Well, we bought a car today. I can hardly contain myself. We got a really good deal on a Mitsibishi Mirage, from 2000. It's in impecably good shape for a four-year-old car. It has power locks, windows, a cd-player, and airconditioning. The interior looks like its barely been used before. I even got to take it on a test drive! It drives very smoothly. The people at the Saturn Dealership are very, very nice. It's only 12 days till I get my liscense. In other news, not much is happening. Life is pretty steady, and I guess I can't complain! I'm nervous about the new school year. So far, I know of few people who will be in classes with me, and that is always a little unnerving. Lately, I find myself consumed on one of two topics: Chile and dance. Pretty pathetic huh? As far as Chile is concerned, I am saving all my money (that I didn't just spend on a car) to return next year. Those nine days were the best of my life, and I cannot wait to return. The people were incredible, the scenery was one-of-a-kind, and the experience was life-altering. Paola, one of the directors, has already said that when she and Roberto, the other director, get settled into married life and buy a house that I can come visit them for a while! That would be soooo awesome. As for dance, well I am doing a lot of "soul searching" and I'm finding that I have no real desire to return to dance classes in the fall. While the thought of no dance breaks my heart, I have realized that I don't have the passion or love for it that I used to. Maybe it's because Ms. Ali was jailed and I have finally realized that she's not going to return one day and reopen the studio. I guess I was dreaming of having my studio back, and when I know that I will never have it, I find that dance just doesn't feel as worth it. I lived for it at one time, and now....well, maybe it just wasn't for me. It's pretty sad, though, how I can fall out of love with something that has been a part of my life for going on 14 years, and suddenly, because one person fails me and abandons what we all poured hard work into, I find myself lost, without a passion in life. Wow, that is a scary thought. Work's fine. Same old, same old. I'll be sad when my buddies leave at the beginning of school, though. It just won't be the same without them....Cross country starts tomorrow, so that should boost my spirit some. My sister's running XC too, and I've been helping train her, but it's not going so well. She's not really into it, and I wish she would play tennis. She'd be happier there, but my mom insists that she should run on the team with me, so I can help her through the fall season. Woohoo. Sounds like fun....NOT. Oh well, I love my sister, though. More later.

This post is in response to "blank"s post. I will be the first to admit that I don't take everything the Bible says in a literal translation, and I am willing to bet a whole lot that "blank" doesn't obey everything or believe everything set forth in the Bible. I have done a lot of research in the Bible on this passage, and I have found a couple of things. One, Jesus never makes any call on whether or not same-sex marriage is unbiblical or against God's will in any way. Second, the Bible says that a man shall not lie with another man (Leviticus), but in the same passage, it also says that no one is to eat rare meat, have tatoos, cross breed livestock or wear clothing made of blended threads. While I have never done the first three, I wear clothes of blended threads daily. Who is to say that we can do one thing and not do another? God certainly hasn't come down, in a booming voice and proclaimed that we can do all of the once-forbidden things, except for same-sex marriage. Certainly, though, our country is not on its way to hell because we wear clothing of multiple threads. Also, in Timothy the exact translations of "homosexual" are not known and it is very unlikely that it is used the same way both then and now. Wait, don't forget that Timothy is also the one who is against women braiding their hair, wearing expensive clothing and jewelry, and does not permit women to speak at church. Now, as far as I am aware (and please, correct me if I am wrong), we allow women to do all of these things today! I do not take everything the Bible says literally. I also firmly believe that sexuality is not something people can control. I cannot comprehend why someone would choose to be homosexual, knowing full-well, all the torment and hatred they would be put through just because of their sexuality. I believe that being homosexual or heterosexual is part of who God made each of us to be. God made us unique and special, and He loves us for it. I believe that our sexuality is not our choice but rather an integral part of God's ultimate plan for us and for the rest of humanity. Disagree with me if you wish, but don't ever tell me that my way of thinking is unbiblical, especially when I go to church often and I have accepted Christ as my Savior.

Alright, it's time for me to rant about something. The Marriage Amendment.
I will continue to say about same-sex marriage what I have always said---- if they love each other, then who cares what sex they are? I believe that the government should stay out of people's private lives, unless the private lives of citizens interfere with or are causing harm in the lives of others.
President Bush can be really idiotic sometimes. Like this: "Our government should respect every person, and protect the institution of marriage. There is no contradiction between these responsibilities." Uhhh, yeah there is a BIG contradiction there. You can't respect every person, and at the same time tell them they can't be legally married to someone they are in love with. Somehow, that is VERY contradictory, to me.
"Ages of experience have taught humanity that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society." Okay, so let me get this straight. If a same-sex couple decides to adopt a child, then that child would not be as stable or would not have as loving a home? Hmmmm. . .how bout NOT! And the difference in the stability of society if we have no same-sex couples than if we do is WHAT!?!?!? That's complete and total bs. The truth is that, marriage isn't all that great in the first place, and I'll testify to that. My parents have been divorced for ten years, and ya know what? Nothing in the last ten years, not living in two different cities, not the lack of money because no child support was paid, not the many court visits, not the couseling, not the fighting, not the taking me out of town without telling the other parent, none of that made for a very good environment. And that was after they were NOT living together. Imagine the hell that went on when they were. Marriage is not some wonderful thing, because "for better or worse, as long as you both shall live" doesn't exist anymore. The president can't worry about the stability of society and welfare of children, if he hasn't made divorce illegal yet.
"Government, by recognizing and protecting marriage, serves the interests of all." Yeah, uh huh. Sure. Because we know that EVERYBODY wants same-sex marriage to be outlawed. Because everyone in America clearly wants the same thing. Ha. in your dreams!
Okay I'm done now. But c'mon. It's not as though legalizing same-sex marriage will bring our country down. Letting Bush run our country for another 4 years will be the end of America as we know it! Lol. [No apologies. So there] PS-go see Fahrenheit 9-11 at Brier Creek or Park Place (maybe?)

Dance, or the lackthereof in my life currently, is truly beginning to depress me. It hit me tonight, when I was in my kitchen, and a commercial with good music came on. I started crazily dancing around my kitchen, and realized I had inadvertantly picked up a clogging step I had never been able to master before. I haven't been in a clogging class since February, when the studio shut down, and suddenly I was longing very much for the old, busy, but absolutely wonderful routine of dance Monday through Thursday for three or four hours each night, and an extra private rehearsal or workshop on Saturdays. Suddenly I am longing to be deeply and passionately involved in something other than work.

I feel so isolated from my friends and everyone else. There was a time when I was doing basketball practice every afternoon, followed by rigorous hours of dance rehearsals, and of course I was totally immersed in the world of teaching dance. But suddenly, I feel like I have nothing, except a job, which I admit I am blessed and thankful to have. I work six or seven hours a day, five or six days a week, and on weekdays if I am not working, I am babysitting from 9-5. And when I'm not working or babysitting, I'm resting and trying to regain some energy.

Onto other current life happenings. My big current project is my novel, which I have begun to work on, once again. My mom and sister and I are probably going to move, once again, into my tenth or eleventh house in my lifetime. Argh, I hate moving. We've been in this house for nine months, and I am just beginning to unpack boxes and get truly settled in, and now we are house hunting again. Oh well.

Job update: My favorite manager, Josh has left and transferred to VA. I miss him a lot, because, though he has a sarcastic attitude, we got along very well. Overrall, my job is incredible. I dress for work everday, excited about another day on the clock, adn I say that in all seriousness. There is only one thing at work that I don't like, and I really hate to write publically about it, so I won't.

Song of the day: "Have You Ever Been In Love?" By Celine Dion
Have you ever been in love

You could touch the moonlight
When your heart is shooting stars
You're holding heaven in your arms
Have you ever been so in love

Have you ever walked on air
Ever felt like you were dreamin'
When you never thought it could
But it really feels that good
Have you ever been so in love

Have you ever been in love
You could touch the moonlight
When your heart is shooting stars
You're holding heaven in your arms
Have you ever been in love
Have you

The time I spent waiting for something
That was heaven sent
When you find it don't let go
I know...

Have you ever said a prayer
And found that it was answered
All my hope has been restored
And I ain't looking anymore
Have you ever been so in love
Have you

Some place that you ain't leavin'
Somewhere you gonna stay
When you finally found the meanin'
Have you ever felt this way

The time I spent waiting for something
That was heaven sent
When you find it don't let go
I know...

'Cause have you ever been in love
So in love

You could touch the moonlight
You can even reach the stars

Doesn't matter near or far
Have you ever been so in love
I said

'Cause have you ever been in love
Have you ever been in love
So in love

What's Wrong With the World??



Well, today is Independence Day, a day where we set off fireworks, and proudly wear red, white and blue, as we reflect on just how lucky we are to live in a free nation. Happy Birthday USA!
In other news, today I found out that my former dance studio director/teacher (the one who never paid the rent, and who kept all of our tuition and other fees) was arrested and jailed for possession of cocaine. She and a few others were pulled over in her car, and all arrested because there was cocaine in her car. As much as I would like to believe that she was driving around with the drugs unknowingly, I have to suck it up and face the hard reality that she may very well have been doing/dealing drugs. These are the times when it's hard to trust and have faith in this world. I wanted to believe her story of "my boyfriend ran off with my money. It's not my fault." But I guess people are going to let you down and we should just get on with our lives and make the best of it.

My Schedule:



1. Spanish 4 (Kraweic)
2. AP US History (Newmark)
3. AP Biology (Hames)
4. Adv. Math (Mahoney)
5. 20th Century Topics (Greenwalt)
6. AP Eng. III (Chalifoux)
This is subject to change, as I fear that all but my math class will be intensely reading-heavy, and I do not think that so much reading will be doable this year. Probably switch AP Eng for Adv. Eng, though Dr. Busonik thinks I should stay in AP. I really don't know what to do. I almost need to take Topics this year, because I'd like to take Psychology and AP Euro next year, and I don't think all three are good together, and highly unlikely on one schedule. Math obviously stays. Bio, I want to stay b/c I want to be a doctor and I've heard from a biology teacher that it's a pretty important course to take. APUSH---I don't know. Just always figured I'd take it. Spanish four seems the likely antecedent to Spanish 3, though I feel unready for the literature portion of the language I love so much. Maybe another year in Spanish III??? Yeah, I know that sounds bad, but .....oh I don't know. Advice and help in the chatterbox or by way of AIM is much appreciated. Seeing that it's past midnight, and I babysit from 10-4:45pm, and then work at the theatre (on opening day of Spiderman 2) from 5pm until 11pm or midnight, I should PROBABLY rest.

SO YEAH...

Apparently, everyone has their schedule for next year, except for me. *tear* Did I like get kicked out of RCHS and not informed about it? Or did I just miss the memo that says "If your name is Lindsay W. then you will not be receiving your schedule. Oh well, sucks for you."? Oh well. This week has been a happy and sad week. I miss Chile, and in fact, I think they call this feeling "homesick," but . . .can I really be homesick for a country I only visited for 10 days? The truth is that the entire country grew on me in a way that I cannot even describe. It is full of breath-taking scenery, spectacular views, and unspeakable beauty in nature. It's when I want to use the line (from Lonestar's song) "brushed by the hand of God." I mean, I may be a little bit cookey(sp?) because I've never been out of the States before (except when I went to Toronto at age 8 months, but somehow I doubt that counts), and I think I was just so amazed that there exists something beyond the comfort, and borders of my home. The one effect Chile didn't have on me, that I think it might have had on other people is a sense of how impovershed the world truly is. You see people everywhere who barely have a roof, who haven't seen a doctor in their lives, and who are living off of whatever they can find. (I know what you're thinking....it happens in America too, but you know what!?!?!? These people don't have an option. They can't pull themselves out of this state.) I know, I sound like some old-fangled, preachy person now, but I really realized how much I HAVE TO make a difference in the world. I have vowed not to spend any money, even if it means giving up having a car, and to go back next year. I have to figure out how to help these people. I also became more enraged with the US government while visiting Chile. Apparently, we helped the military coup of Chile overthrow a communist leader, whom everyone in Chile loved, who had stabilized the economy and government, and was doing great things for the country. And you know what!?!?! This man vowed not to leave his palace alive, and it is still unknown whether or not he killed hiimself or was murdered. And would you like to know what kind of government we allowed to be installed???? (I didn't think so, but I'm going to tell you anyway). They installed a military dictatorship, where the military police would cut off your hair if they decided it was too long, and do other insane things. I'm sorry, as unpatriotic as this may sound, but I have no desire to be associated with a country who takes part in any such actions. So there. I'm done ranting. Here's a good site of Chile photos, taken by Carolyn. It's not finished yet, just the beginning. (and there are plenty more stories to tell from work and from Chile.... just wait!)
http://www.peligro-gringos.blogspot.com In spanish, peligro=caution/danger and gringos=tourists, especially of the US species!

Chile's Emergency Room!


As most of you know, I went to Chile for 10 days recently. I enjoyed ever second of my time there, and I can't wait to go back, which I hopefully can. The entire country is made up of a rich culture, a mix of complete hopelessness and despair and yet so much unspeakable and indescribable beauty. I will post about the things we did down there later, but I need to post about the most "exciting" part of the entire trip.

It's 10pm, and the hosteria (hotel) we are staying at is hosting a convention for a university in Santiago. (The hotel is located in the middle of nowhere, about twenty minutes from any sort of true civilization...) Anyway, the convention had scheduled some folk dancers to come and perform, so being the "gringos" that we are, we decided to impose and watch too! It was awesome. Then they were like, "Quieren bailar?" My entire group thought I should go, so I went up on the make-shift stage and began to dance the Cueco. It was so much fun, but it only lasted about 45 seconds. When I was finished, whether from exhaustion and stress during the trip, or breathlessness from the dance lesson or sheer excitement (or a combination), I began to have an asthma attack. Paola, one of the directors, along with an American from NY who was attending the convention, helped calm me down after about ten minutes, and I was able to return to my room, and finish packing for our departure the next evening. Carolyn and I are upstairs talking, and suddenly I feel the asthma beginning to act up again. Roberto, the other director, was on our hallway, and stuck his head in the door. "You ok?" I nodded, but he didn't believe me and remained in our room, to see if I could calm down. I couldn't. He called Paola and Mr. Slattery and they all crowded around me on the floor of our room. Paola was coaching me in breathing, and Mr. Slattery was holding my hand, while Roberto rubbed my back. For forty five minutes, I continued to breathe at a rate that I cannot even describe. As I found out later, I was also in the middle of my first panic attack, mostly from the fear of passing out and ceasing to breathe, and of being thousands of miles away from home. They finally called a cab to take us to the nearest hospital (approx. 20 min. away). Mr. Slattery, Paola, Roberto and I climbed into the taxi, and my hands and face had gone completely numb. Even my eyelids were so numb that I couldn't hold my eyes open. When we arrived at the emergency room, the doctors and paramedics spoke in rapid Spanish, not that I could focus on anything long enough to listen anyway. They took my blood pressure twice, for a reason I will never know. Then took my oxygen level with that little finger thing, and said that I would soon pass out because I wasn't getting enough oxygen. They then put an O2 mask on me, but unfortunately, the oxygen was coming in at such a rapid rate compared to what I had been breathing in for the last two hours, that I began choking on air. The doctor began to get frustrated because I couldn't calm down. So they gave me a shot of some kind of relaxant in the vein of my right arm, but not before I fought against it. Roberto finally held my arm down, while Mr Slattery let me squeeze the living daylights out of his hand. I was crying and gasping for air, and scared out of my mind, thousands of miles from home. (dude, I was in a third world country's hospital. Who knows what the heck they were putting into my blood stream!?) Then they switched the oxygen they were giving me to some type of steam, which freaked me out, and I panicked even further.
I settled down a few minutes later. I was okay, and then they came in and told us that there had been a car accident, and that they needed this room. I was moved to another room. Paola, Roberto and Mr. Slattery did their best to get me settled onto the stiff hospital bed in a room that was divided by a curtain. My first reaction, between quick gasps for air, "Don't I get more oxygen?" The answer was no. Weird, I thought, but whatever. I could only have one person with me in the room, so Mr. Slattery stayed with me. I was okay, and he was calming me down even more. Then he started joking with me about opening the curtain to see if the guy in the bed on the other side wanted to be my pololo (boyfriend). The goal was for the joke for me to relax. Instead, I began wheezing and coughing and gasping again. My entire body became tingly with numbness, from my head, ears and eyelids to my toes, and I regret to say I cried in front of Mr. Slattery because I was so terrified. I was in a friggin' third world country, and far away from home. My breathing became very irratic, and I panicked again, sending me into yet another serious panic attack. But there was a problem. All the doctors were too busy with the car accident, so for more than a half hour, Mr. Slattery and I tried to keep me from passing out and attempted to slow my breathing. Finally the doctor returned, and put another injection in the vein of my left arm, and gave me more of the steam stuff. I think I blacked out then because I don't remember anything until I woke up and saw Mr. Slattery and Paola talking. Exhausted, I put my head back down and went back to sleep. The next time I woke up, they told me the doctor had cleared me to go back to the hotel, but as I tried to climb off the hospital bed, I found I couldn't walk because I was too dizzy. Long story short, I was fine after a while. I had another panic attack on the plane from Santiago to Atlanta, but Mr. Slattery took care of me, and stayed with me so I wouldn't be too scared. I had a third and hopefully final panic attack last night at my house right after dinner. The paramedics came and calmed me down, but not before my body had gone numb. I've been to the doctor, and I am completely healthy, just apparently really anxious and stressed about something and therefore panicked, maybe from being far away from home, and then from being scared of passing out once I was home....who knows...

Okay, it's official high school students are STUPID, in all capital letters. This kid drank a poison from a chemistry lab because someone dared him to. Give me a break. This is insane. It's like giving kids Nalgene bottles and telling them that they are unbreakable. I know this kid at my school who ran over it in his car....why do we insist on acting like fools? Oh well. I'm done ranting for the night.

Hehehe, gotta love this! lol.






You are going to marry Josh Hartnett. He is really
shy, but don't let that fool you. He is really
outgoing and sweet with those he loves and will
be loyal to them for the rest of his life.
Congrats!!


Which male celebrity are you going to marry? (now 12 (i just added more, and still more to come!)results that have pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Day in the life of a highschooler, fun lol


I have to ask you this: Is overachieving a bad thing? In two of my classes (AP Env. and Spanish III) all the juniors and seniors (or, as it seems fit to call them collectively, THE REST OF THE CLASS) seems to think I am some genius, overachieving, nerdy sophomore. Maybe this is territoriality, or maybe there's some truth to it. It was the same way in Spanish II and ELPs last year. They order me around 99% of the time, but the second that a group assignment or project is dolled out, everyone is vying to be in my group. Maybe some of this on-again, off-again relationship can be attributed to the fact that APES and Spanish III are traditionally (at least at RCHS) junior or senior classes. I don't mind. Actually, I think it is kind of funny. We were watching "A Civil Action" in class, and at the end they have lots of little blurbs about where all the characters are now. I was in the front, so one person in the back says, "Hey, Sophomore, please read that." I complied and read it to them, so I guess this entire thing is just as much my fault as theirs. Anyway, overachieving. They all think I'm some hunky-dory overachiever who has nothing better to do than sit at home and study. The truth is that studying is byfar the bane of my existence. Okay, anyway, so they also think that everytime I am reading just for pleasure that I must be a geek. (lol, that's a good one.) If someone hands me a novel that looks even remotely interesting, I have been known to stay up past 3am in order to not have to put down the book. So, yeah, maybe I am a geek.


Now on to how mean some people can be. I was in health the other day, and I had gotten there first, so I lay down on the coveted couch. We ended up watching a movie and so right before it started, this freshman came over and said, "Lindsay, move your damn feet so I can sit down." I looked at him and said, "Ask nicely. I'm not a dog." (bad example, I don't even talk to my dog that way 'cept when she's in trouble.) He simply said, more irritably, "Move your damn feet." I didn't move. He was getting mad, but I'm sorry, I AM NOT GOING TO COMPLY WHEN YOU TREAT ME LIKE I'M SOME PIECE OF DIRT. Anyway, I got on his nerves because I wasn't being as subservient as he would have liked. Oh well.

Pure Angel????










Congrats! Your a Pure Angel! Angels, as far as most
of them go, are all compatabile creatures, but
Pure ones simply are symbols of God. Pure
Angels always appear when a child is born, when
a rainbow is seen, or when someone shares their
first kiss. They never grow old, an can appear
in the shape of a woman with white, bold
wings. Pure angels are the carriers of god, and
show their love to everyone in the world.


What Kind of ANGEL are you? (For Girls only) This Quiz has amazingly Beautiful Pictures!
brought to you by Quizilla

Hey now... Rubik's Cube









Hey, this is SOOOO NOT NOT NOT COOL!


You're Rubik's Cube!! You may think you're
popular, but you're actually extremely
annoying. Seriously.


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla



But anyway, who cares? I, for one, LOVE rubik's cubes!

Stress, Stress, Stress, and More Stress!








Nothing much has happened this week. I'm really stressed about my new job, about finals, about going out of the country, about school ending, and about stuff in general. It's funny how little things can get you all worked up about all the big stuff you considered rather unimportant up until that point.
Yesterday was quite possibly the longest day I've had in a looonnnngggg time. School wasn't overly bad or anything. We watched a movie in health, and signed yearbooks. We designed houses in APES, specifically Green Architecture houses. (ours was cool!) Chemistry was EOC prep, and English was Final exam prep, as was Spanish. we just signed yearbooks in Alg. II and in Publications, we worked on our webpages. I was supposed to start work last night, but I couldn't because I couldn't find anyone qualified to sign my work permit. My employer told me that my school counselor could, but apparently he was dead wrong. We drove all over town while my sister got her hair fixed (for the eighth grade dance) looking for SOMEONE, ANYONE, who was qualified to sign the permit. Upon finding zilch, we returned to the hair dresser, with me close to tears, in fear of losing a job I had yet to even begin. Then my sister realized she still needed earrings for the dance, so my mom and I got back in the car to drive to Stein Mart to pick out some earrings for her, while she continues to receive an up-do. My mom cranks the car, and it sputters, and stops. We crank it at least five more times, trying everything we know. She is close to tears by this time too because she is stressed as well. She goes back inside the salon, to see if the hair dresser, Teresa has any jumper cables. I remain outside to call anyone I can think of to come pick my sister up to get her to the 8th grade dance. I can't get anyone to answer. I'm freaking out, so I decide to see what everyone is doing inside. I get out, and hit the power lock button on the passenger side to lock the doors. Nothing happens. I hit it again and again, and still NOTHING. I go to the drivers side and do the same thing. Nothing happens. FInally I manually lock all the doors. (that is when I KNOW for sure our car is dead.) Teresa doesn't have jumper cables, and it will take AAA at least two hours to arrive, making my sister insanely late for what is supposed to be the greatest night of her middle school life. My mom hands me money, determined to make this work for my sister, and tells me to "sprint to stein mart like you've never sprinted before and get her the earrings." I comply, even though the heat is more than stifling, it's my sister's night. I get the earrings back in record time, and my sister looks incredible, indescribable. (ever wonder why ANY parent would give up such a blessed opportunity in their child's life? more than i can fathom). My mom's friend calls and says she got our message and is on her way to pick Sherby and me up, and we'll go back to the house and I'll play mother for the night and help her get ready. Meanwhile, Teresa and I go look under the hood. We lift up the top on the battery and about three cups worth of what can be described as homemade chalk falls out. Yeah, our battery was corroded beyond imagination. My mom takes Teresa's car to Wal Mart and spends fifty dollars on a new battery for a car that she traded in today, for a smaller, not-so-gas-guzzling car. Oh well. I help my sister get ready, even though she is seething mad, at the world. She yells and screams and throws stuff, and has an all-out temper tantrum, while I try not to scream back or bang my head against the wall. She ends up being so mad while she is painting her toenails that she drops the brush, and toe nail polish gets on her black dress. Well, remover, alcohol, peroxide, and contact cleaner don't work. I was out of cleaning ideas, so I took black liquid eyeliner and covered it up (the miracles of makeup), while trying to convince her to stop crying, that all is not lost (yet). Then we can't find a dressy purse. Her earring won't close. My mom's friend is late picking us up. She hates her hair do, so she takes it out and brushes it. Amazingly, my mom's friend arrives just five minutes before, by some miracle, my mom pulls up. I take about five digital pictures, and we all pile into the car, hoping to somehow revive this night.
All in all, her night turned out fine, other than the fact that she couldn't walk in her heels. I was so tense by the time we got back from taking her, that I went running. Not a great idea, first considering it was eight thirty, and second considering that I haven't run in seven months. Yeah, oh well. It was actually a really decent run. :)

New Template

Well, I got a new template. Not sure how much I like it, but for now, it will suffice. I don't have much to talk about. I got a job at the movie theatre on Atlantic Springs/Spring Forest. It's a very clean theatre, but the perks of the job stop there. Anyway, we had a dance competition this past Saturday, and my "team" got 1st in our division, and 5th out of 1500 dances... kinda upsetting, but hey--- win some, lose some.

In other news we tie-dyed in chemistry. It was uber fun! lol. I did a design called "star burst" and I really like the results. Today in AP Env. Sci. we are walking to Krispy Kreme and then to an architect's office to learn about Green Architecture. Only four full days of school, then a half day, and exams!!!! Then SUMMER VACATION. I will miss sophomore year, though. It was a good, good, year. :)

Well, I have a lot to say about the whole Iraq thing. First, I just cannot comprehend in any way, shape or form HOW we can go into a country, take over, act all high and mighty because we're a civilized country and a democracy at that, and then turn around and treat the Iraqi people no better than Saddam Hussein. Regardless of your political ideology, your upbringing, your views on the war, your hatred or love for George W. Bush, somewhere deep down inside, I KNOW that any decent person knows that what OUR soldiers did to those prisoners is WRONG. I have watched specials on Sixty Minutes, listened to Jerry Agar, and watched the news, along with having read internet articles about the alleged abuse. I even read an article in People magazine where one of the seven soldiers who is being punished and held accountable for his actions (imagine that!!!!) is claiming that he did nothing wrong, and he is blaming it on his commanders. First, okay, if your commanders do a crappy job of supervising, some blame can be placed on their shoulders, but any person with morals ought to have questions about whether or not the abuse is decent and right. Further more, how can any person do such haneous things, and still believe that Saddam Hussein is pure evil. While I don't disagree with much of that former statement, I have to say that if you beat up, soddomize, scare and pour phosphoric liquid on another living human being then you are NO better than Saddam Hussein. [Note: this does NOT mean that I am not fully in support of the majority of our troups. I do not want another vietnam post-war situation. Our soldiers need support, but those that are doing immoral things that would be undoubtedly punished had they occurred on U.S. soil, should be thoroughly and rightfully punished. This rant also does not mean that I think the beheading of a U.S. citizen by Iraqis was in anyway justified.] Oh, and the whole thing about Donald Rumsfeld needing to resign. I don't know how I feel about that. I feel like he and Bush got us into this mess, but at the same time, they certainly did NOT stand in front of those soldiers and suggest or order that they commit these offenses.

The people who protect us and serve for us in a time of danger or war are those that are shaming us and killing our image. If I were another country, I would think twice before befriending Americans....soldiers or not.

I thought the country I was born in, the country I grew up believing in was above this. I guess I was wrong.......

Let's see---lately my life has been a string of crazy, insane happenings. First there was the election--- I lost, of course. Then came plenty of work and ex days, with the cultural fair to prepare for. At the last second the cultural fair was cancelled, and so all the work that Rachel and I put into our project was down the drain. Oh well, maybe next year. Then I had to shop cause I was in serious need of a few things from Kohls. Then I babysat for Lily and Gracie, and Lily is sitting up all by herself!!!! She's such a cool baby. Then I had my Spanish project on food, and I had to make Paella, Fajitas, and Tortilla Espanola. On top of that, there was church, youth group, and Sunday school, normal homework, and studying for an out-of-place APES final. My AP Env. Sci final is this week, Tues and Wed. It annoys me b/c I am NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT in study mode yet. I get in true, work-like-I-can't-imagine, study my butt off, read, review about a week before exams start, and I study soooooo hard. But three weeks before, I am still in the end-of-the-year slacker mode. Plus, my teacher does NOT know ANYTHING!!!! NADA, when it comes to APES, at least. He asked us what the largest reservoir of carbon was, and we said rocks, esp limestone, and he was like "No the book says it's the atmosphere." Well, I looked it up in the book and it said "The largest reservoir of carbon is rocks." Well, okay, everyone makes mistakes I guess, but still. . . it's frustrating b/c you should be able to go to your teachers for help and everytime I try to he says "Oh, I'll have to look that up in the book" and he either never does or he never gets back to me about it. ARGH. Anyway, the final shoudl be fairly simple, just basic terms and knowledge.


Which brings me to my final point about APES-- when I signed up to take this course, even though it's required, I though it would be a very liberal, heres-how-you-can-save-the-world, kind of course. But it is NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT anything like that. It's facts and figures. Most of our tests are like "how many people are in the world?" a) 6.1 bill b) 6.3 bill c)6.5 bill. d)6.6 bill. And as much as all of that fascinates me, I'd really rather be doing civil action or something or saving the world. But I guess this is school, after all. *sigh*

Sorry, it's been a long time since I last posted.

Let's see.....

At the JamFest National Competition, we scored first in our division (senior variety open), and we also got first in the nation for the overall category of dance.

I have been insanely busy: preparing for Chile, running for Junior class office, regular homework, the cultural fair, getting our old house put on the market, and so much more.

Nevertheless, though, I tell you, I thrive on craziness. More later. Time for school. Elections are today--- wish me luck!

Alright so now I wanna talk about the dance/cheer competition, 'cause I am way over excited, but I think that's a good thing....maybe....just a little?!

Anyway, the host is JamFest, and it's the National Cheerleading and Dance Competition, and it will be held in Washington, D.C. for a whole three days! WOOHOO!

Let's see....Quintin is my instructor, and he's pretty cool, though I really like working with Ashley, who is a college student at Peace, and works at the gym part time. She's really sweet. She takes me to practice ('cause Peace and RCHS are like next door) whenever we have unusual practices (i.e. before 5:30pm) and my mom can't take me. We have lots of fun, flooring it at yellow lights, and blarring the radio (she likes country too!), and we always race to beat Kevin (who also works at the gym, and I think owns the place) to the gym if it's an early practice (i.e. 3pm) If we beat him, like we did last Thursday, then we get to park in HIS parking space, which is a HUMONGOUS deal!!!!! :) Yeah, it's fun stuff. Ashley laughed at me the first time we rode together because I said all of 4 words to her in the ten minute drive to the gym from RCHS. She said "how are you?" and I said "Fine, thank you." well, those were three of the four words. The other word was a "yes" when she asked me some other question. Yeah, she thinks it's funny I don't talk to her, 'cause she knows I rarely shut up during class....hehehe.

Anyway, back to the competition. We are leaving early Friday afternoon and headin' up to DC, and we will compete twice in the Open Category, and the judges will average the two scores. The Open Category is a mix of Pom (what cheerleaders do), hip hop, jazz, kick, and gymnastics moves....The dance is a mix of songs that I haven't even heard yet, but it should be good, cause Kevin's making it. We're wearing plain black jazz pants, and royal blue shirts. One side has a long sleeve, and the other is just a strap....interesting. So one arm will be sweating and boiling hot and the other will be cool....hmmmm....interesting concept.


In other news, our gym CATS Cheer and Tumble School of Raleigh will be merging with EXCEL, another gym, to form one of the largest cheer families on the east coast. So it should be fun....yeah, I gotta pack for the beach. More later. And if I can figure out how to work our digital camera, I'll take pics at the competition and post them...but that's unlikely b/c I'm technologically challenged. *sheepish grin*

Alright, where to start???
Let's see, I've had two Flex Days since I lasted posted. Truth be told, I thought only one of them left a lot to be desired, but that's just me. The first activity on the first Friday was Optical Illusions, 'cept it was really drawing on beach balls and blowing bubbles...yep no joke. The bubbles were fun but the beach ball activity was just stupid.....We drew a line from the "north pole" to the "south pole" of the beach ball, then the instructor asked if that was a "straight line." Of course it is. If you take it off the surface, it is a straight line. ......oh well. The coolest part of the bubble thingy was making the hypercube, filling it with bubble mixture by carefully dunking it in the bucket, and then pulling it out. It only worked once, but theoretically you should get a third cube made entirely of bubbles inside the smaller of the two original cubes. It's really cool.

The second activity that day for me was Ethics, which was a science activity that dealt with issues such as DNA databases, research and testing, genetically modified foods, whistleblowers in the science field, and other things such as medicare and different anti-depressant drugs. We got split into one of those categories, paired up and then we were told either pro or ocn, and we had to debate that topic in front of partners from all the categories. I was whistleblowers...kinda boring, but very important. It's easy, I think, to sit and say, "oh yeah, I would blow the whistle, even if it cost me my job," but out in the real world....would it be so easy???

My next Flex day I watched Gallipoli in the morning. It's a movie about the WWI battle at Gallipoli, which if I am not mistaken is off the island of Turkey. It's got Mel Gibson, about twenty years ago, in it, and it's really sad. These guys all go off to war, with glory in mind, and their first battle is tragic. They were fighting the Turks from the bottom of a hill (trench warfare), and the Turks were at the top of the hill. They got an order to take all the ammunition out of their guns because the Turks weren't worth wasting ammunition on. These guys could only use their bayonets, and that meant running up hill and getting as close to the Turks as possible. I will leave the end to your viewing. My only negative comment about the movie was the music. It was the same as that from Chariots of Fire, one of my favorite movies. The synthesizer was a big thing when both these movies were made, and in Chariots of Fire I didn't notice that it was kinda out of place, but in a WWI movie, it distracts you.

In the afternoon we went to the NC Museum of Art, and had a tour completely in Spanish.....fun fun fun. I'll leave the details of our excursion and our wacky tour guide up to your imagination! :)

I'm leaving for the beach tomorrow afternoon. Other than that....yep. Spring break is droning slowly on, but that's not to say I'm not enjoying it. I can stay up reading till 2am and not get up till 11, and still do anything I wanna do all day....it's nice.


"Some days you gotta dance
Live it up when you get the chance
Cause when the world doesn’t make no sense
And you’re feeling just a little too tense
Gotta loosen up those chains and dance" ("Some Days You Gotta Dance" by the Dixie Chicks)