to motion pictures (see last entry in list). It's brilliant, it's tongue-in-cheek, it's engaging, and the music is awesome (although vocal talents are occasionally lacking). Each character is a work of art, both by animation (amazing what lousy technology can do) and by construction of personality. Yes, I like unicorns.
The Swan Princess
You'd think an animated version of Swan Lake would become tedious after a few watches. You'd think the characters would be clichéd and the movie would be forced to rely on cheap laughs. You'd think, in short, it would turn out like most Disney adaptations of fairy tales. To cut to the chase and end the suspense, it isn't. It isn't even Disney. Every single character is shockingly well constructed and terribly likeable (none of this absolute evil and absolute good). The movie is pretty, with some nice animated dusk. And it's funny, to cap it all off. Not rolling-off-chair hilarious, but tastefully amusing. With this movie and the preceding one, it's no wonder I was such a dramatic, oversensitive, and confused child.
The Aristocats
There are some movies that, like the previous one, I watched enough to be able to recite certain dialogues. Then there are the movies that I watched until the cassette tape deteriorated and the film stopped two thirds of the way through. Did you know that there's a point in the film where Duchess' collar changes colour? Well, I did.
The original Winnie-the-Pooh series
Winnie and sequel are two of my favourite books ever, and Disney didn't mess them up so badly the first time around.
The Great Muppet Caper
Any film featuring the Muppets is worthy of mention, but I personally feel that this is the best of the bunch. The brilliance of the Muppets, like that of Winnie-the-Pooh, lies in their appeal to all ages and all manner of people. I laugh just as hard today at Gonzo's bizarre antics (an impulsive nature that may parallel my own) and Fozzie's lovable incompetence as I did when I was six, if perhaps at different points in the movie. This happens to be the only film on my list that is not animated. It also happens to NOT be the only film to feature John Cleese. (Guess the other?) And I'm jealous of the buses. Very jealous.
Monsters, Inc.
Arthi will attest to this.
Howl's Moving Castle
Obviously, I didn't watch this movie as a small child. It wasn't in existence. I don't feel I missed some sort of deep reaction, though, because I thought it was pretty incredibly good when I first encountered it at the age of...oh, fourteen? I'm not sure it's exactly a kids' movie, although I've always seen it classified as such.
The Last Unicorn
This is just such an incredible movie. I love it so much. It's funny how some authors' work just transfers so well to motion pictures (see last entry in list). It's brilliant, it's tongue-in-cheek, it's engaging, and the music is awesome (although vocal talents are occasionally lacking). Each character is a work of art, both by animation (amazing what lousy technology can do) and by construction of personality. Yes, I like unicorns.
The Swan Princess
You'd think an animated version of Swan Lake would become tedious after a few watches. You'd think the characters would be clichéd and the movie would be forced to rely on cheap laughs. You'd think, in short, it would turn out like most Disney adaptations of fairy tales. To cut to the chase and end the suspense, it isn't. It isn't even Disney. Every single character is shockingly well constructed and terribly likeable (none of this absolute evil and absolute good). The movie is pretty, with some nice animated dusk. And it's funny, to cap it all off. Not rolling-off-chair hilarious, but tastefully amusing. With this movie and the preceding one, it's no wonder I was such a dramatic, oversensitive, and confused child.
The Aristocats
There are some movies that, like the previous one, I watched enough to be able to recite certain dialogues. Then there are the movies that I watched until the cassette tape deteriorated and the film stopped two thirds of the way through. Did you know that there's a point in the film where Duchess' collar changes colour? Well, I did.
The original Winnie-the-Pooh series
Winnie and sequel are two of my favourite books ever, and Disney didn't mess them up so badly the first time around.
The Great Muppet Caper
Any film featuring the Muppets is worthy of mention, but I personally feel that this is the best of the bunch. The brilliance of the Muppets, like that of Winnie-the-Pooh, lies in their appeal to all ages and all manner of people. I laugh just as hard today at Gonzo's bizarre antics (an impulsive nature that may parallel my own) and Fozzie's lovable incompetence as I did when I was six, if perhaps at different points in the movie. This happens to be the only film on my list that is not animated. It also happens to NOT be the only film to feature John Cleese. (Guess the other?) And I'm jealous of the buses. Very jealous.
Monsters, Inc.
Arthi will attest to this.
Howl's Moving Castle
Obviously, I didn't watch this movie as a small child. It wasn't in existence. I don't feel I missed some sort of deep reaction, though, because I thought it was pretty incredibly good when I first encountered it at the age of...oh, fourteen? I'm not sure it's exactly a kids' movie, although I've always seen it classified as such.
And I swore to defend you.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Another end. Another.
Back for a bit, only to say:
There are now only two Marcos in my homeroom.
Helping Kelsey clean out her locker was priceless. So ends grade nine.
There are now only two Marcos in my homeroom.
Helping Kelsey clean out her locker was priceless. So ends grade nine.
Here's to...the Rolling Stones.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Pictures!
(Music store)
Mom: Why do some of them have only four strings?
Me: Those are basses.
Mom: Oh. I see. Well, why does that one have five strings? (points at five-string bass)
Me: Er...maybe it's missing a string.
I finally had my Washington pictures developed. Here are a few noteworthy photos. Click to zoom: it's worth it.
Ariel and the ducks. This couple waddled to us, searching for food. Kelsey was uneasy; I fell in love.
EDIT (04/2009): Flashback is gone. Here are the others:
Mom: Why do some of them have only four strings?
Me: Those are basses.
Mom: Oh. I see. Well, why does that one have five strings? (points at five-string bass)
Me: Er...maybe it's missing a string.
I finally had my Washington pictures developed. Here are a few noteworthy photos. Click to zoom: it's worth it.
The room: Kelsey, Arthi, Alicia, me, and Ariel.
Ariel and the ducks. This couple waddled to us, searching for food. Kelsey was uneasy; I fell in love.
As these are people pictures, I've chosen to post them here. Flashback continues, for now.
05/06/07.
EDIT (04/2009): Flashback is gone. Here are the others:
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