mood //	satisfied
music //	sounds from the TV

01.15.04 [20:17]   // dream //   Hola mis amigos!

Where in the world has Ashy been?

Yes, where in the world have I been? Answer: Working on my goddamned chicken. Yeah, the Rodeo project I was profusely complaining about last week.

It's hard to believe I haven't been online AT ALL since Sunday. Usually I come online every day, even if it's just to check mail, print a few notes, or something of the sort. But, no, I haven't been on at all. The chicken ended up taking so much goddamned time.. I was having to spend every free minute from 3 PM when I got home to bedtime at 10 PM (with the exception of the time taken to eat dinner) to work on it the past three nights.

BUT, all is well that ends well. I ended up still having to turn it in a day late, but with luck Mrs. Peanick won't be so harsh on my grade because the chicken ~ truly ~ is a masterpiece. I won't go so far as to say it's photorealism because it still ended up retaining the stylistic look that I couldn't help giving it, but it is indeed the best work of realism that I have ever done. I don't think I would've won the Rodeo competition if I'd entered because they only pick four people out of the entire district, regardless of grade level, so I have few regrets about not meeting the competition deadline. But I am definitely entering this into the VASE competition, and with luck I will be picked to proceed to the state level. By looking at it I am 99% sure I will get first place.. so then it just has to be handpicked out of all the first places to go to the next level. You are judged against the people of your same level.. i.e. Art II's are judged against other Art II's, and.. not to sound cocky, but that is a pretty damn good chicken, good enough to rival the pieces the Art III's in our class put forth. So, I am pretty confident that my chicken will do real well in the competition. I really hope so.. because I really want my letter jacket.

This chicken has also ended up being a good thing in some ways. We took a quiz in Physics on Monday; I was pretty sure I aced it after I took it. Anyway, that meant Tuesday was the day of the reteach, i.e. students who made A's go to the back of the room and do whatever they want; students who made below an A have to sit up front and actually pay attention. =P So, I brought in my chicken because I'd have a whole period to work on it, and I needed all the time I could get. Sooo, pretty soon a few guys noticed what I was working on, and they were like, "Whoa, come over here and look at Nara's chicken!" to their friends. And pretty soon I had half the class congregating around my table talking about how awesome my chicken was. Mrs. Schweiger came and sat beside me because she wanted to see me work. And even Curtis, who at first had been determined to ignore me and my chicken and how good it looked, came over and stood behind me to watch me work. <33333 ^________^ I was so proud. Everyone loved it. The guys were talking about commissioning me to draw some guy from Halo holding a rifle. o__O Boys will be boys, LOL. Anyhow, yeah, I was proud. Rob, who since the beginning of the year seemed to have come to hate me, now admires me to death and is in complete awe of my artistic ability. Haha.

So, yeah. When I turned it in this morning, Mrs. Peanick immediately grabbed it and walked to the other art classrooms. I could hear her exclaiming, "Look at what Nara made!" My chicken seems to be pretty spifftacular, and popular. So I am hoping for the best when the time comes for competition.


Other than the art project, I still have had frighteningly little homework. Study Hall is a great help because I can get the Pre-Cal and Physics done that would otherwise take me a couple of hours to do at home because I am so easily distracted here. However, I was right about extracurriculars getting ready to choke up all my time...

We are going to meet once every week now for UIL Spelling. Then I signed up for UIL Science, and the sponsor actually wants to meet and practice for that (unlike Mrs. Klawinsky last year).. we have our first meeting tomorrow morning. Then Mrs. Garner said she wants to start meeting for UIL Ready Writing. x_x I was going to try to find out what it takes to do History, but it seems these three are going to be demanding enough as it is, and plus I'm not even in a History class this year, so I'm a bit fuzzy. It's also probably too late to sign up for Math, because that team has been meeting four times a week to practice since the beginning of the year. x_x! Well, I'm content to let them take those spots, though I may try to sign up for Calculator if Mrs. H. needs any more people.

And then Mu Alpha Theta.. it's crunch time to prepare for the Junior High Tourney that we're hosting on February 28th (which is, incidentally, the same day as VASE, for which I need to be physically present). Anyway, this year's MAT group is a lot more dynamic than last year, and they have decided that they want to make the tourney more "fun". They want to add in booths and tickets with games and whatnot, and one of the things they want to have is a video game room. (The guys were talking about a 16-player Halo melee or something.) So anyway, we are starting to split into committees to take care of those things, and I, of course, signed up for the video game committee.. we will have to figure out if we're allowed to have something like this, and if so, what the restrictions are, where we could have it, who will provide the games and systems, etc. And, go figure.. I was the only girl that signed up. XP SOMEONE HAS TO REPRESENT THE GIRL GAMERS OF THE WORLD. *erhem*

And then it's also crunch time for Orsôrum, the Lit Mag. We're going around talking to classes next Wednesday, and I have to finish up my sponsor letter, and we have to get money, and submissions, and... x_x *death*

I AM SO THANKFUL FOR STUDY HALL. <3333 I am really going to need it.


Other than that, things have been.. alright, I suppose. I'm very tired because I haven't been sleeping too well. Stressing over the Art project isn't the most relaxing thing to do right before bed. And I've been having weird, vivid dreams again, most of which involve Curtis. No, I'm not making this up -- and it's really worrying me. Yesterday I had one where I was napping. The first segment involved us going on some sort of field trip to a weird, funked-out theme park with Physics (and for some reason, someone had trusted me to drive us there, so it was interesting trying to get there in the first place). Anyway, I was in a group with Lisa, Curtis and Jetice (no, don't ask me what he was doing there.. I don't know). Anyway, the problem was, I was shunning everyone and especially Lisa (who was crying ;_;) because I was so emotionally conflicted about Curtis. That part of the dream ended with Jetice giving me a lecture and hugging and *squeezing* me. o_O Then it sorta faded out and next thing I knew I was back at school in Physics class. The problem here was: Mrs. Schweiger had apparently decided to hold another boat race, because everyone whose boat didn't sink had apparently kept it (which isn't true -- in reality they were all torn up and trashed right after) and kept it intact, and like decorated them or something. So, Mrs. S wanted to hold another race of sorts, and everyone was supposed to be there. Except I'd forgotten about it and forgotten to tell my mom, so she would be worried and I wouldn't have a ride home. Also, I was wondering what the hell Curtis and I were supposed to do because we didn't have a boat anymore since ours sank, and then on the way there after school the building started changing, and I got lost, and I was late, and I still didn't know what we should do. And then I woke up.

Umm. Yeah.

I have also been pretty headachy all week. It was alright Monday/Tuesday, but the past two days I've felt like if I don't watch out I may have another killer migraine, so I've been very careful. But it has invariably made me even more tired, and more cranky than usual, and I am having trouble putting up with some people that I normally have no trouble being around. i.e. today I almost got very pissed at Kitty at the Orsôrum meeting because she wouldn't stop getting off track and talking and making comments while I knew Mrs. Mastracchio was really trying to find time to say all she needed to say. I knew I shouldn't be mad because Kitty was just being Kitty, but today it just.. bugged me.

Deborah has been driving the family insane with her antics. She is being so obstreperous lately, acting so spoiled and rude... she treats mom like her personal slave. She never asks for anything nicely. At dinner today, she was like, "I like those potatoes! Is that all the meat I'm getting?! No, that's too many veggies!" instead of nicely asking, "Can I have some more potatoes and meat? Can you please take back some of those veggies?" And apparently at breakfast last week she was like, "Isn't there any orange juice?" So mom answered, "Yeah, it's in the fridge." Deborah: "Why isn't it on the table?" Mom: "Because you have two hands and are able to get it yourself." Deb: "But I already had to walk up and get my own bread!" x______x Does it take.. that much trouble to just do a few damn things for yourself?!?! GODDAMN. And then it's been so horribly cold outside, like in the 30s or 40s in the morning, but she refuses to wear sweaters or jackets because they keep her from showing off her Abercrombie T-shirts. -.-

I'm just like.. wow. I hope I wasn't like her when I was her age. I don't think I was, but anyway.. I've learned my lesson and mainly just keep myself closed off to my parents. Not arguing everything I disagree with seems to have helped cease the conflicts. Now that Deborah is getting more and more into this annoying adolescent phase, it's easier for me to get what I want anyway, because in comparison, I am now the angel child so my parents are pretty happy with me. I'm not always happy, but tergiversating seems to be better than turning everything into a conflict. I am doing alright.

As for Curtis, we're doing okay. I had the upper hand the other day because I got a 100 on the Physics quiz and he got a 97, but then I made a 102 on the test and he beat me by one point. =/ Still, I have a higher average than him by .02 points, so I DON'T CARE. But he hasn't been as much of an asshole as he can sometimes be, and I am thankful. Today he was verily amused because I skipped some Sophomore anti-smoking assembly by pretending to be a Junior (it was during Physics and I am the only Soph there, so I decided not to go) and kept saying, "Man, I can't believe you gave up that chance to learn how to smoke!" Now everyone in Physics that didn't know before knows I'm a 10th Grader. :P Oh well.

I had my first Yoga class Tuesday night. It was really nice! For two hours I completely destressed and didn't spend a minute worrying about my Art project or anything else, so that was wonderful. Definitely something I needed.


Tonight, I am just tired. E-mails have piled up in my absence and apparently there has been more than the regular share of Internet drama going on since I was last on, so.. -_- Blah. Well, I'm putting off dealing with it until tomorrow. Everything always looks better and is easier to deal with on a Friday, because Friday = <3333. Tonight, I am just tired. I am going to take a bath, practice my yoga, and go to bed. Maybe read some, but mainly, catch up on sleep.

So, that is where I'm headed. I shall return tomorrow.

Peace, and a good night's sleep to you too!

2 spread their wings and soared   //   space out and learn to fly

---