bobby drake etc etc

i have been blogging a lot, but maybe i have a lot to remember. after all, it is summer.

so last night (before the last post actually) i went and saw x3 with morgan and eileen and ruby. i was supposed to see it with spencer but i just coudnt because, as i told him, "if bobby dies ill cry and if youre there itll be embarrassing." i dont think he thought that was a good reason, but o well.

later on in the night, ie, when i was sleeping, in addition to dreaming N-Mol was in my AP US class and i couldnt remember if it was the first day of school or the last day and morgan had dyed her hair awful badbleach orangey blonde and we all went to a prep school with tiny alligators in all the bathrooms, i also briefly dreamt about bobby drake AKA iceman AKA shawn ashmore AKA he played jake on the animorphs tv show that was cancelled second season. he was sitting on top of some old car with some girl who was clearly not rogue but it was understood that she was, and they were having a tiff, as douggie would say, about something or other. (the first time i wrote "about" just then i wrote "abotut" instead.) i couldnt really hear them so i dont know what it was about. their talking was all jumbly. but a couple of times it stopped being quiet and jumbly and turned into loud and jumbly and they were yelling, and a lot of times they almost made up and out but something tiffed them again. it was really weird and tense and lengthy.

okay, so this doesnt really matter if youre not me, but if you are me, you understand because you know that shawn ashmore was my first ever celebrity crush/imaginary boyfriend. and i dont know where im going with this, but mostly its to say that i love that kid and he makes me all happy inside. and by kid i mean 26-year-old. but in animorphs he was 18 and 20 in x1 and so on.

o, and another thing.
hes a twin.
COOL.

weird.

i just found my original copy of addiction in the middle of the 17th animorphs book.

huh.

[EDIT 11pm] yeah, so i just read it in like an hour and a half. i superlove easy books. especially ones about trying to pour instant maple and ginger oatmeal into the yeerk pool cause it makes yeerks go crazy.

JESS GIMME DE GEES AN WE BE CLUBBIN YOW

mm. sean paul. my hero.

okay, so i feel i need to recap all the interesting things that have happened since i went into a state of STUDY. so here goes.

i listened to a LOT of sean paul, discovered how beautiful william moseley is, got a date to junior prom (george williford), had interesting cousins over (theyre still here until tomorrow), went to three parties, and got a new bff (frisky!). also i discovered some pretty awesome shoes. yayuh.

well theres more interesting things that i have done but i dont care. ima gonna go have more fun!

yeeehaw!

ToDo SchmooDo!

Summertiiimmmmmme...
And the livin' is easy...

(i picked up a new template for this new phase of my life called PreAP is Over and I am Still Alive)

holy moly croly, its here its here its here. no more douggie, no more exams, no more worksheets or four fire drills per day or world history or latin ii. over over over.

i do, however, have extensive summer plans, as such (with bullets, not numbers):

• tonight! go to hannahs end o year partay, and hopefully see X3 with spencer
• tomorrow, no novus! work at six then rachel oc's sixteenth partay (i am a partay animal)
• sunday, spencers hizzle for general good times
• sunday, monday, tuesday: movie marathon extravaganza with annebel and hattie (im not sure how thats gonna work on sunday, but it will somehow) with all three LotR extended versions, newsies, RENT, blood drips heavily on newsie square, narnia, harry potter, and pirates of the caribbean. lots of ovaltine and honey and joy.
• sometime in the next several days, clean my room
• further on: eventually get to my summer work for AP US, AP 11, and PreAP precal. psh.
• work work work at trez as usual till the last week of summer
• go back to the y
• hopefully hit up florida those last few days
• june 7-12: NYC!
• june 18-24: lakeshore!
• sometime: AMELIA!
• hang out with my new bff kristy. frisky!
  

loooooookin gooooood

ToDo, FoSkoo

before next friday at noonish, heres what has to be done:

1. study for the caesar test in latin which is thursday
2. study like hell for the cold war test friday i pwnd that test you guys.
3. see ms gossett or ms ennis about my schedule
4. turn in that thing from ms halfacre and that thing from ms ervin and that note to ms haughton
5. finish english exam review (definitions, examples, and Xtr33m post-it-ization)
6. study for history exam
7. and latin exam
8. and chemistry exam
9. and algebra exam.
10. prepare mountaincake
11. go to ms kitts party
12. go to da vinci code
13. go to novus rehearsal
14. sing at idlewild
15. play bingo with the elderly
16. sleep
17. survive until the afternoon of may 26th.

ToDo, BlueShoe

(because i feel like all my posts till schools out should be titled ToDo something.) tonight, i am a little less overwhelmed. i am still overwhelmed, but a little less. about 3% of my stress has been lifted. i presented my english project, taught ch32sec3, and made up my acids and bases test today, all with considerable success. also we got class rings today. yes i bought one even though theyre overpriced, and i like it. here is what i have to do tonight:

1. read ch32sec4 wow that section was long and boring.
2. make some progress on the exam review
3. finish translating whatever it is we have to translate in latin
4. go to novus
5. get some work done on those algebra worksheets which i have started but i have yet to finish any of them i finished one of them. thats some work done.
6. get the preAP precal contract signed

now i must say, 6 is much more reasonable a number. im off.

i do not have what it takes
i cannot cut the mustard
i failed to read closely
i am not cut out for this.

ToDo, VolTwo

my life for the next two weeks exists in a series of to-do lists. here is the second one.

To do, This Weekend:

1. begin and complete dead poet project* i didnt practice at all but i dont care.
2. complete all definitions on preAP final exam review*
3. collect materials necessary for dead poet picnic mountaincake
4. create notecards for vocab covered on latin ii exam review
5. study for the life of caesar test
6. read world history ch32sec2 *
7. prepare lecture for world history ch32sec3
8. master all concepts covered on the acids and bases test to make up tuesday
9. complete algdeux 10-1 worksheet*
10. complete algdeux 10-2 worksheet*
11. complete algdeux 10-3 worksheet*
12. complete algdeux 10-4 worksheet*
13. perform at crichtons graduation with novus*
14. play bingo with the elderly*
15. get my moms mothers day present*

(* = priority, absolutely 100% must be done this weekend, no exceptions. notice its most of them.) thats all for this weekend. oi vey. i need to speak to someone to calm my weary mind. anyone?

ToDo, ToDay:

1. latin project: six celled cartoon in latin etc etc due tuesday* [EDIT 11:24PM] demosthenes > cicero
2. study for cumulative vocab test thursday* [EDIT Wednesday 950PM] i procrastinate. get over it.
3. finish latin homework due monday* [EDIT Monday] yeah i did it in class.
4. learn algebra sections 10-1 and 10-2 due already
5. study for WWII test tuesday* [EDIT rrl late Monday night] I studied for five hours. If I don't get a high A I might cry.
6. practice "and i love her" and "cuore" and "ride on" for novus for tomorrow night [EDIT 344PM] did it on the walk. ooo, multitasking.
7. get people to buy tickets to novus concert tuesday night* [EDIT Monday 9:55PM] thanks, guys.
8. take a walk [EDIT 344PM] thirty-one minutes.
9. study acids and bases for chem test wednesday (okay, so yeah, i probably wont do that)
10. memorize the first paragraph of the gallic wars by friday* [EDIT 344PM] gallia est bla bla bla got it.
11. shower* [EDIT 403PM] guess whos clean. me.
12. start dead poets project due next monday (15 may)
13. plan for dead poets picnic friday

boy o boy, how fun. (* = high priority)

O, Woe is I!

it is 1230am. i am awake. i have six themes left to analyze and all i can concentrate on is the sound of my diet coke going flat.

pitch it up, o coke of the brick wall!

do you know, i dont know what that means. i cant feel my right foot. so. self-realization = universal individuals in orange highlighter. what?

It's Final.

Here is the present draft of the letter I will give to my boss, Carol. Please give any suggestions for improvement.

Dear Carol,

I have been convinced by myself, my teacher, my parents, and my counselors that for the next several years my highest priority should be getting my education. I require extremely high grades of myself that I might be accepted to colleges with extremely high standards. However, here is where a catch-22 arises. To be accepted to those colleges I need pretty phenomenal grades, standardized test scores, and applications, along with a dash of community service, but to be able to go I need big money that neither I nor my parents have; therefore, I need to work and save as much as I can. Unfortunately, it seems from my experience that working is detrimental to my grades: I have made straight A’s all my life with the exception of seven B’s, six of which have been during this school year, which began about the same time I started working at Trezevant.

My job here is great—the hours are flexible, the work is moderate at worst, and the pay is better than that of anyone I know who is near my age. My original plan was to keep working here until the end of my senior year. Several months ago, however, I concluded that with the four AP (Advanced Placement, i.e. college level with college credit) classes that I will be taking senior year, working would be impossible, so I moved my time of departure from Trezevant up to May of 2007 to give me that summer to really get ready for college with visits, etc. (that or be a Resident Counselor at Lakeshore for another $1600 toward tuition.)

This remained my plan until fairly recently. Of late I have come to connect my lower grades and higher level of sleep deprivation with my hours here. I know that next year will be much harder as I will be taking two AP classes (English and U.S. History) and one Pre-AP (Pre-Calculus), so I have had to prioritize. It has come to this: I need sleep more than I need money, and I need fantastic grades more than I need a job. Therefore, I have formulated a new plan, this time one that is much less likely to be altered:

1. Continue to work at Trezevant through the summer
2. Pursue a job at the Pink Palace for the summer to help make up for losses of #3
3. Stop working at Trezevant when school starts back in August
4. Join the Y again
5. Get a lot more sleep
6. Have time to work up some volunteer hours for my resume.
7. Apply for lots and lots of scholarships.

I am sorry that I am not working until graduation like I said I would originally, but this is what I really need to do. To me a full year is a good solid run for my first job, so I do not feel like I am giving up on being a working girl; I just need to focus more on my studies and stress less so that I do not, in the words of my friend Morgan, end up wanting to hang myself by my slit wrists, because let’s face facts here—that is never good.

Thank you,

Sara Stephens

Here's What's Good in My Life Right Now

• I have lots and lots of super-cool friends.
• There is no school Friday.
• I have weasled myself out of at least two B's this six weeks.
• I passed Driver Ed with a waiver for my license (barely).
• I am now Ms. Kitts' TA.
• I'm going to both New York and Lakeshore in June.
• There is only one six weeks left.
• I got into all the APs I wanted.
• My summer reading includes Angela's Ashes (<3!).
• I'm a fly Memphis hustla, all I do is stay fresh.
• Soon I will own both Brokeback Mountain and Narnia on DVD.
• I am probably gonna marry Josh Brown in ten years, unless Beav gets to him first. :)

HAKUNA. MATATA.

Lakeshore this Weekend

was great.


indubitably!

a much smaller concentration of bad writing. highlights include: morgan, eileen, beav, ruby, josh brown, troy, allyson, danielle, and some productivity. for example, heres something silly, an acrostic from the spark word "prom" cowritten be me and josh brown:

Pretty dresses
Really cute guys
O my gosh!
Mom, shut up!

(c) 2006 josh brown and sara stephens

bwahahahaa. we are brilliant. and heres something less silly that i started last retreat and finished at this one from a prompt of texas (not as good as three affiliated tribes, but pretty okay i think):

I spent a good ten hours
in one place
reading everything I could find
before making it to
Nondescript, Texas
the humble homestead of my humble homesteaders.
There are sixteen of them,
two parents, nine children (seven of them girls),
and three of the children are married
and have their own children,
bumbling bouncing babes
who learn to knit and tie knots in the womb
and by seven are harvesting vegetables and eggs,
birthing horses,
cooking casseroles independently.

I spent a good two days
in one place
with my extremely distant cousins
who never cut their hair and have
thick French braids to the back of their knees
(the girls at least)
and who don’t own a microwave or a TV
but make the best food and the best entertainment.
I spent two days walking their land,
grass up to my hips,
through a plot of earth so big it might have been
the entire state of Texas,
past the warm wood houses of the children
who grew up and married
and moved out
to another part of their land.
Spent two days listening
to the three sisters aged ten to fourteen
who knew the exact color of every blade of grass
as compared to the shades in their dresses
and how to climb over fallen trees
without catching the hems.
Who knew nothing about politics
but everything
about planting a garden and pulling weeds
about picking corn before the worms come,
about living
really living
in Nondescript, Texas
without a microwave
or a TV.

Being Decisive

i made up my mind. im going with number three. i just cant work next year. so, i am:

• working at trezevant until august
• pursuing adding the pink palace for the summer
• quitting trez when school starts
• saving lots of the money i make this summer
• joining the y when school starts
• stressing less

i was thinking number two for a while, but i am already too stressed and i dont like it. thanks everyone for all your input, it really helped.

lovelovelovelove

sar(r)a/foot

I need guidance.

basically i have three choices in my pursuit of a harmonious balance between money and school and life and sleep.

1. Change nothing: that is, continue with my original plan of working my regular hours (M/W/Th 4-7, Sat 6-9) for $8.00/hr at Trezevant until the end of Junior year. Save enough money to help somewhat significantly in my search to afford college, but possibly become over-stressed in school with my 2.5 APs.
2. Change a little: Continue working the same at Trez through Junior year, but also pursue the job opportunity I have come upon at the Pink Palace starting at $7.25/hr for the summer (hours unsure). Make a nice chunk of extra money over the summer but potentially miss out on some summer fun because of lost time.
3. Change everything: Pursue Pink Palace job for the summer along with Trez, but leave the Trez job at the start of Junior year. Get a good deal more sleep, but learn to live with a good deal less money. Join the Y again.

help me. im incapable of making my own decisions. everyone please give your opinions or any other suggestions. kthx.

Hypnotic, Funky Fresh

i just lost the 1, 2 step. how can i go on?

someone please send me this song. poookokihu8otgdv or popsiclesareforthesummertime@gmail.com m'much obliged.

"LAST NIGHT, AGAIN?!"

"You can have a great high school party without drugs and drinking- you just have to replace those things with Candyland and the cast of Tick Tick Boom." --Annebel Simpson.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Last night was the pinnacle of my sophomore career. I think altogether I had almost fifty people there. Nothing awful happened, no one died or showed up drunk or left condensation rings on the wooden furniture. Amazing amazing amazing night. Thank you everyone who came, and I intend to list all of you right now by means of the cups with names. Here goes. Thank you's to

1. Austin Finney,
2. Amanda Allen,
3. Amanda Tittle,
4. Anna Talley,
5. Annebel Simpson,
6. Caroline Fesomething,
7. Chris Carlile,
8. Cody Hilder,
9. David Nikaido,
10. Derek Suen,
11. Devin Crenshaw,
12. Drew Stephens,
13. Dunkan Koch (as Mark Cohen),
14. Eileen Townsend,
15. Emma Austin,
16. Eric Neimeyer,
17. Hannah Joyce,
18. Hattie Strange,
19. Jennifer Lenow,
20. Julia Roseman,
21. Justin Campbell,
22. Kasidey Fisher-Wellman,
23. Kathryn Owen,
24. Kristen Howell,
25. Kristen Rambo,
26. Kristy Wilson,
27. Lane Roark,
28. Leo Ramos,
29. Lilla Pivnick,
30. Lydia Roseman,
31. Michael Neimeyer,
32. Morgan Stewart,
33. Nathan Meek,
34. Nhat Vo,
35. Peter Zastoupil,
36. Rachel O'Connor,
37. Rashad "Blackie" Blackerson,
38. Sara Stephens (that's me),
39. Sarah Mercer,
40. Sean Meek,
41. Spencer Miller,
42. Spencer Nineteen,
43. Stephanie Frega,
44. Stephanie Homeschool, and
45. Vania Datesspencernineteen (whom I never saw and have never met).

That's right, my mom stacked the cups alphabetically. I am almost sure that is all, but I definitely made up a few of those last names. Well, there were three more, but I'll get to that in a minute. So the point is, here is how my yesterday went, in fairly brief terms if I can stand it.

I woke up, went to school, and found out I got into AP 11 and I have three tests Monday. Then I came home briefly before hitting up the bank and Party City. Came back home and took a shower, during which time Spencer, Steph, and Rashad showed up (at like 540 for a party that started at 7) and hung out in my room till I got out and ready. Steph and I hung up streamers etc etc while Spencer watched TV with Rashad. How helpful. Kristen showed up at about quarter to 7, followed closely by Kathryn, and then they really started flowing in. I had a fantastic night and got some amazing stuff. Thank you thank you thank you everyone.

I'd like to take a moment to recognize those who were unable to attend: Amelia, Mouse, Emily, Newman, Huddleston, Hairston, Omair, John Ham, Audrey (whose mom wouldn't let her come because she didn't believe there wouldn't be any drinking), Afton, Mariana, Hannah Shaffer, Alex Bransford, Beaver, etc etc for anyone else not there.

Now, some highlights, if you will: Mercer giving me The Shirt, getting to see Amanda Allen and David Nikaido whom I haven't seen in FOREVER, Kathryn making the world's best brownies (not to shadow Morgan's baked goods which were also fantastic), story time with Homo Thug (the book Dunkan got me about a homo thug which has four typos just on the blurb and contains phrases like "love stick" and "cocoa shute" and "melon-shaped" ew ew ew), Dunkan's great footage which she's cut together to screen tonight in honor of Benny's wife Muffy--Allison--pulling Benny out of the East Village location (How many times did I say that yesterday? 10? 15?), and, o yeah, THE ENTIRE CAST of Tick Tick Boom showing up at my house without warning! WHAT!

Okay, so my mom is amazing. She saw Kevin (of TickTick) at U of M yesterday afternoon cause he goes there, and she was like "Would you consider dropping by tonight?" and so he said he and Annie of TickTick (Ms. Best Voice I've Ever Heard Personally) could come. And then when my mom called him to give the the time and directions and make sure he was coming he said, "Yeah, I'm on my way to pick up Slade right now." And thereby Kevin Murphy, Annie Freres, and Slade Kyle, three of my local heroes, came to my birthday party and sang happy birthday and stayed for at least an hour. It was a phenom.

And while we're at it, I still have two hip-hop mixes, a bunch of pictures from Lane 'n' the Dunkmeister, and Dunkan/Mark's great footage which (s)he's cut together to screen tonight in honor of Benny's wife Muffy--Allison--pulling Benny out of the East Village location to look forward to.

In conclusion, I love my friends, I love fun, and I have OFFICIALLY proven that a fantastic time is easy to have without intoxicants and said time is generally more successful and has far fewer repercussions.

Thank you goodnight (Yeah its 543 in the afternoon).

DCT

Happy Dreams Come True Day, everyone.

(DTC Day was officially created one year ago today in honor of BatBoy.)

*balloons n stuff*

It has to end

sometime between now and tomorrow night i need to read 360ish pages of snow falling on cedars and do 360ish worksheets. (okay, its not that many worksheets at all, but its several.) oi vey. sometime between now and six i need to have lunch and take a shower and make some progress in sfoc. guess ill get on that. (april 7th get here soon please!)

Spring Break

break is refreshing me. i like this warmth. its only been the first weekend but it is great.

i slept in, watched four movies in twenty-four hours (the bbc pride and prejudice, elizabethtown which i actually really liked, walk the line which i need to watch again, and sisterhood of the traveling pants), shopped with kristen and bought whats hot for spring, got a birthday card from my job, had happy birthday sung to me at bingo, put two hip hop stations on presets on my radio, drove well, hung out with morgan eileen kristen (a lot) and lena, fulfilled one of my new years resolutions, and went to the calvary lenten luncheon with kristen and had the best waffles in all the land and saw A-Tal and D-Tal.

in other news, codys birthday i think was yesterday, and one of the security folks at trez has my birthday. if you dont know when that is, im not telling you. okay i will. its tuesday. the 14th. pi.

ps: it is a fantastic day.

pps: if you have something after the ps, its pps, not pss. you dont have a post script script, you have a post post script.