Mother's Day

    Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! I know it's a big job with no break (but totally pays off), and I salute you! My mother was a truly amazing and selfless person. My stepmom is wonderful and giving as well. I got her a paring knife and Reese's chocolate. Thanks all you moms for being so incredibly selfless and wonderful like my mom was and my stepmom is! :D

    Be brave and have a happy Mom's Day!
         Leo

Band Banquet

    Yaaay, the band banquet was astounding! We ate delicious food, and I got to see a lot of my friends and band buddies. I also saw my fourth grade teacher, who was like, the best, and will always have a special place in my heart. Her son plays the clarinet. :)
    There were lots of awards. There were the equivalent of homecoming court (Mr. Music, Band Queen, and their the minions for lower classes),  musicianship awards, fancy awards entitled with names (Ex: Chicken Smith awards), and senior passdowns. Those are where seniors give out their own awards they made to other band members, like the "Bubbly Award", because they themselves were bubbly, so they give another member something like bubbles. Lots of them also get passed down from generation to generation, like this year a senior gave bubbles to a junior, and next year the junior (who will be a senior) gives them to a sophomore, and when they're a senior.... And so on.
    I myself got a Senior Passdown award for being small! It's called the "Mini Award" and has been passed down since 2007. You can see all the names recorded on it. The award thing is a pack of mini Uno cards! The person who gave me it is really sweet and amazing. I'd tell you her name but you can't know that. :) Yay for being under five feet and in high school!

    Be brave!
      Leo

Department Dinner

    Today this morning I saw this amazing saxophone quartet! They were really good. It was actually rainy and wet today, for the first time in months (literally)! It's nice to have a little precipitation now and then, even if it is a tiny drizzle hanging over the whole day.

    I went to the department end-of-the-semester dinner today. Not my department, I'm just in high school, but my dad's. He is a professor at our town's university (yes, I know, a college town) and teaches biology, among other things, and is in the (you guessed it!) biology department. They have a dinner at the end of every semester on the Friday before commencement (graduation). That means commencement is tomorrow, as well as my band banquet! Yaaaay!

    Be brave!

      Leo

Petri Dish

    I figured out my Irish accent today, even though it sounds really corny! Yay! Oh, the simple joys of life. In band this day, we were given ballots to vote for people we think should be nominated for things like Mr. Music, Band Queen, Outstanding Woodwind, Brass, Percussion, Most Improved, Band Sweetheart, Band Heartthrob, etc., etc. We have a banquet for this kind of silly stuff on Saturday. It will be fun!
    Speaking of band, my scales that were due today went well. I'm still nervous, though, because there were three that I didn't play off, and I'm really bad at them. I don't even know if I am allowed to turn them in anymore! *chews fingernails, but not really, because that's disgusting. Have you ever taken a bacterial swab from under your nail and put it in a bacteria-growing petri dish?*
    All in all, I had an amazing day. I was cracking up in seventh because I was talking in my newly discovered Irish accent, and my friend was rolling around in her chair laughing. Not on the floor, because high school floors are really gross. Again, have you ever taken a swab of it and put it in a culturing plate?

    Be brave!
       Leo

National Teacher's Week

    This day was average! There was an award assembly. Apparently this week is National Teacher's Week, or something to that effect. I salute you, any teachers out there! Really, you have taught me well. I had a long lunch. It was boring. It felt probably the same amount of boring that you're feeling right now as you are reading the chapters of my, lately, uneventful life. One highlight- I high-fived a friend! Yaaaay! Hahahahhaaahaha!
    I had a laugh in the library today, as my friends were being silly. I also fell asleep on the bus home because I only got seven hours of sleep. I was up reading really late, then I tried to sleep. I kept hearing/imagining rustling noises, though, and it was freaking me out because I thought it was a mouse. I used to have mice in the amaaazing house I lived in before this one, which is very rocky compared, and they are not pretty. Sound cute, but noooooo. So I stayed up for an extra hour and a half reading, then slept mouse-free.
    Speaking of reading, I'm kinda sick of books and media, houses, and dullness. I'm ready for summer. Summer = swimming + sweatiness + going out a lot with friends + marching + unbearable heat + running - sitting around reading or on the computer - babysitting every second of your life + stuff to do. That's your algebraic equation for the day, see if you can figure it out!
    Figure it out yet? No? Well, the answer is clearly pure bliss! It's probably not all that I'm cracking it up to be, (if that makes sense), but I miss it a lot, so I'm probably exaggerating it's amazingness.
   Tomorrow my scales for band are due. They are the semester test! D: Wish me luck!

    Be brave!
      Leo

Joyful!!

    I was sad when lunch started today, but then I was cheered up my climbing a tree and running with my friend. :D Then I was even more happy because I was spared math homework. Then I was even happier because I was spared English homework, too! Finally, at the end of the day, I was so happy, all reason being totally lost on me. I was giving people high-fives. Two gave me a hug instead! :D
    This morning I got up extra early so I could turn in my registration forms for being a sophomore next year. Whooo, that makes me feel like a marshmellow! After that I was cracking puns for the rest of the day. For those of you who can't tell, I have a weird habit of making stupid jokes, hence the "Joke of the Day" thing to your right --->
    I dissected a frog today. Just throwin' that out there.

    Be brave (and happy)!
       Leo

Problem: Solved!

    I'm sooo relieved and excited! I was planning to do band, choir, and ballet for next year, right? Well, my parental unit informed me that I could only take two extracurricular activities. Of course, I couldn't give up band, so it was a marvelous fight between choir and ballet. I had wanted to be in choir since I started band, when I was eleven, because it looked so fun and I looooooove singing.
    I had been in ballet when I was little, and it was the time of my life. When my mum went to the clouds, I had to quit for lack of time, and so I've been wantin' to go back since I was nine! I was really good at it, too. I recently started again. I have no idea if I'm good at singing, because some people say I am, but every time I sing around her, my step-mom always walks into another room or asks me to stop. Who knows? :D
    So I had to decide between the two before 7:30 AM tomorrow, because choir counts as an elective (ballet is not school related), and that's when registration papers were due. I called my most trusted friend and adviser, who always seems to be able to lay out the answer to any question that's not math, my big sister! She made it so plain that I should be in ballet. I'm good at it, I'd finally started again, and now that I have it, why would I throw it away the first chance I get? It also makes me really happy. Choir, whether or not I'd be amazing at it, overlaps with a lot of band stuff.
    Well, that felt like a no-brainer! :D Whooooo!

    Be brave!
       Leo

Ferrero Rochers and Lambs Ears!

    Today I went to a city that's about two hours away from where I live to pick up my smaller siblings from their dad and shop. I didn't buy anything except some chocolate cookie things that I had when I was in Korea two years ago. They're really yummy! :D
     I transplanted my lambs ears because they were dying. I hope they'll survive! They're my favorite plant I own, except for my orchids. Here's what lambs ears (not mine, right now they look scrawny) look like for those of you who don't know:

     I need to something more interesting so I have something more to right about... I still haven't filled out my schedule for next year, and I only have a day left. Tomorrow I dance the dance my friend and I choreographed in PE! It's going to be the next biggest thing since Ferrero Rochers, which are absolutely delicious! Here's what they look like-

    Have ya ever had 'em?

    Be brave!
      Leo

No Head-Banging!

    Today I went to a Taekwondo testing! My little sister and brother were testing for their green and yellow belts. I myself am a black belt, but I'm not active at the moment... I just found the band One Direction. They're pretty talented. Whooo!
    I feel like dancing. My head hurts a little, so maybe not head-banging. :D I'm going out to eat now, chow (haha, get the pun?)!

    Be brave!
      Leo

Bored and Lonely!

    Uhgg... I dislike those moments where there is nothing to do, and you want to go somewhere and do something with someone, but you can't because everyone is busy! As you might have guessed, I'm kinda feeling like that now... Heck, I even texted a few different people, and I got one person saying, "Hey, can't text right now." It's times like these when I wonder what they are doing that I am not. I don't go out on Friday nights, I just sit restlessly around the house because I can't drive anywhere (yet). Maybe they're like, going to the movies without me or something!

    Right now, I think it'd be nice to... go swimming. Or dance, go to a movie, and maybe even sit around with a friend and play a video game. Oooh, I know, camping! Or a game of Capture the Flag! That's a really fun game. How about... going out to eat ice cream and watch a concert. Not a big rock concert you're probably thinking of. There's a little place on the square of our town that is an ice cream/coffee/sandwich shop, and there's a door that leads to a patio in the back where we hold little concerts with maybe 20-50 people attending. It's super fun. Going shopping with a friend or twelve might be fun, too. Can you think of anything else that'd be just great that I probably won't be able to go do? Or please, it'd really help me, something I can do?

    Be brave, and not bored!

       Leo

Smells Like Summer!

   The world smells like cows. Literally, there are cows all around this part of the world in which I will not name. When the wind blows the right way, and you walk outside, bam! It hits you like a ton of bricks! That, combined with the undying heat reaching somewhere in the nineties (slightly cooler than some days), just makes life terrific. Really, because it feels like summer, which is my favorite time of the year. You just have to be prepared for days like that, like not wearing bright green boots and a pair of shorts that are too big for you, reach below your knees and make you look like a guy. Yeah, not very comfortable in ninety degree weather.
    I really love summer. It's not just the smell of cows, the incredibly unforgiving heat that makes you want to stick your head in the freezer, or the burns that come with it. It has swimming, and eating ham sandwiches in the shade. Not to mention ice cream, running, dancing and one of my very favorite parts of summer: Band camp!
    Ah, the days in which you leave the house around 8:00 in the morning, with big fly-eye sunglasses, shorts, tennies, and smelling like sunscreen. The whole morning outside marching, the sun on your back but more often your eyes, and sweat dripping down your back. It's really the very definition of bliss, and I'm not being sarcastic. I've missed it like crazy.
    My birthday is also in the summer, and large amounts of flies. They swarm in front of our back door each year, ready to ambush anyone who walks out and forgets they're there. It's challenging sometimes, remembering that if you open the door wider than just enough for you to fit through, you'll have some small creature batting at your head every time you sleep for weeks.
    This year went by quickly, and I can't believe that there are only 14 (or something) days until the earthly version of heaven is mine again! I got my registration forms, ideal schedule forms, course forms, course description papers and all that jazz today. There's just so much, it's overwhelming! I know that I'll be taking band, but haven't decided on most of the other stuff.
    Summer is gonna be great, friends.

    Be brave!
      Leo

A Day In the Life of Leo

    Today my mood was all over the place. Yesterday I had hoped to wait for my step-mom to come home, because we all expected for the hospital to kick her out because they can't have people hangin' around all the time that aren't patients or workers. But apparently they didn't, because I didn't see her come home until I woke up. I fell asleep around two, huddled up on my bottom bunk, ready to get up at any moment when they came home. It was a short, shallow sleep and I only got four and a half hours of it. This is kinda how my day went and what I felt about it:
    6:30: Whoa! - I scrambled out of bed to when my mom drove up to the house and came in. My dad got better, yay!
    6:40: Groggy - for the rest of the morning before school.
    8:03: Super crazily happy! - We got some music for our marching show in band next year! Whooo! Marching is so much better than concert, in my opinion. Then in my biology class I found that our final was going to involve something like writing a song or making a costume, and I love to sew! I made a whale costume once, and won something for it...
    9:10: Slightly less happy, but happy none the less - Dissecting! Smelled bad, and I was confused on how to do my job in the group... But it was exciting!
    9:20: World is spinning, I can't think straight! - Well, let's just say I was working with this really cute guy in my lab... hehe!
    9:40: Back to amazingly fantastically super happy - I saw a couple of my friends! Yay!
    9:50: Down in the dumps - My friend was kinda ticking me off...
  10:00: Really happy again! - I love dancing, it's the best!! By this time it's about third hour.
  10:55: The world is somewhere far below... - there's something about a war, but... Oh my gosh, that's like the fifth time I've fallen asleep in history class!!
  11:42: Yeah, whatever - I didn't feel like working, so I climbed a tree. Good thing it was lunch.
  12:30: Groggy, again, and realization dawned on me - Still amazingly tired, I shouldn't have stayed up so late. Then I realized I have a huge pile of math due on Friday. Romeo and Juliet has a lot of "thous" and "thees" and "haths" and stuff.
    2:35: Ticked off - My friend, whom I had forgiven, was really makin' me mad again!
    3:10: Slightly less ticked off - Yay, I'm going home, sleeeeep!
    3:45: I won't fall asleep!! - I'm supposed to be babysitting my brother and sister as always after school! Zzzzz......
    7:00: Whatever again - The absence of feeling...
    8:00: So angry I'm shaking! - Sometimes little siblings can be a real pain in the batoodie!
    8:05: Even more freakin' angry! - A real pain in the butt she's being... I thought this was the kind of grief kids get when they're like, ten! I guess I'm still new to this older sister thing...
    8:25: Relaxed - at peace with myself, and my little sister.
    9:00: Contently happy - Practicing marching music lifts my spirits! I can't wait for summer to start. Days filled with nothing but marching around in the hot sun, drumline in the background... My ideal way of life.

    So yep, that's my day. Thanks for reading all the way through it, whether or not you found it boring. I think tonight I'm going to bed early...

    Be brave!
      Leo

Really Late and Really Early

    Today I got home, like usual, and babysat my little brother and sister. Then my little sister comes up to me and hands me her phone, saying my step-maja (mother) wants to talk to me. My dad's in the hospital for a kidney stone. It's nothing serious, but he'll be there for a while, maybe a whole night. She's staying with him. I'm worried, a bit. I don't like having family members in the hospital. I don't think many people do.
    So I babysit for a while, and my older sister comes over. The little ones go to bed. We watch a funny comedian. It's kinda late, like one in the morning. I hope my dad is doing okay. My little brother has a cool Star Wars nerf gun. I don't know if the "n" in "nerf" is supposed to be capitalized.
    I feel bad about enjoying this, but between everyone's schedules, my sister and I, who used to spend a lot of time together back in the day, don't really have time to just hang out a lot. Plus, it's weird, tucking in my little siblings and staying up like that. Maybe it's because I grew up being the littlest until very recently when my dad got married. Maybe I've been reading too many Maximum Ride novels, because it kinda felt like I had my own flock. Maybe I'm just saying silly things because it's one o'clock in the morning, and I tend to ramble when it's really late or really early. If you go far enough, really late and really early are the same time. Have you ever noticed that? I think I'll try to go to sleep now.

    Be brave!
       Leo

Dancing!!

    Today was an absolute knockout! Okay I might be exaggerating just a teensy little bit. But really, today was a great day. Why, do you ask? Well, whether or not you asked, I'm going to tell you anyways. It was nothing especially in particular, besides dancing, that was fantastic. It was more of all of the little things added up together to make the perfect day (all of the bummer-like things were disregarded and flicked to outer space)!
    We got a piece of music in band that is no longer produced, and is our high school graduation tradition. We are preparing for graduation, obviously. It's gonna be great! I love freshman year...
    You may have noticed that I said "dancing" up in the first paragraph. If not, it was line three, word five. In my Physical Education class, we are doing a unit on dancing! I'm so excited! I love dancing! We get in groups, or partners, or whatever, pick a song, choreograph a dance, then dance it at the end of the week! Most everyone else is doing some hiphop thing with a group of (average) five people, but I am doing a ballet duet with my friend.
     I used to take ballet lessons up until I was nine. I loved them. Then my mama died :( and my dad didn't have time to take me, so I quit. Well, I have time now, so I took up dancing again, only right now I'm in a catch-up class. My friend is already on pointe. I'm back in the game, baby! Okay, I won't say that again, it was kinda creepy.
     Anyways, I haven't danced like this in a long time, since the class I'm in is more of a "technique/exercise for people older than me" class, and we don't really do that kind of stuff. And when we do, it's not as hardcore, for lack of a better word. Not that PE class is hardcore. I'm so happy! Whoooo! Life is so amazing!
     One of my friends cut/almost shaved his head today. Just throwin' that out there.

     Be brave!
       Leo

Dripping Clocks

    Today we celebrated my sister's birthday! She actually turned twenty on Thursday, but we were all busy, so put off the "party" (more like a gathering) until today. The cake was delicious, strawberry with cream cheese frosting, one of my new favorite kinds of frosting! I got my sister a bag of chocolate chips and a clock that you're supposed to set on a flat surface, like a bookshelf, and it looks like its drooping. It was based off some painting by a guy named Salvador Dali. Here's a picture of the clock:

The only difference was that it had a black frame, and clear print, digit numbers (1, 2, 3, etc). It also didn't have the tab at the top. Here's a picture of the painting:

     My sister's an art major. :) Then she left for her apartment after our gathering was over. My little siblings called their dad (they're my step-mom's children). They found out their beloved sheltie, Simba, died. They've had him since before my little sister (the oldest of the two) was born. He was adorable, and had a looong life. He was 15 when he died, that would make him, oh, about 105 years old in our time. After a full life, I hope dog-heaven is rewarding for him.

    Be brave!
      Leo

Sponge Candy Experiment

    The soccer game was fun, despite the fact we lost. :( My friend and I went to a lake/pond thing near the fields, though, and there were geese! We got within three or four feet of them, and they seemed kinda mild for geese, given their reputation for being mean and all... Then we started headed back, and happened to turn around, and there it was, hissing and chasing us! We screamed and laughed and ran... It was so funny! Brave of it to attack something three times its size, not to mention there were twice as many of us...
    But here's another hilarious incident of the day- I tried to make sponge candy! Have you ever had it? It's really good. Here's what it looks like (DEFINITELY not mine):

    Anyways, so I tried making it... I obviously did something wrong, because it smelled horrid, was blood red, bubbled like crazy, and hardened to the pan. Then it looked like some kind of pitch black coral you would under the sea. Hot water sprayed powerfully got rid of it, though, after an hour of cleaning up the explosive mess. Our pan was spared his life. :)
    I'm generally a lot better at cooking than this. Honestly!

    Be brave like a goose!!
        Leo

Dead Catfish! :(

    Yaaaay! We had a free day, listened to the judges comments on our songs... We got the highest score, a one minus, a two plus, and a two!! I think that might've gotten us into state for next year, but I can't be sure... My friend made red velvet cupcakes, and they were delicious!
    At lunch I climbed a tree. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
    My catfish died a couple days ago!! :( His name was Penguin. I don't if he was a boy or girl, so I just call him a he. This is kinda what he looked like:

    I also have a theory on keeping in shape: It's a lot more fun and not nearly as hard when you're doing something fun with other people, like racing instead of running, or giving them a piggy-back ride instead of lifting weights. It's not as boring, or you're not thinking, "Oh, this sucks," as often. Just an idea. :)
    Tomorrow I go to a nearby town and watch my friend's soccer game! He's really good at soccer. Yaaay! I have to get up at 7 am on a Saturday, but it's worth it...

    Be brave!
       Leo

District Contest!

   Yay! We had district contest today! It went well. Our performance was probably the best we've performed with those songs, and our sight reading went fantastically (sight reading is when you're handed a piece of music you've never seen before, then you have to play it after ten minutes of preparation). Afterwards, we went to Furr's cafeteria (really yummy!) and I had like, the best brownie ever! Then we went back to school, which still wasn't over for those non-band kid folks.
   I had fun, we just hung out in the band hall for the rest of the day, since we were excused for the whole day. Whoo! Then, since most of my friends had sports for last period, I decided to go to my last period, computers science, but more accurately Photoshop class. We didn't have a lesson, so we were to just chillax, and that was fun too. Free day in band tomorrow, with food, and hopefully our scores for district, I can't wait!!

   Be brave!
      Leo

Wish Us Luck!

  I also forgot to mention- we have district contest tomorrow in I Can't Tell You, USA!! We need to get a one (which is a really good score) to qualify for state next year, and state contest is amaaazing!! So please, cross your fingers!

   Be brave!
      Leo

Adventurous Sun Disaster!!

    Totally down in the dumps... I had an amazing day, mostly. Band rehearsal was good, despite my being late for like, the third time in a row. I missed the bus for the first time at the end of the day. That sucks, because I really ought to be driving. I caught a different bus, and got off at the wrong stop. Bleh.
    But then it was better- I watched a documentary on the sun. It was cool. Get this- the sun gives off massive storms occasionally, and they cause blackouts. There was a really bad one in the 1800s. If we have one now, it would cause a huge blackout for us. And depending on the severity, it could last ten whole years! There is no way of telling when the next one is. I have a vision of us hunting in our backyards, shooting down squirrels destined to be lunch.....
    So leave it to the mind-bottling (or whatever it's called), crazy, totally wacko things to brighten up my day (literally, the sun, get it?). I don't get how my mind works.

   Be brave!
      Leo

Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel

   I got Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel! Yay! I'm so excited to read it!

      Be brave!
          Leo

Band Rating!

   Today wasn't very eventful. We listened to the recordings and judge comments on our songs for band from the contest we were in on Friday. We got a two. For those of you who don't know, bands are rated (or graded) on their performance on a scale of 1 to 5, five being the worst, one being the best. So it wasn't bad, but we needed a one to make State contest next year. We still have a chance though, because if we get a one in District contest, we will still qualify. Cross your fingers and hope for us!
   I really want to read Maximum Ride: Angel. Just throwing that out there.

   Be brave!
     Leo

On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss

   Today I had a spring concert for my high school's band in which I am a part of. We played three songs: Allied Honor composed by Karl L King, On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss by David Holsinger, and Overture for Winds by Charles Carter. We did well, and I was pleased.
   On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss (aka Philip Bliss) is based on a sad story. Its about Horatio Spafford, a man from the 1800s, and his family. He and his wife and four daughters had planned a trip to Europe by boat. Spafford could not go at the same time as his family due to some business delays, so he sent them ahead, planning to hop on a ship and get there a few days later. However, the ship his family was on sank, and all four of their daughters died. Spafford traveled across to grieve with his wife, and while passing the area in which his daughters died, was inspired to write "It Is Well with My Soul".
   Click here to hear the song (not by us, by North Texas Wind Symphony). Doesn't it have the best reed instrument part?

   Thanks for listening,
     Leo

Why I Made This Blog (Kinda)

Hey! Welcome to my blog!
    I'm new to this kinda blog stuff, so... I just remembered a few years ago, my friend told me I should make a blog, and we made a blog. It was cool. I never really ever posted stuff on it though, and I don't remember what it was called. So I made a new one! Yay!

    Thanks for readin'!
         Leo