It has ensnared me.

Luckily we have tonight off - a water pipeline broke in front of the UT Rec Center, so they're closed for repairs.
It's a good break considering the fact that we kicked off the season with a whoop, holler, and "GET YER ASS IN THE POOL" routine.

I actually was late to my first practice because I was stuck in a swine flu vaccine line. The shot left my arm a wee bit sore, but nothing major - I always feel sore after shots, and hell, I swam almost half a mile the first day of practice - with butterfly strokes thrown in. ICK. And my leg cramped up terribly, which isn't supposed to happen until LATER in the season. FUDGESICLES.

So now I am just chilling out. Going to work on college apps and the Book Club presentation for Open House.

OH YES. I got my first college acceptance letter! It's to Bowling Green State University, and already I have $5,000 in scholarships for good grades. YES! 

Mike O'Connell is a 2009 graduate of Central Cathloic High School, and an alumni of the CCHS Glee Club. He's an incredibly devoted individual who loves music, and who worked his butt off for everyone while he was attending CCHS.

Today we all recieved some very devastating news.

Michael was diagnosed with Incinerate's Syndrome. This is a very rare and very dangerous disease - so rare that only five people, now six, have been diagnosed with it in the entire world. Basically, the blood in the body begins to move far too fast, and as such, it generates heat - and subsequently your organs are cooked inside your body.

He has been given a timeline - anywhere from eight months to six years.

He has also been submitted into a experimental research to test some new medicine that could potentially help him, but nothing is certain.


I don't normally ask for prayers often, but please - whether or not you normally pray, please pray for Michael. He really, really needs these prayers, as does his family.

First, I forgot to study for what should have been a pretty easy religion test. Probably bombed it.

Then, after school when nearly everyone is gone, I discover I cannot unlock my car. Turns out I left my lights on, and the battery died. I couldn't get ahold of my father, who works at a school. Then, while calling my grandparents to come help, my cell phone ran out of minutes - right in the middle of my call.

Then, I finally come home to find Kiba has eaten - and thrown up - nearly an entire bag of my favorite Candy Corn. My ONLY bag.

F.M.L.

...for some odd reason, whenever I scratch my skin, I suddenly break out in hives where I scratch.
Not sure if it's due to the abnormally warm weather, or due to stress, but it's annoying.

So finally I've gradually started to lose the college jitters. I owe it partially to the fact that I've been looking at more colleges, with University of Cincinnatti providing the best looking art program thus far. I mean really...it's awesome. Freshman year is all about exposing yourself to the different types of careers in your field (i.e. graphic design, digital design, architecture, ect), which makes it easier if you're undecided. There's also many co-opportunities available, which basically means your sophomore year you could actually be employed by companies to work on projects in cities like New York and L.A. (And here I was worrying about homesickness. XD) It makes becoming a graphic designer/animator a lot easier. Plus a lot of my dad's former students are currently attending, so I'd already have friends there right off the bat who could help me adjust.

I also owe it to <lj user=entropy_in_drag>, who offered some very good advice when I was especially frustrated and anxious. *hugs* Thank you so much. *hugs*

Still, the whole thing still makes me a bit nervous, but that's to be expected. At least I know now what I want to go into - I already crossed music education and performance off my list. I love music, but it's not the career I want - I may change my mind, but for now I'm pretty certain. But I am planning on doing Women's Chorus or Chorus in general no matter where I go, as well as band (TUBA TUBA Wh00t!)

So now I actually have to apply to some schools and continue scoping them out. Fun.
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I don't really mind writing essays, it's just I really, really have to suck up to all the schools. Especially UC and OSU...ick. I hate sucking up. And I hate flaunting my talents in order to get into places. But I have to do it, so I'll just have to deal. And the visiting is fun, because I can look into the surrounding areas for good food and shopping to keep me preoccupied at college - only problem there is missing school to visit and such. >_<

Swim Season is coming up fast as well, and I'm pretty excited for that. :D I am so out of shape i will probably experience the same nausea I did at the start of last season, but I have three weeks to get in the water and build up SOME muscles. X3
Thinking of going out for team captain with my friend Shelby, since all the old ones graduated.

I finally bought my dress for homecoming. <3 It's blue with black taffeta and a pretty brooch on the hip. I also bought some blue earrings and a black necklace to match, and some new blue eyeshadow. Yay!

The past few days have been incredible, weather-wise and mood-wise. I've been in a writing mood for my fanfiction, so hopefully I can get chapter 2 out while balancing college apps. And the weather's just spectacular - mid 60s and sunny skies all day yesterday and today. Hopefully it stays that way, since we have a gloomy rainy spell a week back.

The boy I asked to homecoming said "yes" finally. o////////o
<3 <3 <3

I am very very happy. X3

Updates on my trip to UC later!

I wish we could've left a day early to just chill in the city. I would've rather not had a buttload of homework when I'm 3 hours from home, either. But I digress. I hope CCM and DAAP are all they're supposedly cracked up to be - which they will, but...hrm...

I'm actually a little excited. Cinci is supposed to be beautiful around this time of year, plus SKYLINE CHILI!! Best chili macs ever, mmmmf.

I also just found out that Columbus college of Art and Design has both Animation AND Illustration for majors and minors. And those are the two things I really want to go into. :)

I'll also be looking for good bio and English programs, which I'd like to minor in possibly.

...

...I have a stomach ache. Stupid gas.

Top 8 Reasons Why I'm Excited for the Fall:

1) The wonderful feeling you get when the season changes. I just love fall. I love it. I love the smell of the air, the crisp leaves under your feet, the colors of those left on the trees...it fills me up with energy and I can't control it and I just happy-shift all over the place. Seriously, I've had some of my best shifts in the fall - the best by far occuring when I was running cross country and I started shifting because I was running in the woods. :)

2) Marching band! I actually love football now because of it. Hell, I never know what's going on, but it's enjoyable because I get to play tuba at half-time, and now the band has after-game parties at my friend Tom's house. Last night was our first game (we won 45-20!), and we all headed over to his house to play a mad round of DDR and to eat hot dogs. X3

3) The clothes. I love being able to wear t-shirts with sweaters and jeans and sneakers. It's not so hot that you're burning up, but it's not so cold that you're freezing. It's the perfect combo of warm-cool.

4) All the new TV shows! I'm especially looking forward to Flash Forward, Modern Families, and this new doctor show on NBC. I'm also excited for the final season of LOST, and the next chapters in HOUSE, Heroes, and Ugly Betty. Hopefully Daniel hooks up with Mark finally. XD

I KID I KID.

5) Food tastes much better in fall, for some reason. <3

6) Books! I don't know why, but I read so many more books in the fall than any other time of year. I'm looking forward for the next Shugo Chara!  and Lucky Star! volumes. I also might start buying Fruits Basket, since it's over and all the volumes are out. *proceeds to shovel money outside her window*

I'm also exposing myself to this vampire series called House of Night. It's slowly becoming the new Twilight with kids at my school. Even my classmate Jeremy is reading it. XD I actually don't mind it - the style of writing kind of irritates me, as do some of the characters and certain aspects of the plot, but hell, it beats Sir Sparkle Pants and his cronies of marble stone men who apparently can still inseminate despite the lack of blood flow and the fact that they're undead. ((That was a reference to Breaking Dawn.))
It actually makes several references to Cherokee legends and such, and the main character actually makes me smile sometimes, so that's a plus.

7) I also draw and write more. I feel really, really inspired to work on my fanfiction, which has been stewing quietly in my brain and has now finally started simmering and hissing and screaming "EAT-ER, WRITE ME!!!"

8) ...I might have found someone who I actually think might be interested in me, and me in him. ////


I've been overloading my systems on Lucky Star!. I freaking adore Konata, and her cousins. Kagami is another favorite simply because she puts up with Konata's otaku-ness on a daily basis. XDD 

*stretches* Yaaaawwn...
Working on summer Psychology homework is very difficult without a textbook. I found the answer to one question, but the rest are a bit harder. ;_;

So, anyways, birthday stuff.
On Monday (my actual birthday), I was scheduled to take my senior pictures, which I did around 1:00. I had about five outfits for the pictures (one of them being a super-cute sundress that I adore like CRAZY now. It's a pink-and-white plaid pattern, and it's very very comfy. ///) and I ended up taking my dog, Riley (who was my greatest, birthday present EVER. ^_^) and my cat JoJo.
I also had another nice dress, a t-shirt and jeans outfit, a nice sweater for yearbook, and a skirt and polo set.

The man who took my pictures was very, very friendly. He's been a long-standing family friend, and I actually found out about a year ago that he's married to my English teacher, Ms. Dahlin (!). He was very cooperative with both my pets, especially Jojo, who accidentally squirmed out of my grip and got behind an expensive silk backdrop. XD God, in my pictures, he looks so fat. He IS very fat, and the way I'm holding him in the pics make him look like a round ball of fur. XDD
Riley was very well behaved, being a bit older and used to photographing. Mr. Dahlin actually took his pictures when he was just a wee thing, so I think that might be why he was so good. His pictures are just AWWW so adorable. ♥

My favorite picture thus far has got to be this one in the pink sundress; the picture is black and white, but there are these bright red rose petals scattered all around me. It looks SO cool and has this awesome noir feel to it. I am SO buying that one.

I actually have access to all the pictures he took, but I haven't paid for the order yet, and if I wanted to have them all I would need to buy a CD of them. So sadly no pictures yet.

After the pictures were done, my friend Mandy came over to wish me a happy birthday. She made me this adorable Shugo Chara!-themed birthday card, and she told me she ordered me a present: The Swan Princess Special Edition DVD!
Okay you guys, you have no idea how much I love that movie. I seriously grew up with that as I did with The Lion King, and gawd I love it. And the fact that Mandy ordered it online (since her mother is hyper-paranoid about ordering things from Amazon and other online websites because she's worried about identity theft) and went to all that trouble seriously made me feel so loved.

We actually ended up baking my birthday cake together We ate half the frosting. XD
So then we all went out to eat (Mandy included) at Sakura's, which is basically the most AMAZING Japanese restaurant in town. We always eat at the tables with the hibachi grill built in. Mandy had never been to a Japanese restaurant before either, because her mom hates Asian food, so I was happy I got to share that with her.
She had sushi and ginger salad for the first time and loved it. Which was a relief because when she was eating a Hot Babe roll (Tuna sushi with some kind of sauce) she looked like she was gonna hurl. X3

So then the next day I had a few more senior pictures to take, and we took them at my horseback riding barn. I posed with Tammy, the mare I ride, and omg you guys she was so so adorable. She seriously was posing for these pictures, and she was perfectly calm about the whole ordeal. She even tried blocking me from the view of the cameragirl. XD Tammy I love you. ♥ ♥ ♥

So after that, I had to go to Leadership for Band. Basically that's for all the upperclassmen (Jrs. and Srs.) in band, where we talk about leading the various sections, setting good examples, and planning things for Band Camp. (Bum Bum BUUUUM.) Since I play tuba, I'm the low Brass section leader, and omg you guys WE HAVE 3 TUBAS NOW. One of them is a freshman, the other's a sophomore, and then there's me, but srsly guys this makes me so happy.
AND WE HAVE 66 MEMBERS IN THE BAND. 66 OMFG WE USED TO ONLY HAVE, WHAT, 17.

*faints from happy*
Then my sissy hooxeii took me to the mall for birthday shopping!! Here's what we bought (we ended up splurging and buying around $109 worth of stuff XP):
+ volumes 5 & 6 of Shugo Chara!
+ Utada Hikaru's new CD, This is the One. It's incredible, really - very jazzy and soothing. There's no Japanese, though.
+ The Cat Returns. Another great Studio Ghibli movie!
+ O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King. It's the fifth book in the <I>Mary Russell</I> series, which is a spin-off from Sherlock Holmes. It's terrific.

The rest of the week I've had band rehearsals. I've basically been doing all the teaching in the Low Brass section, because the other senior had a family reunion yesterday and a busted blood vessal in her head Thursday. (It made her eye all bloodshot and gross. D:)
Though my only complaint is that the stupid kids NEVER BRING WATER. Srsly, we're marching out there in the sun for two hours and no one bothers to bring a water bottle to stay hydrated. And Amp and Kool-aid do NOT constitute as good substitutes. And worst of all, this annoying girl in my section (a junior who switched to baritone) who has poor health anyway only drank Kool-Aid and felt like she was gonna pass out. Guess who she asked to carry her into the building via piggy-back? ><;

Last night hooxeii and I babysat my baby cousin Max. Max is the cutest baby, but he has a hole in his heart and is recovering from stomach problems. He has to be fed through a tube in his stomach, but he's getting better about eating on his own, which is a relief since before he couldn't have anyting without throwing up. He also has a helmet for his head, which apparently wasn't shaped right but looked fine to me. Whatev.
He was such a good baby! We watched Baby Einstein with him, and then Stuart Little. He was really into the movie, and there was this one part where a cat jumped out of nowhere and scared the crap outta him, but he didn't cry.
He avoided me for the first half of the night, but he started getting fussy and wanted to sit with me only. He was so cute, burying his head in my shoulder. But then when we put him down in his crib (since we thought he should go to sleep), he started crying really badly, and when he gets real upset, he involuntarily gags. But we managed to calm him down by reading some stories and singing nursery rhymes, and then the rest of the night went smoothly.

He has surgery next week to cover the hole in his heart, so I'm praying it goes well.

And today my aunt took me out to breakfast. We share the same birthday, and she turned 50 this year, so this warranted a celebratory breakfast. I was very stuffed.
I also had Thai food for the first time last night, and it was interesting. Curry tastes very good.
...

...long post is long. I'm going to the fair today, so YAY! ^_^

Wah, where to begin. Jesus, you guys probably were wondering if I fell off a cliff or died or something, so I'm finally getting around to posting. I've been on summer break for...about 2-3 weeks now. (Because classes at CCHS start in late August, we get out on literally the last day in May, so we have all of June and July for break. :D)
 
I'm now officially a senior in high school, and I have a good feeling about this year. Here's a lowdown on everything:

1) I won't be taking a fourth year of math. *cheers* I have a couple of classes I need to take in order to, you know, graduate (Government, Health), so that's a plus. A bunch of my smarter friends keep telling me this is a disadvantage, but here's the deal. My sister is a sophomore in college with straight As, and guess what? She only took 3 years of math. And while I do plan on taking college courses in math, I don't forsee math playing a major role in my anticipated career path. So take that, everyone who says otherwise. Plus, in my final year in high school, I don't wanna be bogged down by math grades. This past year I really, REALLY struggled in math - I think I only passed 1 test. It was an honors course too, so that kind of bummed me out a bit. It wasn't a bad class, and the teacher helped me out whenever I needed it, but in the long run, it was a stricly math-orieneted and gifted type of class, and because of that everyone else ran ahead with learning and getting good grades while I struggled a bit more. I really hate it when teachers speed ahead because the majority of the kids are gifted and the occasional other student isn't. >C

2) I get to take Psychology! *ecstatic cheer* Psych at CCHS is pretty much the most loved class, in my opinion. The teacher, Mr. Clark, is THE BEST teacher by far, and he's the most lovable and fun, too. He makes you want to learn about the things he teaches, and I owe it to him for my renewed love in History. :) But there is a downside: because I wanted to take Psych, had other required classes, and was not about to quit art OR glee club, I couldn't take Physics. I'm not going to be able to get the Honors diploma anyways (no fourth year in math or third year in foreign language, which is what you need. Poopie. >C), but I wish there was a way I could've slipped Physics in. A lot of people, including my sister, say it was fun. But others say I'm better off since even College Prep Physics would be a tad difficult without math. I'll probably ask the Physics teacher if I can see a couple of lesson plans, though, just for the heck of it.

3) I'm Treasurer of Glee Club! I won in a landslide victory against...myself. I'm also excited because as a rule, seniors get special recognition and consideration when musical rolls around. I really, REALLY hope this year I get at least a speaking part, and not a solo that gets turned into a duet when I only have ONE FREAKING LINE. (This actually happened my sophomore year.) I also hope it's a fun musical. Hello, Dolly! was fun, but a lot of things happened that shouldn't have happened and it turned out to be a fun show, but with a lot of added stress. So here's hoping this year it'll be better.

4) With my four years in the arts, I'm hoping I'll earn the Genesis Award, an award for students who excell in the arts. Which is what I've been dreaming of since freshman year when I heard you can be acknowledged for something other than football. XD
 
I'm excited overall, but I can't help but feel a little anxious. I know it's a year away, but college seems like such a daunting leap and the idea of change makes me feel a little nervous. I also worry about losing touch with my friends, but I'm gonna keep positive. College is a WHOLE year away, and I can't let that worry me.

Speaking of colleges, I've got a couple narrowed down. I'd like to apply for Ohio State University, University of Cincinatti, and BGSU, and maybe some others. I haven't visited UC yet, but I've visited all the others, and I gotta say, OSU is my top pick. I just...the atmosphere there is AMAZING. The campus is like it's own little town, with shops and bookstores and everything. When I visited, I didn't get to look at the majors I'm considering, but I will definately return and look at that. But when I was there, I did get to speak with an Art student who's also studying English, and he said that the art program at OSU was amazing. I've also heard that Art students get their own dorm building with a built-in studio, so I'd like to look into that.
 
I've heard great things about UC, but here's the deal. I know I want to go into Art, but as for the type of Art, I'm still uncertain. I love art; it's a part of me just as anything else is, and I just don't want to lose that passion. My sister loves to draw, but she said during her final year in high school, she realized it was more of a pastime she loved than a lifestyle, and chose to be a vet instead. I realize this isn't true for everyone, but in the event that a lifelong career dedicated to art doesn't suit me, I don't want to be in a strictly art-related atmosphere; I want to go to a school where, if art didn't end up being my calling, it'd be easy to find something that is (I'm considering minoring in English, Music, or Biology).
Now this is all speculation because I LOVE ART, but worse-case scenario, I wanna be prepared.

College...I can't help but have mixed feelings about it. I'm excited, but at the same time, it feels like everything will change. It will be the first time I'm away from home and literally on my own, without my parents or my sister right there beside me. It also means me being responsible for keeping myself on top of grades, yet knowing when to relax and take it easy. It means being responsible for money, clothes, and eventually a car, and I worry that I won't be able to handle all of this.

Speaking of cars, I've been practicing more than usual. I can turn pretty well, but I haven't been keeping to my "one hour a day" practicing schedule, and since I turn 18 next month, I need to seriously keep up with that schedule.


( This entry's getting really long, so I'll put the rest under this cut. )

So today I went shopping with my mother and hooxeii for some shoes and to try and track down the ever-elusive Arina Tanemura Collection artbook. There's this really nice shoe store by our local mall that sells some great dress shoes, and since I'm actually was asked to go this year (!!) I headed over to the dress shoe section of the store while mum and Hoo-hoo went off to find her some shoes.

So anyways, I was walking past this one aisle and noticed this adorable little girl wandering around. She had to be pretty little, and damn was she cute. She kind of looked at me funny, so to be nice I waved and said "HI". I figured her mom was close by, so I went on looking for shoes.
About a minute later I happened across the same little girl, and noticed she was crying. It kind of occured to me that maybe something was wrong, so I asked her what was wrong. She told me she couldn't find her mommy.

Me: OHSHIT OHSHIT WHATDOIDO. 8|

I kind of blanked out for a second, but then decided to take her to the front register so that one of the cashiers could page her mom or something. After all, Sesame Street taught me that if you ever get lost, go to one of the registers and ask for help. XD
So I did, and I told the cashier what happened. The cashier called the manager of the store over, and he said, "Oh, I just saw a woman who might be looking for her," so he took the girl and led her over to her mom.

I'm not gonna lie, I was scared. I had no idea what the hell I was supposed to do, but I'm glad I was able to help. She was so helpless, you know?

And then I found my shoes AND the art book. :)

Anyways, random story, but it was an interesting visit to the shoe store. X3