I hate hate hate group projects

Seriously. I think one group project per class per year would be plenty to teach us how to coerce and blackmail people into DOING THE DAMN WORK. And honestly, the only person that actually learns anything about the topic overall is the one who gets to pull her hair out for TWENTY-FOUR HOURS waiting to compile everything into a semi-cohesive presentation.

So here's what happened. A project was assigned last Tuesday or Wednesday. My group decided that by this Wednesday night, everyone would send their sections to me to compile. And for this one, the compiling is actually work, because my teacher is very picky about organization and wants it all nice and tightly composed. Since we had off today and again tomorrow for the Jewish holiday so I would have plenty of time to put the stuff together so we would be ready to present on Friday.

I've gotten one. One out of three, a full day after the deadline that WE ALL AGREED ON.

Just before dinnertime, I im'ed them to see what on earth was going on. One used the Jewish holiday as an excuse. No. That really doesn't work, on so many levels. First, we had a half-day last Wednesday. If you're that pressed for time--and you don't do a sport or have any real time-eaters that I know of, so unless something's been going on, you're probably not as busy as I am--you could have done it then. Or, I don't know, over the WEEKEND???? Come on. And you obviously knew that you would be tied up with religious stuff all day and last night because you were talking about it in Chem last week. Seriously.

The other guy didn't bother me as much. He just said he was sorry it was late and he would get it to me as soon as he can. He didn't even attempt an excuse, which goes over much better with me.

Argh. Still nothing.

Corrupted by nerd school

I burned my finger in chem lab today. My first though when I looked at the burn?

"Oh, the protein in the collagen in my skin must have denatured, and that's why it looks funny."

Sometimes I hate the way my mind works.

Dinner with my Mom's family

A bunch of Republicans. *shudder*

An exciting week ahead.

Not really.

Good news though: Last week in tennis we played two HORRIBLE teams in tennis. Both were from the inner city and really didn't have much experience. But anyway, I played singles both times: third singles at the first one and second singles at the second one. I won 6-0, 6-0 both times. But honestly, I really want that slot at second doubles! The first doubles team has been really bad lately, basically falling apart every time they got behind. So maybe some switching around will happen.

So here's what's going on:

This weekend:

• Do math.
• Start Physiological Control Systems paper.
• Start history project.
• Study for Lit quiz.
  
• Practice scene for Lit.
• Study for Bio test.
• Study for AP Chem test.
• Start Adv. Chem homework packet.
• Practice serves.

On a more fun note, my parents are going out tonight and will be leaving us home. The only problem is that she wants Chinese and I want pizza. Any other ideas?

Monday: School, then tennis.

Tuesday and Wednesday: NO SCHOOL (I heart Jewish holidays.)

• Do more math.
• Finish PCS paper.
• Finish history project.
• Practice for Lit scene.
• Study for Bio.
• Study for AP Chem.
• Shopping?

Thursday and Friday:

• School: Take two tests, give two presentations, and hand in one paper.
• Tennis: Play one bad team and one okay team. And by "play", I mean watch other people play.

Next weekend will likely be devoted to....you guessed it...more homework. Notably, studying for my history quiz and history test that are conveniently scheduled within two days of one another. And chances are, another chem quiz.

This post is so ridiculously boring. Sorry about that.

Thoughts on the Debate

This is a totally random collection of stuff I noticed during the debate.

I Really Hate John McCain

I could not stand to see McCain for the next four years. Seriously. He's boring. He looks old and confused. If I had him as a teacher I would try to schedule doctor's appointments during his class. Or I would chug caffeine beforehand in an attempt to stay awake through it. (p.s. I'm not a big fan of the moderator, either.)

Interrupting is Good

Senator Obama is ridiculously good at cutting in on McCain's speeches to make his own good points without sounding rude at all.

McCain is Old and Makes No Sense

Seriously. Do I need to explain myself? He used World War II as an example. And his international business hypothetical didn't make much sense, either. And I totally disagree with his views.

What?

Did McCain just use the word "festudent"? I'm really trying to listen and I still think his plans are incoherent.

Weird

While McCain speaks, Obama watches him and listens, looking studious and intelligent. McCain laughs and looks out into space.

Cut Spending?

By spending billions on, I don't know, a WAR???

Lobbyists and Bush

I'm loving Obama's frequent mentions of his distance from Bush and the lobbyists.

WOAH!

McCain just accused the United States of funding terrorism!!! Whoops!

Haha.

McCain used the same "pop culture" reference--Miss Congeniality--twice. Couldn't Palin come up with something better for him??

I'm falling asleep. I love politics, but I still can't stay awake through the debate. Sigh.

Hahaha.

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the earth yet?

Bad day

Tired.

Elation.

Hi postscript

I forgot to ask you in class - may I use your essay as an example for Monday's class? I thought you did a great job. Let me know if that's okay if you happen to get this email any time soon,

thanks

Ms. Lit Teacher

Whoa. I thought my essay was horrible.

Since around the middle of last year, I've had some issues with judging my own writing. I'll write something and think it's great then get a 50 and then write something else and think it's horrible and get a 95. I think this is a bad thing.

But hey: I wrote a good essay!

Read.

Now, please.

http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2008/09/lies-and-taxes-ii-real-average.html

House

I just saw House for the first time (I know, I know...). Awesome, awesome show. I leave the room for any bloody scenes, but still. Awesome show.

Dr. Cameron? Wow. Love her. Dr. Chase is insane, but has a very, very cool accent. And Dr. Forman (spelling?) is just the kind of doctor I'd like to have.

And then there's the stuff going on between House and Cuddy (keep in mind that I'm watching reruns on USA).

Unfortunately, I do NOT need to get addicted to a TV show right now.

Ahead

I'm ahead on my homework.

I am not going to wreck my chance to go to bed early by writing a full blog post.

• Tennis: Not playing, but the team is 3-0. This is our toughest week. Counties this weekend.
  
• Debate: Don't even have to try out.
• Model UN: Chairing! And adviser says that he'll give me a spot on this awesome committee if we get a slot.
• School: Fine. Lit class is loud with theater kids. History is funny. Bio is weird. Chem is fine. AP Chem is fine. Math test on Thursday, don't know what to expect.
• Family: My sister says she hates school. Hello?? Don't complain to me! You had a chance to come to my school and you didn't take it! My dad is having a procedure done tomorrow.

Shower, make lunch, then bed.

Yes, I'm still alive.

Funny moment

Biology teacher: What happens to the windshield of a car when it rains?
Me: It gets wet.

Dealing with Jerks

I'm on the varsity tennis team.

Assuming tryouts go well, I'll be on the varsity debate team.

But I'm ready to kill the captain of the debate team. I told him that, because of tennis, I wouldn't be able to make afternoon practices. He called my "sports thing"--that I love, despite my complaining--a "problem" and said that he "supposed" it would be okay if I couldn't make it.

At that point, I decided not to remind him that I went to more practices than he did last year, because I came to nearly all of them after tennis ended.

I told him that the only way I could get out of tennis would be to lie to my coach, and I would only do it if he were desperate. By desperate, I thought it was implied that it was an absolute LAST resort. By which I mean only if there is absolutely NO other time we could do it. He sends back: Get ready to lie! We need you to do at least one mock debate!

So I asked him if we could find some free time during the day to do a mock debate. He sends me this:

Don't think you can dictate terms to me. Having a mock debate during school would be extremely difficult to do, considering that both [co-captain] and I are seniors with extremely full schedules and are just busy in general. Not only that, but we'd have to find a time that works for you and [your partner] and whatever team you're facing. If you make the Varsity Team, you will have a responsibility to it and you really can't put us second like this.

We're not asking you to come every day like your tennis coach; in fact, I'm making an extreme exception in your case by letting you off on most practices. If you didn't already have a strong record with the team, I wouldn't even consider you and [your partner] for Varsity.

If you can miss that break Monday without being thrown off the tennis team, do it. Don't send me another email until you ask your coach.

Jesus. He doesn't even think that there might be other repercussions besides getting kicked off the team. Like, you know, not getting to play in matches. And that "pretty full schedule is complete BS. I checked his schedule on facebook. He has more frees than I do. So here are the things I would like to say to him right now.

1. Every single thing you have said about tennis just drips with disdain. That really offends me. Tennis is a big part of my life. Now I think you're even more of a jerk than I did before.
2. I suppose you've never been on a real team before, but the role of a captain is to unify the team and get everyone into the right frame of mind to win. Not to alienate team members.
3. Call your bluff. Who the hell is going to take our place if we're not on the team? If you didn't notice, there were about three JV teams last year. You want the sophomores who only came to two jv debates on the varsity team?
4. I tried out for varsity last year. My tennis wasn't an issue. So you're making up rules?
   
5. If you had been sitting next to me when I got this email, I think I would have hit you.

At that point, I talked to my dad. He said I'm not allowed to miss any tennis practices OR matches.

So here's what I'm going to do:

1. Talk to him.
2. Talk to the advisor.
3. Talk to my guidance counselor.
4. Pray for rain.

Chances are, this guy will back down, but this is seriously stressing me out. I really don't need more stress right now.

I hate this. I really hate having to argue with people outside of debate and model un. I hate that he's being so obnoxious. I hate that he can't understand that tennis deserves my time just as much as debate does.

Maybe

If I can convince my dad to let me skip a day of school, I might apply to be a poll worker on election day. That would spice up the page app for next summer.

Haven't really posted in a few days.

I've been too busy writing that damn summer reading essay. It's done, but still has some issues.

I (along with everyone else in the country) have some thoughts about Sarah Palin.

I don't think she's a horrible choice. I mean, I personally think she would be a horrible vice-president (or president, if McCain...well, you know.), but looking at things from McCain's position, she makes sense. According to CBS, McCain's top three choices prior to the selection were Romney, Pawlenty, and Lieberman. Fox adds Tom Ridge and Kay Bailey Hutchison. I saw Charlie Crist's name somewhere, too.

I hate to say it, but none of them were great picks.

Romney's a Mormon. I along with everyone else thinks that it's sad that this is an issue, but it is. His strengths were his economic knowledge and his potential to turn Colorado into a red state. But with the Dem convention in Colorado, the chances of that weren't that great, and McCain hasn't been challenged very harshly on economics issues.

Pawlenty is fairly unknown, but he does have some issues. According a few articles I've read, he caves to political pressure. A lot. Which is not what the public is looking for right now, and definitely not what will help McCain beat Obama. He did have the whole evangelical thing going for him though, but so does Palin.

Lieberman. I actually think that if McCain wasn't thinking about politics at all (say, in an ideal world where candidates pick VP's that complement them personally and policy-wise), he would have ended up with Lieberman. Seriously. But the guy's an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. 'nuff said.

Tom Ridge, in my opinion, has stellar, stellar, stellar Republican credentials. Check out the Wiki page. The only "issue" is that he's pro-choice, which would have pissed off the Evangelicals. God forbid those guys get offended by people. you know, exercising their rights.

Kay Bailey Hutchison would have actually been a pretty good choice, except for, again, her view of abortion. She supports restrictions but believes that the issue should ultimately be left up to the Supreme Court. On the other hand, she's from Texas, she's a woman, and she's experienced. Unfortunately, she's experienced because she's sixty-five years old and has been involved with politics since 1972.

Charlie Crist was the last one. Policy-wise, he was pretty good. But during his campaign for governor, he got a little too close to some businessmen and lobbyists and was accused of inviting an illegal immigrant to a reception. Plus, he's not a woman.

So, Palin. No, I wouldn't have picked her, in John McCain's shoes. But she made sense, at least superficially. Very conservative, evangelical, young.

She'll bring in some of the evangelical vote, but will push away some of the independents. Basically, that means that she's won't do anything. How exciting.