Damn Ecoteam!

So I saved the time I have right now for writing my Ecoteam application which is due... today. Alright, so I had a week, but what I saw when I opened the poll (the application was done as a poll) was a complete piss off.

And I'd already written answers to half of the questions too (on a Word document)! Furious, I rechecked the email. It says that applications are due on Thursday. It is Thursday! Obviously, when you make something that's online due on a certain day, people are expecting that it is due at the end of the day, unless specified. And no, it wasn't specified. The club is meeting tomorrow, so I'm going to go complain and be bitter like SOMEONE... (Snobby...)

If you're frowning upon me because of my procrastination, I'm going with the excuse that our science teacher gave us an unreasonable deadline for an assignment. We had to create a menu for a restaurant and a 2-3 minute skit in two days. Today was a field trip that lasted from 7 to 7, so not much could be done. If it weren't for this trip, we'd only have one day. And so that interfered with my second-last minute plan.

Also, I've been joining a lot of clubs. Too many. Impulsively signing up for everything, attending meetings, and filling out tons of forms isn't exactly helping with my time management either.
So far, I have:

Key Club (Fundraising events)
DECA
Stage Band
Concert Band
Kids Help Phone Ambassadors
Amnesty International (Which I have no desire to attend. I just signed up. And then left the meeting.)
Possibly Chamber Orchestra which hasn't started.
TOPS Webteam as Writer

And I will undoubtedly find more clubs that I'm interested in.

Oh Hey I Remembered

Sorry guys for forgetting (sort of) about the blog... Things have been busy and pretty hectic lately. I caught a couple of colds from staying up late trying to finish up work. Even now, I'm trying to squeeze this in between finishing up French and art.

Anyway, Word of the Day will (sadly) be discontinued, unless someone wants to continue it for me. I simply do NOT have the commitment, and so I'll just say this straight out so that no one is disappointed. (But you can probably already guess that from the neglect for the past few months).

So far, DMCI has been pretty awesome. My homeroom teacher is the coolest teacher in the entire world, and the English teacher is pretty easygoing. As for art, the teacher gives a lot of work, but she's flexible with due dates, and French is... well, French. I'm meeting new people, and even though some are (at times EXTREMELY) disagreeable, I forged friendships with the rest.

LONG LIVE CyberARTS

'Til my next update,
Ciao

Waiting

He watched as the second hand overlapped the minute hand. He sighed, and went back to reading his magazine. Or at least he tried to. But something on his mind was preventing him from concentrating. He was sitting in the doctor's office waiting for the results of his CT scan. For weeks, he'd been experiencing chest pains and had been coughing up blood, and upon consulting a doctor, he'd been told that it might be lung cancer. It wouldn't be a shock if the results proved that. After all, he had been a smoker for decades. He'd thought of quitting, but he didn't think he had the willpower to do it. Without family or friends to support him, there wasn't a reason to stop. Friends… family… He shuddered. He didn't want to think of his past. Turning a page, he forced himself to continue reading the magazine, waiting.

Holy, that was a hard paragraph to write. Did it seem hard to you? Probably not. But that's because you didn't notice that there's something very peculiar about it. And no, it isn't that there are no 'e's. But it is certainly missing something. As a matter of fact, it's missing two things that are usually ubiquitous in writing. Can you spot what they are? If you think you know the answer, comment (or even better, post something!) with your own paragraph/sample that's missing the same things. (Hopefully I didn't screw up and actually add in some of the things I was trying to avoid. Also note that I was kind of cheap in avoiding the usage of these, so don't say it's not technically completely free of them.)

Make ready-present-FIRE!!!!

Hello, hello, hello-o-o-o-o!

Yes, I've FINALLY found time to post! I am happy. Very happy.

Anyways, first things first: I was looking at my agenda, and you know what? February the 22nd is a Tuesday. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

And tomorrow missed being Tuesday the 22nd day 2 just by ONE day. Thank god.

Okay, so since I'm not that "creative soul" I think I'll stick to my usual: funny, sarcastic, Draco Malfoy, Grace-ed versions of life. Beginning now. (Oh, before I start officially, WELCOME BACK to Halalcohol.)

So last weekend, I went to the annual Fort George Scout Brigade. The one where we reenact the war of 1812. And also the one with 2000 guys. Among which (brace yourselves, those who doubt the awesomeness of Draco Malfoy) there were a number of REALLY SHINY PEOPLE, and even ones with *cough* platinum blond hair!*

You can guess how my weekend went. :)

Anyways, in between all the musket (cap guns) firing, talking to people with platinum blond hair, and marching in ridiculous soldier outfits, it was pretty sweet.

So yeah, that's basically it.

On another note, this a an official reminder that the Giftee (and Frenchie N0. 1 turned TOPS/ E.Y., and OMGsh NOT a certain Frenchie-turned iBeer) reunion is next Friday, October 1st at 4:30 at Tyrrell.

Be there, or be SQUARE. O_O (2 to the power of 2)

Miss you all lots! Oh, and did you know that the certain Frenchie-turned-iBeer is telling everyone that she had a boyfriend called H.S. [1] last year? O_O


2-hatingly yours,
Grace

[Chicken + (Sorry - morse) + Solar Star]

Flurry of News

Holy crap.

That's all I can say. It has been so hectic for me this past week. Sorry for not posting anything while in China, but as many of you know, China hates Google... and all social networking sites (including YOUTUBE!)... and most things about Tibet... and most things about politics, specifically democracy... and porn... (not that I would know). FYI Tom, you can't get past the Great Firewall of China (which I might post about later) with any proxifier. I tried for days to search for one, but I don't think any of the free ones will work, and I'm not willing to throw away money so I can post for three weeks.

RANDOM FACT #1: You can access the Wikipedia page about Tibet in English, but the English page about China is blocked.

I didn't really do anything interesting in China. Except maybe go to the Expo (which I also might post about). That wasn't fun. It was so crowded. And HOT. That was the worst part. Heat and humidity. The day we went, I think it was 35, with humidity feels like God knows what. It was just really bad. And the line-ups were obviously freight train length. We went on a weekday, and still, the line-up to see the German pavilion was over 4 hours long. I honestly can't believe people would line up that long in that weather.

RANDOM FACT #2: Most free proxy sites are blocked, so you can't attempt to get hold of a site that has no way to get past the Wall in the first place. (Read that sentence again if you're confused.)

The plane ride back was interesting. I got ground sickness. See, I took three flights. One was an hour long. The second was twelve hours long. The third was two hours long. So I was fine on the first and second flights. Then when I got off of the second flight, I sat down to wait for the next one. As I was sitting, I started to feel nauseous. It got worse and worse, to the point where I had to close my eyes in order to not throw up, and I was holding a "sanitary bag" as they call it. By then I was sitting on the plane, desperately hoping that it wouldn't move for a while. But when it started on the runway, my nausea suddenly receded. And as the plane rose, it was like we were leaving it behind. Yeah, that was really random. And so is this:

RANDOM FACT #3: All the buildings in China look at least 200% better on the inside than on the outside. This is especially true of residences.

Ten hours before the second week of school started, I arrived back in Toronto. And then it was my first day, and a surprising amount of people knew my name. But I didn't know anyone else's. And it all felt really wrong. And of course, the next day just had to be Pinecrest, which went alright. But now I have to catch up on all the work I missed, and as I type this, I should be fillling in three geography worksheets which require a lot of research. Hopefully I can use my lab report and French sheets as an excuse.

I have to remember to comment on everyone's posts sometime. I hope with Hannah and hopefully everyone else that high school will not be a distraction to the blog. Honestly... 8 posts in August? We can do better than that! We're Giftees!

What y'all have been missing

Well Pinecrest is over now and we all had a blast. Not only do we know most of the other TOPS kids, we also spawned a new generation of inside jokes. Please feel free to use any one of these but don't be surprised if people outside of TOPS don't know what you're talking about. The phrase with asterisks is especially risky and offensive to say to people outside of TOPS.

1. F***in' Mike!* (created Tuesday when every single person in my cabin said the phrase unanimously) Used to express frustration or discontent when something unpleasant happens. May also be used to pin the blame on an individual named Mike.

E.G. "Damn this rain! F***in Mike!"

2. Don't be bitter, *Snobby! (Created when Snobby expressed extreme anger at E.Y's camera skills.) Simply used to annoy or silence Snobby whenever he whines about a certain individual or thing.

E.G. Snobby: E.Y's photos are such BS! the lighting's all wrong and he thinks he can pass this off cuz he has a $1000 camera!

User: Don't be so bitter Snobby!

Also note the phrase: Bitter *Snobby's butt's been beaten by Lazy Y. It came out of a random conversation.


- Halalcohol

3. What an *R.! (Created on the second night's shower day when a guy named R stuck his hand through the high window of the girls' shower and waved.) Used to express surprise or give Kudos to any individual for an extremely ballsy or otherwise insane act. E.G. Whoa did you see him flip off the teacher like that? What an R!

Well by now you probably want a movie list so I'll be posting again soon with a movie list. In the mean time, try and get some DMCI inside jokes up here as well, cause everybody knows that the more jokes we have that make us look crazy, the better!

A Half-SC: You and I

It seems as if everyone has ditched this place! The silence is almost haunting... KEEP POSTING EVERYONE! Do we really want September to be a new record low for number of posts? Hopefully high-school won't interfere with this blog... Though I suppose it already has. D:

I've been checking this page almost everyday for a week now, and no one has been posting. So, since I feel a bit sorry for anyone who still bothers to check this place (like me), here's a Half-SC for you guys to read while you wait - hopefully not for long - for the rest of the giftees to post.

I should explain this one a bit. It is definitely not a Short Clip, but since all my writing has been those so far, this one will be an Honorary SC, thus the name Half. This piece actually evolved from a drastically different idea; however I am more happy with this outcome. It was actually written yesterday, but I didn't write it for this. Then today it felt so lonely on here I couldn't stand it any longer... so here you go:

The Beginning of The End

It all starts off with expectations.

I was looking forward to summer last year. Really. My mom had signed me up for an animation and design summer camp, and all was pretty well. Then later, she told me she signed me up for Bronze Cross. Every single day of the week. I was devastated. She didn't even ask whether or not I wanted to. But I was okay with it. But then I realized that the entire July would be filled up, Monday to Friday, everyday of the week. Not exactly what I had planned for. Not at all.

Flash forward a month or so.

Camp was really fun. I met a lot of new people, and made some new friends. Bronze Cross was more fun than I would've ever imagined. Although it exceeded my expectations, I've got to say, it didn't by much. The friends I made there got me through the torture they call a fitness test, which isn't that hard once you think look back at it, but it's like being in hell while you're in the middle of it. It's pretty much like the beep test, minus the speeding up, and in the water. I was pretty damn sure at that point, to enjoy the rest of August.

Flash forward 3 days.

No such luck. At least, not for the first weekend. Up north at a Scouts hike camp, I got stuck with making sure the stragglers in our troop didn't fall behind by too much. Not much fun, if you ask me. Especially, trying to ignore all those whining complaints they had. I wasn't like that when I was their age. The new generation must be getting soft.

In the end, I resorted to using a stick and poking them in the back with it, not unlike a cattle prod. Call it encouragement, or call it abuse, it kept me entertained for a while, until my arm got tired pushing them forward all the time. Slowing down on purpose to match their pace didn't help much either. It used more energy than I needed. But hey, there's still the rest of August to enjoy, right?

Flash forward, a month.

I was wrong. No such luck here, either. Stuck with doing math homework all the time, staying at home, studying at the library, and drowning in boredom, I luckily kept my self company (and partially, my sanity), through the advent of twentieth-first century technology, e.g., Facebook and Messenger. I couldn't wait till school rolled around the corner so that I can meet all my friends again.

You might be wondering why this incredibly long post is just about me ranting on about my summer, or you've already scrolled down to the bottom to read the end, but there's nothing to fear. The end is near. (Hey, that rhymes!)

One week later.

Ah, school. My expectations for highschool were not high. I just realized what a bad accidental pun that was. Moving on now, my brother is already in highschool, and although I was pretty sure there were some form of drugs in every highschool, I was also pretty sure highschool would be like middle school, but with rotary and more homework. And for the most part, I was right. The first day of school was incredibly boring. My teachers were surprising, pleasantly so. They were all pretty cool teachers. Nothing was out of place here.

Another week later.

Here I am, at the end of the first week of school, and just as Friday came rolling around, a social bomb was dropped on me. Not a socialist bomb, that wouldn't make any sense, but I got caught up in the rumour mill and churned around in circles for a couple of times, if that analogy helps. Some highschool drama here and there. Oh, what fun.

And as my expectations continually get twisted, broken, and thrown around, I can't help but think that later on in the year, things might start to get better for once. Oh, how wrong I'll be when I look back...

Better Later Than Never, Right?

Honestly, this was the only free time I've had all week. I am serious. Well, "week" as of Tuesday, because everyone knows Monday doesn't count if it's a holiday. I guess I can blame a really long commute and OCD tendencies when it comes to value scales. [Pointilism: the most pointless thing ever. Pun definitely NOT intended. It's cool and all, when you finish it, but if you're a pointilist you'd better have a never-ending crevasse filled to the brim with patience. Did anyone catch the Geo reference?]

Anyway, this is a oh-my-gosh-we're-in-high-school-and-there-are-a-whole-bunch-of-things-to-talk-about kind of post. So, third in line, and 4 days too late, but the title says all. Plus, this is coming from a TOPS perspective (Halalcohol would've posted before me, probably, if he could, you know, access the site and everything. Oh, yeah, and if he was at school, too. Tom is way too lazy, and according to him, has been getting "extra sleep" because he won't get any at Pinecrest. Don't worry, I'll tell you why that's relevant.) and that will make this post unique. Right?

My first impression of Marc Garneau C.I. was:

(not, Wow, this place is really shady and ghetto, but:)

Wow, there are a LOT of people.

Interesting fact: Did you know that Marc Garneau is at 135% (and counting) capacity?

Interesting fact #2: Did you know that MGCI has 12 portables?

And, Interesting fact #3: Did you know that MGCI has 23 Grade 9 Classes? Yes, that means that there is a 9W. Pretty soon, they're going to have to resort to the Greek Alphabet. Or something.

That aside, MGCI is a pretty easy school to navigate, even though it's so large. (3 stories, 12 portables.) I mean, I haven't gotten lost yet, mostly because, sooner or later, you'll end up somewhere you recognize. Plus, you really only need to know your classrooms, some exits and stairs, your lockers, and the important stuff on the first floor, like the office and cafetorium and library and Space Resources Centre. Oh, and the Staff Room. But we've gone on multiple tours of the school already, and those places are pretty distinctive, so, yeah.

Our classes were off to a slow start. Introductory stuff in Science (lab safety, scientific method, etc., etc.) and prep for a field trip we're partaking in on the 22nd in (Canadian) Geo. And while (or so I hear,) everyone else is doing fitness tests, my gym class (which, by the way is half TOPS.) is playing Octopus. And related games. We don't have Business or Tech in Gr. 9; instead, we have Civics/Careers.Yeah, in Gr. 9. I don't know why.

At lunch, we can go wherever we want, pretty much. That's probably the second major difference. Lunch is less structured, and you're allowed to go off school property. So, DMCI, anyone feel like a rendezvous during our [1 hour] and your [1 hour and twenty minutes] lunch? (Or if we don't have time, after school? Oh, and we should arrange a visit to Tyrrell sometime soon. Talk to the teachers and everything. If they're still there at like, 4:30. Or 4, if we're quick.)

As for the rest of you guys who are hiding out there, how were your first weeks? Feedback is appreciated. : ) And so are meetings on the 25 Don Mills bus, hint hint.

Oh!

And before I forget, let me tell you about Pinecrest. It's a TOPS tradition, to spend 4 days at Pinecrest in order catalyse the bonding that is sure to occur after 4 years of class with the same people. The way I figure, it'll be like the Giftees. That same kind of connection. Only we had a year, and from what I hear, Pinecrest does that in 4 days.

Impressive. Not hard to imagine, though. See, Pinecrest is where I've been going to for summer camp for the last, 3 years, and even though the counselours are all at their respective universities, and we don't have outtrip or a regular camp schedule (I'll miss Clubs and the mealtime din, but not Cabin Clean Up.), it's the same cabins, the same lake, and the same (ahem, Kekindewin) dining hall. Kind of like S.O.E.S. dropped into a Pinecrest setting. I spent my time at camp in a tepee this time, so I look forward to the new cabins and, for the girls, a new washroom. It's 2 years old. : )

Oh, and to fellow TOPS, while you're up there, and if we still bother to have Social or Snack, look at the stars. You don't see those in the city.

~Yaning

The Response to Hannah's Post That Became Too Long And Became A Separate Post Itself.

Hello.

Well.

If you don't know what I'm about to talk about, then just read the title. Mhm. Pretty much explains EVERYTHING. ;D

Annyways. I was GOING to post about school as well, but since Hannah and I go to the same school, I thought our posts may have ended up a bit repetitive, so here's *ahem, refers to title* The Response to Hannah's Post That Became Too Long And Became A Separate Post Itself. Oh, and from now on, I'll just say [title 1] instead. :)

Okay. So very quick overview: (and if you want the full thing, stick with me until the end of this VERY SHORT POST, and you'll get an awesome link that will take you to the most awesome place on earth...but you'll have to read this WHOLE post>:)

1. High school IS fun. Although our school is pretty ghetto. Well, half ghetto anyways. How do I know this? We have video cameras everywhere, there were cops in our school, AND there are always people smoking in the front of the school. AI YAH. I actually don't think it's that bad compared to other schools, but some may disagree. One of our fellow IB-ers, for example, who was a Frenchie from our old school was pulled out by her mother and transfered back to a *gasp* normie school.


2. I don't have a single class with Hannah until second semester! D;

3. IB-ers are made up of*:

10% imbecilic (ahem, excuse the language. :P) normies who THINK they are better than everyone else. That's actually not that bad, because I was expecting a higher percentage. JK

50% AWESOME EPIC normies who either declined, or somehow never made it to becoming a giftee,
IB-er or Frenchie. Nice people though, and some are VERY good at music.

20% Frenchies. they own at French. 'Nuff said. (With the exception of erm...SOME people. AHEM. Infer for yourself. *cough a frenchie from our school*)

8% IB-ers, or the people who took middle school IB. Not sure exactly how that works yet.

1% or less Giftees: To my knowledge, Hannah and I are the only ones so far.

11%; Still undetermined. In need of more data.

*percentages may not be 100% accurate. But I tried. Or...estimated.

----------------------------------------------------------------
And because I DO NOT want to end at 4, which is a multiple of two, (cough 2 to the power of 2)
I will just take the time to say that our school is pretty awesome. More on the teachers and exclusive stuff about VPCI at...

*drumroll please*

http://herstory-generationy.blogspot.com/
What is it? It's another blog that I had to do JUST for school. But don't worry, I threw in some interesting stuff. OH, and Hannah has a pretty cool one too. Go check it out. :)

-hmwk is awaiting-
Still the GRACEFACE/Grass/Grace. :)

P.S. DM+HG forever. Props to those that understand.

We're Highschoolers Now! Yay?

Didn't the summer go by too fast? August flew by with a measly EIGHT posts! Guess everyone was truly relaxing during the summer, trying to cram in the last bit of videogame time, because now, WE'RE IN HIGHSCHOOL... Welcome to the dark side of the world.

It's only the second day and already this place feels like it's gathering up dust. Which is probably why today, on my way to post on my other - this-is-a-boring-and-mandatory - blog, I felt kinda bad and decided to stop by. So...

Hi. Haven't talked to you in awhile! *tries to use extra-cheery voice*

Yeah, that was awkward. Moving on, we are now officially 3 TOPS-ers, 2 "iBeers" (as XZ dubbed us xD), 1 Cyber-giftee, and 2 Giftees United! ...But that's a bit too long for all of our likings, so let's just keep it as Giftees.

Well, it was nice talking to you, empty space, but I gotta go. So to all the Giftees who've actually bothered to finish reading this post, have an awesome year in highschool, wherever you are.

(Ok to tell you the truth the above was just me procrastinating posting on the other blog. If you are really BORED OUT OF YOU MIND and want to read some BS, you can go to http://acomputerizedjourney.blogspot.com/. But seriously, viewer's discretion is advised. If you fall asleep while reading, it's OK! I won't blame you... this is for my teacher's purpose only. :P)

A Superior Post [1]

So, uh. Hi.

[Imagine this echoing into the empty recesses of our blog.]

I would have posted this morning, but instead I watched the Breakfast Club again. It's kind of weird, because I could have done a whole lot of other, more useful things (like sorting out school stuff, posting an entry, and sorting pictures from my Lake Superior Hike-

Actually, let me talk about that. I'll update on what I did after I came back later. (Weird craving for Breakfast ((Club)) and all.) I left on the 22nd of August, and came back yesterday (which was the 3rd). I spent one day at camp prepping for the trip (wellness checks, food, equipment, sleep) before leaving at 4:00 a.m. the next morning on an 8-hour van ride. There wasn't much leg-room, so being short actually came in very handy - I slept at least twice as much as everyone else because I was able to stretch out a bit and lean my head on the seat. It probably helps that I seem to be very skilled at the art of sleeping in moving vehicles. [I wake up once we stop or near the destination. I don't know why. Probably a subconsious thing.] An added bonus? I woke up every hour, so I was able to catch the sunrise. I can probably count on my fingers the times I've watched the sun rise, and this was by far the most beautiful. Second place goes to one while flying on a plane.

We were surprisingly lucky with weather. It rained the first night and the morning of the last day. On outtrip, rain can really make you miserable. Not that I don't enjoy rain itself (plus, in my opinion, the lake looks much more beautiful when it rains. Blue water is pretty, but kind-of-teal cobalt-gray is far superior[1] ), but it makes you cold and puts you in a I-don't-wan't-to-move kind of daze, which makes getting any work done worth twice the effort. Plus, it's harder to start a fire.

The terrain and scenery weren't monotonous, but they didn't vary that much either. Not that it wasn't beautiful. Just that after a while, all the picturesque beaches and rugged coastal rocks became the perfect, but same scene. I think that's kind of why I prefer cloudy Superior to sunny Superior, because it had more layers.

Our group was pretty small: Two counselours, three boys, two girls. Unfortunately, though, on Day 2, Maddie, the other girl, partially dislocated her knee after taking a funny step and had to be evacuated. [The OPP came and stretchered her to the highway for camp to bring her to the hospital after one of our counselours hiked with her strapped onto his back, splint and all, to the meeting point.] That's how I ended up getting a tent for myself.

Once we fell into tripping rhythm[2], we started to have time for things like cards and swimming, and in my case, exploitation of the macro setting on my camera (because things look so much better close up). We even played Texas Hold'em with rocks from the beach. By the end of the trip, we were all three shades more tanned, covered with scratches and bites (and in my case, three burns), and reeking of sweat, smoke, and trip food[3]. It was very odd to be back among people and toilets and loud noises and beds, and ever odder to fall asleep without the continuous roar of waves crashing on nearby shores.

[1] So many Superior puns, so little time to use them. Bad puns were also frequent during our poker sessions - we really hit rock bottom right then. See what I did there?

[2] Because ours was a hike and not a canoeing trip, we had to unpack and repack all of our food, equipment, and personal packs every morning and every evening in addition to finding firewood, cooking food, putting up the bear hang, and cleaning up the site. This, as you can imagine, could take a lot of time with only 4 people (6 if you count counselours), and we always seemed to end up doing dishes in the dark. It was a complete pain in the neck - or back, actually, since crouching after a long day of hiking was quite torturous for my lower back - to pull up the bear hang and fumble for dishes while hanging on to flashlights.

[3] I don't know what it is, but all trip food, no matter what it is, smells and kind of tastes unique. You can smell it at O.P (outtrip planning, where all the food and equipment is stored and ready for prep), and it really is very distinctive. It reminds me of faint citronella, not by the flavour of the smell, but of the feel of the smell. They feel similar. If you don't understand what that's supposed to mean, don't fret. I don't know how to describe it.