End of Another CSC Season

The TCEA Computer Science State Competition was yesterday, and it ending marked the end of the regular CS season (discounting other side contests, including UIL and ACSL). But let's rewind.
Friday was the day we were supposed to bus up to San An for the contest, but Wind Ensemble had UIL, so Fairley, Tom, and I went to that and drove up with the Fairleys. UIL went, in my opinion, very well. A lot of it sounded very good, with Nick sounding exceptionally awesome on his solo in "Horkstow Grange", but I've come to expect that. My solo went about how I wanted, with fewer cracked pitches than in the previous days, though I did have to back off a lot, to avoid "offending the judges", as Dr. Sedatole told me to do. Thankfully, I managed to play past the slightly cracked lip and cankersore I received from my darned cold. Sightreading went fine as well, though I can't say it was the most exciting piece I've ever gotten. I don't think there was near enough in the piece itself for us to work with, but that's fine.

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A Moment to Relax

Life has been interesting as of late.
This being jr year, I feel obligated to say something about the workload, and in the end, all I can say is that it's a lot more pressure than actual work. And in the midst of the insanity, there's always time to relax.
And TV and video games don't count.

Even in times like this, with an AP in just under a week with all the preparation, literally, ever done is a single practice test self-graded, I still manage to get in an hour of video games, well wasted. Wonderful, right?
It's times like these that make me wonder if ppl exaggerate the work that they have/do, or if I'm just doing something wrong. I mean, I would guess that compared to many, I do have a lot more work to do, but while they're crapping about it, I'm lining my AK up with the top of a filing cabinet so that I can get an instant headshot when the CT comes in long hallway (if you didn't understand that, aspire to never). But even in the motonomy of such a life, there's still an escape.

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Some More Thoughts on NY

If you haven't read the below post, do so before reading this; it'll make more sense that way. Or not. That's cool too.
So I must say, this is honestly the first true break I think I've ever had, in the sense that I've felt I've needed it and used it. True, every summer break I've had has had the "Thank goodness that school is over; what a pain in the butt". That's pretty natural. But I've realized that until now, I've never really been even vaguely stressed by 'ne of the circumstances. Big things have happened, and I've had to do my work at times, but it was in no way overwhelming. And I guess, honestly, this time, I don't think I've been stressed out either. It's just that the workload is a lot greater than I'm used to, but even that is relative. This is really the first time I've felt like I've taken a break: when I left, I felt like I was getting away from the usual life, and when I came back, I felt like I had truly left my usual life. It wasn't long at all, true, but I never thought of the stresses of school in an emotional sense. I may have mentioned APUSH offhand, and I did crack my psych prep book on the planes, but it didn't even near feel urgent. It wasn't long enough to develop a sense of complacency in the break, and it was long enough to feel like a gettaway. And I was active the entire time. Talk about a perfect break.

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New York

So that was one of the most incredible things I've ever done. I hate to recount events like what shall follow, but it seems to be the easiest, most inclusive way to do it.
Before I even get into the actual events, a humongous hugs and thanks to my group for being a lot of fun. Even though I wasn't really really tight with 'ne of them before the trip, we literally spent as much time together as possible, beyond just a walking group, which is quite a feat considering how much Englebutt managed to screw with the groups. Allison, Kelly, and Denise are probably the perfect example of 3 girls who are just too awesome to ever have to hang out with 'neone else, but still are totally cool about everything. Chris, the least cliquish of us, still managed to inject a lot of life into the group, and Matt got to be our favorite idiot. Ms. Yunker, our chaperone, almost seemed to fit in as another student, and let us do a lot of what we wanted while still eating with us and hanging out with us. And I was me, wvr that means to you. It was a great group.

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Recap

So the band got offered to get a small pep group to play for the Copperheads tonight. I, never wanting to miss an opportunity, jumped on it, and boy, was it a waste of 5 hrs.

Possibly the one great thing that happened all night was this one play, a PAT play. The placeholder guy completely misses the ball as it goes sailing. The kicker runs all the way to the 15 yd line on the other side of the field (it's a 50 yd field, in indoor football) and picks it up. One guy tries to tackle him, misses, and then he throws a 35 yd pass all the way back down to the other side of the field, where everyone was just kinda milling around, figuring the play was over. Some linebacker, I guess, catches it and turns around, stepping over the line for a 2 pt conversion. It was pretty incredible. Even with that, however, I still want my 5 hrs back.

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