Math Woes, Frustration Shows

On most days, I don’t hate Pre-Calculus. However, today I must make an exception. Lately, I’ve been losing my grasp of understanding on the material we’re covering. The same is happening in Physics, and I can’t say I know exactly what’s going on here. I guess my only option is to study and work harder, but studying math is much harder than say, studying history.

I honestly had nothing to say today, but I felt like making a post here. I guess I’m just procrastinating. Eventually, I plan on finishing my work, but for now I guess I’ll just continue listening to the mix CD my friend made for me and half-paying attention to an old episode of Family Guy.

Hmm, on a strange side note, I’d like to catch up on all the manga series I was reading, but I simply don’t have the time. Very annoying, if I do say so myself.

 

That awkward moment when you abandon your blog

In honor of today’s UIL competition, I used a newspaper-friendly downstyle headline. Yay.
As I said, I spent a large chunk of my day at a UIL practice meet, competing in several journalism categories and placing 4th in one and 7th in another. While I am a little disappointed in myself – especially since a friend of mine placed in the top 3 in 3 categories – I’m still pretty happy with how the day turned out. I’d really like to do better at the next competition, but I highly doubt I will get the chance to go to state – especially with such good writers from my school competing.

At least I have a sort-of excuse. I haven’t written a single thing in any of the competition categories in over a year, and I haven’t written anything for the paper because I am a page editor and not a reporter. I also happen to love *nohomo* the reporter who happened to bring home all the trophies, since she’s one of my bros.

So, after spending all day nursing a slight writer’s cramp and trying to remember how to properly set up some stories, I felt like adding onto my long-since-abandoned blog and see if I can start back up on it. Oh, and that manga reader thing is pretty much out – I simply don’t have the time or the willpower to spend time caring about manga apps(:

Essays.

I love writing. I really do.

But something about essays makes me want to curl up into a ball and die.

Rarely am I told to write about something I want to write about, but rather I’m given a limited spectrum of choice and have to write something that I don’t really feel passionate about.

I feel like I want to paint a portrait of a person, yet the assignment is to paint fruit, y’know?

As usual, I finished my rough draft at the last minute, finally settling on a topic that I could write a couple of pages on without constantly scrambling for more filler. I’m not particularly happy with my work, but rough drafts are made to be revised.

What I really want is a freewrite assignment. Ten pages on whatever you want to write about. A story, a memoir, a long poem, whatever it is that tickles ze fancy. I’d really like the inspiration that a deadline provides – so many of my writing has gone unfinished simply because I had no reason to finish it. Que tragedy, yes?

Though I doubt I will ever receive that assignment, one can only hope and dream. For now I’ll write the introduction to a thousand and one stories and hope I’ll somehow be able to see them through to the end. 😛

Volleyball <3

Ahhh, I love my team.

For the first time, I’m playing with girls who aren’t full of attitude, a coach who doesn’t just care about the win, and a club that isn’t just interested in making money.

This season, I’m on a team made up of girls selected because they’re good at the game and have good attitudes, which is unfortunately a hard to find combination.

We practice three days a week, two hours a session, and for the most part we’re playing in a gym until the weather gets better and we can practice on the court in Gabby’s backyard.

We have thirteen tournaments, mostly in Austin and Houston, and several here in San Antonio. The possibility of a qualifier in Baltimore is even being discussed. Needless to say, I’m excited!

So far, We’ve decided on uniforms, sweats, backpacks, decals, shoes, and kneepads. We’re still discussing socks (Knee, Crew, ankle? Color?) but I like what’s been chosen so far. Even if I hate crew socks, I’d rather wear crews with a team I like than wear knee’s with a team I hate.

Though I’ll be benching it for the first few tournaments until I feel comfortable jumping and hitting with my gimp leg (ACL Reconstruction in May, still recovering) I’m not too worried about that. There’s only 9 girls on the team, and three don’t plan on touching the front row. Out of the remaining 6, three to four prefer hitting outside (left front), and my preference is Middle or Right Front (no special names for this position :P)

The only thing I worry about is that I’m not going to be able to keep up with my superTeam, but the coach has already reassured me that once I get my game back, It’ll be all good in the hood.

To sum it up, I’m excited for this season! Now all I gotta do is work my schedule around practices and tournaments 😛

Press Week -__-“

If by any chance you happen to be part of a Newpaper or other printed publication, you probably understand this. Well, it’s probably limited to monthly and quarterlies, like my school paper, but still, it’s a known concept.

Essentially, during pressweek all the pages get done. Until that point, stories are still being written, photos taken, and ads sold. However, during the last week before the pages get sent to press (the printer) all the page editors are scrambling to put everything together in a cohesive and enticing design.

Press week for me, as the sports page editor of my school paper, means that I have to stay after school until around 9 o’clock p.m. every day that week, until my page goes through initial edits, secondary opinions, staff critiques, body-text editing, photo checks, infographic redesigns, and finally: Final Edits.

These steps are crucial for any page editor to go through, as any good editor knows that the first design is never good enough, and never stays the same. From the Friday before press week to the time the pages are exported as PDFs, they have undergone almost total overhaul.

It’s during these weeks that I always wish to go back to being a reporter, so I can spend the hectic days of press week as the majority of them do, chatting at the tables and doing relatively nothing. Instead, I’m painstakingly editing photos to press quality and arranging and rearranging stories so they fit on my page with all the other aspects I’m supposed to cover.

Thankfully, the week is over and I can get back to not pulling my hair out. Hallelujah.

Procrastination

Hmmm…I want to write this, but maybe I’ll just do it later…

See what I did there? That, mis amigos, is procrastination. It is one of my worst habits, and I know for a fact that its a disease that plagues many.

Currently, I’m procrastinating the completion of my US History Homework. You see, we had the entirety of Thanksgiving break to read three chapters and do a couple of assignments on them, due Tuesday and Wednesday.

I, however, decided not to think about any schoolwork until today. Luckily, there was no other assignments that I had to complete, but still. Thinking back, this really shouldn’t have been put off for so long. Instead of spending several hours reading Death Note and One Piece, I should have been reading An American Pageant, like I was assigned to.

Even now, as it nears midnight (my official bedtime on school nights), I’m having doubts about whether or not it’s actually worth it to start reading. I could probably wait another hour, knock out a chapter or two, and worry about the rest tomorrow. Really, if I chill for another hour, I’ll still have four to devote to my work.

Now that I think about it, I think that’s the best decision. I’d like to at least get to chapter 100 in One Piece. Maybe 110. Once I do that, I’ll start my work.

Or not.

Eh, it’ll get done I’m sure. No need to freak out….that’s best saved until the few minutes I have before class starts.

One Piece <3

I was sidetracked from reading my manga for a few hours by the usual draw of television and MS Word. But at around midnight, I got back into the swing of things. In fact, I’ve knocked out two volumes of One Piece so far.

It’s really getting interesting, what with secret identities surfacing and the all-powerful cliffhanger.

I only had volumes 7 and 8 checked out, and I’m still in a MangaMood, so I’ll probably end up reading the next few chapters online, at least until I get back to school and can pick up the next volumes from the library. I definitely prefer reading them on paper, but reading them from my laptop is just as good. I only resort to using my phone if I have to be mobile, since I (tragically) lack a tablet.

I like One Piece because it’s silly and childish, much less serious and complicated than Death Note. Then again, it was (along with most of the Manga  I read) written for 10 – 15 year old boys. It’s not my fault the young guy stuff is sooo much more interesting than the drivel written for my gender.

It’s about this guy who wants to be the pirate king, Monkey D. Luffy, who ate the fruit of the Gum Gum Tree, and developed the powers to stretch his body like rubber. I’m not making this up. It’s a pretty interesting read, though I’m still in the beginnings of the series (I have like 200+ chapters left until I catch up).

As with all manga, I have developed a sort of….erm….crush on one of the characters. Don’t think of me as a crazy freak, I’m not having wet dreams about these guys or anything, and I know they’re not real. It’s just – my teen girl writer mind loves to think up little stories on the spot, and when I read books or watch movies, my brain creates fanfiction on many of the characters, just because it comes naturally to me.

At this point, I’m really just hoping none of them go insane (*cough*Light Yagami*cough*)

Hmm… that’s all I really have to say about that. I think I’m going to write a manga rant, but I want to be able to file it solely under my “Rants” category so I’ll finally have something there.

Hasta La Vista Bebes ❤

Love You <3

Love you.

Love this town.

Love this mother lovin’ truck that keeps on breaking lovin’ down.

-Jack Ingram

That songs been stuck in my head all day. It’s the best, really. If you haven’t heard it, go buy it on iTunes or, if you’re lacking the morals department, illegally download it or something.

Really, I just wanted to blog a little bit more about Death Note, since I just finished it. But I wanted to continue titled based on the subject matter, and two “Death Note <3” ‘s in a row in a blog only 3 entries long seemed kind of stupid.

But yeah, I finished the series. In the end, Light was captured just like I knew he would be, but he ended up going like crazy. He kind of just ranted on the floor, dying and whatnot. So he lost some of his appeal there. Near replaced L, and according to the one shot that tells the epilogue or whatever, he isn’t at all interested in solving a new Death Note case, as he was only interested in the case because the real L had been.

Oh, and his name was Nate River.
Fabuloso.

…So now I’m going to read One Piece. I should read my history book or do some math homework, but I honestly don’t see that happening. 😛

Death Note <3

In case you’re not aware, Death Note is a Japanese manga that came out around 2009.

In case you’re not aware, manga (Mon-guh) is essentially a comic book. It’s printed in black and white, and read from right to left. It’s one of my many nerdy obsessions, followed by miscellaneous fanfiction, books about werewolves, and the infamously dramatic TeenNick show, Degrassi.

As far as manga goes, Death Note is a good one. I read it translated into English of course, since I am completely clueless when it comes to those weird little Japanese symbol things. I am currently reading several manga, such as the “Big Three” Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece, as well as other popular titles such as Fairy Tale. Any others besides these few mentioned are only read up to a few chapters and aren’t really worth mentioning. 

But I digress…(I’m a leading man, and the lies I weave are oh so intricate <3)

Death Note is extremely interesting, very detailed, and it makes you think. In all honestly, I think it would make a pretty good movie or novel. While most manga rely heavily on their cartoons to fill space and keep the reader’s attention, Death Note only uses it’s images to help support the text, not to offer a crutch. 

It would be useless for me to try and explain the entire plot, and I simply don’t care to try. Make a jump over to Wikipedia or something if you wish, or don’t. 

All I really wanted to say was that I agree with Kira. Honestly, those that he kills using his Death Note deserve to die. He doesn’t kill those who have atoned for their crimes, or who committed a crime by accident; rather, he kills those who are killers or rapists or murderers. I don’t understand why people want to end his reign. It’s as if they don’t want the world to be at least semi-peaceful, and prefer chaos and crime. It’s just…stupid

*SPOILER ALERT*

I already know Light is Kira, and that Near is going to kill him, but I can’t help but hope that he somehow escapes his fate. However, the story’s already done and there’s nothing that I can do to change what I’m about to read. So curse you, Tsugumi Ohba, for making the righteous character into the antagonist and killing him off in the end. You suck. D:<

Gabriel Iglesias <3

So it turns out he’s one of my favorite comedians.

Even though he’s fat fluffy. My bad guys.

But yeah, he makes me damn near piss myself. I used to think he was annoying, but now it appears that his brand of humor fits my comic needs exactly.

It looks like he’s joined the ranks of Nick Swardson, Bo Burnham, Demetri Martin, and Anthony Jezelnik. High fives and tequila shots all around.

…Just kidding, I don’t drink. Not by my own choice, but just because my dad is crazy protective and would catch me drunk in a heartbeat. Unlucky me.

But I digress.

Basically, Gabriel Iglesias is funny as fuck and I love him and Comedy Central in general. It (thankfully) kept me from killing myself over this Thanksgiving, simply because family gatherings destroy me from the inside out.

So this Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the wonderful comedians of Comedy Central.

P.S: Also my family, friends, and boyfriend are pretty cool I guess so thanks for them to…But still, I’m mainly sending props to good ole channel 249. 😀