Intrusions

The past two days have sucked. You heard me. Downright S-U-C-K-E-D. *sigh* And, not to simply "place blame elsewhere," but most of what happened was just a whole crapload of incidentals-- accidents, as you know them by-- all happening at once. As if I want to recall all the gruesome details...

For starters, I slept in much later than I should have. I knew -when my Mom left work at 7:00am- that I had a lot to do. Get fish food. Get milk. Work on Portfolio for Gilmore's class. Play some Star Ocean. Eat a good breakfast. Practice songs for choir concert. Study for Thompson's "Canterbury Tales" test. Record "Angel." Go to Anime FX. Now, the joyous recap of the ACTUAL events...

I woke up around 11:30. I made French Toast (correction: "Freedom" Toast!) and sat in front of the TV... playing Star Ocean. I refused to get beaten by those damned Lesserdevils again (which always gang up on you, sometimes with those Weirdgoats or Warlocks) so I didn't run away from any battles-- and while leveling up for the Fun City Survival Battle (which I played twice, died both times with Weirdavia-- but both times I actually lasted longer than before) I died... again. Fuck the stupid puzzle, if I can't beat the monsters, I don't deserve to go against the Dreamshades! @_@ GAH! Okay, but on to somewhat more important things-- dying made me realize I had other things to do, things that I could have done, more productive activities, than playing video games. Like that portfolio due in 2nd period...? yeah, so I was working on that, and once I finished with the Table of Contents, I realize: a) I have no blank paper, only the double-sided, formerly-stapled kind my mom brings from work in the shitloads; b) my printer wasn't working in the first place; even if I emailed myself the necessary files and downloaded it at school the next morning, where would I do it?

I never did get the chapter reviews done. And that will hurt my grade, I'm sure. Gilmore is such a prick about the littlest things-- maybe she'll say my ToC (I couldn't print the nice one) is too messy and/or out of order... or maybe she'll say she can't accept incomplete work. *sigh* SUCKY SUCKY SUCKY.

Here I insert that I'd tried to put my contacts on this morning-- my right one, and something happened, something got into my eye... and my eye wouldn't stop watering, itching, turning red... and it still sort of is. In the Panoramic picture, the wind was blowing, my hair kept getting in my eyes, and everything just hurt. I was afraid that, despite everyone's faces being so small in the Panoramic, with me wearing a bright red shirt and lipstick, my eyes would inflame in the picture too, and it'd look like someone socked me in the face. Oh well, at least I was smiling. I sat with Rochelle, Harry, Kripa, Katia, Eva, Crystal, and Evie. Sadly, Leanne was behind us... *shudder* Turns out that Rochelle is rooming (for Anaheim) with the other nice girl in my homeroom, Alicia, one of the best singers in the city, who I thought was my only other option besides Michelle Bates for Anaheim. *sigh* I don't want to get stuck with Leanne or some pothead or something. GAWD, anything but...

Okay, now the real badness didn't truly start till I went to FX with Joe. Doors kept slamming on my face, one thing or another hit my toe, squished my arm... worse, my hip had been hurting all day, and it was getting painful to walk. For the most part, people didn't seem to give a damn at all... besides, what could they have done? The worst part of the evening had to be when I was making an observation about the Melty candy Jimbo gave me-- I was like "Gee, this is HARD" (it was, it felt like a rock) and Gilbert, the fixture of rude, intrusions on all that is NOT his business, decides to grope in front of me and try grabbing it. He's done this before-- when I had McDonalds, he kept pestering me about the contents of my bag; whenever we have break, he always follows me if I don't run or dash off with someone else... he's always touching me, but when he literally GRABBED ME, I freaked out. I mean, he practically glomped my chest, and I've never felt so incredibly violated, disgusted, angry, and upset all at once. I kept repeating to him to "back off," but he just didn't get it-- so I kept scooting away. I had the chills, the shivers, the heebie-jeebies, goosebumps-- any and all of the above, all at once. When breaktime came and I was getting stuff from the Library, he kept trailing me; he said something about being sorry, but not for grabbing my chest, but for trying to snatch my candy, and for not minding his own business (he always interrupts). Something to that effect. I'm hereby instigating a personal bubble here. There's a reason why I hate it when people get too touchy-feely with me, even people I know. There, is a classic case example.

Icing on the cake for the night had to be getting home late. I had the farfetched hope that by getting a ride with Joe, I could get home EARLIER than I would by taking the bus. WRONG! Jimbo, Cris, and Richie were all in the car, so not only was I horribly squished and in pain, but stuck being dropped off LAST out of the San Francisco bunch. We ended up going to Mel's, which was totally unplanned for me. Joe was, as usual, nice enough to treat me to a berry pie and some strange throat-burning concotion called an Orange Freeze, but I still feel bad about it, especially after that pricey Cheesecake Factory dinner. *sigh* I got home WAY after midnight, feeling upset because the sugar made me hyper, I missed the songs I paid for on Mel's jukebox, Cris was being sort of insulting (I did sort of chew on his sweater though... gaaah!! ^^;;) and the night ended with me wanting to be anywhere but with a bunch of guys in a cramped car. I hate it when Jimmy gets mad at me too, because he really does scare me. I mean seriously. I hate being afraid, I hate being cowardly, but I'm so used to pulling inside myself when I don't like situations. Blah.

I saw Nurse Kitchell today, and she helped me with my eye some, though she kept trying to pull open my eyelid, which made the whole twitching worse. I have to see her again soon; my eye's still bothering me. But I have to go to the SFSU math course, or I'll be kicked out; I have to go to Media Academy or I won't get my check. Then there's the concert. *sigh* I just hope everything goes well tonight. Please Goddess, let everything go well tonight.

Math we had the assessment-- and I actually thought I understood it, but I was kind of lost on the first one. I managed to get past it with Mrs. K's help... then I got stuck on the 3rd one, which involved water hyacinths on a pond appearing exponentially as the days went by. I had to derive the particular equation, probably with logarithms and natural logs, but I did something weird and I think I got it another way. But I'd nearly forgtten about it altogether because I'd gone and gotten my lunch late, gone to the anime club meeting, hoping to see more of Ghost in the Shell. So much for that idea. I went to take the rest of the assessment I hadn't finished in class, but it took longer than I thought. So I couldn't eat during lunch, and since Thompson is a prick, not then either. I was grumpy and hungry in 6th when Cassie came in.

Yep, that's it. I don't know why this was cut off earlier. Phoo.

Sing it!

WHEE! The concert went great! Admittedly, I was there only 5 minutes before we had to get into the auditorium to rehearse, but I managed to get dressed as quick as I could (good thing I was already wearing my pantyhose and heels) and get out there... we practiced "Moment Like This" before breaking off into our groups. We had *6* minutes to get ready before we had to go into the choir room to sing in our individual groups... and since it was nearing 7:00, I was starting to get nervous.

On my way to the Beacon after Media Academy, I was sort of hyper and surprised Leanne and Rochelle, who were walking to the choir room. ^^;; I hate embarassing myself like that. Anyway, I learned a few new tricks, like working in Final Cut Pro, and making these neat graphic effects in Photoshop. I actually managed to look nice in those 6 minutes before we had to rush into rehearsal, and despite my dress feeling a little tight, we all managed to pull off looking good.

Come the concert, it was a bit difficult listening to Chorale and Intermediate Choir. I mean... *shudder* they're bad, they know it, and Mr. Ulrich just doesn't crack down on anyone but the Chamber Choir. But they hate him for it... so, go figure. During one Intermediate song, it sounded like they sang "Some people want to die..." and I coughed, and said "The hell?!" and several of the girls in front of me turned and looked. >///< GAH. I kept silent till it was our turn to sing-- and thankfully it was dark, I couldn't see anyone. I decided against wearing my glasses, and since my eyes had been watering, itching, and generally hurting all day long, I nixed the contacts idea too. I was unable to see the clock, other choir singers, or the audience. ^^; Rochelle did my hair up in a back ponytail, simple but pretty considering the time constraints. She snipped some uneven ends (she was bothered by them when I first cut my hair) and it all looks nice in the back now... and without those stupid bangs in my eye (which I cut in 6th) I feel better myself. =D

ANYWAY... so when we finally sang, Pavane for Spring sounded GREAT! I remembered all the words, and I don't think I slipped into the Soprano I part by accident (which I tend to do, since my range extends pretty far up and down). It's a beautiful song too, once it's all memorized and sung properly. But tomorrow we should be seeing the tape, so I'll get to see how well I *really* did. @_@; For the Latin Motets, the changing positions was very messy and disorganized; I was terrified that I'd trip and fall on the risers... that would have been bad. But I didn't thankfully... and even though Crystal was loud and in my ear, she actually pronounced "Oliveti" correctly this time! Yay! We didn't have a perfect "mysterious" air, since we were a bit loud, but both songs "In Monte Oliveti" and "Tristis est Anima Mea" sounded really good. Then came the big "favorite," Kalinka. I'm so glad I've finally managed to memorize a foriegn song, and make it sound good! Even better, I'm one of the few people that memorized everything, while some people forgot bits and pieces of the second verse. WA~I. We even got the tonals and the accents right! YATTA YATTA!

We did well on "Moment Like This," the mass choir piece at the end too. I noticed Alicia wasn't in the Chmaber Choir; I wonder why... o.o Anyway, so everything was great, it all went by fast... Leanne was even pleasant tonight! The only weird thing was this girl in Chorale that kept asking me questions and looking at me... and when she was singing, she was so loud and squeaky. ^^;; Ah well, practice makes perfect. Which brings me to my next topic!

Music, along with ALL the other SFUSD high-school electives and visual and performing arts MAY BE CUT NEXT YEAR! Your school could be next! I, like my principal and choir teacher, encourage all SFUSD students and their parents to write to the superintendent, school board members, commissioners, and members of California's government, as well as the State Senator and Congressmen/women. PLEASE, ask that the budget defecit be directed at somewhere else other than schools! Visual and Performing Arts classes as well as electives not only offer a new perspective on the world of education, but new opportunities, new experiences, and so much more. You get to meet new people, go to interesting places, and be proud of work that you make or express yourself! Schools like SOTA that focus entirely on the Arts will find they have less funding, and class sizes will be shrunk-- rising juniors will have top priority in staying, but that doesn't mean they won't find themselves relocated either! Regardless of where you go, if you have ever enjoyed an Arts, Drama, Music, Computer Science, Dance, or other similar class, I encourage you to KEEP THEM ALIVE! Go to http://www.sfusd.edu and look up the appropriate addresses and SAVE OUR SCHOOLS!

*cough* Now that I'm done with that rant, I'm moving on to Fanime. Amber and Will are registered; I checked the list earlier this afternoon. I'm considering finishing up the G-on Riders AMV and possibly entering it in the Fanime contest. The only problem is the encoding-- I can't get it onto VHS myself, but there's no guarantee that burning it digitally onto a CD will turn out well when the execs try to put it onto a tape. Hmm... I could use some help here. I'd love to just get it finished to show even at FX, if I could. I might need more footage though, 4 episodes isn't much to work with...

There's also the Fanficton Author's Panel. Maybe I should sign up? GAAH... what an idea! But I could. So could Will. So could Dez, if he were going. The latter two have never been to Fanime before, so doubtless it'd be somewhat weird, but it'd definitely be a cool, memorable first experience for a con! Tee hee, so many eyes riveted to you, hanging on every word you say...! *cough* Yesh, so, there's that looming... I want to enter Karaoke too... not the Open Mic, but the actual contest? Do you think I can do it? I know a few anime songs, like ones from "Full Moon O Sagashite..."
People will have to tell me tomorrow if I give those that missed my concert (read: all who knew about it, and, for one reason or another, didn't come... that is, all but Vince -he came!) a little snippet of what they missed. I'll probably sing "Kalinka" and maybe one of the Latin Motets. I can't sing "Moment Like This" without an Alto and a Baritone, and I can't sing "Pavane for Spring" without a Soprano I and an Alto. @_@; So there ya go.

I'm actually kinda tired and stuffed... I'm just glad that the stupid Canterbury Tales test is over (crap, there's a paragraph portion! And I still have to do that poster for the Beacon's Girl's Day! GAAH!) and I still managed to turn in my folder for Gilmore's class. And Siggy and I are actually working on our fic for WvT day on the SMRFF mailing list. Yay... it should be cool. I can't wait to start making awards again. I wonder what my award "theme" should be? It was anime before, then manga... hmmm hmmm hmmm... =D

Mata~!