april-june 2024
2 april
break ended yesterday. site got a big fat update, as you can see. my grandparents visited!! we went to a few art museums and a bunch of walks together. we also ate out a lot, which was strange but nice. i wish i had been more productive in practicing piano and prepping for the ap test, though. first day back at school was wild. in homeroom we checked our chromebooks' compatibility with the psat testing software (psat is in a few weeks). in ap world our teacher straight up dipped without telling anyone. this is a month before the exam. so now we have a permanent sub who's honestly better at the job than she was (with like a day's worth of prep time). i'm now studying my ass off to prep. in piano we're doing a duet of the addam's family theme yayyy! and in bio we're doing the city-mandate service learning project. oh joy. i hope i fucking pass the ap exam good grief.13 april
most important thing first... homestucks, happy 4/13!!! okay, now for the superfluous stuff you don't care about: 1. i went to the final city math competition of the season and my school's [grade that i'm in] team got first for the entire season!!! all the seniors are gonna leave in like two months which really bums me out :/ (but one of our seniors got the "highest score of all 4 years" award (not the actual name) which rocks. jl i hope you continue to slay w/math in university.). 2. after that i went to see the school production of Failure: A Love Story which ruled. fun stuff all around15 may
oh my gawdddd ap world is finally over!!! that exam was alarmingly easy... like i feel that collegeboard is going to make some sort of atrocious curve. but it's fiiine it's chilllll it's coooool. i thought i did pretty well on pretty much every part. let's just hope that the readers for the leq conveniently ignore that the kievan rus did not convert to orthodox christianity in the time period 1200-1750. oh also i participated in a performance piece for my dojo's annual fundraiser, so yet another anathema-v slay right there. wish i could show you guys but like being faceless ty very much. in piano class at school i started learning gymnopedie no 1 as my final, which is pretty fun but the chords are kinda frustrating sometimes. geometry is fun as usual, everything else isn't worth mentioning. see ya.31 may
finals week is done yippee! i think i managed to get a high A in all of my classes (grades are finalized for everything except bio). the couple weeks between this entry and the last were pretty chill. we were really only cramming curriculum in bio and geometry, and half the bio stuff she didn't even grade. in gym we pretty much have had free time — i played frisbee with my friends. okay now i'm gonna list out what happened in each final (#=period):- english - we worked on a one-pager about a twelfth night character for a couple periods before the final, and then we watched "She's the Man" during the actual final period.
- spanish - scantron. easy as hell.
- ap world - finishing up the mandatory "financial literacy" course. also easy as hell.
- lunch - ate school breakfast and watched part of "Spirited Away" with my friends.
- gym - did the pacer push-ups and sit-ups and ran the mile (11:04). then, waited around in the bleachers and got my yearbook signed by friends <3< /li>
- piano - played gymnopedie #1 and did a music theory scantron. pretty chill.
- biology - kind of like a normal class period except the easy assignments we did are getting put in as tests? idk i hope i did good.
- geometry - normal pencil and paper test. intensely fun :)
25 june
so i've been off of here for a week because i was visiting my grandparents in rural-east-coast-town-with-horrible-internet. i had a good time considering the circumstances — it was extremely hot (90F) in their circa 1850s house with no ac, and my mom got mysteriously sick and had to go to the er because of pain (but she's okayish now, but i'm worried about the cost of out-of-state healthcare &c). i spent a lot of time at the library because they had ac, and when it was closed i played pyramid solitaire in my grandparents' living room. it was nice seeing my extended family and eating good fresh produce. and the plane ride there and back wasn't too bad! now that i'm back, i will probably start working on putting all the kinodaily pages in. and also doing the math summer packet that my teacher posted a full couple weeks after school ended.july-september 2024
7 july
i start my job as a camp counselor tomorrow woohoo! there's been a bit of a covid scare at my place of employment, but hopefully it's over now. i'm very glad to still be masking in 2024. a few days ago i finally (hopefully) put an end to my chronic styes and chalazions with a surgery. it was painful but also interesting, like most medical procedures i've had (which isn't many). i've really just hung around the house and browsed the web for the past few weeks, so working will probably be good for me. and also i would like the money haha. also, ap scores come out tomorrow. i hope i did well (will update you on it.) [update: i got a 5!]3 august
hiiii everyone i survived camp!! the whole month was super exhausting but super great... i had a good time w/ my coworkers and i made absolute bank. some mildy crazy things did go down—typical playground drama, random lady called me a bitch in front of the kids—but we successfully avoided having a thunderstorm on our waterpark field trip yayyyy! i spent the last couple days of camp trying to figure out if my coworker likes me,,, it's still a mystery but i can hope. i also got a bit of volunteer work at the local historical society, so we'll see how that goes. anddd i found out that maschina records remastered 45 by кино, which is literally one of my fave albums. so glad i get to listen to that now. also so glad that i won't have to wake up at six for the next few weeks (ahhh why is it only a few weeks?!?!?!!!). see ya on the flipside (probs first day of school).28 august
okay okay it's been a hot second since i've talked on here. my dad had his birthday in mid-august, and he went out of town for a camping trip alone. i gotta say, it's really nice just having me and my mom around the house. school started this monday, which kinda sucks, but i do get to see my friends again. most of my teachers are fine, but i got last year's stress-inducing bio teacher this year for chem :( . also, i think i might kill my us history teacher with psychic negative energy or something (please please please stop yelling at 8am!). my english teacher is so chill, so i'm glad i have her as my daily class (my school has a block schedule for some periods. i don't wanna explain it too much okay.). ap csp is also chill. spanish is a little crazy but in a good way—we had girl scout cookies as part of our lesson on the subjunctive ("es bonito que señor nos den las galletas!"). this year they put me in the honors honors big brain algebra ii/trig class (not the actual name lmao), which makes me a little nervy, esp around all the crazy smart eight graders and freshmen from the jr high program, but i'll try my best and hope for the best! it's been really fun so far!! oh and driver's ed is super boring i honestly wish we could do normal gym. cya <3.21 september
happy equinox everyone. sophmore year is kind of unbearable—it seems like i'm having at least one quiz/test per week in all of my class. also i actually have a history teacher who makes us do stuff, so i spend hours and hours taking notes on jamestown and shit. he also likes to shout, which freaks me the fuck out, especially at like 8am. maybe i should've taken apush. like last year, my single ap class this year (csp) is easy asf; my teacher is so incredibly chill that i'm constantly bored and distracted when she's talking. i really hope we get to javascript soon. algebra ii is super fun ngl; the only homework i enjoy doing is math. we do have a quiz like every friday which is kinda crazy, but i think i'm managing it okay. i love love love my english teacher for real. like two weeks ago she got injured while riding an electric scooter, so she was out for a week, and we just had a bunch of questions about gatsby (i love this book btw) to answer online. but when she's actually in the classroom i feel like i'm able to understand themes and metaphors and stuff better. idk i just like a good story and a good discussion. chem is fine i guess (i guess :/ ). my spanish teacher is becoming increasingly deranged but that's okay. that's just what happens when you teach public school in your fifties.a few weeks ago, i also got invited to my dojo's shodan test this october!!!! i am so incredibly hyped, but there's also so much to do: write my essay, fill out these forms for honbu, and resew the patches on my gi (they are falling off because i'm a terrible seamstress). i spent some of today trying to write my essay in the lobby of the dojo between adult colorbelt class and the kids' colorbelt test. that test was crazyyyy btw. 23 kids 4-5 assistants but it went surprisingly well. there's like a ton of green belts, which is super fun bc i love the green belt material but i have no idea how to teach it.
hoco is next week; i'll tell you guys how that goes. it'll be my first because i got covid infreshman year. uhh yeah ttyl.
october-december 2024
26 october
okay, so a lot has happened in the past month. hoco was fun; i learned about my friend's romantic issues (idk why she wants him of all people, but i'll support her...). chemistry is stressful but fun, as is trig bc. my us history grade has greatly improved (101.99% baby!). i think my teacher in that class likes me/thinks i'm smart. this wednesday, the 23rd, i had this english paper due. we were assigned to write about the great gatsby and a topic we could talk forever about. i chose to compare gatsby to moro from the needle (1988). it is not very good imo, but i hope my teacher grades forgivingly. honestly this entire past week has been super stressful because it is the end of the first quarter. i had one test tuesday, three wednesday, three-ish thursday, and two friday. delightful. i think i did alright though—some grades have already been posted.to cap off all this, i had my adult shodan test today (saturday)!!! i did perfectly fine in the basics section. then the self-defense section came around, i got hit in the nose in this drill involving a baton, and everything went downhill. i cried/was on the verge of tears for a good chunk of time after that. part of it was me freaking out over having stuff coming out of my nose and not knowing if it was blood or snot from crying (i was wearing a kn95). then tameshiwari came around; i broke 0/3 boards and fucked up my wrist. more being on the verge of tears. i'd like to thank two senseis in particular for looking out for me. don't get me wrong, a lot of the drills were fun (eg: using joint locks to bring people to the ground), but they required too much thinking, and once i had to think, my thoughts drifted to how i had been crying, and i started tearing up again. i gave the worst essay speech of all time, but that's okay. my essay itself was pretty good; perhaps i'll post it here w/ names redacted. the saving grace of that test was the kata section. the first kata we did was sanchin, which immediately restabilized my breating rhythm. kata is just generally my forté, and i was finally able to turn my brain off and stop being so weepy. after that/finally, was sparring, which was fun and challenging. then we got awarded our kari shodan belts and everyone watching/running/helping with the test circled up with us and discussed the test and the future. i had 3/4 of two different cookies, gathered all my congrats letters (god i love hearing nice things about myself), and went home. yayyy i'm no longer a junior shodan!
2 november
spent money on manga for the first time today (hgsn #1). god i really am a weeb.3 november
went clothes shopping. was miserable except that the cashier undercharged me.4 november
uploaded (almost) my entire music collection to ibroadcast. hopefully this means i can listen to my yanka deepcuts at school w/o worrying about yt blocks etc.6 november
lots of election talk in us history class today7 november
stayed too late at the dojo bc our meditation class revolved around the election, and everyone had things to say about that. and i left early too!19 november
had a terribly long commute to school. felt bad at math team. learned ooyos + a bit of saein chin20 november
the bus i usually take didn't come, so i ended up getting the other one that goes vaguely close to my home and walking a mile in the cold.21 november
first snow + first time i pull out my winter jacket in this half of the year.22 november
yb deadline night. had a fun time w/ my friend, but when she left, other people started being weird to me for choosing to respect social boundaries and sit alone instead of w/ strangers. ugh.25 november
no school day camp at the dojo. had the really little in my class. found out one family of kids are quitting by the end of the month. hope others will stay…26 november
dr appt. lost 5 lbs (111 -> 105). yay?28 november
thanksgiving. very chill dinner — lasagna for the parents, spaghetti+tomato sauce for me, and salad (grapefruit+avocado) for all. desert was cranberry-apple crisp, very tasty! i have this zit next to the corner of my mouth, almost on my lip, and it's driving me insane.30 november
my cat lost one of his canine teeth while i was at the dojo?? hope it's nothing too serious. he seems fine.1 december
made and decorated sugar cookies w/ my best friend. got absolutely sick from eating too many. she made a snowman out of two that stuck together, which was quite clever. rn i'm listening to this fantastic kvartirnik recording of tsoi and rybin at olga maksutova's. i don't want to go back to school!!!2 december
my english and chemistry teachers were out today. light work.3 december
skipped math team to do hw at the library. got on the train too late and had to sprint to the dojo. was not late for class, barely! learned adv sd 6 and 7. so scared about trigbc and chem rn.6 december
we had a quiz in hush that i straight up didn't know about, so i cheated a bunch of the answers off of the guy i sit next to. basketball in gym today was surprisingly fun. felt bad for this guy who had to sit out bc of his broken finger. think i did good (fingers crossed) on the trigbc quiz.8 december
decided and then undecided to get the sims 4. now i have an old version of qbitorrent sitting around on my computer bc the latest versions aren't compatable lmao.10 december
this girl i'm kinda friends with messed up her knee somehow in gym just by walking around. i seriously hope she's okay.13 december
said girl was in gym today, but she didn't do anything bc crutches. i am utterly terrible at basketball. i miss her. had standards part 2 in trigbc. went to hmart to do hw and kill time until the school guitar show. cheap thai tea and peanut bread is good. left too late (forgot it was at 5, not 6) and missed the first 10 mins. still good & didn't miss femmes yay! femmes, blues combo, and top group were the only good ones imo. thought the concert would be longer than it was, so i had to wait 30 mins for dad to pick me up. had a nopales torta for dinner. did math hw until 10:30 for some reason. dojo holiday party tomorrow. good night.14 december
dojo holiday party! i was there all day for kids' class assisting and training and such. the little kids had a weird vibe in the morning—these twins kept somersaulting, and this kid who is typically quiet and inactive was more outgoing but also not participating. skipped sparring to do math hw. planned on chem studying but didn't get to it. set up everything and decorated the floor. played a memory board game w/ some folks until people started showing up. mom brought the red pepper dip i made + the best batch of foccacia she's ever made. the party food was very tasty: samosas, shuseki shihan's salads, jalapeno cornbread, dulce de leche snickerdoodles, concha, cannoli, alfajores, etc etc. there was a surprising number of little kids there, and not too many teens. my good friend was with me, but she ended up in a little trio w/some other people our age, which i doubt i would've been accepted into. it was pretty fun though!18 december
last early dismissal day of 2024! we had waffles in us history (i had a barn-shaped one). i was scared for the quiz in spanish, but it turned out it was just a scantron. we also had a quiz in trigbc, but our teacher wasn't actually in school to teach us the material on tuesday. it's just systems, which i can figure out on my own/with the internet, but still… in gym i scraped my knee a bit, and it stung when i showered in hot water. after school i went to hmart to get tea for friday's advisory potluck. got a ton of work done at home.19 december
had the worst youth karate class i've ever experienced. argued w/ dad on the way home bc he doesn't understand that you still have to respect me, even if i'm a hysterical bitch who can't take a joke. felt like shit and couldn't study for the constitution test.20 december
last day of school before break! had very little for breakfast. took constitution test and passed (78/80). had fun in our advisory brunch party. english and math were chill. i sillied so hard on wednesday's quiz, but i honestly did better than i expected. did alright in the counting standards too! one of my math tablemates and i had a nice conversation where we collaborated on reviewing our mistakes on that standard. gym was pretty lonely. i wish i didn't ruin my friendship with *name*, if what we had can even be called friendship. also i jammed my finger in that class :(21 december
while waiting for the train, i saw this guy share a vape with his teenage daughter... *karate friend* got more dental work done, so she couldn't eat pretty much anything. mom made me a black bean burger for dinner, and she put it on foccacia which was really good. my finger is kinda swollen.23 december
went to math team practice and had a surprisingly good time doing ictms. also learned how to use virtualbox. i can run ubuntu now, but very very laggily. debating if i should switch os. probs not.24 december
made a rutracker account and torrented disco elysium. it took forever, but i am very excited to play it. went on a walk w/ mom. tried to do hush notes, but got distracted by crosswords. our oven is messed up now i think, so mom and i ate roasted-ish vegetables for dinner (dad had a burger)—kinda miserable!25 december
hannu-mas. i got a comforter from mom and two gift cards (local bookstore and thrift store) from dad. played a shit ton of disco elysium. had latkes for dinner; nothing special for dessert. dad's sick.26 december
shuseki shihan's last thursday night classes. took her bb class for the first time. sweat a lot more than i have in a while (good). first part was a bunch of hard block and counter partnerwork; then kata/combos from kata. one of my senseis looks so cool (yet vulnerable in a way) w her glasses off doing kanku. then we (by we i mean those over 21) toasted shuseki shihan. went home. dad's still sick.27 december
dad's still sick. played more de. took the bus+train w mom to this black belt dinner at the anatolian restaurant next to the dojo. was very fun; i mostly just eavesdropped but that's what i like to do. my mom talked with one of her senpai friends a bunch, and we heard her very funny story about swallowing her dog's pills. the shihans originally sat by us, but the organizer senpai got them to sit in the middlemost of our tables instead.previously mentioned sensei sat next to me for part of the time! it was a really nice time, even though i was the youngest and most friendless one there.