Marching band had a pumpkin carving contest, which was entertaining, and I would share who the winner was, but this is my blog and I don't think that's the most interesting part. I was impressed that some of the pumpkins managed to take on alternate identities. Here are three of them:
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Pumpkins
Marching band had a pumpkin carving contest, which was entertaining, and I would share who the winner was, but this is my blog and I don't think that's the most interesting part. I was impressed that some of the pumpkins managed to take on alternate identities. Here are three of them:
Pumpkins
Marching band had a pumpkin carving contest, which was entertaining, and I would share who the winner was, but this is my blog and I don't think that's the most interesting part. I was impressed that some of the pumpkins managed to take on alternate identities. Here are three of them:
Monday, October 30, 2006
More Homecoming Pictures
I like it, I think it's a good picture. Sorry about the watermark!
More Homecoming Pictures
I like it, I think it's a good picture. Sorry about the watermark!
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Pi!
I became a proud member of the Sprague Olympian Marching Band my freshman year , attending all home football games to cheer on the team. It didn’t take long before I noticed something quite spectacular about football games. As the time dwindled in each quarter, right between 3:15 and 3:13 left in each quarter, the number 3:14 would flash on the scoreboard. I, of course, screamed "PI!" at the top of my lungs, creating some awkward tension since I was just a freshman. My enthusiasm was not returned by my fellow students when I tried to share my overwhelming love of numbers with them. Time passed, I aged, and yet at every football game, I would still yell "PI!" with 3:14 left in each quarter. Senior year finally rolled around and I was still PI-ing it up, but . . . when the first quarter rolled around at the first game of the season, THE ENTIRE BAND YELLED PI! It was truly the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed or been a part of. I consider this mutual celebration of one of the best numbers ever to be a marching band crowning achievement. That, my blog readers, is something I truly find fun AND humorous!
Pi!
I became a proud member of the Sprague Olympian Marching Band my freshman year , attending all home football games to cheer on the team. It didn’t take long before I noticed something quite spectacular about football games. As the time dwindled in each quarter, right between 3:15 and 3:13 left in each quarter, the number 3:14 would flash on the scoreboard. I, of course, screamed "PI!" at the top of my lungs, creating some awkward tension since I was just a freshman. My enthusiasm was not returned by my fellow students when I tried to share my overwhelming love of numbers with them. Time passed, I aged, and yet at every football game, I would still yell "PI!" with 3:14 left in each quarter. Senior year finally rolled around and I was still PI-ing it up, but . . . when the first quarter rolled around at the first game of the season, THE ENTIRE BAND YELLED PI! It was truly the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed or been a part of. I consider this mutual celebration of one of the best numbers ever to be a marching band crowning achievement. That, my blog readers, is something I truly find fun AND humorous!
Friday, October 27, 2006
Last Football Game of the Season
3:17
3:16
3:15
[1 second long pause]
3:13
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!! The scoreboard freaking paused at freaking 3:15 and skipped freaking pi and went straight to freaking 3:13!!!!! I yelled "PI- wait, what? NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" and everybody laughed and it was terrible. I don't know what would possess the scoreboard to ruin the last chance I had to cheer for pi, but it was a cruel thing to do and I will forever hate that scoreboard. Forever. Hated. Boo.
After the game we went to Sharis. I got lost on the way there, I blame my navigator, Margaret. Eventually we made it to Sharis and got seated and everything. That's when the fun began. I was sitting next to a friend who's in college now, and across from us was a freshman flute player. For anonymity's sake, we'll call her "Liz". Here is a picture of "Liz":
She's the one in the black jacket. Anyway, it came time to order DRINKS. Consider the following transcript:
Waitress: Would anybody else like something to drink?
Liz: I do!
Waitress: What do you want?
(Liz is already distracted and talking to somebody else)
Liz (upon realizing she still hadn't ordered her drink): Huh? Oh.
Waitress: What do you want?
Liz: I want a shhhhhhhhhh--
[Whole table just kinda gapes at her]
Waitress: A what?
Liz: I, I, um
Person1: A shhhhhhh-ake?
Liz: No, no, a, um, (waves hands around) a thing, that one thing.
Person2: A shake?
Person3: Liz, are you ok?
Liz (completely confused and overwhelmed by this point): I want a shhhhhhhh- root beer.
[The whole table just kinda stares at her like What in God's name is wrong with you?!?!?.]
There is a break while we wait for the drinks to come. Consider the following transcript:
Liz: Do buffaloes have wings?
Person1 (sarcastically): Of course they do, where do you think buffalo wings come from?
Liz: Really? I had no idea. (catches on that something may be amiss)
Liz (turns to ask somebody else): Do buffaloes really have wings?
Person2: Of course, duh.
Liz: Really?
Person3: Yeah, but only American buffaloes, not European ones.
Person4: Haven't you ever seen a buffalo Liz? That furry brown part by their heads is actually their wings folded up.
Liz: I had no idea, really?
Person1: Yeah, why weren't you ever taught this?
Liz continues to fret about the existence of buffalo wings and eventually turns to asking every single person at the table and asking if buffaloes have wings. We all convinced her that buffaloes do indeed have wings. We laughed a lot, Liz was completely confused.
Drinks arrived and they asked if we wanted to order FOOD. Liz's turn:
Liz: I want a shake!
[collective groan and various heads banging against the table]
Waitress: What flavor?
Liz points to the menu that only she can see: That one! Wait, I mean, strawberry.
(she leans over to the person next to her and says I forgot that she couldn't see the menu when I told her the flavor! )
(More collective groaning)
Liz did make a point of telling all of us multiple times that she wasn't stupid.
Liz: I'm not stupid.
But then she'd follow it up with statements like
Liz: I'm going to college!
And we'd all die, figuratively of course, laughing. Ah, freshmen. My college companion leaned over and said "If she were in my section I might go insane". Indeed. . . .indeed.
After dinner, it was time to go home, but I had to drive somebody home first. I'm bad at directions, really bad. It's not a big deal when people tell me how to get to their house, but getting away and back home after I drop them off is a whole different story. Well, tonight was not a good night. I had to turn left/right on 6 different streets before reaching this person's house. Oh yeah, sure, I know exactly how to get home, right! Lost in suburbia at 11 at night, lovely. So, I drove around a little bit and eventually made it onto the main street, but sheesh, come on people! Live somewhere convenient, not somewhere that's going to get me lost! Think of the directionally challenged people out there!
So that was my night, quite exciting. Football, buffaloes, and getting lost. Hope you enjoyed the entry. It's midnight now and I want to got to bed, so bye!
Last Football Game of the Season
3:17
3:16
3:15
[1 second long pause]
3:13
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!! The scoreboard freaking paused at freaking 3:15 and skipped freaking pi and went straight to freaking 3:13!!!!! I yelled "PI- wait, what? NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" and everybody laughed and it was terrible. I don't know what would possess the scoreboard to ruin the last chance I had to cheer for pi, but it was a cruel thing to do and I will forever hate that scoreboard. Forever. Hated. Boo.
After the game we went to Sharis. I got lost on the way there, I blame my navigator, Margaret. Eventually we made it to Sharis and got seated and everything. That's when the fun began. I was sitting next to a friend who's in college now, and across from us was a freshman flute player. For anonymity's sake, we'll call her "Liz". Here is a picture of "Liz":
She's the one in the black jacket. Anyway, it came time to order DRINKS. Consider the following transcript:
Waitress: Would anybody else like something to drink?
Liz: I do!
Waitress: What do you want?
(Liz is already distracted and talking to somebody else)
Liz (upon realizing she still hadn't ordered her drink): Huh? Oh.
Waitress: What do you want?
Liz: I want a shhhhhhhhhh--
[Whole table just kinda gapes at her]
Waitress: A what?
Liz: I, I, um
Person1: A shhhhhhh-ake?
Liz: No, no, a, um, (waves hands around) a thing, that one thing.
Person2: A shake?
Person3: Liz, are you ok?
Liz (completely confused and overwhelmed by this point): I want a shhhhhhhh- root beer.
[The whole table just kinda stares at her like What in God's name is wrong with you?!?!?.]
There is a break while we wait for the drinks to come. Consider the following transcript:
Liz: Do buffaloes have wings?
Person1 (sarcastically): Of course they do, where do you think buffalo wings come from?
Liz: Really? I had no idea. (catches on that something may be amiss)
Liz (turns to ask somebody else): Do buffaloes really have wings?
Person2: Of course, duh.
Liz: Really?
Person3: Yeah, but only American buffaloes, not European ones.
Person4: Haven't you ever seen a buffalo Liz? That furry brown part by their heads is actually their wings folded up.
Liz: I had no idea, really?
Person1: Yeah, why weren't you ever taught this?
Liz continues to fret about the existence of buffalo wings and eventually turns to asking every single person at the table and asking if buffaloes have wings. We all convinced her that buffaloes do indeed have wings. We laughed a lot, Liz was completely confused.
Drinks arrived and they asked if we wanted to order FOOD. Liz's turn:
Liz: I want a shake!
[collective groan and various heads banging against the table]
Waitress: What flavor?
Liz points to the menu that only she can see: That one! Wait, I mean, strawberry.
(she leans over to the person next to her and says I forgot that she couldn't see the menu when I told her the flavor! )
(More collective groaning)
Liz did make a point of telling all of us multiple times that she wasn't stupid.
Liz: I'm not stupid.
But then she'd follow it up with statements like
Liz: I'm going to college!
And we'd all die, figuratively of course, laughing. Ah, freshmen. My college companion leaned over and said "If she were in my section I might go insane". Indeed. . . .indeed.
After dinner, it was time to go home, but I had to drive somebody home first. I'm bad at directions, really bad. It's not a big deal when people tell me how to get to their house, but getting away and back home after I drop them off is a whole different story. Well, tonight was not a good night. I had to turn left/right on 6 different streets before reaching this person's house. Oh yeah, sure, I know exactly how to get home, right! Lost in suburbia at 11 at night, lovely. So, I drove around a little bit and eventually made it onto the main street, but sheesh, come on people! Live somewhere convenient, not somewhere that's going to get me lost! Think of the directionally challenged people out there!
So that was my night, quite exciting. Football, buffaloes, and getting lost. Hope you enjoyed the entry. It's midnight now and I want to got to bed, so bye!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Calculus Prank
There are four of us that sit in a square in Calculus.
I'm Michael. Yesterday, the topic of Anatomy class came up and Michelle shared a story. Apparently they were passing a bleached hand skeleton around the class when somebody thought it would be entertaining to take the skeleton and run its fingers through someone else's hair. Michelle mentioned, quite emphatically, that she would flip out and kill anybody that did that to her.
During lunch that day I passed by the book fair mentioned in my previous entry and saw, AMAZINGLY, a skeleton hand toy with moveable fingers! Jake (in the picture up there) and I bought it.
I brought my camera to school the next day. Jake and I switched places in Calculus so that Jake sat behind her and I sat in a great filming location. I propped my camera on my calculus book and looked at Jake. He nodded. The following, is what happened:
Yes, it was quite the experience. One of our better pranks and a great Calculus distraction. I hope you enjoyed the video, it was very fun in person!
Calculus Prank
There are four of us that sit in a square in Calculus.
I'm Michael. Yesterday, the topic of Anatomy class came up and Michelle shared a story. Apparently they were passing a bleached hand skeleton around the class when somebody thought it would be entertaining to take the skeleton and run its fingers through someone else's hair. Michelle mentioned, quite emphatically, that she would flip out and kill anybody that did that to her.
During lunch that day I passed by the book fair mentioned in my previous entry and saw, AMAZINGLY, a skeleton hand toy with moveable fingers! Jake (in the picture up there) and I bought it.
I brought my camera to school the next day. Jake and I switched places in Calculus so that Jake sat behind her and I sat in a great filming location. I propped my camera on my calculus book and looked at Jake. He nodded. The following, is what happened:
Yes, it was quite the experience. One of our better pranks and a great Calculus distraction. I hope you enjoyed the video, it was very fun in person!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Today
"Mrs. Bower, the edge of the table is kinda sharp, can I get up?"
"You baby, I didn't push you that hard"
"Um, yes you did, and the table is still sharp"
"Oh fine"
Later on, I left my second period class and *BOOM*, there was a book fair in the hall, that I swear they set up in 10 minutes. Well, the books there this year are actually decent. I bought a book called Cool Stuff: and How it works that pretty much has the neatest pictures and gadgets ever. There was also something else I bought, but I'll blog that tomorrow, because a certain blog reader can't know about it yet. It'll be a good entry!
Also, today was math league and I got 4/6, which I'm proud of. It'll help with extra credit and my Calculus grade.
Finally, I got to take a nap. Mmmmm, nap. I like naps.
That's all, a mundaine blog entry with very little substance, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. These things can't ALL be exciting, so just consider this a setup for tomorrow's entry.
Ciao!
Today
"Mrs. Bower, the edge of the table is kinda sharp, can I get up?"
"You baby, I didn't push you that hard"
"Um, yes you did, and the table is still sharp"
"Oh fine"
Later on, I left my second period class and *BOOM*, there was a book fair in the hall, that I swear they set up in 10 minutes. Well, the books there this year are actually decent. I bought a book called Cool Stuff: and How it works that pretty much has the neatest pictures and gadgets ever. There was also something else I bought, but I'll blog that tomorrow, because a certain blog reader can't know about it yet. It'll be a good entry!
Also, today was math league and I got 4/6, which I'm proud of. It'll help with extra credit and my Calculus grade.
Finally, I got to take a nap. Mmmmm, nap. I like naps.
That's all, a mundaine blog entry with very little substance, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. These things can't ALL be exciting, so just consider this a setup for tomorrow's entry.
Ciao!
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Homecoming
I got to Lacey's house at 5:30. We had some snacks, very good, and then did the boutonniere/corsage thing. The boutonniere was, evidently, hard to get on, so it took two people and one broken pin in order to get it on me. The corsage was much easier. Here's a picture of Lacey with the corsage:
Then we had the standard "Stand in front of the fireplace and smile" pictures taken. Here's that one:
No more pictures were taken by us after that, so that's all I have for now. When I get more I'll be sure to post them. After pictures we went to dinner at a golf course. They had a great soup that we both ordered (Which was kind of funny. We didn't agree to both get it, we just both ordered it). After dinner we went to the dance, which was actually quite fun. I am not a dance guy, at all. At all. But, I decided to have fun, and I figured that I didn't know anybody there (seeing as it was Lacey's homecoming and not mine), so I would do my best to be social. I met a lot of Lacey's friends, saw a guy from leadership camp (which was neat), and of course danced. Lacey had to take her shoes off (as did every other girl there) and so to avoid me absolutely crushing her feet we worked out this nifty system where during a slow dance she would just stand on my feet. Not only did that make her taller, but I could shuffle around and wander around and she just kinda stuck to me, good times!
They were selling glowsticks at the dance, but we didn't buy any. That didn't stop us from getting any, we just had to be creative i.e. beg them off people and pick them up off the ground. We ended up with a green one and a red one, those were neat. I kept the green one in my shirt pocket and the red one behind my ear. The green one in my pocket was just the perfect distance to grab in my teeth and poke Lacey with while we were dancing. That was fun, until she grabbed the other end in her mouth, stole it, and then started poking me in the face. I stopped poking her after that.
It turns out that the names of all of Lacey's friends are "Josh". I met four "Josh"s. One was scary. The rest seemed normal. We coat checked our flowers at the beginning, so after the dance we went to get them. Not wanting to puncture a lung, I just put my flower in my shirt pocket. It didn't make it out the door, don't know where it is right now, somewhere in Beaverton and not in my house. We went back to Lacey's house after the dance and chatted with the adults a little bit before heading off to Shar(r)i's.
Turns out, every band in the universe goes to Shar(r)i's after any type of event. Sorry Sprague, you're not one of a kind. Did you know that all Shar(r)i's look the same? It made me feel at home. At the restaraunt I met more people, one of whom was Adam. Adam was neat, he seemed strangely determined to win an argument with me. He didn't. Sorry Adam. But, he likes ninjas and snakes on a plane, so he's ok. Everybody at the table had a glass of water except for me, so I asked a waitress if I could have some water, explaining that I didn't have a glass.
"No".
She walked away. . . .
HEY! I want water! She never came back, so later I asked another guy, the manager, for a glass of water. He said sure, and started to get it when the waitress I asked earlier said "Don't worry, I'll get it" and then continued to do what she was doing. I said "No you won't! You didn't give it to me last time!" and then the manager chatted with her and I got my water. Finally. Lacey and I split a cheesecake sundae. Mmmm, cheesecake.
After Shar(r)i's (12:30 AM), we headed back to Lacey's house for some final good bye's and then I went home. I got to bed at about 2:00 AM, only to wake up at 8:30 the next morning for work.
Homecoming was a blast, it's the most amount of alone time I've spent with Lacey, because normally there is a parent there. I'll spare you all the lovey-dovey emotional details because that's part of my blog's credo, but rest knowing that there were lovey-dovey emotional moments. 'nuff said, hope you enjoyed the entry, Snively out.
Homecoming
I got to Lacey's house at 5:30. We had some snacks, very good, and then did the boutonniere/corsage thing. The boutonniere was, evidently, hard to get on, so it took two people and one broken pin in order to get it on me. The corsage was much easier. Here's a picture of Lacey with the corsage:
Then we had the standard "Stand in front of the fireplace and smile" pictures taken. Here's that one:
No more pictures were taken by us after that, so that's all I have for now. When I get more I'll be sure to post them. After pictures we went to dinner at a golf course. They had a great soup that we both ordered (Which was kind of funny. We didn't agree to both get it, we just both ordered it). After dinner we went to the dance, which was actually quite fun. I am not a dance guy, at all. At all. But, I decided to have fun, and I figured that I didn't know anybody there (seeing as it was Lacey's homecoming and not mine), so I would do my best to be social. I met a lot of Lacey's friends, saw a guy from leadership camp (which was neat), and of course danced. Lacey had to take her shoes off (as did every other girl there) and so to avoid me absolutely crushing her feet we worked out this nifty system where during a slow dance she would just stand on my feet. Not only did that make her taller, but I could shuffle around and wander around and she just kinda stuck to me, good times!
They were selling glowsticks at the dance, but we didn't buy any. That didn't stop us from getting any, we just had to be creative i.e. beg them off people and pick them up off the ground. We ended up with a green one and a red one, those were neat. I kept the green one in my shirt pocket and the red one behind my ear. The green one in my pocket was just the perfect distance to grab in my teeth and poke Lacey with while we were dancing. That was fun, until she grabbed the other end in her mouth, stole it, and then started poking me in the face. I stopped poking her after that.
It turns out that the names of all of Lacey's friends are "Josh". I met four "Josh"s. One was scary. The rest seemed normal. We coat checked our flowers at the beginning, so after the dance we went to get them. Not wanting to puncture a lung, I just put my flower in my shirt pocket. It didn't make it out the door, don't know where it is right now, somewhere in Beaverton and not in my house. We went back to Lacey's house after the dance and chatted with the adults a little bit before heading off to Shar(r)i's.
Turns out, every band in the universe goes to Shar(r)i's after any type of event. Sorry Sprague, you're not one of a kind. Did you know that all Shar(r)i's look the same? It made me feel at home. At the restaraunt I met more people, one of whom was Adam. Adam was neat, he seemed strangely determined to win an argument with me. He didn't. Sorry Adam. But, he likes ninjas and snakes on a plane, so he's ok. Everybody at the table had a glass of water except for me, so I asked a waitress if I could have some water, explaining that I didn't have a glass.
"No".
She walked away. . . .
HEY! I want water! She never came back, so later I asked another guy, the manager, for a glass of water. He said sure, and started to get it when the waitress I asked earlier said "Don't worry, I'll get it" and then continued to do what she was doing. I said "No you won't! You didn't give it to me last time!" and then the manager chatted with her and I got my water. Finally. Lacey and I split a cheesecake sundae. Mmmm, cheesecake.
After Shar(r)i's (12:30 AM), we headed back to Lacey's house for some final good bye's and then I went home. I got to bed at about 2:00 AM, only to wake up at 8:30 the next morning for work.
Homecoming was a blast, it's the most amount of alone time I've spent with Lacey, because normally there is a parent there. I'll spare you all the lovey-dovey emotional details because that's part of my blog's credo, but rest knowing that there were lovey-dovey emotional moments. 'nuff said, hope you enjoyed the entry, Snively out.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Post Speech/Pre Dance
Yesterday was the Willamette Speech Tournament and I gave two speeches. Both speeches were impromptu, but the first one went much better than the other. The first topic I got yesterday was a blue collar comedy quote from Ron White:
It's not that the wind's blowin, it's what the wind's blowin! -- Ron White
That was a beautiful topic because I have blue collar comedy practically memorized and new exactly what context the quote was in. I just spoke about big things being blown through the air and hitting people. My favorite was when I narrated a chase scene between an Amish girl and her house (which a hurricane had lifted off its foundation). The Amish girl lost.
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. -- Chinese Proverb
This topic sucked. I did NOT want to take the philosophical route, so I went with the literal. I discussed different reasons why a bird would sing. I talked about finding worms, finding a new bird house, and having baby birds. At one point I flapped my arms and made bird noises. . .it was quite pitiful, but I have high hopes.
I went home after that second speech and crashed. It's now 8:22 and I'm calling the tournament ever 15 minutes to see if I made it to finals, at which point I would have to drive into Willamette and give a speech at 11:00. That'd be nice, it really would. I would be one of 6 out of 39, crazy odds.
The plan for the rest of the day involves homecoming. I'm driving to Beaverton this evening to go to the Southridge homecoming, which I am really looking forward to quite a lot. It should be a very good time, what with the music, dancing, and girlfriend :)
So yeah, that's a quick recap of what's been happening, I'll keep you posted on other stuff as it happens, ciao!
Post Speech/Pre Dance
Yesterday was the Willamette Speech Tournament and I gave two speeches. Both speeches were impromptu, but the first one went much better than the other. The first topic I got yesterday was a blue collar comedy quote from Ron White:
It's not that the wind's blowin, it's what the wind's blowin! -- Ron White
That was a beautiful topic because I have blue collar comedy practically memorized and new exactly what context the quote was in. I just spoke about big things being blown through the air and hitting people. My favorite was when I narrated a chase scene between an Amish girl and her house (which a hurricane had lifted off its foundation). The Amish girl lost.
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. -- Chinese Proverb
This topic sucked. I did NOT want to take the philosophical route, so I went with the literal. I discussed different reasons why a bird would sing. I talked about finding worms, finding a new bird house, and having baby birds. At one point I flapped my arms and made bird noises. . .it was quite pitiful, but I have high hopes.
I went home after that second speech and crashed. It's now 8:22 and I'm calling the tournament ever 15 minutes to see if I made it to finals, at which point I would have to drive into Willamette and give a speech at 11:00. That'd be nice, it really would. I would be one of 6 out of 39, crazy odds.
The plan for the rest of the day involves homecoming. I'm driving to Beaverton this evening to go to the Southridge homecoming, which I am really looking forward to quite a lot. It should be a very good time, what with the music, dancing, and girlfriend :)
So yeah, that's a quick recap of what's been happening, I'll keep you posted on other stuff as it happens, ciao!
Friday, October 20, 2006
Live Blogging from Speech Tournament
I'm doing Imptomptu today, hopefully it will be as exciting as last time. Bye bye for now!!!!!!1!
Live Blogging from Speech Tournament
I'm doing Imptomptu today, hopefully it will be as exciting as last time. Bye bye for now!!!!!!1!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
College Writing battle of the sexes
Over at the College Writing blog (http://spraguewriting.blogspot.com) there is a huge battle between the Men and Women for superiority. It's getting quite amusing, because here it is 11 at night and half the class is on attacking each other. There have been 40 posts in about 30 minutes! This is wonderful, the comments are worth a read, especially Nick Wales's. Enjoy!
College Writing battle of the sexes
Over at the College Writing blog (http://spraguewriting.blogspot.com) there is a huge battle between the Men and Women for superiority. It's getting quite amusing, because here it is 11 at night and half the class is on attacking each other. There have been 40 posts in about 30 minutes! This is wonderful, the comments are worth a read, especially Nick Wales's. Enjoy!