5...
...days until band camp. boy it's sneaking up on us already. am i ready you may ask? yes i am! i think it'll be a great experience. i can't wait until we set a few of the charts down (like maybe the first 10 or so) and march to them because that will just be the coolest. and i also hear that we have a morning session during band camp which starts at 9:00 am and runs till 12:00 pm and then we get an entire hour for lunch which is totally cool and then we have an afternoon session from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. so that's like 7 hours of band goodness lol.

well today at 11:30 am was the big old home week picture down on the square. it looked as though the entire freakin town was there this morning and everyone like went ina big circle around the lightpost that is in the center of the square. and i thought "gee, these people sure are stupid. i mean if the camera has to swing around in an arc, wouldn't you think that that light post just might be in the way?" oh well. we needed a sheep dog real bad because without any sort of direction, all the people in the town would've just wandered around and eventually died like ants or something.

but fortunately, our sheep dog or person with a megaphone arrived and told us to stand in certain places and stuff and kassie and jeremy decided not to be in both ends this year but david and i wanted to. you see, everyone stands in this big 'u' formation in one corner of the square and the entire thing takes up about one side of the square. and as the camera starts at one end, and then pans around, you can run from one end of the 'u' to the other and then boom! you're in both ends of the picture. it's pretty interesting actually. a bunch of other kids were running too.

they took the first camera run and they started at one end and david and i were in that and then the camera passed us and we charged across to the other side with about 20 other kids and we just barely stopped in time before we would've plowed a couple of old folks down. boy that would've been good at all. then, they took a second photo and we had to run back to the starting positions again. and then, after that they took a third photo and david and i began to realize how incredibly hot it was getting since it was nearly high noon.

and then the photographer up on the big ladder and his assistant were like, "oh hey in that last one, there were too many people moving so we're gonna have to take one more." it turns out, no one from the back of the crowd could hear the megaphone so they figured it was over after the third photo. so we had to suffer once more running back and forth. that was my old home week photo experience for this week.

now i have finally been able to be in the photo twice! whoopeee for me! and david! lol. too bad kassie and jeremy didn't want to do it at the last moment. guess they'll have to wait another 3 years for that to happen. and tomorrow is the parade and i'll explain more about that now.

reporting time for the parade tomorrow evening is 5:15 pm (i'm always like 20 minutes early lol) and we have to wear our band shirts, our blue pants, black shoes, and black socks. but thing about the shoes is, they have to be black and i don't have any black shoes. so i ended up spending $43 on a pair of shoes that i would most likely be wearing one time in my life. well for band at least. there might be a "formal" occasion sometime so i'll probably wear them for that.

the funny thing is that when we went in the shoe store, we said to the shoe guy "well we need a pair of shoes, black laces and everything, tomorrow for the parade and..."

"that's quite interesting," said the shoe guy, "because the zimmermans were just in here and they said the exact same thing."

that made it easier for the guy because he already new what we wanted. marty zimmerman and i were friends way back in middle school and i remember he was in the rank in front of me and he had this absolutely perfect posture and all and i would try to march like him and stuff. so yeah that was the somewhat strange occurence for the day.

and that's about all for me right now. tomorrow night after the parade, kristin, laura, justin, and i will walk home from the school to my house (not that we'll really feel like walking after almost 3 miles of marching and playing). and we're just gonna chill at my house tomorrow night till around 11 pm and i'll write about that when i get around to it. friday is when the army band plays down on kaley field and then they have fireworks so i'll take a look at those. but otherwise, that's the latest news.

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7...
...days until band camp. the countdown is getting into the lower numbers now. whoa what a day. i gotta tell ya. sheesh are they trying to kill us? almost my entire day consisted of band and marching and stuff. i'm pooped. i think i'll use a lot of bold and italic lettering tonight for a change. or no wait! bold and italic! wow the miracles of html. building a website on angelfire has really helped me learn about html and how to write it and stuff. i think it's just the coolest because you can make your webpage into virtually anything you want; you don't have to use any pre-fab template or something.

last night was such a blast down on the square. boy what a time everyone has! there was food and all and i was walking with my friend saif when all of a sudden someone comes up behind me and grabs me and half scares me to death and i turn around and there's kassie behind me. i should've known. kassie and her boyfriend jeremy and i walked around for like a long time and then we found swopey and he had his bike with him so we talked about his bike and then charlie (another band person) grabbed swopey's bike and she ran off with it and then swopey and i were marooned down on the square for about 20 minutes.

and then we managed to get his bike back and we looked for kassie and all then and then we stood around for a long while and talked. and people were getting up on the stage that was set up on one corner of the town square and leading the singing of all these old songs. and i realized that you could've sang them all to the same tune practically. i mean "the old gray mare" would go perfectly with "this land is your land" or something like that lol. and everyone is always way out of tune and everything so that's amusing.

and that was over around 1:00 am so i went to bed and i didn't get enough sleep because i had to get up early at 7:30 am to get ready for that orientation for new members for field band. that was up at the school at 9:00 am and it lasted till noon. and during that time, we watched some videos and then we went out to the field and learned "marching basics" which was one tiring excersize after another to learn stuff like left turns, right turns, marching forward, marching backward, warm-ups and stuff, flanks, and hip shifts and stuff that i can't even remember the name of but how to do it all is drilled into my mind like the drill sheets that we learned to read. that was probably the most complicated part. but it's alright once you learn.

so that was hot and tiring because as the sun got higher and higher the temperature rose and stuff. so that was the morning. and then later in the afternoon, i had to visit charlie (my employer) about a new work schedule for september since it's a very busy month. but we got that worked out okay.

and then, this evening was rehearsal for the band. it lasted from 6:00 to 7:30 and we marched for the greater part of it. and that about killed me. gee marching for an hour out in that evening heat really does a number on you. everyone was so tired after that. man and then band camp is just like that next week. just 9 am to 4pm everyday for 5 days straight. how can anyone do it? lol. i'll soon find out. i think this experience will be worthwhile.

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8...
...days until band camp begins. my how time flies. before you know it, i'll be right in the thick of it and i'll try to post a message on here each day about it. bug me to do so lol.

well tonight is the opening of old home week down on the town square at 10:30 pm. i'm gonna head down with my parental units and then i'm gonna look for my friend kassie and we're gonna hang for the evening. hopefully that all works out and that would be totally cool if kassie and i ran into a few other band people that we recognize. or just friends. they'll probably be food and drinks and the town sing along (which isn't always in tune). 'the old gray mare' is a classic one to sing during old home week. but first, i shall tell you a little about it, in case you have no idea about what i am talking about...

"old home week" actually started out as "the old boy's reunion" way back a long time ago (lol sorry i don't know the exact date). about 50-64 old guys showed up for the celebration which consisted of picnics in the park and gatherings down in sandy hollow which was (and still is) a very popular swimming spot down by the creek. well the old boy's reunion was such a success that they decided to have one 3 years later and this time for the entire family. and thus, "old home week" was born.

and that's what i am attending tonight. the first of many ceremonies to come. hopefully i can manage to find kassie in the throngs of people and a few other people.

well the first drawing of thorn is finished. i've just gotta scan it now but the mouse pointer is acting up so i might have to wait until tomorrow to do that. and i worked on some hair contrast drawings and some eyes over the weekend so that has improved a bit.

a little earlier we just got back from the slye's party down in good 'ol west virginia. that's right. half a day, an entire night, and a good morning of great food, awesome music (from a live band, might i add), and just plain fun. boy that was the best damn chicken i ever ate. and the corn. the band that played on the porch was 'lunar stew' and i recommend that you look them up on the internet and buy there cd lol.

it always ends up raining and it just poured on the way up the mountain and then it rained steadily for about another 2 hours and we had to wait to set up our camp. my dad and i shared our tent while my mom slept in the car with a mattress that we hauled down. over the tent went one of those tarp canopy type things with legs and stuff and then we wrapped a tarp around one side of it to keep the rain from blowing all the way through. what a set up huh! and it took a while because we had to wait for breaks in the rain to do each part.

it stopped raining towards the evening and the band played until around midnight and we were waiting to see the full moon. i decided to go to bed because i was tired and about 20 minutes i hear this big shout and all the dogs start barking and everyone is howling and yelling. and i poke my head outside of the tent and there is the moon that came out from behind this big bunch of clouds. and it's what you'd call a 'blue moon' this month so that makes everything cooler because it hardly ever happens. only every few years.

so that was my weekend. and tomorrow, i have an orientation for new field band members from 9 am till noon (*note, i am the only sophomore that's new at field band lol) and i'll write more later but it's nearly time for the old home week celebration!

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countdown...
...to band camp. here it comes believe it or not. in only 10 days. everyone is getting really phsyced about it. i'm looking forward to it sort of lol. we just got a letter in the mail from mr. forney about our new schedule and everything and we'll have to leave early from school the day of our giant stadium competition (boo hoo i'll have to miss a day of school oh my i'm just so completely upset about that..........not!). and the cost will be a whopping $20-25 for the overnight trip. overnighters are always a blast. the band trip this year was so cool even though the condiditions sucked lemur butt (dang laura, now you've got me saying it lol). oh and you can refer back to april for the entries on the band trip.

tomorrow we leave in the morning around 10:00 am for the big party down in west virginia. hopefully that will be fun. we're gonna be staying overnight and camping out in a tent which is like the only time we ever use the tent during the year. we practiced setting up our tarp thingy where the tent will go. we always need extra protection from the rain. you know it always seems to rain at least for a little bit while we're down there. oh well. we come back sunday evening.

and you know what happens sunday? yep you guessed it. the official opening of old home week on the square. we'll make it home in time to go down to the center of town like at midnight to welcome in the good 'ol days. hopefully, kassie and kristin will be down too. the more the merrier.

the drawings have been coming along great but now my email isn't working at the present moment so that sort of sucks. oh whoops i mean it sucks lemur butt lol. i was working on the hair late last night during john kerry's speech at the dnc and the hair turned out better than i thought it would. that's always nice when that happens. later tonight, i will finish the drawing up and then scan it and then send it to kaitlyn. and maybe i'll most it on here to lol.

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now for something completely different...
today was pretty uneventful as usual. gosh things just seem to get more boring don't they? i had to mow the lawn for the first time since we got home and boy was it thick. i'm glad i didn't have too much trouble. all that grass pollen floating around really gets to you though.

earlier in the day, we worked on cleaning more out of our computer room and i vacuumed the stair well. those were some of the biggest dust bunnies i have ever found in this house. that's like several years of dust bunnies. and guess what. yep that's right. i breathed in so much dust that my bronchial tubes are hurting right now. believe it or not. and right after that, i had to mow the lawn. so my chest is hurting and it's bothering me.

more action with the cape today and boy was nadia riled up. i guess it's from all the speakers during that democratic national convention. well whatever it was she sure was wild today. she grabbed the cloth when i wasn't looking and bit it and then started to tear a big hole in it but i managed to intervene and get it away from her. wow what a wild animal to play with!

tomorrow is that rehearsal with the band. and it starts a little earlier around 5 pm for people who want some extra time to work on the march. i will surely attend because rehearsals are always fun because you get to goof around with your friends. and what more can you want? lol. last rehearsal mr. forney announced that we will be in group a open competition and that means going to giant stadium in new jersey for a huge competition. oh gosh lol. so it's off to new jersey...again...in the same year lol. we went to new jersey for our last adjudication in case you didn't know. and this trip to giant stadium will be an over-nighter so that will be pretty cool.

and progress is being made with the thorn drawings. i just got finished a little earlier looking up all sorts of ways to draw and shade eyes properly because that's what i need to work on the most. the eyes are just to flat and unrealistic looking and that really bothers me. i want these drawings to be the most realistic ones yet so it will take some serious work. but i am looking forward to it because i have nothing else to do besides worry about field band and play with the cat. it really helps me find something else to think about.

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nadia de la mancha (part 4)
ouch well you still gotta watch out for those claws. i learned that the hard way again today. nadia had just come out from behind the cape and i sort of tried to lift the string up and away from her but she followed it and she jumped up in the air after the string and she came down and her claws were out and they connected with my right elbow. i could feel them sink into my skin riiiiiiip. lol okay maybe not that bad. but i did manage to stop the bleeding after a few minutes.

we worked on cleaning out the computer room yesterday and we'll work on it some more tomorrow. rehearsal last night went well. we went outside and marched around and stuff and boy were we tired. and to think we only have like a week to prepare for the parade!

the parade runs the entire length of town and then back again so it's twice as long as our halloween parade. gosh we're gonna die out there. hopefully it won't be like 90 degrees out and humid and...oh gosh i shouldn't have said that. lol. knock on wood. i hope it's not very hot. the hotter it is, the harder it is.

this coming thursday's rehearsal should be interesting. brock decided to have it a bit early at 5pm and he's gonna order pizza. it's for people who want a little bit of extra time to work on the march. so yeah. oh and today i didn't do much. i just started some preliminary sketches on this person named rose thorn. see i've been "commisioned" by a friend of mine named kaitlyn to do a drawing of a character of her's. thorn's a mighty undertaking and it'll be very challenging but i think it will turn out alright. i needed something to do because i am just so bored here lol. oh and kaitlyn, i hope you can come out and visit sometime soon! it probably won't be for a while but i look forward to it!

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nadia de la mancha (part 3)
yes folks it's back to the bullfighting ring for today. nadia's got the hang of bullfighting now and she loves it but you just have to be careful. i mean her claws are so incredibly sharp they'll slash into your flesh and you won't feel it and all and then you'll notice the blood everywhere. yeah so you get the idea. lol.

well anyways today was very slow and boring and stuff. we would've gone to philly but decided not to at the last moment. we'll visit in a few weeks. tomorrow is another rehearsal with the band and hopefully that will go well. we'll probably be marching around a little outside so that will be alright. everything has been going pretty smoothly with band. band camp is coming up soon!

mr. forney told us that we have to maintain this perfect posture and doing this is very difficult. he said "just imagine a marble between your cheeks...and i'm not talking about these cheeks (*points to his face). just squeeze that marble tight and you won't sway back and forth when your marking time."

mr. forney does have interesting ways of saying things.

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nadia de la mancha (part 2)
more bullfighting with the cat today. she needs a lot of excersize because she's so darn fat. but i've got her to charge alright now and she kind of has the idea lol. she grabbed the handkerchief and dang near shredded it to bits if i wouldn't have gotten it away from her in time.

she sure gets fierce when you're least expecting it. once she nearly took my foot off when i tried to walk past her. you have to watch out. so when you're playing with her, it's real dangerous! lol.

i also worked today as you might already know. that was the same old stuff. charlie wants to get me in as much as possible before school starts because once school starts, there will be no time for anything, just...well...school and...band. that will have me so incredibly busy that i won't know what to do. i may not even be able to leave messages on here! probably only like once a week. band sure is a hell of a commitment.

and speaking of band. there's a parade coming up like 2 weeks from now and that's for "old home week". it's the 35th trennial of the founding of this old town and everyone will be out to celebrate. it happens like every 3 years so it's quite a big deal around here. and the parade is 2 freakin hours long. and there's a whole lot of other things like this pageant and heritage stuff. so yeah you get the picture.

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nadia de la mancha
nadia is my cat's name that i am training to bullfight. i gotta find a better handkerchief though to use as the muleta but oh well. and yes i am skipping the placing of the banderillos and the death part because i don't want to kill my cat geez lol. but i do have to be careful because nadia's claws are very very sharp. i found that out the hard way.

i have nothing else really to do around here however i do have to go to work tomorrow from 9 am to 3 pm. yes it's back to the old grind (literally). i will most likely be working all these saturdays in august around band camp and whatnot so i'll be a busy bee. so DO NOT get in my way! lol. sunday i will be visiting my grandmother out in philly so that's always a pleasant car ride out there and back. and that's my weekend in a nutshell.

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off to pamplona
well not really in fact. i was just bored here this afternoon and i decided to get my cat to "bullfight" with me. it was working too! see i made the muleta out of a wooden stick i found (which is normally used for closing the curtains) and a red handkerchief which was the cape part. and i used this string as a lure to get her to charge the cape and it was quite interesting at first until we ran out of space in the living room and my cat kept chasing the string around and nearly climbed up my leg.

now i don't want to mortally injure my cat so i think i'll leave out the part with the banderillos and the pics and the part where i go in for the death kill. hey if you're wondering where i learned all this stuff, i learned it in the book i read by ernest hemingway called the dangerous summer. yeah it was all pretty cool and it took me only like 2 weeks to read (i took it slowly, only 1 chapter a day because i am lazy lol).

lately, i got to thinking about cleaning up my room. see i saw this ad in a magazine for this totally cool futon bed/couch thing and i really want it for my room but my room is like a warzone. i mean i haven't cleaned it out in like 7 years (yes, sadly that's a true statement). so i am going to totally re-do my room and paint it and everything and i'm gonna have a desk and a laptop in it and all and i'm gonna put that futon bed/couch thing right by where my other bed is (only i'm gonna chuck my other bed out the freakin window lol).

so this is going to be my new year's resolution for next year. only i just realized that that was my resolution for this year and the year before that! so second semester, i will start (if not sooner) because first semester has the hardest subjects and with field band and all and work, it will be hard to find time. but i am definitely going to pursue this to the end and i'll post pictures too!

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