Oaths...

...are what I uttered when I remembered my vow to post today.

Quickly, then.

My level of excitement today in anticipation of the Jeopardy IBM Challenge verged on the frightening. It was worth it. Alex Trebek is amazing. I want to give Watson a hug, though it may be difficult to get arms around those racks [NO PUN INTENDED. I'm serious.]. But I kinda wanted to punch him in his not-quite-face at certain moments, like during his hot streak. But then his repetition of the incorrect answer of Ken Jennings [still not too clear about possessive apostrophes] was très adorable [French accent required]. I'm on Team Rutter, though. *ahemahemmoustacheahem*

*whistle*

My only complaint was that there seemed to be a dearth of questions [or should we say, answers?] covered today. But they did explain that the Challenge consisted of two games encompassing three days, in order to give more background. So tomorrow shall probably be better on the game front.

It's impossible not to give credit to Alex Trebek, though. He remained [or at least seemed to remain] completely unfazed by the absurdity of Watson-the-contestant. However, he was adorable in his terseness towards Watson [mirroring my feelings]. Why did he shave his moustache?!

*whistle*

Hey, that wasn't too bad. This post didn't take too long. However, I feel it's rather different from my usual content/style. Perhaps that is a good thing.

I'd really like to do one of those multiple-day blogging challenges. You know, like Day 1:Favourite bands, Day 2:Favourite class, Day 3:5 life goals, etc. It'd be a good way to force myself to blog everyday. I know they're usually geared more toward tumblrs [it kills me to omit the 'e'], but they can always be adapted. SO, if anyone has any suggestions for a good challenge OR if anyone would like to devise one for me, it'd be much appreciated. Just inch youor purty little self [totally not creepy] down and COMMENT.

SPEAKING OF COMMENTS- aha! You thought I'd let you off the hook, eh?- I noticed a nice influx of traffic for the last post, even without the benefits of Facebook broadcasting. A nice chunk was directed from the Weekly Squire. I do understand that there was not much commentable about the last post, but nonetheless, there are pwetty little reaction buttons just begging for some attention. Mhm.

Oh, and you're not allowed to not comment on this post.

Get Insquired

weeklysquire.com <----allez!

The Weekly Squire shall be "Keeping P.C. to a Minimum" every Sunday at noon. Follow twitter.com/weeklysquire for updates. There's apparently a Facebook fan page, too.

I wouldn't know for sure, though, because I've temporarily deactivated my lovely timesucker. You all should be glad, for now you don't have to deal with my pleading posts that implore you for comments.

Why am I shamelessly broadcasting yet another site? What investment do I have, you ask? Go to the "Staff" page. Yeah. That girl who looks like a bank robber? Hi. Glorified slave, over here.

Some of you might have been directed here from that staff bio! Greetings, then. Fret not, I do update this blog! Here's proof. Also, be a doll and follow me on Twitter. I don't bite. Just, you know, scratch.

I'd also like to point out that due to my being difficult, I did not write that staff bio. So I can't take credit for its amazingness.

So, please leave your comments and likes on the various awesometastic articles. Plus, the This Week in History is just yearning for some lovin'. Considering it's Lupercalia and all, you know.

Those of you with troubles. Please, let us help. Ask Frank, and he shall deliver frankly. Valentine's Day is coming up, after all.

And don't think this gets you off the hook with commenting on my own blog. WHICH SHALL BE UPDATED TOMORROW. I PROMISE.

I'll leave you with a critique on my writing:

"Even like your editorial– I'm not saying they're bad–but they're very frenetic. It's like you're writing on speed."

-My mother.

Polls

I reopened three of the polls. They shall remain opened until arbitrary times during the 23rd hour of the last day of the year.

DON'T VOTE IF YOU ALREADY HAVE!!!

See Poll-ution

JEANSPAKCMO

I do not know anyone by the name of Jean Spackmo.

Highlights recently travelled to Kansas City, Missouri for the NSPA/JEA Fall Convention.

I really don't feel like going into a whole spiel about the trip; quite frankly, I'm surprised that I could even drag myself to type this paltry amount of words out.

So, bullets for now, perhaps some explorations later. Perhaps.

• We didn't place for Best in Show, but it doesn't really matter because Highlights is the bloody best it's ever been since I've been going to this school, thanks to the redesign by our EICs.
• I now see why Whamboozal is considered epic, even though its spelling goes against all instincts.
• 2010 roommates > 2009 roommates, for a variety of reasons. Nothing personal.
• Kansas City is a really pretty place, with nice people [here's NOT looking at you, Gates BBQ lady, though]. I liked the structure, with the different districts. I wish we had horse carriages.
• The Best Western exceeded all expectations, but the absence of the fabled Chuck left us all heartbroken.
• HOW MAY I HELP YOU?
• Word of advice: don't order soda pop if you notice there's only one size. Two people will not be able to finish one drink.
• Meat≠happiness
• ^^^ I'm okay with not eating any meat ('cept some chicken)- or barbeque for that matter- for a long, looong, loooooooooong time.
• Wtf is up with all the other high schools giving us snobby looks?
• Word of advice: There is such a thing as too much chili pepper in you Mongolian barbeque. Which, incidentally, was probably the best Mongolian barbeque I've ever had.
• Did you know that you actually spell barbeque 'barbecue.' I googled it to make sure my Dashboard dictionary wasn't lying to me.
• Click click? No.
• Cinnamon rolls? Yes.
• Coffee? Not unless you want to have a weird meltdown just before the afternoon awards show.
• Fran's knows it's food. And hot chocolate.

The competition itself was interesting. There were four categories of competition in one room, so it was quite packed; I competed in Editorial Writing.

Everyone else seemed to possess an air of confidence that was in no way exuded by myself. I have no idea if that sentence was grammatically correct. They were all armed with dictionaries and thesauruses [thesauri?]- even bloody tape recorders.

The panel time and subsequent writing period vanished quickly. Some-in the same competition- finished literally ten minutes after the end of questions. There was still a significant amount left, though, when I finished, ten minutes before the time limit.

I felt extremely drained after finishing. I blanched when I first saw the topic, but I felt a bit better after roughly outlining it.

I still didn't feel completely confident, though. The lead was wonky and I wondered if the concluding paragraph wa

s a bit abrupt. Most of all, I was concerned that I hadn't made a clear proposition.

Anyway, everything worked out. I was one of four to win Superior for the category, and I got lovely feedback from t

he judges-the lead was a bit off, but they liked the conclusion.

I was...shocked. And happy- VERY happy, although I guess it took a while to sink in.

In all, there were five winners from our school.

Now we want to place for Best of Show. Watch out, SM Southnortheastnorthwestwestsouth High.

:o

http://dannylicht.com/phlog/photos/12634962

^^Courtesy of

Check out Danny's website too.

"Happy" Guy Fawkes Day, Pt. II

So my friends, it seems as if we have come full circle.

Normally, people tend to reflect on the past year of their life at holidays that are by consensus viewed as significant, like New Year's or a birthday. I, however, choose Guy Fawkes day.

I shall now attempt to remember my life, month by month, in the past year. I do not care if this is profoundly boring for you.

November: Washington, D.C. At the risk of sounding melodramatic [Me? Melodramatic? haha!], a general loss of trust occurred during this month.

December: Did you know that Egg Nog+Pepsi=golden?

January: All I can remember at this point is that I got full marks on my French final. How sad is that? The memory part, not the grade, mind you.

February: The month sans meat. You can read about it. Somewhere. I'm thinking about repeating this. Albeit, when it's not Chinese New Year, so I don't have to go another year without the Firecracker Chicken of Panda Express. Priorities, man.

March: I cannot recall anything specific, but that was the era of "In the Spirit of Full Disclosure," hyperlinked for your convenience.

April: The Friday of empty classes, due to Coachella and Portland JEA. Euro review sessions.

May: AP test! And then God knows what. I discovered "Pan's Labyrinth" was actually brilliant, "The Graduate" ensured that Simon and Garfunkel trotted around my head the whole day, and most appropriately for this date and post, I finally got to see the entirety of "V for Vendetta."

June: A pretty good month. World cup! World cup! World cup! The last week was intensely stressful and very, very bittersweet. Closed out this month in Bombay.

July:Calcutta. In all sincerity, I've realized that a post on my time in Calcutta is ridiculously long overdue. This is one aspect of myself that irritates me to no end.

August: Calcutta, Dehra Dun, Delhi. Family reunions, full houses,c cold coffee, short tempers, psychopathic dogs, there's-never-such-a-thing-as-too-much-Chinese-food, and nail polish.

September: At this point, I hadn't talked to anyone my age, forget people in LA, in two months. I remember brimming with excitement to go to school and get my schedule, which actually ended up being the most glorious 1-6 schedule imaginable. School has a different vibe this year, methinks. But I think it's for the better. I have classes with people I haven't had classes with in years, whilst I have no classes with people who have been in at least one since fifth grade.

October: The busiest month of the year.

November: It's five days old. As for expectations, I can't sense anything about Kansas City next week, which is making me really impatient.

Looking back, I'm disappointed. I turned 16 one month and a day ago. It all happened so fast. There were things, some superficial, some...not, that I wanted to accomplish before I hit that mark. I need to get cracking. I turn 17 in 11 months [holy shit], and as everyone knows that means I can do magic outside of school and am therefore a legal adult.

Poll-ution

I cannot, in good conscience, call the title of the post clever, without going into elaborate tangents and stretching this post, a field that those of you who read my blog would know I'm very proficient in, but currently do not feel like getting into, as I am quite eager to get to the point, as is apparent through this brief sentence.

Let us take a look at the results of the two-month-old polls:

Do you like the changes to the blog? Comment on the post either way.

Seven of you oh-so-kind people voted on the poll. And all for the same option: "Maybe so nah nah nah." Now, I can see why I shouldn't complain about that, as I was the one who allowed it to be an option. However, my beef with you seven [or five, as you shall see] exists because of your failure to read the second part. Yeah! There were only two comments [meaning from two people] on the post about the changes, and only one of them was constructive.

However, if I perhaps quit insulting my readers, they'd do what I told them to do. That sounds sort of evil.

As for How did you find this blog?, I'd just like to know the story behind the "confusion/accident." I know of a couple people who were confused when they found it, but that was because they thought it was someone else's. Which is also an option. So, please tell me!

Choose your favourite[s]:

I have a feeling that one person chose all of them, another just chose darling Cacofonix, and another only chose the Shieldbearers, while a clueless [that is sincerely meant with no offense] fourth was honest enough to admit that they had no idea what I was talking about. Only four people voted on this, while nine voted on another, so I feel as if some of you could have been more honest. And the Shieldbearers were the scrappy underdogs [Not that I'd call Vitalstatix a dog-that's Dogmatix. Get it?!], coming behind from seriously nowhere. Seriously. I'd actually be quite interested in hearing why.

And now for the question that I saved last for a reason...

Due to bit.ly statistics that show clicks from random places...do I know you personally?

I have no friends. Well, two.

That's all I have to say. Oh, and I forgot a family option. Whoops.

I have no bloody friends. Except for two. Hmph.

Seesaw

...is infinitely preferable to teeter-totter.

A teeter-totter sounds like a teetotaler; the latter must keeps his or her balance as to not fall off the wagon.

Yikes, I am weakening!

This reminds me of the matrimonial ads I perused in India. This charmer of a man sought a "tall, fair, slim, beautiful, vegetarian" girl, while he expertly described himself as "tall, very fair, Rajasthani, 40-something, vegetarian, a teetotaler, and morbidly obese."

Points for honesty.

"Teeter-totter" also sounds like "tater-tot," my least favourite form of potato, after waffle fries. I once had the best plate of fish and chips in Sedona, but it was served with waffle fries! So, I resorted to stealing my parents'. That place had very good hot chocolate, as well.

I once got two massive bruises, in the shapes of my fists, from a seesaw. I guess my overgrown thirteen-year-old self kind of deserved that.

It's funny, though. Seesaws start to lose their appeal once you hit a certain height, as they cease to offer thrills. Yet, seesaws begin to strengthen their appeal once you hit a certain age, as you're reminded of the thrills you once got from them, when you were as tall as your bathroom sink, and not now, when the bathroom sink is as tall as your knees.

That is why I favour swings and tires. You can fly high or get really dizzy, take your pick. And then crash into the seesaw.