I am Against Uniforms

I am against uniforms. STRONGLY. I think some people are ok with them, and some people pretend not to like them because they're not "cool," but I don't care about that. I just don't like them myself. I had to endure more than four years of uniforms back in elementary school at a private Catholic school. At the time it didn't bother me, but you must realize I had never been to a school without uniforms. Unless you count the two years in preschool (we had preschool and pre-k, not like I flunked preschool and had to do it again). But then, I only remember about two events from back then, so you really can't count that. Once I got out of uniforms, I never regretted it. So, I thought I was free from uniforms for life. Then the school system has to go and install uniforms for middle school. However, I was already in high school, so I still considered myself safe. For clarification, there were no uniforms in public elementary schools at the time, and there still aren't. They are just in middle school. This year, a rumor starts going around that they're putting uniforms in high school. The annoying thing is that they still don't have them in elementary school. So, the bill is discussed, and it looks like it's going to be passed. The school system even starts telling stores what types of clothes to buy for the high school uniforms. At that point, I am hopeless. I read an annoying article in the newspaper about the new uniforms and the writer has no idea what he's talking about. That aggravated me so much. I don't think he understood the words "dress code." He thought we could run around wearing whatever we wanted right now. Today, the teachers started talking about the dress code. They are strengthening it. Know why? The uniforms WEREN'T PASSED! MWAHAHAHAHA! Even if they try to pass the bill again next year and succeed, it doesn't matter, because by the time they do install them, I'll be a senior. The plan for this bill was to let the seniors by and let them out of uniforms for their last year, and I don't believe they are going to change that plan if they make another bill. I just think they should put uniforms in elementary school first, if at all. Anyway, I am happy because we won't have uniforms. I don't really care about the dress code. That's typically only a problem for girls, after all.
I linked a Radio.Blog to the site, as I had been trying to do for months. However, I am not directly hosting it, so if a song is not working, please comment so that I might replace it with another host. I will check through the songs to see if they are all working periodically.
I apologize to those of you that have trouble viewing this blog now that it has music and pictures in so many posts. Just to see how long it could take, I checked at school today, and on their internet it takes a good amount of time to get the pictures, and then longer to load Radio.Blog. I apologize if this is a problem.
Now, for news, as it should be. I meant to post a LONG time ago, but never got the time to sit down and write. April 3 was Wheezy's 16th b-day. I got him SWGB, or Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds. It was my first video game and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. I think he has enjoyed it as well. I created a scenario for him to introduce the units and buildings just for fun. If anyone reading this happens to have SWGB, I have a Halo multiplayer scenario on hand (created by myself), that intro scenario, and a few miscellaneous scenarios that you can have over AIM or through e-mail. Contact me through Lord Sobaguda on AIM or simply post a comment. I used to have more scenarios, but that is a very old game, so I lost most of them when we switched computers. April 6 I decided to revise the LOTR print I created, although only slightly, and most definitely for the better. I switched the O and the Y, and I switched the W and the TH. The O was the Y mirrored, but the O looked more like a Y than the O did, so I switched them. The W didn't look like anything, so it fit TH well, but TH looked exactly like a W, so they also were switched. I don't plan to ever change it again, as it causes problems when I do. For example, when I switched it, my signature changed, so everything I signed is now wrong. April 7 was Amba's b-day, but she was pretty quiet about it. She didn't want anyone in the class to know. (Which, of course, encouraged cwdrums and llama to spread it around) April 8 I called Engineer again, and since I got a machine, left my e-mail address. We have been talking via e-mail since, and it is good to hear how he is doing. Over the weekend of the ninth, I revised the ECU Band Camp story that I wrote back in ninth grade. I have told Amba about Aramaia, so even though many people in the school don't know who she is, Amba will mention Aramaia every once in a while. One of her friends noticed, so she asked me to explain who she was. So, I decided to simply give her a copy of that story, since I already had it written. I had to add a year of events and revise it a bit, but it's still basically the same. May as well give you a copy here. It is, of course, edited for internet usage. Also, the last paragraph (a full page on Word) is an addition to the original story that was added April 10. Enjoy.

ECU Band Camp: My Story

It was over three years ago now when it first began. Band was an option in sixth grade, and I was interested. I gave up my three years of piano and began playing clarinet at [Park Middle School] in 2000 with [Mrs. J] and [Mr. C] as my teachers. I did very well that year and began private lessons after the first semester. After that year, I played a solo at our sixth grade final concert. I was the only person to do so. Many people still remember it, and I received a lot of congratulations.
With the coming of summer came an opportunity. [Fuzzy], a very good friend of mine, had a great idea of something to do for a week. One of his teachers was a counselor at ECU Band Camp. He planned to go, and I went with him as his dorm buddy. I packed up on the day it began and set off for my first week without parents around in my life.
There were four bands which you could place into at ECU Band Camp. The best was blue, followed by red, green, and the lowest being purple. The camp took in sixth to twelfth graders, so I should have placed maybe high purple, at most. I placed seventh in green band, much better than I expected. [Fuzzy] placed second in purple, the reason being that hardly anyone played tuba. I believe only about nine tuba players tried out that year, most of them in the high grades. It wasn’t actually [Fuzzy]’s playing that left him to be so low that year; [Fuzzy] both was and is a great tuba player!
It was there in second chair purple that he met third chair purple. His name was [Dmajor], and they became good friends. He was a good friend of both [Fuzzy]'s and mine, despite the fact that he is a grade older than us, although I haven’t talked with him much in the past couple years. He was in seventh grade that year. We hung out with [Dmajor] and his crazy roommate, some other friends of [Fuzzy] from Red Oak, and anyone who entered our open door, literally. We would play BS or Uno in our spare time, and Skittles were the favored snack, being practically the only thing available. We had great fun that year. We did everything possible together and all agreed to come back again next year. That was ECU Band Camp ’01.
Many things happened that next year, but one of great importance in regards to Band Camp involved [Fuzzy]. Now, [Fuzzy] has four siblings and seven people in his family. They had switched schools two times then, soon to be three. They were not satisfied with public schools, and decided not to attend them from thenceforth. His parents became his teachers early in that year. With that switch from public schools to home school came a problem. For more than a year, he could not continue playing tuba, until lessons could be worked out.
I did stay in band, however. Everything stayed as it had been the year before in my case. I continued my lessons as well, and opportunity revealed itself in early ’02. There would soon be district band tryouts, and I could go with our band, the tryouts being for players in sixth to eighth grades. I tried out and placed eighth in the Symphonic band. I also went later to Solo for Winds and Ensemble, where you play a piece for a rating. I played a solo and duet and got a Superior on both of them.
The rest of the year passed, and summer ’02 came. [Fuzzy] had still not begun lessons, and he decided not to come to Band Camp that year. Thus, I went alone that year. I placed third chair in red band that year. I was very satisfied with the placement.
About halfway through the week, something happened that I would never forget. Each day, I saw [Dmajor] at dinner and breakfast, if I could find him. It was dinnertime on Wednesday, and I found [Dmajor] at a table with two girls I did not know. Interested, and having nowhere better to sit, I sat down there with him. The two girls were introduced to me as [Angel], a clarinet player, and [Desertrose], a saxophone player. They were talking about a friend of theirs. Apparently she was sad about something. It was years before I found out what it was, but they were trying to cheer her up. They did think of a way, and it involved me.
So, they went and got her from another table in the room. She was introduced to me as [Aramaia], another clarinet player. [Angel] and [Desertrose] “explained” who I was to [Aramaia]. According to them, I was a guy that was moving to Asia soon and wanted [Aramaia] to know that I love her.
[Aramaia] knew [Angel] and [Desertrose] well enough already not to take them literally, so I didn’t stop them. [Aramaia] seemed to have forgotten whatever she had been sad about, and that was what was important. [Angel] and [Desertrose] had succeeded, and [Aramaia] was now smiling. I wish I had a better memory of the other events of that lunch, but I am also very glad of what I do remember: how I first met [Aramaia].
After that, [Aramaia] and I became friends. If we saw each other between practices, since she was in green band that year, we would talk. I also got to know [Angel] and [Desertrose]. I still talk to them every once in a while on AIM, but not so often. On Thursday, I hung out with [Aramaia], [Desertrose], [Angel], and [Dmajor] whenever I could.
Thursday night came. Every Thursday night at Band Camp, which would be once a year, is the dance. The year before, I had simply hung out and enjoyed the music. I expected that year to be the same, but it didn’t turn out that way.
Apparently [Angel] and [Desertrose] can be very determined at times. That night was one of those times. They wanted me to dance with [Aramaia], and would pester us both until we did. I wasn’t sure if [Aramaia] wanted to, and I had never chosen to dance with a girl in my life. Sure, I had taken ballroom dancing and danced at the Homestead with my mom or grandmother each year, but this was obviously quite different.
Eventually, [Aramaia] asked me if I did want to dance with her. That’s simply not something I could say no to. I asked her if she wanted to. She answered yes, so, we danced. Every once in a while, [Angel] and [Desertrose] would stare at us, smiling. They had succeeded. We danced at least one more time that night, although exactly how many times I am not sure. The dance ended after a while. [Dmajor] returned to camp. He had been celebrating his birthday somewhere else that afternoon.
I told [Dmajor] of the events at the dance that night. He had liked her too, long ago. He had liked her when he first met her. [Aramaia] had liked him too, but nothing ever came of it. I found out that story later. Apparently, [Bluegirl], who I met the next year, had meddled too much. Their crushes soon diminished to nothing. They became simply friends, as they are today. [Dmajor] told me he believed [Aramaia] had a crush on me. If he was right, then it was mutual, since I liked her as well.
With the passing of the next day came the end of camp. The final concert was played, and I went home. I had something with me, though. I had [Aramaia]’s e-mail address. We planned too keep up with one another as much as possible. Now, I had only expected as much as my old friend [Creegan] did. He used to send me a brief e-mail every half of a year. She, thankfully, wrote almost every other day! I was very surprised when I got that first e-mail the following week when I was at the beach.
That next year came with a drastic change in school. I moved from [Park Middle School] to [EMS], the former junior high school. [Mrs. J] moved as well, but [Mr. C] stayed at [Park Middle School]. Lessons continued, and not much changed in regards to my clarinet playing.
I gave up All-District Band that year to go to the church ski trip. It was a decision I later regretted. I had a great time on the ski trip, but the long-term consequences didn’t make it worth the fun. But I can’t change the past, so I moved on. I did, however, go to Solo for Winds and Ensemble, and returned with three Superiors.
Summer came with the blink of an eye, and, as usual, Band Camp came with it. With nothing else happening that week, I obviously went. [Fuzzy], who began lessons around April that year, came as well, with a little push from his mom. [Dmajor] did not come, however. His tuba’s mouthpiece was being fixed, or replaced, so he could not play his instrument at the time.
I don’t know what happened with the tryouts that year. I played my piece with few mistakes, played the scales they named, and played the sight reading reasonably well. It may have had something to do with my clarinet. You see, my wonderful wooden Buffet R13 had cracked just two days before the tryouts. It was the first time I had had such a problem in the about three years I had owned it. But who knows what caused my placement problem, except the judges. I placed third in red band that year, the same as the year before. I was very disappointed and wondered why. Then there was a slight turn of events. The next name called off the list, fourth chair red band, was [Aramaia]! That changed my mood instantly. I was still somewhat annoyed, but the week no longer looked as grim.
I had great fun that week, despite my slight chair problem. I enjoyed being beside [Aramaia] in practice. When Thursday night came, I didn’t deny her the opportunity to dance, either. [Aramaia] and I must have danced five times that night. We had a great time. I was also introduced to many many friends of [Desertrose], [Angel], and [Aramaia]. One person I met was [Bluegirl], whom I still talk to every once in a while. The last night, after the final concert, I introduced [Aramaia] and her mom to my parents.
I went home that night with something different from the e-mail address I got the year before. I had a hope, an idea. Once again, [Desertrose] and [Angel] had interfered with [Aramaia] and me. They told me I should ask [Aramaia] out on a date, and that they were sure she would say yes. I asked her, telling her I would like to if there was any way we could meet, since she lives in [Verde Ciudad]. She did say yes, and the chance to meet came quickly.
[Chessy], my sister, needed to go to [Verde Ciudad] for ballet shoes, and we also needed to pick up my grandmother from a hospital there. It was my chance. We agreed to meet at the ballet store, and went from there to the [Verde Ciudad] Fun Park. A strange site for a first date, but I followed [Aramaia]’s advice. According to her, it was “Juvenile, but fun!” We did have a good time.
There isn’t much to say about that first date, amazingly. I didn’t quite take the hint to pay for [Aramaia], which I greatly regret, even if she says she didn’t mind. My parents claim it wasn’t truly a date if I didn’t pay for her. Someone there asked if we were brother-sister, and that we looked a lot alike. Assuming that means we look good together, I took that to be a compliment. We did putt-putt, go-karts, and bumper boats that day.
The next week, [Aramaia] was going to Carolina Bible Camp. The week after that, I was going to Duck on the Outer Banks. It was there at Bible Camp that [Aramaia] decided on something. She told me that God told her that she shouldn’t be dating yet, not for a time. She asked me for my friendship instead. I got that e-mail at Duck, about halfway through the week. I decided that it would be too normal for me to get mad and say no to her friendship. Instead, I trusted her, and, regretting I had no better option, accepted her offer for friendship. She said that maybe it would be okay for us to date again in a few years. So, we had broken up. At least, you could say that.
I was going to Big Stuf Camp in Panama City, Florida a week after my trip to Duck. I hoped God would sort things out for me there. It was, after all, a Christian camp, and I was looking for answers. Things were sorted out for me there, but my questions were nevertheless not fully answered. Instead, I got a clear message from God.
Big Stuf was the best! We played Halo in our spare time and at unreasonably late hours in the night. We enjoyed great sessions in the Big Room, and one session with Duffy Robbins, our youth group’s favorite speaker, excellent slushies, the beach, great meals, and so much more. It was also about a twelve hour drive to get there! Of course, I truly enjoy such long rides. Then there was the message I received from God. It was short and simple. God told me I should not date [Aramaia], or anyone, either.
I didn’t really mind so much, and neither the letter nor the message from God really bothered me. [Aramaia] had not said that she wouldn’t date me, but rather that she wouldn’t date at all. God told me the same thing. I trusted she would hold to that statement. I intended to follow His guidelines, and [Aramaia] did as well.
I was abruptly forced to exit the band program in the ninth grade. I was to be in the Pre-IB program that next year, and it did not allow you to play band. So, I didn’t. I still took lessons, though, and returned to Band Camp in ‘04, but I was not in the band program. I guess that is over now.
I made another visit to [Verde Ciudad] during the ninth grade. It wasn’t a date, but we did get together. We were once again in [Verde Ciudad] to get [Chessy] a pair of point shoes for ballet. We met her at her house this time, and were off. We first went to Panera’s, a bread bakery, for lunch, on her advice. Then we went to Barnes and Noble, where we discussed different topics and what books we had read. We went to the mall last, and went to several stores there. We went wherever [Aramaia] wanted to go at the mall, since Mom and [Chessy] went their own way. Then she needed to go home. I met her dog Honey at her house and said goodbye.

This is a very modified form of the old story. There were many parts the tense of which needed to be altered, and many parts did not fit as well as it once seemed that they did. This story was written near the end of first semester in ninth grade, so many things have changed since it was written. First of all, I did return to Band Camp at ECU in ’04. I placed in blue band this time, and was very satisfied to finally do so. [Aramaia] once again sat one chair behind me, more literally, one chair to my left. We had a good time, danced, talked, and played music. The final concert went quite well, and I took more pictures during that year. Until ’04, I only had one picture of [Aramaia], with [Angel], [Desertrose], and [Bluegirl] also. I only took that one in ’03, so I actually went a year without a picture of her. After Band Camp ’04, I ceased to take lessons. I literally have not touched my clarinet since then. However, I have kept in touch with [Aramaia] more than ever. It is rare that I get a chance to actually see her, but we talk every chance we get. In March, everything changed again. On 3/15/04, [Aramaia] sent me a chain message on AIM saying if I sent it on to a certain amount of people, someone would tell me they loved me at 11:11 pm. I didn’t send it on, I thought about it. I decided that rather than sending it on, I should fulfill that chain letter for [Aramaia]. I figured that if she was sending it around, then she must have wanted it to be fulfilled. I sent a long letter that told her, in short, that I love her, at exactly 11:11 pm. She replied by saying she thought it might be ok for her to date again, and that she had feelings for me too. She opened up a chance for a date right away. That very weekend, she was going to All State Band tryouts. She asked if I wanted to go with her. It was a long ride, and we could, at the least, talk together. So, I went with her to Thomasville. It was indeed a very long ride, three hours or so. When we got there, I went in with her to get started and listened to her audition piece. I also saw our high school’s band director there and [Web], a flute player and old friend of sorts. [Director], the band director, was quite aggravated that I did not take up band in high school, and made sure once again that I knew. I explained why I was there, since he obviously knew I was not in band. After a short while, [Aramaia]’s dad and I went to a lake, Rock Lake, and sailed the Myth, my RC model sailboat. It was a perfect day, and if I am correct, the first day that I had sailed the Myth with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Her dad and I talked together of many things. After a while, I brought the boat back in and we went back to the high school. While we waited for her to come out, I saw a few old friends there, including [Ung] and [MJ]. I talked with them a bit and explained why I was there but not trying out for the band. [Aramaia] finished up her tryout, came out, and we left the school. We talked for the hours on the way home as well. We each took turns asking questions for all of us to answer. We stopped in Raleigh for dinner at a restaurant called “Bahama Breeze.” I had never had Caribbean food, and she suggested we try it. I was ready to try something new. It turned out to be amazingly good food. All three of us, [Aramaia], her dad, and I, had a great time there. We went on to Rocky Mount from there, and they came in for a bit and talked. [Aramaia] came in, so I showed her some of the pictures I had taken of Band Camp and simply pictures I had massed over the years. But they had to go on to [Verde Ciudad], so we said goodbye after a short visit. I also got to see [Aramaia] once again just yesterday! Of course, it will not be yesterday forever, so it was 4/9/05. We were in [Verde Ciudad] buying [Chessy] ballet shoes once again, so we stopped by. I didn’t know we would be up there until just the day before, though, so [Aramaia] already had plans for 2:00 that afternoon. We had lunch together and talked a bit, but since she had plans, we dropped her off at her house after that. So, that is the end. That is basically a summary of what has happened with us since I wrote the story. Hope this fully explains everything!

Thursday the 14th we started reading a book called Ishmael, which I finished a few days ago. We are going to have a quiz May 16th, but we are not required to have read it until then. I only hope I don't forget everything. It was a very good book, though. It was very environmentalist, saying that unless we abandoned the hope of conquering the world (or actually did conquer it), we are doomed. It's very true, and I wish there was something I could do about it, but unless I retreat to some secluded area of the world and ignore "Mother Culture," as Ishmael describes her, there is little I can do. Friday the 15th Ruiner had a party (formerly known as fog meeting) at his house. We had 12 people, on four xboxes. That is most definitely the most people we have ever had playing at one time at a meeting. Wheezy, superman, and Archon were not able to come, but Ruiner invited several of his friends to make sure we had 12 players. I personally had a great time. Monday the 18th Bungie issued a Live Autoupdate for Halo 2. I downloaded it ASAP and resumed playing. The update fixed many things, and changed many things. Let's see...
Almost all glitches and cheats were fixed, including standby
Grenades were strengthened
Melee attacks were strengthened
Most duals were weakened, although primarily SMG and Magnum were each toned down
Battle Rifle was strengthened
Plasma grenades were made to stick much more easily
We got report cards April 19. All As, yesssss! On the 20th, Mrs. Liberal has us start on our rough drafts during school. I most definitely have not gotten far enough, and I really should be working on it right now. Thursday the 21st I found out we are not having uniforms! Thus, the topic of this post. I actually wrote the opening paragraph months ago when I thought they had denied it, but found out they had not. I saved it until now. Friday I got a letter inviting me to the A Banquet. So proud of myself! I didn't get it last year because of ONE PROJECT that caused me to get a B in two classes (the grade was linked to both classes). I did what they told me to, but they changed their minds about what it was supposed to be after we turned it in... The weekend of the 23d was the Senior High Retreat to Topsail. We had a good time there. I went swimming (in the ocean) on Saturday! It was FREEZING, but we still had fun! Wheezy, superman, and noname all joined me. Our youth leader went in for a bit, but not too long. The girls stayed at a cottage, but we had to stay at a motel. It was not a good motel. We didn't have hot water the first day, so we had to take VERY COLD showers. That was painful. Luckily, they turned on the heat after we called. We played some Halo 2 over the weekend as well, and any time I played I won. That is really bothering Wheezy now, since he got used to me playing horribly at Halo. Then I bought an xbox and now I can beat him any day at any wacked game he can come up with. And he has some pretty weird games... We did a lot with mazes while we were up there, and I found out I draw mazes very well! I'll have to make that a hobby... We drew mazes in the sand and went through them too. It was supposed to be a competition, but the girls' maze was so unclear and hard to see, it was quite unfair. But yeah, I had a great time. Sunday I went to Fuzzy's house. Get this: I beat him at four straight games of Halo 2! He is so much better than I am, I can't believe I was that lucky! We played Territories, I won. We played Oddball, I won. We played, King of the Hill, I won. We played slayer, I won. Unbelievable. I also finished the last slate for the Star Destroyer, so once we finish the bridge and get that on there, I'll post some pics of it. Today, two new maps, Containment and Sanctuary, were released for free on live. Two other maps, Turf and Warlock, are available for $6.99. I can't wait to get on today, and that's why I'm rushing writing this... Looking forward now, since that brings us to the present, my b-day party is this weekend. I am planning on having Aramaia come! Amba and her boyfriend will be coming as well. I look forward to meeting her boyfriend, and I know Amba and Aramaia look forward to meeting one another. Wheezy will not be able to come, and I'm not sure if superman will, but I hope to have 10+ people there. I am most definitely looking forward to that.
ENOUGH UPDATING: MUST PLAY NEW MAPS.......