School Bothers a Petty Dork

I've gone back to school. At first it was not fine but then it gradually started getting better.
It's still not fabulous (which is a word I say now because I am Sharpay Evans?). I'd still prefer the aimless, content free-will of summer to the "I would rather lick a goat than stay here any longer but I can't just leave, can I?" structure of school.
Admittedly, some parts of school are are nice. But those parts are just the luck of my schedule, or me deluding myself into thinking school's okay so I don't explode from disdain.
After ensconcing myself into a summer-bubble of watching movies until four in the morning and spending time only with the friends I want to spend time with and forgetting that yes, I am socially awkward and no, not everyone in the world actually cares about fonts, coming back to school is a rude awakening.
A two-burst rude awakening.

1. We had to do a project that was all about us. (Because I'm not in high school or anything-- I'm six flipping years old.) This project was basically a bunch of basic questions (What is your favorite subject in school? What is your favorite snack?) that we had to answer on a poster.
One of the questions was What is your favorite band?
There was an athletic, generally popular girl who presented. We reached the music portion of her presentation.
"Um, well, I don't listen to a lot of music but I guess I like Nickelback."
I know my eyes bugged. I think my jaw might have even lowered a few centimeters.
Nickelback is one of the worst bands in the entire world. I have tried to listen to Nickelback objectively, but I seriously cannot force myself to like it. I have never met a single person in my life who said they liked Nickelback--who even said they guessed they liked Nickelback--and I didn't think I ever would.
Some things that are simply unacceptable not okay what are you doing stop stop STOP in my mind may not set off any alarms in anyone else's brain. See what I learn in school?
(But seriously. Nickelback? All of the bands in all of the world and you "guess you like Nickelback"?)

2. I like to type things, and fonts are one of my many geeky joys. I am very particular about the style of font I use with respect to the subject of the document, and I judge people based on the kind of font they use. (Also, I have an unfulfilled life and my one true friend is a sock puppet named Joe Bob.)
Now.
Teachers.
Is it okay to use Papyrus, Comic Sans, or Impact in the year 2011?
NO.
Is it bad that my AP Euro class combines the nauseating glory of all of these fonts in one fabulously horrendous homework packet?
You betcha.
Why is it okay? Who likes looking at these fonts? They're incredibly displeasing.

These two facts were incredibly important in my mind--everyone hates Nickelback and Comic Sans--but apparently not everyone knows this.

To summarize: I'm back to school and angsty about little things already. It's going to be a long, long school year.

Quote for Thursday, September 1, 2011:

I feel akin to the Platypus. An orphan in a family. A swimmer, a recluse. Part bird, part fish, part lizard.

--Trevor Dunn

At Home By Myself

for the first time in a long time.

It's storming outside. I'm listening to Rosianna's videos, because her voice is like the auditory equivalent of liquid sapphire, and she's so smart it makes me feel like I'm someone smart, too.

I'm looking for my copy of Frankenstein, because I need to find it for school tomorrow.

School tomorrow.

School tomorrow.

My locker combination is written on my hand. My room's a mess of loose leaf and pens and back to school clothes, all of which shall have to be utilized tomorrow.

This can't be happening now.

(Lack of Title Skillz)

Apparently staring at an inbox devoid of Pottermore emails does not make them show up any faster.

Also, asking Pottermore why it doesn't love you makes you socially abnormal.

These are things I learned today.

It's utterly gorgeous outside, and I am looking wistfully into the last vestiges of summer because my school starts up on Wednesday morning.

This was a good summer, really. It treated me well, and I am not ready for it to be over. My coping mechanism, as school inches closer, is insane denial and not packing up my school stuff because I believe that will fix something. Like maybe school won't start until I'm fully prepared.

That is a crazy idea, but one that I wish would come true.

This is another thing I learned today.

Some of the media I've absorbed recently:
--The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty. It is 400-some pages long and I finished it the day I got it. It is really super good and I plan on reading everything Jaclyn Moriarty has written ever.
--K cajoled me into seeing Rise of the Planet of the Apes with him and my dad yesterday, and... and....
Um.
It was honestly the most horrifying thing I've ever seen in my life.
Not horrifyingly bad, mind you, it was actually fantastic and well-made and I liked watching it, but the way the story ran was terrifying, with the apes taking over and the Golden Gate Bridge and the ALZ-113...
I suggest you watch it, but I think I am done with the Planet of the Apes movies after that one. Oh.
--Primary Faction, which is the prequel to a television-show-hopeful called Chronicles of Syntax. I first read about it here, where it is explained thoroughly. There are twelve episodes of Primary Faction, and the first one is up here, in playlist form. I tried listening to it without bias (the bias being the fact that Liam Dryden is in it and is to be a main character), and it is excellent. I hope it does get picked up as a TV show, and that I can find a way to watch this show from America.
--Sketches from Catherine Tate (a former companion on Doctor Who), which are hilarious, like this one.

Quote for Sunday, August 21, 2011:

"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment."

-Mr. Darcy

(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice)

Muse for Today:

Should people be allowed to choose the way they die?

Time Travel 5

I think a lot about time travel.

Not only if it would ever be actually possible by people that aren't Time Lords/wizards/Doc Brown, but what would we do? What would be the limitations?

Where and when would we go? (We meaning me, and anyone who would use the time machine for harmless but irresponsible fun things)

Naturally, I made a list, as I am wont to do in situations, and I had 10 places/times at first, but I have boiled it down to an essential five.

Here we go.

1. August 15, 1965 at Shea Stadium, which the Beatles played on their second US concert tour. I think it would have been nice to see the Beatles when they were touring/together/alive together, and this concert just seems fabulous. Come on. Look at this and tell me it was a bad concert. Also, my sport-minded brother tells me that Shea Stadium was destroyed a few years ago, so I will also have the  advantage of going to a stadium that doesn't exist anymore and that I know nothing about.
2. The Chicago World's Fair in April 1893, for the primary reasons that I love Chicago very, very much and that they introduced the Ferris Wheel and spray paint at that fair. And it's a fair! In Chicago!
3. Times Square in New York City on December 31, 1999. While I was alive for the new millennium, I was incredibly small and I wish I had remembered something of it, because there are overwhelming odds that I will never see another millennium again. I will also enjoy it more than anyone else alive, because I will be the only person there who knows for sure that Y2K is not true. Unless there are other time travellers there.
4. September 7, 1533, for  the coronation of Queen Elizabeth I. I think she was the best ruler England has ever had (even if there are all of those sketchy rumours about her being William Shakespeare's mother). It would be nice to see the start of that era, especially since I would be able to experience 1500's England and see what England did for coronations in the 1500s.
5. Back to the beginning of this summer, to tell myself to actually do something before I waste three months. So I could do something before school starts in SIX DAYS. (I couldn't think of any interesting explanation for the last one, so I said something stupid instead of the six others I had on the list! Ta-DA!)

The problem with most historical events is that you know how it ends. You could say "JFK assassination" or "first moon landing", but you know what happens. The thrill is sitting there, not knowing what's happening next, instead of standing in the back, rolling your eyes and mouthing "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" along with Neil Armstrong. That's what I realized as I looked over my carefully prepared list.

But perhaps there's a different sort of thrill in hearing the words spoken by the original speaker for the first time in anyone's lives? Maybe there is a thrill in sitting in a theater with people who are finding out that Darth Vader in Luke's father for the first time, even though you have known for practically all of your life?

Hmm.

If you want, tell me your Time Travel 5. Put it in a comment or write a post about it. Whatever floats your boat. I just hope you lot are a hell of a lot more creative than me.
Now I will listen to Explorers 6 for the nineteenth time and then go to bed.

Favorite Thing on the Internet #45

Personally, I don't watch My Little Pony.
BUT.
If you're ever bored you should head over here where you can MAKE A PONY. You can even make yourself into a pony.
Love, love, love.
I am currently working on making myself into a pony, but first I made this gem:

Think of this as...the ideal FRAS pony. As what I dream I will someday be. I think my subtle title for this picture captures it all- "IDEAL UNICORN PONY WHO IS ALSO A COP."
And so it is.