Happeh Memorial Day~!

I celebrated this Memorial Day by marching in the Memorial Day parade with my school's marching band. I got to hold the school flag with my friend Nikki. :D We were walking behind this red train making CHOO-CHOOO noises.

It probably would've been a better time if it were 20+ degrees cooler out. Marching for over a mile in 80 degree weather while wearing black jeans...it's the ultimate weight loss program, accoring to Nikki. And I agree. BUT OMG IT WAS SOOOO FLIPPIN' HOT. I'm glad I didn't pass out right on the spot and have the marching band just run over me. Dx I was sweating everywhere...all I kept thinking about were a pair of shorts and my really cold room. x__x

At least I wasn't IN the marching band...I felt REALLY bad for them...

But other than the blasted heat (the state where I live has been having this spring heat wave or something...it's getting really annoying), the parade was pretty fun! :D It was my first time going, so I didn't really know what to expect. My favourite part was seeing the helicopter and fighter jets flying over our heads. They were epic. So were all the soldier dudes, and their cool jeeps and motorcycles. There were also horses! O:

So yeah...in other news, final exams start tomorrow. And I'm SO dead. I've been studying for Spanish for the past two hours or so, yet it seems like I hardly have anything done! I haven't even LOOKED at American Lit or Sacraments yet, I feel like I'm gonna completely bomb Geometry, and as for Chem...well...I'M JUST DEAD. Dx

Though I AM going to this study session thing from 7-9PM up at my school. I heard there was also gonna be pizza. :3

Peace, and God Bless~

pawns, worthless? i think not.

You know what one really talented deviantart artist made me realize? That it's symbolic when you manage to get a pawn all the way across a chess board, it turns into a queen.

Something like a pawn, that's stereotyped as the weakest and worthless chess piece, can transform into a powerful, strong, valuable queen (if you work hard enough to get that pawn all the way across, that is). The symbolism behind this is that people who are vulnerable and lowly, with a lot of hard work and effort, can rise into someone who's highly praised and all-mighty.

When this artist hinted this symbolic meaning to me, I pieced it all-together and now I'm fascinated by it. XD

adios to sophomore year...

Well, I'm currently sitting in my last Web Design class of the semester. All I have left is Honours American Lit, locker clean out, and I'm DONE...with the school day part, that is. I still have finals to look forward to. =P

The last day of school. Another chapter of my school-life gone, and my junior year awaits me at the end of August. Last day of school- it's always bittersweet. :/ I'm psyched for summer and being free from homework and wearing a uniform (I'm BURNING it once senior year comes to an end), but I'm gonna miss seeing my good friends each and every day and having things to keep me busy. Gotta make some summer plans ASAP. I already have a couple of small things planned:

- a strawberry shortcake party in the park. :)
- swimming. LOTS AND LOTS of swimming.
- bowling! :D
- boxer shopping with my friend Ryan. hur hur hur. x3
- catching up on TONS of anime and manga.
- volunteer work ( I don't care where, I just need some activity to keep me occupied).
- brush up on my chess playing skills. :D
- burning my science fair project. BWHAHA~

Uhh...that's pretty much it so far. Nothing too exciting, but I'm hoping my uncle will have something planned for the Fourth of July up at his cottage so I can go. My family can't afford to travel or go any cool place this year, so I don't think my summer will be all that exciting. ^^; But that's alright, because at least I'll be able to chill out and do nothing. And that's always nice.

I'm just hoping that my last Lit class won't kill me, and my current headache subsides soon. Dx

Annoyed.

Yep. Annoyed. My current mood...for different reasons. =_=

My final exams are next week, and I've taken good use to my half day of school and begun to work on the review sheets I've received. I know I have plenty of time to do them, yet I feel like I have to get EVERYTHING done right at this very second. So if I don't have something done or don't complete something, it makes me feel so unaccomplished. I get the thought, "Why bother doing it when you're not going to finish it NOW?" So even though I have the next 5+ days to study, I feel like there's no time.

My family will NOT shut up. I feel like my brother's gonna snap and have a melt-down (he has many mental problems, so yeah...), so that's bringing down my mentality, too. The TV's blasting from the kitchen, my other brother keeps blabbering random crap downstairs, the back door keeps opening and shutting (dunno WHERE dad keeps running off to), I can hear my mother's loud voice from my bedroom...actually, I can hear EVERYTHING going on in my stupid, small, dense house of mine. Even WITH headphones on.

MY LEG (or back of thigh? it's kinda there, actually) HAS A HUGE CRAMP IN IT. GRAAARRGHH.

I have another reason, too, but...I'm not gonna say what it is. >>"

That's it, pretty much. Can't wait until everyone goes to bed and the house becomes quiet...probably won't happen, but I can dream, can't I? Peace out, peoples~

a wise ol' quote from Albus Dumbledore:

"It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends."

For some weird and random reason, I had a flash back to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and I remember Dumbledore addressing this quote to all the students of Hogwarts whilst in the Great Hall. Now that I really give this quote some thought, it's absolutely true.

It's WAY harder to stand up to your friends rather your enemies. It's easy to argue and to say what's on your mind to somebody you dislike- you'll have no fear to express how you feel and have the courage to tell them that they're committing wrong-doings. It's simple because you're not supposed to LIKE your enemies...otherwise, they'd be your friends. But when a situation arises when you have to stand up to a good friend, it proves to be more challenging. You're going against someone that you consider a comerade, someone who'll think that you're okay with their beliefs or actions because you're a friend, and of COURSE you'd agree with them about EVERYTHING. Well, that's not the case.

People will have the fear to stick up for themselves and others when it comes to opposing the negative thoughts and actions of friends. They're afraid that their friends will mock them, tell them that they're stupid or wrong, or will become angry at them for thinking differently. They'll turn against you if you take a stand against them. Even if you KNOW you're doing the right thing, they won't care. They'll just be angry that you "betrayed them" and will think you're not being a friend for not "thinking they way they do or agreeing with them".

We are all not the same. We all have different minds, different thought processes. Even though we have similarities, we all take a situation or an object and see it through our OWN eyes-- we have a diffrent point of view, and we all have our opinions. Just because we have friends and share the same interests, doesn't mean that we all have the same beliefs or have to think the way they do.

So when a situation arises where you see a friend doing wrong or saying something inappropriate or false about an issue or about a person, be brave and tell them straight up how you feel. Lead them in the right direction, don't let them get away with committing wrong-doings. Take action and stand up to them. It may be difficult, but it'll be worth it in the end, both for you and your friend.

Life is but a DREAM for the DEAD.

Mom and I took a voyage up to my grand-dad's grave yesterday evening. We had to go up there to see whether my uncle planted flowers or not (because my grandma didn't believe him when he said he did, so mom and I had to go see for ourselves xD). And he did. They're all lovely, and he planted different varieties of flowers. I got to water them, and will have to take a couple trips up to the cemetery a few times a week to do so. We don't want the flowers to die too quickly. ^^; It's supposed to be in the high 80s this week.

After that, mom and I walked around the cemetery to look at all the different graves and such. As I was walking around and admiring all the different gravestones (most of them were Celtic crosses, because it IS an old Irish cemetery) and looking at birthdates and deathdates, I realized that it's...really tranquil up at a cemetery. I feel at peace, somehow...there's no one around to bother me, no disturbances, no distractions...just yourself and hundreds of people that once were alive, now buried in the earth and replaced by a slab of stone engraved with a name. I don't know whether I'm being a creep or not, but I actually enjoy looking at all the graves around me, calculating how old somebody was when they died, seeing Happy Birthday balloons, flowers, and candles decorating a gravesite that's supposed to bring sadness and loneliness of the families and friends that the dead person left behind.

I don't know. It's just a little odd quirk about me~

bloody hot carnival...

Yesterday afternoon, my brother and I went to a school carnival (my second one this month!) located near our house. Not much to tell...the rides were pretty good for a school fair (even the little-kid rides you could go on, which was quite nice xD), the food was alright (I just bought two waters, an ice cream cone, and a box of popcorn for us to split), the games were quite lame. Didn't even bother to play them.

...but the HEAT. OMG THE HEAT WAS ATROCIOUS. Dx It hit 85+ degrees in mid-afternoon (and that's when the day is hottest), and Nick and I were walking around in that for four hours. =_= Not to mention that there was mud. MUD. EVERYWHERE. EVERYWHERE YOU WALKED, THERE WAS MUD. AND HAY. Walking around in flip-flops was NOT. FUN. I was so mad...when we went back into the huge tent to sit down, I just took a napkin and started to peel away at the layers of mud and hay caked on the bottom of my favourite flip flops. I'm not even sure if I can wear them again because of how messy and gross they look. T__T So yeah...the mud was absolutely disgusting. We probably should've went to the carnival on Saturday, even though it was rainy. Ah well. Now we know for next year. (:

I realized that there's classes of people that attend school fairs:

- insanely fat people (especially children)
- people with absolutely NO fashion sense
- teenagers who travel in packs of 5000.

xD