Okay, given that not much has happened here recently, I made some behind-the-scenes changes to the database layout. If you happen to encounter any problems, then let me know. Everything should work based upon what I’ve seen so far. Thanks for your help, if you happen to spot something.

Update

Blast it all! I though I had something right, but I messed up one line in a script, and now all updates that I had posted on this site are gone. GONE… Argh, sometimes I cannot believe myself. Measure twice, cut once. I only measured once, thinking I’d get it right the first time. And now both I and every reader of this site must pay. Someone kick me (not really). Sorry, I had to vent about my stupidity here. But it shoul all work, regardless of the missing content.

Okay, I don’t know about anyone else—but I am really really mad. I have waited 3 years for this, and they have the gall to just say “meh, we’re cancelling it… no we won’t reschedule.” I can’t believe it! I do feel sorry for the seniors, because I know I would be really sad if I was a senior and had finally made it.

I just had to say this somewhere. I think everyone else shares my opinion. If you’re going to All-State, then you’re lucky. Maybe we should still try to do something Saturday night, just because. Any thoughts?

Yes, this is funny for those of you who know what I’m talking about. Well, I haven’t said anything here in a painfully long time, and I don’t remember all of what I have wanted to say. So I’m still happy about All District, and am looking forward to it this weekend. Going to have a blast.

Well I’m nearly over being sick last weekend, which inhaled profusely. I was strangely tired today. Strange, because I actually got a decent night’s sleep last night. Yeah, so that’s all the major stuff for me. There’s probably more, but I’ll put that here later, because I cannot think very well right now, and I am probably forgetting several things. But who cares… Being sick really made me wonder what school’s worth though, because it was incredibly nice doing nothing on Saturday and Sunday—though it sucked not being able to get out and do anything.

So I’ve been pracicing something like every night this week. For those of you who don’t know me, usually getting me to practice is like asking me to jump off of a cliff—in otherwords, it’s extremely difficult to get me to do it. I usually make up excuses as to why I “can’t” practice and such. Something’s different this year, and I can’t put my finger on what.

For the past two years, I had expected to make it. In 9th grade, it was because I had made it in 8th grade, as 1st chair at All-County (ahh, the memories), and 7th (3rd in Concert Band) for All-District, with a broken instrument. So I was confident that I would make it. I didn’t make it. Then in 10th grade, I attributed my earlier loss to the sophomores (I was the top ranking freshman for the auditions), and figured that I would make it by default, because I was the best of the sophomores this year—theoretically. Man, was I ever wrong. I went on to get creamed by everyone else.

So this year, I have no confidince at all. My lack of regular practice has hurt me, I’m nearly sure of that. And on top of that, I’m a junior—placing me on the less-experienced end of things this year (as opposed to seniors, who have another year under their belt). So I really doubt that I’ll make it. I still can’t play worth crap, so my chances haven’t really improved.

Other than my practicing today, not much has happend, so I figured I’d post this. I’ll update this one on Saturday or Sunday to post my chair (if by some miracle I make it) or just the fact that I didn’t make it (if I don’t). So this’ll get updated, regardless.

I’m out for now—bye!

Update

This is definitely an ex-post-facto update, but I said I would update it. I got 4th place in the district, landing me in 2nd chair in Symphonic Band. I was the 1st place Junior, so hopefully next year will be better. I have this sad habit of being the best in my class (of 2004), but still being beat by older students. Maybe it says something about the trend of the arts programs?

That’s it; just holding to my promise, albeit extremely belated.

Yes I am one of them. But then again, I feel that I’m not. This is not a rant of depression; it is more of an outrage. I ride the bus most of the time (3+ days per week), and I am absolutely appalled by what I see and hear. I tell you, there are an amazing number of people who have no consideration for other people. Here follows the reason why I’m writing this:

On the bus this afternoon, a middle school girl (the sister of a sophomore on the bus, too) was crying for some reason. Well of course, the bus driver wanted to know why. So kids in the back blurted out stuff like “We were having too much fun for her” (my brother… ungh) and “She’s having family issues” (someone else who I don’t know). I was rather disgusted by both (I heard other comments)—for pity’s sake, give her a break. Let her answer for herself or something, jeez. The latter comment hit me really hard, because in today’s society—even if you say that in jest—it may have repercussions you didn’t intend. Say the bus driver tells that to someone and the report of “family issues” gets to the point that the government steps in. That’s not something I would want to be responsible for in someones life… causing government intervention because I made a comment in jest, that is.

I guess I wonder why anybody bothers to have kids. Yes it’s nice, and yes it’s admirable. It’s necessary too, I suppose. But with a lot of the things I see this world coming to, I wonder if it is not a crime against humanity to bring a child into this world where consideration seems to be a lost art. Cruelty among peers has always griped me, partly because I’ve been on the wrong end of it more than my fair share of the time. Today just really set me off. It seems that children can sometimes truly be the cruelest creatures on this planet…

I don’t intend to offend anyone. Most of my friends probably don’t fall in to the category of “not having any consideration,” and for that I am grateful. But this is just somewhere for me to vent about what I see and hear from other people sometimes. Besides, this page is about me and my opinions, right? :-)

Please—nobody take this personally, as it is NOT directed at you. It’s just a story to think about.

Yes indeed, good morning. I’m actually up early today. Early being around 8, because I couldn’t get to sleep again, so I’m stuck awake. So obviously, nothing much has happened today, so there will (more than likely) be an update later today. I just figured I’d post a greeting to everyone early today, so that I at least have something for today.

Have a nice day.

No, not ncurses. (Inside joke… actually, it’s not even a joke. More like an inside pun… it’s awful. Ignore it.) Anyway, we only have a short period of time left before school starts again. That’s a crying shame. I was getting used to the do-nothing style of break. Now it’s time for me to start doing a lot of things. Although, I’ll definitely be looking forward to seeing all of my friends again once school starts again, so there is a positive side to it all.

I need to practice like… 24/7 if I have any hopes of making All-District. Then, I need to write my blasted short story for Mrs. Timberlake. I hope I can make it good, because I usually inhale profusely when doing creative writing. (As I’m sure you’ve seen with this website, I’m hardly even good at journalistic writing). I’ve still got the IB paper hanging over my head (although, there’s less left now, since I’ve put a small dent in it).

As you’ll notice, I’ve also added a hit counter to this site. This is mostly for my benefit, and somewhat for yours too (if you’re at all interested in that stuff). Now, it won’t go up nearly as fast as Duterte’s does, because it’s got a cap on it. One hit per day, per computer (based on your IP address, for the tech-savvy out there). It keeps track of how many times each individual has ‘hit’ the site, so I could print out all kinds of statistics if I wanted to, but only the most meaningful show up in the “Hit Counter” box. It does NOT, however, track screen names (as the NetProfile does), so I can’t tell who’s visited how many times. So don’t worry about privacy.

Interesting… I typed the most about the least interesting part of this whole update. Whatever.

Okay, not much is happening around here. I’ve made a fair amount of headway on my IB paper, which is a Good Thing™. Anyways, that aside, I still haven’t started on my short story. Need to do that today. I practiced again last night, and I’ve got some serious problems to address before auditions roll around, or I’m toast.

Since I’m bored, and because I doubt many people look at this (I might add a counter), I’m looking for suggestions for a new color scheme. It’s easy to change (one file to edit), so I can do it quickly. Fire some colors at me for the different colored portions of the site. I’m open to suggestions.

More later… or not? That is for you to decide!

All rightey, I haven’t posted in several days (again). I’m getting really slack about that. Not much has happened here in the recent past, so there’s not much to say. I actually got up before noon today, which is an improvement.

Let’s see… I got the soundtrack for The Two Towers yesterday, so thank you Will for letting me know it was out. I actually didn’t expect it to be out yet, but apparently it was out on the 10th of December, a full 8 days before the movie was released.

Regarding work again, I’ve made some headway on my IB paper, which is a plus. It’s amazing how much reading I’ve actually had to do to write short amounts of the paper. I’ve yet to start on my short story for English, which is due when we get back, if I recall correctly. I also need to practice more. Somebody needs to force me to practice; kick me off of this computer, I’m wasting too much of my time, as I am doing as I type this entry! Gah!

More later, assuming I can get some of my work done. Adios.