Team Butterfly!

We didn't make it to quarter-finals, but whatever. We could have completely owned Foothill cuz the lady before us gave us the wrong round questions, but we were honest, nice people. =P It was fun though. Some insanely crazy questions, some super easy ones. All in all, not much different from other years - I feel like I knew more this year and participated more though.

Played Risk at Tommy's afterward. I swear, that game makes enemies in real life. It's SO intense and crazy...

I have SO much crap to do... Gov/psych notes, APES/econ homework. MUN prep and Mock Trial meeting tomorrow, and a lit essay. Not to mention that Presidential Scholars application, MIT "appeal," and setting up a USC interview for the scholarship. And a Yale interview this Friday.

Sweet Dreams!

Such a Busy Kid

I'm so busy even I'm wondering how I manage everything. I'm busier than when I worked at Kumon AND tutored! Sheesh. Crazy. Too many extracurriculars. But I love them all, so there's no chance I'm stopping any of them unless absolutely necessary (which it won't ever be). =]

The Eighth Deadly Sin

Definitely procrastination. Oh my dear god, do I feel screwed for lit right now. My book has too many characters with weak development for each (Dickens, you have failed me!) as of now, but I can't change it now. At least it's semi-interesting. But -sighs- I'll have fun with this profile and essay...

It's pretty hard times reading Hard Times...

Happy Year of the Dragon! 新年快樂!

Best Post-Finals Weekend

Busy busy Mock Trial scrimmage... It was super fun though. Ah, I love our witnesses. Tony was absolutely amazing today, I was so proud of him!

~ "The only conclusion that can be drawn from the fact that these fibers were blue is that these fibers were indeed blue, and not red."
~ "You are very cogent at making observations."

James was actually really good at being AG as well - I was pleasantly surprised.

~ "I mean, our food was gone!... The bar was for drinks, we needed FOOD... Yeah, but the FOOD!"
~ "I believe these next few questions can be answered with a simple yes or no, please." "We'll see."

I had fun with my opening - crosses were pretty good too. Got flustered a few times, but I guess I just need to practice objections.

Marnie has a few almost-misspoken things that would have been super hilarious. Good thing she corrected herself in time for them though. She would have been about to say...

~ "We ask that you not find Ryan guilty."
~ "...Mecca burdered..."

*****
Went to Safeway for lunch, got sushi, deviled egg potato salad, and Brisk iced tea. Yummy. =]

*****
Overall, a really awesome weekend. Definitely the best post-finals weekend I've had. Back to school time on Tuesday, but I might hang out with some people tomorrow. Still have quite a few college interviews to go though... =[

"Real Athletes Wear Suits"

Instead of those stupid hole-punched plastic wristbrands, we got Livestrong-style ones that say "Real Athletes Wear Suits." They're pretty awesome.

The invitational is SO much fun, like seriously. Part of it's being a second semester senior, but we have the weirdest conversations and random occurrences, it's awesome. Even our trials are funny - "we ask that you not find Ryan guilty," "I mean, that was for drinks, but our FOOD!", etc.

But three trials in one day is overkill. All through the third trial, I kept spacing out, and randomly being jealous of prosecution, because they had a bye. Ughhh. But it's okay, we won in 2/3 and should have won in the other one. -shrugs-

There were some weird as hell objections... "QuickDry" is hearsay! She told the detective in the witness statement!

They had yummy lunch/dinner. HUGE sandwiches and spaghetti. The dance was awkward, but Ashton got his groove on with a girl from one of our trials. It was... interesting. I stood awkwardly/semi-danced at the edge with other Cal people. xD

Two more trials tomorrow. -sighs- Whatever, we got this! -yawns- Sleep time!

GOT ALL As IN MY CLASSES!

Well, A- in calculus, but I was SO scared that I was getting a B. I'm legitimately SO relieved and happy now. Time to enjoy a weekend in Carmel with the Mock Trial family! (And my independent reading book...)

Dyscalculus

It's like dyscalculia, but specific to calculus.

Playing with Fire

"I love you without knowing how or when, or from where. I love you because I know no other way."

Finals!

Done with one day! =P Econ went decently, kept my A, so I'm happy. Lit was sort of painful, but I think I did alright. (Edit - Got a 96%, woo! =])

Tomorrow's going to be relatively chill. Gov shouldn't be too hard, and neither should APES. My grades in those classes are high enough that I don't have to worry that much.

I can legitimately get an F in psych and keep an A. Not even an A-, an A. But I need to study for calc. -sighs- Calc makes me sad...

-jealous-

This is freaking amazing. I wish I could beatbox and play flute at the same time! It might help if I knew how to do one at a time, but you know. xD

WE GOT A CAT!

First in NorCal RFSM! =]

Breakfast was pretty awkward for the first half - Hsiang and I were just sort of sitting at a huge table by ourselves because no one else went. xD Then Justin/Bradley/Chris/Komei/Kevin and all their other friends from Carlmont just came over and flooded the table. It was sort of funny actually, but also much less awkward once they got there. =P

Went to listen to awards after, just in time to hear Tiffany get called as a finalist for FMS and win first! =] She got 2nd places in the exam and a roleplay, and 3rd in the second roleplay.

*****
I got called up for RFSM - ended up winning first in my event! =] First in the exam and a roleplay, and 2nd in the second roleplay. It was really surprising for the exam (I think my jaw dropped a bit), because I whizzed through that and didn't understand anything that wasn't common sense. xD It was also sort of embarrassing getting all those medals - nice, but at the same time, this is only my second year/competition...

They called me up for 3rd in a roleplay by accident - I was on the podium with the medal when they said they made a mistake, and I actually ended up getting second. No complaints there. xD I'm sort of glad I got at least one second place though - I mean, all firsts would have been nice, but I would have felt bad...

When they got to announcing overall winners, Timothy got third, and when they got to first, he just turned around and gestured for me to step up before they even announced the winner. Understandable, since I placed in all three subscores with two first places, but it was a nice thought. =]

TONS of people cheered for me, for the simple fact that I wasn't from Monta Vista, and because I either beat them or screwed up their chance to sweep RFSM. It was sort of amusing because the cheers got progressively louder as I stepped up to the risers each time. xP

*****
Went to go talk to peeps from 221 after we finished listening to awards - no card games this time, but it's nice to have friends when your chapter ditches you. xD

Chris apparently went to COSMOS too - such a small world. =] And he was in Leesaw's cluster! Sort of amazed I never met him, though looking back, I didn't meet a ton of people...

*****
Overall, NorCal was definitely an awesome experience. We're going to see if we can bypass the three-month requirement for fiel-trip request filing, and go to the state conference, since the first three places in any event move on and are sort of obligated to attend state.

Highlights of Today

~ Best (worst) continental breakfast ever
~ Two super short, spiffy roleplays
~ Prank calling room 221 - Carlmont peeps
~ Egyptian War in the 2nd floor hallway with the same Carlmont peeps
~ Watching football in the hotel room
~ Winning Round 1 of Quiz Bowl (Granada didn't show up, but whatever)
~ 4-19 against Foothill (considering our expertise and preparation...)
~ Fail order-taking at Applebee's
~ Crazy, hyper, controlling dude in the games room
~ DECA dance - awkward guys/dancing/etc.

DECA NorCal

Not so much about the competition and roleplays as it is about epic games of Egyptian War in the hallways with people you barely know. =P

College Interviews

Like submitting college applications, this has become a fact of life. It no longer makes me super nervous. Nervous, yes, and a little anxious, but not disruptively so. Princeton went pretty well today - all of these interviewers are super nice! =]

Current Food Obsession: Maple Doughnuts

Position Papers

In the time that I wrote my topic description, Brian finished his whole paper. xD Ah well... This is a lot harder than I had previously imagined...

At least I have a pretty solid topic description! (In my opinion.) Two and a half pages of research. =P The research isn't the hard part, it's the solutions and stuff... -sighs-

I love my uncle...

Uncle - Are you talking to Ross?
Me - Yes.
Uncle - Why?
Me - Why not?
Uncle - He should be sleeping. He should sleep earlier and wake up so that he can have a bright future. And so his parents will be proud of him. If he sleeps too late, his future will not be happy and his parents will be sad.

Me - Hey, I'm stacking your coins for you.
Uncle - Okay, I hope you grow tomorrow.
Me - ...What?

Uncle - Have you ever seen those planes? What are they called? Those big planes in the movies! With big, round microwaves on top of them!

Robotics!

Rebound Rumble! This should be interesting. At least we have lots of ideas, even if not all of them are feasible... Ah well. Can't wait to start prototyping/building! I still need to learn some electrical stuff, but I'll be helping with mechanics/design too. =]

I also love how I got to the meeting today, and Matt was like, "Hey, it's the only girl on robotics!" Just found it funny. xD Ah well, I contribute stuff. Sometimes. Good enough. xD

I also got my Harvard interview call today. I was at a meeting with my phone in my pocket, and I didn't realize I had picked it up, so I don't know how long I left her waiting. I should apologize for that later... =\ It's scheduled for tomorrow though - ahhh nervous! Wish me luck!

Winter Photo Shoot =]

One of many photos from the winter photo shoot! I liked too many of them to pick one for my profile pic, so I just went with the one in which my face was the biggest... -sighs - I should just cycle through them, but that's so troublesome!

Just waiting for the spring photo shoot later now! xP

Skills.

Looking for Earthgrazers!

Yes, I woke up/stayed up until 3 to look for these. And I went outside. And froze. And craned my neck. But I saw a few (sadly, I didn't take this photo)! They were pretty obvious and lasted remarkably long (a few seconds). If only I didn't have school tomorrow, I would set up a tent and camp outside. Insanely pretty... Well, I'm happy and tired, so I'm off to bed.

The Most Epic Dream Ever

A war was raging of epic proportions, much like the battle of Middle Earth. Courtney, Clarie, Ross, Simion, and I were leaders of our “army,” though it was more like a highly skilled force of fighters. We had the most experience in battle and were the best strategists. Each of us had special equipment – I had an elf-crafted sword light as a feather that would always return to me, and Clarie a shield which would block any blow as long as she held it. There were other characters as well, among them Will Carson, who had a pitchfork/battle axe and shield, Hsiang and his sister Chi, who could both control the element of water, and a girl named Selina, our scout, who had eidetic and photographic memory.

My dream began before the war reached our village, though we knew of it. We were having our annual sparring contest, which concluded with Hsiang and Chi sending waves of water into the air over the audience. We were then attacked by a rogue band of men, who took us by surprise, and whom we were only able to defeat through the quick-thinking and efforts of Hsiang and Chi. At this point, only Courtney, Clarie, Ross, Simion, Hsiang, Chi, and I were a part of the force that set out to claim other cities.

We journeyed to a neighboring city with which we had had an alliance to find it deserted and overrun with weeds. We split into two groups – Clarie/Hsiang/me and Courtney/Ross/Simion/ Chi – in an attempt to find any survivors or stragglers. My group was walking up stone-cut stairs in a hill when the stairs suddenly turned into an escalator, putting us all on guard. We stepped to the side of the stairs just in time for them to stop moving and form a smooth slide off a cliff and to the bottom of the hill, some 100 feet below. This pattern continued to cycle, so we made it to the top by alternating walking on the stairs and on the sides of the stairs. Hsiang and Clarie made it to the top before me, and as I almost caught up, a rock thrown from some far place tripped my foot. Hsiang was able to help me to the top while Clarie protected us with her shield.

We journeyed on, not finding any people, but we found a tome which contained a list of all the conquered cities and the leaders of those armies, as well as which were essential to the opponent’s cause. We marked the ones which we could manage, and kept the list with us. We then met with the other group – Hsiang and Chi, being siblings, could sense the other’s whereabouts – to find that they had found a group of six refugees, among them Will and Selina, all sympathetic to our quest.

We then set off for Cylia, the closest city that we could manage that was also a stronghold. Along the way, we visited deserted towns and the depths of the wilderness, until we amassed a force of about a hundred strong, all excellent fighters. We also stumbled upon an ancient temple, where we found more weapons and a magical crown, which we placed under Simion’s care. When we were about two days off from Cylia, we saw a guard from a nearby city, Ismirth, which just so happened to be one of the strongest cities against us. Their dwellings were enchanted – however, their army and leaders couldn’t step outside of the fortress. Only three people, guards or scouts usually, could venture out each day. However, through these guards, their queen could see everything, and they were insanely strong.

We commanded everyone in our force to flee – they were able to get away safely with the help of Courtney, who had the ability to shield people from view for periods of time. After this, our force was composed of Clarie, Ross, Simion, Hsiang, Chi, Will, Selina, and me. The guard discovered us and easily overwhelmed us with the power of his enchanted city behind him. We woke up in a cage, so magically protected that they had left us with our weapons. We believed it was over until Robyn appeared – she had refused to leave with the rest of the force. She was able to break us out of the jail somehow, handed me a spear, and told us about an escape route. She had even found us steeds, two white, and the rest roan. As we were about to exit the city, the entire army, led by the queen, appeared behind us – we rode as fast as we could, and in retaliation, I launched a spear towards the queen. We made it out of the city and remained wary of the guards which might be outside. Turning back, I was amazed to see that my spear had actually struck the queen, and that her army was collapsing behind her. Robyn informed me that the spear was enchanted – it would never miss, and would kill anyone with a mind linked to the one struck.

We then journeyed to “The Lake,” where we met the Guardian. She was a supporter of our cause, unable to be executed because only she could control The Lake, which was central in the land. She further equipped us, and assigned us boats. Selina chose to stay in this area, to further recruit members. She hoped to find our army, led by Courtney, and launch attacks on the cities which we had formerly bypassed. As we were about to leave, the Black Wasps, an extremely elite fighting force thought only to exist in myths, appeared. They had four members, among them Eric Tu and Daniel Cheng, and were dressed in what looked like black soccer uniforms. They asked to join our numbers, as they had heard of our seemingly impossible triumph at Ismirth, and all together, we set off to the next city.

I Want a Monkey!

Really Time, Really?

I woke up at 10:30 and thought it was too early... Next thing I know, it's 4:00. What the hell happened? o.o

Getting my sleep schedule back on track might be harder than I thought...

Happy 2012!

New Year's Eve = Eating at Cheesecake Factory + watching Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Which I'm sure is great if you've read the book, but is utterly confusing if you haven't. So a goal for 2012 = read the book! xD

Some resolutions? I never like making them - they're way too hyped. Why can't I make February resolutions? Or ones of July? But since I've been meaning to do it anyways, get my sleep schedule back on track!

Anyways, lots of new excitement in 2012! I'm graduating in June, going on vacation during the summer, entering college... Not to mention the world is going to end. =P In any case, I'm going to go get some sleep, maybe I'll have an interesting first dream of 2012!