Sorry, But I Hate Windows

Sorry about not getting this in time- after having the page that comes after you post never fully load for two days, I figured I should check to see if what I had posted had make it. Of course not.
So I'll just abbreviate what Windows so kindly crashed.
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This week I've been working really hard on learning how to construct websites. However, being the zealous geek that you love, I took it upon myself to learn how to create half the website in Flash. Right now I have an assortment of half finished pages and lots of "proofs of concept" projects (too see if what I want to do was even feasible). Tonight I made a breakthrough, linking an html page in Flash, allowing me to make Flash menus (means that they're going to be very pretty). We'll see how it all pans out- I still have to do all the research and finding even one primary source from 1550 is going to be a real pain-in-the-butt.

- Jonathan

Fancy Title

This is Ryan substituting for Lacey this Tuesday. I have been reading this blog from the beginning, so it is a real honor to be able to post the 232nd post. I sure hope this color is yellow. I changed the font before hand to yellow and I don't want to change it back but I can't read any of this.

Six days ago, the world lost Morgan Hooper. Even for those of us that didn't really know her, this has had an impact on our lives. I went to the same school as Morgan all twelve years since kindergarten but, since we only had a couple of classes together, with those being in elementary school, I just knew her name and that was it. A little over a year ago, I started attending Canopy Roads Baptist Church. Her enthusiasm for worship left an impressment on me and I can't think of anyone who could be considered friendlier than her. It was clear her personality was ridiculously awesome.

Morgan was 16 and took courses with many of us. I feel so horrible for her family and friends that they had to go through this when her life was still really just beginning. She wore a seatbelt and wasn't talking or texting on a cell phone before the accident. A lot of people do the opposite of those things I mentioned in the last sentence and never have trouble. Of all the people it could be, it was her. At least now we know she is in a better place.

I have noticed that most posts on here have a couple more paragraphs than I have written so far, so the rest of this is just a hodgepodge of random stuff that may or may not be interesting. Luckily for you, if you are still reading this, I think I am a very interesting person. I worked for years to try and be funny by being able to make my dad laugh. He is probably the funniest guy I know (and, as many people tell me, the scariest) and my role model. He could easily make anyone laugh, but it was hard for me to purposely since he was good at not laughing. I think that is where I got my self-control from; I have never lost a stare-at-each-other-until-someone-laughs contest and am good at keeping a straight face. Also, at the JCL induction party, we had a scavenger hunt thing and one of the quests was to make Baxter laugh. I think that moment was the symbol of my humor, that single event no one was there for.

This part of the year used to always be bad to me. Yet this time around I am happier than I have ever been. She may just be using me to write posts for her just before they are supposed to be up because she promised to be interesting the next week in her previous week's post (just kidding!). I don't care. I love Lacey.

-Ryan

P.S. I can guarantee that there will be an awe-inspiring spectacular post next week to make up for the times promised ones weren't made. Woo!

Just a Few Thoughts

Here are some thoughts that have gone on in my head in the past couple of days.


There's this girl who recently started to attend our school. A couple of us knew her from middle school, where she was the pretty much the most ridiculous person ever. We constantly laughed over the crap she made up. We all kind of despised her. Now she's back. This select group of friends is trying to avoid her, but I want to welcome her back. She really gave us a certain bond that has made us into the friends we are today.

I don't really say 'I love you' at all. Not because I don't love people, it's just not something I do. But I love all my friends and family, and I hope they know.

When I die, I hope only nice comments are said about me.

I wish I wasn't so good at reading people's emotions. I feel like that talent should have been given to someone who could actually comfort people with their words and brighten up their days. I'm not so good at that.

I've craved hugs over the past week. But being anti-hug for so long, I don't expect them.


I've had so many more, but mostly they're pretty depressing. But I plan on writing a note on Facebook, with a message to each of my friends like Caroline wrote to the Power Bloggers yesterday. So that'll be up today or tomorrow.

So check out the blog tomorrow for an awesome post from the...yeah I kinda forgot what Lacey's color is...*checks a past post*...the yellow Power Blogger!

-Brianna

Breathing in a New Mentality

Hello there, Blue Powerblogger here! 

"Pain has never been so brilliant; I made sure you were buckled in. Now you can walk with Him, with Him"-in memory of Morgan, a great teammate, a great classmate, a great friend.

 

So this week, we all lost a great person. She was a ray of sunshine to everyone who knew her, and was able to brighten up a room with her infectuous smile. Many people were left questioning why God had sent her home so soon. But if anyone deserved to go to heaven, it was her. She had such a strong faith and such a genuinely caring personality. And now she is dancing with the angels and living a perfect existence in heaven, much better than ours on Earth. So while we may be sad that she is no longer with us physically, her memory and example remain. Hopefully we can all draw from this tragedy the idea that we should live life to the fullest and be friendly to everyone. Thats the way Morgan lived. 

In lieu of this event, I have been reflecting on my life. I spend too much time worrying and questioning. But I've realized that life is so limited, so I should really try to enjoy it. I also have some things to say to my fellow powerbloggers and friends, since we have seen that you can never really know what day may be your last:

Bri-you are so intelligent and caring. I love how strong you are in your faith, and the way you really stand up for what you believe in. You are quick to help a friend in need or to cheer them up. I am fortunate to have you in my calculus class this year.

Lacey-I have known you for so long, and it has been such a crazy rollercoaster ride! Sure, we've had our ups and downs, but I am so glad that we are friends. You are always so funny and bubbly, and it's hard to be sad in your prescence. And you are so smart and talented, and you always help me with whatever I need.

Viv-You are such an interesting person! I love the fact that you don't conform to anything or try to fit in with certain stereotypes. You are such an individual, and I admire your uniqueness. I am really sad that we have no classes together this year!

Jonathan-Without you in my AP french class, I don't know how I would survive! It seems like you always know the answers, and not just to french problems. You are great at giving advice and you are a really caring person. I also love your cooking!

Kejing-It's so great being able to tell you about all my boy problems! I miss sitting near you in class and talking about whoever my latest crush is! You are so incredibly intelligent, and quick to help me with anything I need. We need to talk more this year!

June-Chemistry buddy! I would never have gotten through chem last year without you! I know that I may have been slightly annoying, what with my constant humming and what not, but you never complained. I admire your strong faith, as well, and I think you are an amazing songwriter. And thanks for the shout out at the end of your posts!

So thats it for now. Just remember to tell the people around you that you love them and live each day to its fullest. And listen to "Breathing in a New Mentality" by Underoath!

-Caroline

The Ownage State

Hey people. June here with another made-up-on-the-fly post and I'm improvising as I'm typing. My dad called me a jerk just now. Yay! (He was just kidding)

I've experienced what I allegedly call "The Ownage State" only a few times. It's a real rush and it seems I only experience it when I'm either playing a video game that requires an excessive amount of adrenaline or when I'm playing tennis. The ownage state is a state in which all safety switches in your body are off and you go all out with whatever you are doing for an extended or short amount of time, depending on what you are doing. Like for instance, when I am in the ownage state as I'm playing tennis, I always smile for some odd unknown reason and I feel invincible. I often win whenever I'm in the state.

Today I went into the state again ^_^. I played tennis today with Kejing and another friend (we will call this person John). There were two kids about our age, maybe younger, who were on the court next to us. My knees were hurting terribly today and the last thing I wanted to do was play a watch. Well guess what? The two kids came over and challenged John and me to a game of doubles! Yay.... We agreed. I asked them what school they came from and in turned out they were from a rival school which had an awesome tennis team. Repping our school, it was our duty to defeat these mighty foes... or semi-mighty. They were on the junior varsity so it was a junior varsity vs. junior varsity match. John and I took our win as easily as.... uh.... a fat man rolling down a hill? I terrible with analogies. The score was 6-1 Then they came up to us and asked us to play ANOTHER set. At this point, my knees were killing me and I could barely tolerate bending them. I reluctantly agreed again.

The second set was not so hot as the first. We took the first two games to make it 2-0 but then they got us with a come-from-behind lead and made the score 2-3. I was dragging us down, I was practically limping on the court if I didn't have to run, and my serve accuracy was declining. Bleh, I'm going to go into story mode! I'll name the two rival school players as WhiteShirt and OrangeShirt. Here goes:

"Wow, that was lucky," I thought as the ball passed by me. Mr. WhiteShirt double-faulted and allowed us a tie game with the score, 3-3. I wearily stretched my knees. They were throbbing and it felt like a doctor was giving me a reflex test over and over again. I tossed a ball to John for him to serve and glanced at my opponents. "We shouldn't have to live off their mistakes," I thought. "We should be slamming the ball down their throats. Argh! Stupid knees! Stop hurting!" I slammed the racquet down on my right knee and waited with painful patience for the intense throbbing to stop. A sudden calm washed over me. "No more," I thought. "I'm not giving them a single game. We're ending this now." Adrenaline rushed through my body. I never felt so alive. My fatigue melted away, the pain died down to a dull ache, a smile played on my lips, I was ready. John swiped a serve into the net and prepared to hit his second serve. He called out, "June, move back!"
"Not this time." I replied.
He gave me a look but proceeded with his second serve. It went in. WhiteShirt smacked the ball back and the ball whizzed towards John. However, I noticed that time seemed to have slowed down. The ball seemed a little too sluggish and slow.
John replied with a smash towards OrangeShirt. Then I saw saw it: the opportune moment, the opening on the court, and where my opponent was going to hit the ball to. Without thinking, I rushed over to where he was going to hit it. I saw his reaction. He saw me running but it was too late to change the direction of the ball. He struggled to change the course but failed. The ball swerved slightly off course to where I predicted it was going to go and at that, my smile turned into a wide grin. I reached out and blocked the ball sharply into the corner of the court. WhiteShirt struggled to return it but to no avail. One point to Team J&J (clever team name right?).
"I'm mad," I declared to the surprised John. The shot seemed to have lifted his spirits though. With that, we played.
The game ended with a score of 6-3. We didn't give them a single game.

I hope you liked my improvised narration. I'm too lazy to check for errors so let's end with: "Join us tomorrow for another exciting edition of the Sunday Caroline Post! Yay! I made her post sound like a newspaper ^_^."

-June

Random Question: Is the moon really made of cheese?

Tuesday and Friday

I am writing this on Tuesday, quite a bit early, because my computer broke.
So, my parents changed their minds. I might get a car some time around the summer or something. Better then than not at all. Well, then, I get to do things and work and stuff. Fun...
Still, my father laughed a lot at dinner when my brother whispered something in his ear. It turns out that my father wrote him a $39 receipt, acting as a sort of bank for my brother. Unfortunately, my brother actually managed to lose the receipt. My father said that this was his first banking experience and that it was a failure, using English terminology for "first banking experience" and "failure." I suggested asking for interest, but without the receipt, on cannot exactly collect it. My mother said my brother went to the wrong bank. My father was reading something not long after that, and he wasn't paying attention, so I reminded my brother that the banks closed early.

So, it is Friday now, and a day after an extremely emotional one. In the morning, my mother made me absolutely miserable, but it was nothing compared to the morning announcements. I hadn't received any news on Wednesday, with not much access to the Internet, and definitely no television-watching. The only really weird thing was my father coming home and talking about how the traffic was really bad on every which street on his way home from the Lab. My mother said something about a silver car on the news. I thought no further. So, the morning was definitely a shock. With the principal talking to us, I was thinking, "Oh gosh, I hope it's not anyone I know, because then, the people around me would be even more sad." Well, it was, and we were handed markers and paper and colored pencils and letters in third period. Throughout the day, whenever I wasn't completely focused on anything, my mind would wander to the dreadful day that almost everyone around me had to experience. I felt really bad inside for a reason that many other people probably didn't need to consider. I could not really pray for her because I do not believe in that stuff. However, if there really is a heaven, then I'm sure she must be there. It seems like the perfect place for her, though, not as perfect as having such a pleasant life on Earth... It was good to know that everyone was very respectful. But it was awful to see so many tears.

-Kejing

What'll They Remember You By

Megan T. here, filling in for Jonathan (yeah, I spelled it right)

Ya cant walk anywhere in America (and I'm sure some other countries as well) or turn on your radio's to any station without hearing about Oprah Winfrey's controversial magazine cover. In this humble walk of ultimate shame, Oprah shows a picture of her some odd years ago, as compared to a recent picture of herself 40 pounds heavier. "I'm mad at myself. I'm embarrassed. I can't believe that after all these years, all the things I know how to do, I'm still talking about my weight. I look at my thinner self and think, "How did I let this happen again?" says the befuddled O.

I've got an answer for you Oprah, you let yourself get fat again because you freakin' ate too much and didn't exercise enough! I think that this is the most ridiculous thing circulating around mouths today. If Oprah thinks that her problem is her love handles or her "jiggly" butt, then that's even more sad. When you eat, and sit, you let all of that food in your body turn to fat. I don't know about you O, but I learned this in like 3rd grade.

Some of you are probably wondering why I even say this, I'm not exactly a size zero myself, but it's not the 40 pound plight that aggravates me so much about Oprah, or that stupid cover, it's her constant struggle to change herself and to make her problems everyone else's. That really sets me off. If you want to change yourself, just do it, accept what you have done and make the decision to change. Creating this cover is not going to make losing that weight any easier. You did it to yourself, so you handle that mess on your own.

If you ask me the real problem is wanting to fit in with the rest of slim and trim Hollywood A- list celebrities and having low self esteem issues. Oprah is an example that the insecurities we have don't just disappear with age , or in O's case, fame. Sometimes it's hard to feel secure in yourself when crap like this occurs. What is Oprah trying to say, that gaining weight should shame you; make you want to take only face shots for photos like magazine covers until you finally admit that you're fat again?

O, this is how I see it, you are beautiful no matter what! You've come a long way from Mississippi. People are going to admire, love and respect you no matter what weight you may "just happen to reach". I think that strutting in front of that camera, and putting a full body shot of yourself with a title of "This is me, Deal with it" would show more class than trying to assure Americans that you can change your image. You don't have to change, you're Oprah!!

i love you powerbloggers!

megan (Morgan, we will never forget you)