So, this fantastic cruise that I keep writing about has finally busted my budget thanks in part to the 70 dollar paychecks I've been recieving.
The thing is, with over 250 dollars due in two days, my chances of making the payment deadline is...well, nonexistent (to say the least). Accepting this dissappointing fact, I spoke with our overall band director about what I could do to raise money. I was, and still am, desperate for any oppurtunity to make a dent in the large amount of money thats due. That's when the proposition occured...
If I could do some housework/yardwork for my band director, she would COMPLETELY PAY my payment...thats a lot of money....so of course, feeling slightly guilty, the offer was taken. Today was my first day of work, and it wasn't really that bad. Seeing as its halloween, I wasn't given too much to do. All I had to accomplish was the cleaning of her mobile home and the interior of her Expedition.
Lets just say, neither vehicle was in very good shape. Her two grandsons, the little monsters, had destroyed the interior of both cars, leaving a sticky trail of destruction everywhere they went. But, with an army of cleaning supplies at my beck and call, I attacked the job quickly. Never in my life have I held such a respect for 409, windex, and armor all wipes. They saved my life.
Anyways, she paid me 50 dollars for my work, and although I'm grateful I really wonder why she is so caring. I mean, I haven't been the best band student, I don't practice often...I even get involved in many of the pranks that the other Seniors pull. So her sudden offer for money, her caring attitude and concern, really surprised me. I guess when you look at it, she has always cared about us. But never in a million years would I have thought that any teacher would take it out of their wallet to allow a student to go on a trip. Just offering that opportunity has been my lucky break, and now that I don't have to worry about money, I'm a lot calmer.
Either this is real compassionate behavior, or she's torturing me with the most disgusting chores she can find as punishment...or its a mixture of both....whichever it is, I'm sure thankful for the chance to get this kind of money so quickly.
Speaking of money, guess who has a job interview tommorrow at Best Buy? Maybe my luck is changing after all.
Out of debt,
Deneece
aka Lostie108
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Guarding our Watch
It's finally over.
After four years of struggle, heartbreak, dedication, and lots of spit, my final marching band competition was yesterday.
Now, all this year there has been some extra pressure on the Seniors; it was now "our watch", our responsibility to make sure the band was as good as possible by setting an example for the underclassmen. The problem has been obvious ever since we began marching in July: Our band is very immature. The majority of the band (about 3/4 of it) is made up of freshmen and sophmores, meaning that the level of difficulty in the music and drill had to be lowered to fit the ability of the band. But by doing this, we got a bland drill, one that didn't have any pizzazz or excitement, while we played Boys of the Old Brigade march, with one of the hardest Trios we've ever attempted (the funny thing about that was that 4 other bands played the same march in their drills but left out the trio because it is very difficult....just imagine how much work was put into that last little section of music!).
All we've heard is complaints, worries, and other negative comments about how we arent as good as we should be. But after three months of work, contest came, and in eight short minutes, we did everything we could to wow the judges.
Let me tell you, It definately paid off! Even though we had so much to struggle with this year, our band made a first division (the highest you can make) at contest! Everyone was estatic, but none were as happy as the Seniors. We finally proved that we could hold on to our first division winning streak, that we are just as dedicated as those before us, and that in the end we had it in us all along.
So, after we got home last night there were several parties (and pranks) held for the band. I made the rounds, traveling to several of them, only to find myself overjoyed and deeply saddened by the end of my high school marching career. No more sweat and late night practices, sure, but I'm losing so much. No more races to the stadium, no more celebrations and parties, no more pranks on our youngest band directors house because we wiped the competition clean....
All that's left to say is "It's all over"...
And man, I can't wait for the party we are gonna have on Monday morning!
Deneece
aka Lostie108
After four years of struggle, heartbreak, dedication, and lots of spit, my final marching band competition was yesterday.
Now, all this year there has been some extra pressure on the Seniors; it was now "our watch", our responsibility to make sure the band was as good as possible by setting an example for the underclassmen. The problem has been obvious ever since we began marching in July: Our band is very immature. The majority of the band (about 3/4 of it) is made up of freshmen and sophmores, meaning that the level of difficulty in the music and drill had to be lowered to fit the ability of the band. But by doing this, we got a bland drill, one that didn't have any pizzazz or excitement, while we played Boys of the Old Brigade march, with one of the hardest Trios we've ever attempted (the funny thing about that was that 4 other bands played the same march in their drills but left out the trio because it is very difficult....just imagine how much work was put into that last little section of music!).
All we've heard is complaints, worries, and other negative comments about how we arent as good as we should be. But after three months of work, contest came, and in eight short minutes, we did everything we could to wow the judges.
Let me tell you, It definately paid off! Even though we had so much to struggle with this year, our band made a first division (the highest you can make) at contest! Everyone was estatic, but none were as happy as the Seniors. We finally proved that we could hold on to our first division winning streak, that we are just as dedicated as those before us, and that in the end we had it in us all along.
So, after we got home last night there were several parties (and pranks) held for the band. I made the rounds, traveling to several of them, only to find myself overjoyed and deeply saddened by the end of my high school marching career. No more sweat and late night practices, sure, but I'm losing so much. No more races to the stadium, no more celebrations and parties, no more pranks on our youngest band directors house because we wiped the competition clean....
All that's left to say is "It's all over"...
And man, I can't wait for the party we are gonna have on Monday morning!
Deneece
aka Lostie108
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Another Place Entirely
Right about now, the senioritis is setting in.
Now, from everyone's comments, its clear that I am the only person stuck in the craziness that is public high school--so, if any of this sounds completely immature, well, I'm sorry.
rambling/
I actually thought about this last night. Clearly, you (once again, brian and ben) are out of high school. Looking back at my posts, I am almost embarrassed to think that somewhere in the world there are these two college (or older?) guys laughing at my immaturity and naivity and so forth. What am I to think? Am I really that immature, do I ramble about things that seem pointless? If so, this post (dedicated entirely to high school) will just be another for you to laugh at...
/rambling
Anyways, today in my communications class (yes, the one I did the amazing cloverfield presentation in) we were talking about what each student was looking for in relationships. As the stories were told, they all said the same thing: A person had to be attractive, a "cool" kid (not in band or something dorky, have a good reputation), ect. Really superficial stuff if you ask me. When it was my turn, I realized something massive. I am not at the same level as the kids at school.
I'm tired of superficial relationships. Tired of stupid breakups, dumb boyfriends, going out with people for their looks only to find out they have the intellect of a peanut. I want so much more than the typical high school student does in life right now.
I don't want a relationship to be based on looks or something shallow. I don't want a shallow relationship either, one that lasts a couple of months. I want a connection. I want to have a person to turn to for anything, to know they won't laugh. I want a relationship where I don't have to hide my clumbsyness or dorky-ness or whatever people may see in me that they don't like....I've been through the typical high school thing. Did the "two week relationship", had the bad blind dates, even thought I loved somebody at one point.
Overall, I just want something more. I can't wait to be a new person at college. At least from what I hear, the chances of finding someone who cares less about bra size than intellegence and other important characteristics is much higher than here in hickville, USA.
Senioritis--its not because of the tests, grades or groups. Its happening because I know that there's so much more potential for me out in a world away from here.
Waiting, praying, and getting through it all,
Deneece
aka Lostie108
Now, from everyone's comments, its clear that I am the only person stuck in the craziness that is public high school--so, if any of this sounds completely immature, well, I'm sorry.
rambling/
I actually thought about this last night. Clearly, you (once again, brian and ben) are out of high school. Looking back at my posts, I am almost embarrassed to think that somewhere in the world there are these two college (or older?) guys laughing at my immaturity and naivity and so forth. What am I to think? Am I really that immature, do I ramble about things that seem pointless? If so, this post (dedicated entirely to high school) will just be another for you to laugh at...
/rambling
Anyways, today in my communications class (yes, the one I did the amazing cloverfield presentation in) we were talking about what each student was looking for in relationships. As the stories were told, they all said the same thing: A person had to be attractive, a "cool" kid (not in band or something dorky, have a good reputation), ect. Really superficial stuff if you ask me. When it was my turn, I realized something massive. I am not at the same level as the kids at school.
I'm tired of superficial relationships. Tired of stupid breakups, dumb boyfriends, going out with people for their looks only to find out they have the intellect of a peanut. I want so much more than the typical high school student does in life right now.
I don't want a relationship to be based on looks or something shallow. I don't want a shallow relationship either, one that lasts a couple of months. I want a connection. I want to have a person to turn to for anything, to know they won't laugh. I want a relationship where I don't have to hide my clumbsyness or dorky-ness or whatever people may see in me that they don't like....I've been through the typical high school thing. Did the "two week relationship", had the bad blind dates, even thought I loved somebody at one point.
Overall, I just want something more. I can't wait to be a new person at college. At least from what I hear, the chances of finding someone who cares less about bra size than intellegence and other important characteristics is much higher than here in hickville, USA.
Senioritis--its not because of the tests, grades or groups. Its happening because I know that there's so much more potential for me out in a world away from here.
Waiting, praying, and getting through it all,
Deneece
aka Lostie108
Monday, October 15, 2007
Filling in the Gaps
I know that my last post wasn't exactly cheerful, but before I go on to boring anybody with the noneventful weekend i had, I want to say thanks to moltenpanther (or ben) and Brian for commenting(as if there ever is anyone else there to comment). Both of you helped me realize that freaking out about my situation wouldn't help at all, and status update:things are slowly getting better. I am working with my manager to fix the issue this week.
Now that that's settled, my weekend:
I am quite unhappy to announce that our football team lost by over 30 points on Friday night...
I am, however, quite estatic to announce that I predicted at least a 25 point lost. Man, am I good.
Anyways, clearly the game wasn't the victory we were looking for. It really showed us how terrible our team actually is. As my good friend Jilian put it: "They look like a bunch of overweight chicks running around in tight pants like little pansies...".
That was the best comment they got all night.
But, Saturday was much better. As mentioned before in previous posts, I am an avid debater. I love to debate, to research current events, to practice the art of persuasion...Its all quite fascinating really. My debate partner and I don't get along too well, so Saturday really was a test of our ability to work together as a team at a very difficult tournament. We apparantely did well because....
WE WON FIRST PLACE IN CX DEBATE! WE WON THE TOURNAMENT!
Trust me, that is crazy awesome! In my three years, the highest I ever placed was third. To win...that's a whole other level! I guess the best part about it was knowing that the previous teams that recently graduated won't be the end of our school's debating legacy. Forever, I've always looked up to them and hoped that I could reach their level of commitment and achievement. Now, I'm actually there! Its an extremely gratifying accomplishment to know that it can only go up from here. First we will dominate district, then state, and the NATIONALS in LAS VEGAS!!! *music in background * viva las vegas! viva las vegas.....*end music*
I would write about Sunday, but there isn't much to say. Church, family went to oklahoma, I stayed home (because I was going to work that evening), watched LOST, ect.
Shocked but Estatic,
Deneece
aka Lostie 108
Now that that's settled, my weekend:
I am quite unhappy to announce that our football team lost by over 30 points on Friday night...
I am, however, quite estatic to announce that I predicted at least a 25 point lost. Man, am I good.
Anyways, clearly the game wasn't the victory we were looking for. It really showed us how terrible our team actually is. As my good friend Jilian put it: "They look like a bunch of overweight chicks running around in tight pants like little pansies...".
That was the best comment they got all night.
But, Saturday was much better. As mentioned before in previous posts, I am an avid debater. I love to debate, to research current events, to practice the art of persuasion...Its all quite fascinating really. My debate partner and I don't get along too well, so Saturday really was a test of our ability to work together as a team at a very difficult tournament. We apparantely did well because....
WE WON FIRST PLACE IN CX DEBATE! WE WON THE TOURNAMENT!
Trust me, that is crazy awesome! In my three years, the highest I ever placed was third. To win...that's a whole other level! I guess the best part about it was knowing that the previous teams that recently graduated won't be the end of our school's debating legacy. Forever, I've always looked up to them and hoped that I could reach their level of commitment and achievement. Now, I'm actually there! Its an extremely gratifying accomplishment to know that it can only go up from here. First we will dominate district, then state, and the NATIONALS in LAS VEGAS!!! *music in background * viva las vegas! viva las vegas.....*end music*
I would write about Sunday, but there isn't much to say. Church, family went to oklahoma, I stayed home (because I was going to work that evening), watched LOST, ect.
Shocked but Estatic,
Deneece
aka Lostie 108
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Batteries, Band Nerds, and Being Broke
Ugh. For those of you out there who aren't in a very good mood-neither am I. I normally try to be pretty upbeat in my posts, but heres the disclaimer...today wasn't an upbeat day.
Yes, even after my super optimistic post from yesterday, I still managed to have the most terrible day of my life today. And do you know what the cause of all my issues is?
Money.
Cold hard cash...or a lack thereof. You see, I am very very busy. I am in band, a very competitive debater, I take every AP course offered by my school, I have all kinds of scholarships I am applying for, tons of college admissions I need to work on...oh yeah, and my job (where, as some may recall, Mr.Pibb gets spilled on me often).
Unfortunately, it seems that when I ask off for fridays and saturdays because of my requirements for band and debate, my managers can't work me more than one day a week. They feel that "working weekdays is a privelege given to those who sacrifice their weekends. They deserve money..." ect ect. So here's little old Deneece with a massive cruise to pay for, a need for money for all the trips she goes on for band and debate, and the ever lingering call for basic necessities. But that one day a week thing is having some major consequences....
....I make literally $100 every two weeks. Do you know what that can buy? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I mean, it takes so much to fill up my car, and then the rest goes to the cruise. That's it. No more money....
The worst part is that I can't get another job. Everyone of the places I've been to has told me that I can't work for them because I can't work weekends. So basically, putting it in laymans terms, because I work hard at school (like all the teachers have told us since kindergarten to do) I am being punished. Darn my academic success and scholastic involvements....
The real problem just happened literally five minutes ago. My car battery died. My check was microscopic. My mom told me it was my responsibility. My hands trembled. My eyes watered. And now, my money is gone exactly 32 minutes after I cashed my check. No gas money. No cruise money. No food money. Nothing but an empty wallet, an overburdened mind, and two tear streaked cheeks.
I guess I'm just not ready for the whole grown up life thing. Or maybe, I just can't afford it.
Deneece
aka Lostie108
Yes, even after my super optimistic post from yesterday, I still managed to have the most terrible day of my life today. And do you know what the cause of all my issues is?
Money.
Cold hard cash...or a lack thereof. You see, I am very very busy. I am in band, a very competitive debater, I take every AP course offered by my school, I have all kinds of scholarships I am applying for, tons of college admissions I need to work on...oh yeah, and my job (where, as some may recall, Mr.Pibb gets spilled on me often).
Unfortunately, it seems that when I ask off for fridays and saturdays because of my requirements for band and debate, my managers can't work me more than one day a week. They feel that "working weekdays is a privelege given to those who sacrifice their weekends. They deserve money..." ect ect. So here's little old Deneece with a massive cruise to pay for, a need for money for all the trips she goes on for band and debate, and the ever lingering call for basic necessities. But that one day a week thing is having some major consequences....
....I make literally $100 every two weeks. Do you know what that can buy? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I mean, it takes so much to fill up my car, and then the rest goes to the cruise. That's it. No more money....
The worst part is that I can't get another job. Everyone of the places I've been to has told me that I can't work for them because I can't work weekends. So basically, putting it in laymans terms, because I work hard at school (like all the teachers have told us since kindergarten to do) I am being punished. Darn my academic success and scholastic involvements....
The real problem just happened literally five minutes ago. My car battery died. My check was microscopic. My mom told me it was my responsibility. My hands trembled. My eyes watered. And now, my money is gone exactly 32 minutes after I cashed my check. No gas money. No cruise money. No food money. Nothing but an empty wallet, an overburdened mind, and two tear streaked cheeks.
I guess I'm just not ready for the whole grown up life thing. Or maybe, I just can't afford it.
Deneece
aka Lostie108
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Goodness Gracious!
Today has been a great day.
Wow, thats quite the optimistic sentence. I don't usually start a post so cheerful and light! Anywho, today I gave my final speech for communications applications class.
It was BRILLIANT (not that I would brag or anything...)
It was entitled "Mystifying the Market:1-18-08", and it focused on the Alternate Reality Game that 1-18-08 is using for promotion and how the publicity and very little information the audience has is creating quite a stir. I did the presentation with a powerpoint, and literally had 20 of the 22 kids in the class come and ask me what sites to look at, what I knew of the movie, and who they could talk to for more information. I was stoked (that's right, I said STOKED-even though that word should be outlawed on violation of being "oober nineties")!
I guess I never was nervous about the speech, I mean I have four years of Debate and Extemporaneous speaking down my sleeve, but I was worried that the class would laugh at my subject: Some people just don't understand the way I work. When I enjoy something, when I want to know more, I get this amazing drive and dedication and I work until I fully understand the concept or the issue or the whatever it may be. Like Lost, I watch the show for information. I research for clues. That's just what I do.
Thankfully, nobody in the class laughed at my "nerdy-ness". However, my two favorite cast hosts made fun of my use of the words "chugging" and "y'all"... I let all my friends listen to the y'all part. They got a pretty good laugh out of it. Needless to say, I am slightly dismayed right now, my pride as a Texan being hurt.
Actually, I thought it was funny myself. I know that I have a southern accent, and apparently, it shows in my comments to the cast. Ooh, speaking of accents, my friend Marco who just moved here from Minnesota (he has an accent too) told me today "I'm obsessed with Lost"! Yea for new Lost watching buddies who understand my obsession with the best television show ever!
Overall, great cast. Great day. Great.
Deneece
aka Lostie108
Wow, thats quite the optimistic sentence. I don't usually start a post so cheerful and light! Anywho, today I gave my final speech for communications applications class.
It was BRILLIANT (not that I would brag or anything...)
It was entitled "Mystifying the Market:1-18-08", and it focused on the Alternate Reality Game that 1-18-08 is using for promotion and how the publicity and very little information the audience has is creating quite a stir. I did the presentation with a powerpoint, and literally had 20 of the 22 kids in the class come and ask me what sites to look at, what I knew of the movie, and who they could talk to for more information. I was stoked (that's right, I said STOKED-even though that word should be outlawed on violation of being "oober nineties")!
I guess I never was nervous about the speech, I mean I have four years of Debate and Extemporaneous speaking down my sleeve, but I was worried that the class would laugh at my subject: Some people just don't understand the way I work. When I enjoy something, when I want to know more, I get this amazing drive and dedication and I work until I fully understand the concept or the issue or the whatever it may be. Like Lost, I watch the show for information. I research for clues. That's just what I do.
Thankfully, nobody in the class laughed at my "nerdy-ness". However, my two favorite cast hosts made fun of my use of the words "chugging" and "y'all"... I let all my friends listen to the y'all part. They got a pretty good laugh out of it. Needless to say, I am slightly dismayed right now, my pride as a Texan being hurt.
Actually, I thought it was funny myself. I know that I have a southern accent, and apparently, it shows in my comments to the cast. Ooh, speaking of accents, my friend Marco who just moved here from Minnesota (he has an accent too) told me today "I'm obsessed with Lost"! Yea for new Lost watching buddies who understand my obsession with the best television show ever!
Overall, great cast. Great day. Great.
Deneece
aka Lostie108
Saturday, October 6, 2007
The Derivative of X is the square root of Y cross applied..........
I think that the most important mathematical advancement we humans have made since the begining of time is "the top 10" list. They can tell you anything: who is dressed well, what is really cool about a movie, what books you need to read, which LOST episodes are considered the best...It's all about personal preferences meeting the public. Teaching others what you consider to be important.
In honor of my love of lists, I am starting a new one : Reasons Why AP Calculus Will Never Help Me In Life...
10. Our culture has numbers. We have letters. We are perfectly fine with keeping them seperate, thank you. I don't believe the two should mix...
9. The textbook for the course weighs more than I do...the book is a beast! How will it help me if I can't pick it up?
8. In ten years from now, I won't be standing in the grocery store using derivatives and chain rules and mathematical theorums to figure the cost of my spighetti-o's...multiplication, maybe. Calculus...not even a little bit.
7. I really, really don't want to be a Calculus teacher.
6. I also really really really don't plan on being an engineer...so, that takes out the only other calculus related career.
5. Just thinking of Calculus gives me the heeby-jeebies. I can't spend the rest of my life in perpetual fear.
4. The likelyhood of anyone asking me for help in calculus is slim...I'm not going to be walking down the street when a hobo comes up and asks "whats the definition of the limit of infinity concerning the derivative of x, or delta x as its known?". At least I hope not...
3. Even with it's highly religious, mythological, and logical approach, LOST doesn't require its viewers to know the math to watch the show....(but if it did, I might just put calculus back into my life...)
2. The major I hope to go in is entirely ENGLISH related (Modern American Lit), so if I end up getting a PhD, Calculus won't do me ANY GOOD.
1. And, my favorite, on the last test, 16 out of 20 kids in our class failed with a 50 or below. The other four were as follows: 2 A's (both going into engineering ), 1 B , and 1 C. Guess which portion I was in...
Ugh. Why does Math have to be so darn difficult.
Deneece
aka lostie108
In honor of my love of lists, I am starting a new one : Reasons Why AP Calculus Will Never Help Me In Life...
10. Our culture has numbers. We have letters. We are perfectly fine with keeping them seperate, thank you. I don't believe the two should mix...
9. The textbook for the course weighs more than I do...the book is a beast! How will it help me if I can't pick it up?
8. In ten years from now, I won't be standing in the grocery store using derivatives and chain rules and mathematical theorums to figure the cost of my spighetti-o's...multiplication, maybe. Calculus...not even a little bit.
7. I really, really don't want to be a Calculus teacher.
6. I also really really really don't plan on being an engineer...so, that takes out the only other calculus related career.
5. Just thinking of Calculus gives me the heeby-jeebies. I can't spend the rest of my life in perpetual fear.
4. The likelyhood of anyone asking me for help in calculus is slim...I'm not going to be walking down the street when a hobo comes up and asks "whats the definition of the limit of infinity concerning the derivative of x, or delta x as its known?". At least I hope not...
3. Even with it's highly religious, mythological, and logical approach, LOST doesn't require its viewers to know the math to watch the show....(but if it did, I might just put calculus back into my life...)
2. The major I hope to go in is entirely ENGLISH related (Modern American Lit), so if I end up getting a PhD, Calculus won't do me ANY GOOD.
1. And, my favorite, on the last test, 16 out of 20 kids in our class failed with a 50 or below. The other four were as follows: 2 A's (both going into engineering ), 1 B , and 1 C. Guess which portion I was in...
Ugh. Why does Math have to be so darn difficult.
Deneece
aka lostie108
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