DEADlines

Yeah, so today was a rather interesting day. I was dead tired as usual due to my now not-so-uncommon habit of napping, but never sleeping, through the night. But I was surprised that I actually found myself awake enough during the night to finish terms for A.P. Biology and A.P. Government.

I mean, sure, I didn't study for the Bio test, but I got the written things done, right?

Luckily (or actually, not so luckily) for me though, I have a huge deadline on Saturday, so I was excused from all my classes so I could write my paper. (I know, I know.) I was originally going to go to Bio and bomb the test, but my advisor persuaded me to ask my teacher if I could take a make-up and he agreed.

So yes, after taking care of the homework and quiz in my Gov class, I was set, and best of all, I got to sit in an air conditioned room on the most humid day ever. But I suppose I can't celebrate yet. I don't even have my Materials and Methods section done yet (which means that I'm definitely not even half way through, plus I wrote the easy stuff first). Also, now I need to somehow find time to make up that test. Oh woe is me.

We won our matches today though 5-2, same as last time, except this time they didn't stack their lineup and my partner and I exacted our revenge. I believe the score was 4-6, 6-0 (yeah, I'm not too sure what happened there), and 7-6 (9-7). Yes, that's right. We went 9-7 into the tie breaker, and we were the deciding match.

Seriously though, it's obvious what they were trying to do. Second Singles, Third Singles, Fourth Singles, and First Doubles for a 4-3 win eh? Well that didn't work too well did it? Assholes.

If only all was well though. I'm more worried about our biggest rivals stacking than anything.

Plus, aside from tennis, the Art Honor Society's got a rat in it's ranks now, and I'm going to have to see what I can do about getting rid of its many pests.

Anyway, back to A.P. Calculus. Hooray for unnecessary trig functions.

Oh, but before I go, let me tell you about this nice little conversation I had at lunch...

"I hate life," said Brown man.

"I hate life too," I replied.

"Let's kill ourselves."

"Yay..."

Procrastinating, As Usual

Yeah, so despite the fact that I really shouldn't be blogging right now, life's been a bitch and I realized I hadn't updated in a while.

I am so overwhelmed. Or not even overwhelmed, but dead tired. Tennis really sucks the time out of my life and the life out of me. Not to mention that aside from the normal schoolwork (and very inconveniently scheduled exams) that accompanies four A.P. classes, I have an extra paper due at the end of the week, the deadline for which I absolutely cannot miss.

So you'd think that with all this schoolwork and extraneous events that I'd get my fat arse into gear and tackle things one by one.

But alas, here I am, blogging when I should be studying two different A.P. subjects, or at least making an effort to progress on things that are due soon.

Sigh... I suppose it makes sense though that the more work one has, the more he or she will procrastinate. Or at least that's what I decided. Actually, I really don't care at this point.

Good To Be Back

So today was slated to be the absolute worse day ever. Scheduled was a super-hard A.P. Calc test, then an appointment with my grad student at Stony Brook (the transportation for which I failed to follow through with by the way), then an Art Honor Society Meeting back at school (which conflicted slightly with my ISR meeting), and then finally I had to catch the bus to the [really tough] opposing school for tennis. (Plus, after all that, I wouldn't be home until 9 due to a college presentation at the Long Island Mariott in Uniondale).

So did I crash and burn? Surprisingly, no. In fact, even though my math teacher is still a horrible horrible person, the test wasn't as hard and obscure as she made it seem. Also, I did manage to secure transportation to Stony Brook, and my meeting went very well, so I should be well on my way to meeting that competition deadline.

But what was especially thrilling today though was my tennis match. See, lately, I've been playing quite terribly (to put it simply, I've been sucking a lot), and I wasn't able to figure out why. But this past week, I've been able to find out what was wrong.

Firstly, there's the fact that I need quite some time to warm up. The fact that I barely did so (and the fact that there was a horrid wind that day) cost my partner and me our first match of the season. But that's not all.

You see, a few nights ago, as I pondered about a college essay regarding my most meaningful activity, I realized as I considered tennis for a topic that lately I've been playing only for myself. Instead of playing for my partner, instead of playing for the team, I've been pretty selfish, and I've let meaningless things consume my thoughts.

So this time, I wasn't going to let that happen. We won yesterday, but today confirmed it. As we all struggled against our counterparts on the only other undefeated team, in our case, 4-6, splitting sets, 6-4, and going to a tiebreaker in the very last set, 7-6 (7-4), I remembered what it meant to play for the team. I remembered what drove me to undefeated and near-undefeated records when I was younger. I remembered what it meant to take risks, to play without worries, to play for fun. Tennis is fun, and I remembered.

So I played. So we played. Skimming the net, spinning down alleys, fast and hard the balls flew... and it felt wonderful. Slamming them down, hearing that sound - oh that glorious sound of a super strong smash! - brought nostalgia to my heart. And my heart beat and beat, and my blood pumped and pumped, pumped adrenaline to my head, and my head filled with adrenaline was filled with excitement, with memories, and with hope and the majestic idea of victory at last!

And it was just like old times again, those times when I played, when I really played, and the love and fun I felt back then. And as I turned away victorious, I smiled my long lost smile, my wonderful smile, and there was only one thought in my head.

It's good to be back.

Without Direction

"Me, My Friends, and A Lot of People I've Never Met."

Pretty interesting, if I do say so myself.

Actually, it's pretty accurate too.

Video copyright (c) David Gillette.

Ultimate Conclusion

Take up the Smart Man's burden --

"Sometimes I wonder if life would be easier if I were stupid," said Fat Man.

"Yeah, I definitely wonder that too," I replied. "But I feel like this is our burden, for being smart."

"I know, but why must there be a burden for having brains?" he retorted. "I mean, shouldn't stupid people have the burden? All they do is play sports, party, have fun, etc."

"Well, it's not fair that things come easily to us and not to others. So to make up for that, we have to aim for things that are hard to obtain."

Fat Man paused for a moment, then replied.

"I hate life."

Alas, the ultimate conclusion.

College Trip 2

Okay, so I'm back from my second trip to New England, which was pretty nice, though my expectations were exceeded and crushed many times along the way...

FERRY: Well, not a college (to my knowledge), but a leg of the trip nonetheless. I took the Ferry to Bridgeport, Connecticut to continue my trip from there. I ended up leaving the house too late though and by the time I got to Port Jefferson the 9:00 one (9:30 for the day due to some apparent problems) was already full. So I ended up having to wait until 10:30 to finally depart, and by this point, my mind was once again split over the idea of relaxing and the fact that I might not make the information session at 2 for Brown. Well, we got to Bridgeport around 11:45, and for your knowledge it takes a little over 2 hours to get to Providence.

BROWN: But hooray, we actually made it (well, just barely anyway). Actually, I think that if the GPS didn't take us to the wrong location, we might have made it there a bit earlier, but we made it nonetheless (maybe a minute or two late to be precise), and I was glad. An hour later, we went on a tour, and let me just say that it was very, very nice. Our tour guide was entertaining in an natural/unintentional sort of way too, so it was pretty fun. It definitely moved up on my list of most desired colleges, and this is definitely one college that met and exceeded my expectations.

BOSTON: Again, I'm not talking about colleges, but going to Boston gave me a chance to meet up with my cousin who I haven't seen in a couple of months (which is actually pretty good considering how not often we see each other). We had dinner at Uno's, but after the appetizer and some (what better have been) authentic New England Clam Chowder, I was full before the main course came.

TUFTS: So anyway, I visited Tufts the next morning, but I realized in the information session that it wasn't really what I was looking for so I skipped out on the tour. The campus and everyone on it seem pretty nice though, so if you're into International Relations I highly suggest you take a look at it.

BU: Well, next I went to Boston University, which met my expectations... period. In other words, it's got the opportunity, people, and convenience, but I'm not too sure how much I'd like having the city as my immediate campus. But I suppose that if I really had to (and chances are, I won't because my parents aren't too keen on paying for anything other than a SUNY or an Ivy), I could deal.

Boston itself was a bit disappointing though (not quite what I imagined as a quaint little "College Town"). The streets suck (navigating was hard enough with the GPS) and there seems to be construction everywhere so I'm not too sure how I feel about it. Oh, and after coming back home to New York, I can't help but say this (sorry, Bostonians, but...):

You call that a city? New York kicks Boston's butt any day.

Chance of Rain

Yeah, so Wednesday the 19th was supposed to be a really simple, easy day. It would be the day that I finished my "legitimate" classes after 10:30, and I was supposed to have only practice after school.

So since I desperately need to meet with my grad student to discuss my project, I scheduled a meeting with her during school that day. I said the earliest I could be there was 11, and that I had to leave by 2, though I could stay a little longer if I had to.

But no, apparently, my life's not allowed to work out so perfectly. See, it rained yesterday, the day of one of my tennis matches, so guess what? It got rescheduled for the next available date, which is - you guessed it! - Wednesday the 19th. Not only that, but it's away at the opposing school too, so there's absolutely no room for tardiness (and I'm wondering if getting back at 2:30 is already cutting it too close).

Oh, but that's not all! I get a confirmation via e-mail saying that our little meeting is now set in stone as long as nothing comes up. Now, this could be a good and bad thing, because I really did need to meet with her, though now I was locked in a very scripted schedule. However, the next real problem is that I got another e-mail, this time from the intern director at the lab I originally worked at, and she's telling me that there's a mandatory safety meeting all the interns need to attend. Oh, and you bet it's on Wednesday the 19th! Because what other date could possibly be better than that?

Yes, so I checked the weather, and there's a very, very slim chance of rain. I can handle the meeting, that's no problem, but what consequences lie ahead for choosing a moment of glory over a somewhat long-term commitment I have no idea. Of course, the decision I'm making isn't the selfish one as I am doing it because we actually have a shot of winning League Champs this year and I know the team depends on me. However, I can't help but wonder how this will impact my future at the lab, and as of this moment I'm rather hesitant to find out.

Ha... and I'm already missing the mandatory intern meeting on Friday. Oh, woe is me.