I'm back

I'm back for now. I have some updates. School is ok, life is average, and i couldn't ask for much more. GH3 is awesome. I can now play a good portion of Thunderstruck by ACDC on my real guitar. um not much really, i guess things have been going pretty well for some time.

later

Mega64: Resident Evil 4

Tyler showed me this awhile back... LOL

Sephiroth's Issue

I found this one too, also quite hilarious. It sounds like something tyler would make.

FF7 Restaurant

haha Final Fantasy 7 is perhaps my favorite video game ever, so I thought this parody was hilarious.

I need a name...

I got my new guitar and here's the proof...
PICTURES









Only problem is, she lacks a name...
My first guitar's name is Layla, so that doesn't qualify, but I could use suggestions, PLEASE COMMENT. Haha, talk to you later.

I made a Choice

I'm gonna stay at St. Paul. I made my choice yesterday at XC practice.

A really big descision

Hey everybody.

My parents finally caved and are gonna let me switch schools if i want to, heres the thing; I can't decide. I could use some help, but please be serious and not give me stuff like we'll miss you, or the like. Heres a complete overview of my situation...

I currently go to SP private school, and there is nothing that I hate more in the known universe. Most of the people there despise me. I've been practically begging to leave for several years now, and I have got one opportunity, that if I pass up, I will never get again. I'm constantly picked on at SP, and the people there are for the most part awful. On the upside, I do have a few really good friends that I would really regret leaving behind. My cross-country team is awesome this year (consisting of both overall skill, and a lot of my friends). Academic challenge is completely unique at SP (we don't care about the outcome unlike other schools) and is a lot of fun (my friends). SP sounds better on a college application than a public school, but I would probably excel more at the public school.

Some lists...
Why I should stay
good for college
friends
I don't know if I'll hate the other school more
XC
I hate change
German class
I will lose absolutely all of the little respect I am given by my class
My family spent $600 on a varsity jacket, and class ring, which is non-refundable

Why I should go
I hate SP
The people there treat me like I'm lower than dirt for the most part
I have higher potential to excel
I can broaden my horizons
I can make new friends
I can start over to some degree, and not be the weird kid, just the new kid
I'd get to see my dad during the day
I can rekindle old friendships
I might be happier

Those are the facts of the case, and they are undisputed. (A few good men is an awesome movie...)

So, please give me your input, but keep in mind this isn't a vote, and its highly important.

Thank you.

Subdivisions (Music Test Revisited)

I have updated my playlist a ton since I took this test thing, so it makes sense that I should do it again... Same rules, playlist set to random, and I wrote down the songs as the answers to the questions.

What does next year have in store for me?
>The Shortest Straw-Metallica

What does your love life look like?
>Sacred Heart-Dio (weird I got this one last time????)

What do I say when life gets hard?
>The Last in Line-Dio

What do I think of when I get up in the morning?
>Revelation (Mother Earth)-Ozzy Osbourne (weird answer)

What song will I dance to at my wedding?
>Kickstart My Heart-Motley Crue (LOL)

What do you want to do for your career?
>Arterial Black-Drist (makes no sense, I was hoping for I wanna Rock by Twisted Sister)

Your favorite saying?
>Chapter Four-Avenged Sevenfold

Favorite place?
>Carry me Home-The Living End (my answers made a lot more sense last time around)

What do you think of your parents?
>Toxicity-System of a Down

Where would you go on a first date?
>Jump in the Fire-Metallica (yay pyros!)

Drug of Choice?
>I Could have been a Dreamer-Dio

Describe yourself.
>Live and Let Die-Guns N' Roses (works for me)

What is the thing I like doing most?
>Girls, Girls, Girls-Motley Crue (you have no idea how much I'm laughing, remember these are all random answers given to me by my computer)

What is your state of mind like at the moment?
>Fight Fire with Fire-Metallica (not inaccurate)

How will I die?
>Aerials-System of a Down (???)

The song that will be played at your funeral?
>Dust in the Wind-Kansas (wow, thats dead on)

The song you'll put as the subject?
>Subdivisions-Rush

The song that describes my friendships?
>The Call of Ktulu-Metallica (haha sweet song)

The song that describes my future marriage?
>Since I Don't Have You- Guns N' Roses (oh thats real nice to know...)

The song that describes my future children?
>Believer-Ozzy Osbourne

The song that describes what this summer will be like?
>Dust in the Wind-Kansas (again, summer is almost over and I've had no vacation, so it makes sense)

The song that describes what people think of me?
>Shot in the Dark-Ozzy Osbourne (not too far from the truth)

The song that describes how I'll do in school?
>The Final Countdown-Europe (WOOOOOO!!!!!)

The song that describes how nice of a career I'll have?
>Crazy Crazy Nights-KISS (yay night shift)

The song that describes my personality?
>Tom Sawyer-Rush (not a bad description)

Hey Tyler, think you can keep up?

"No Leaf Clover"

Ok, I got the song "No Leaf Clover" on my playlist, by Metallica S&M...

Well it really describes a lot of my day today.

And I quote...

"Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, was just a freight train coming your way."

I believe that says it all, except for one thing, and that is the reason. The reason is simple, today was the first day of cross-country practice, and guess how many miles they threw at me? 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are training for a 3 mile race, and in 3 years I have never been forced to do such a thing. Sadly I didn't even get to finish, because I managed to get one heck of a cut on the back of my ankle... I was forced to finish on a bike, by the coach. Not to say I'm not grateful for the bike, its just the fact that it was mortifying.

Well, I guess tomorrow's a new day (this one with a wonderful new invention called medical tape), so maybe I can redeem myself.

~Storm~

Guitar Hero has been defeated!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!! I just beat the first Guitar Hero on expert. It gave me a free ax guitar, and its pretty cool. I'm still working on GH2, and 80's edition, but I am sure to beat them soon enough, well at least 80's edition. I still have Electric Eye, Seventeen, and Play with me in the 80's edition. In GH2 I still have Hangar 18, Beast and the Harlot, Institutionalized, and Freebird. Its safe to say that 2 is gonna be a bit harder.

A Third Blog

Hello again...

I have one more "new" blog site to add...

http://duct-tape-phantom.blogspot.com is another new blog, which is focusing itself on advice and the the future of the human race. Please check it out, the link is already up... (Master Phantom)

~Storm~

Guitar Warrior

Hi again, me and Tyler are working on a new Blog called "Guitar Warrior," which is a blog devoted to helping people learn guitar techniques (simple to difficult). So, for anyone who is interested, please check it out.

: ( not so good today

I just haven't been doing too great lately... I guess I've been angry a lot, not to mention rather depressed. I know why it is, and I guarantee that it isn't the reason that you may think (well, your reasoning probably has something to do with it but not to the degree you may think (catch that?)). The source of the problem is simple and indescribably frustrating... I only really typed this just to let y'all know to give me some space for awhile.... (seriously)

later...

Firefox Doesn't Play Well With Others

Tyler showed me this and I find it hilarious, so' I'm putting it on my blog. Have fun.

Time to laugh... possibly quite a lot

Ok so I was the sophomore class attendant for the coming home dance this year, some of you may remember that... way back. But I just recently received a picture of myself at the dance (via an email from Francisco). Well, its kind of amusing considering that I was representing my class and it was dark.





Scroll Down...




A little more...




I think you can handle it...





Ok just a tiny bit more now....











Ok I lied.....











PERFECT....

100th post

I think this is my hundredth post. Yay me! So, how is everybody? I'm good. Nothing has gone on today, except for some extreme guitar hero battles against my brother. He always beats me in the first round, but never the second or the third. can anyone explain that.

I'm going to Columbus tomorrow. That should keep me entertained for a while. By the way Tyler got a job, so be sure to congratulate him.

new playlist...

I fixed the playlist, if that isn't obvious. Then I turned it white.

No More Playlist

It died. I am currently very angry with it. I hate computers.

I added a playlist....

Hey everyone... I added a playlist to my blog, as you can probably see. Thanks goes to Katy for the instructions and the idea.

Recent News

So, some stuff has happened lately. I got my drivers license, I am now officially a junior, I got my OGT scores back, and my brother's birthday was 2 days ago.

The whole driving test was rather nerve racking. Driving is easy, unless the person sitting next to you is evaluating your every move. Then it can be a little bit more difficult. I did well enough to pass, but just barely (hehehe much like the written test, because I ran out of time). But now I can drive, and I guess thats good enough for me.

The whole being a junior thing isn't really that exciting. I mean its just a title that really doesn't mean anything. The only good thing is that I only have two more years of high school, then I have college. College will hopefully be better than St. Paul's, but I think anything would be better than St. Paul's. I hate it here.

I scored advanced on all of my OGTs except writing. I don't feel too bad about the writing one because nobody got advanced on it this year. Our English teacher was a little upset, but he will get over it. Personally I think that they just raised the grading standards for the writing portion.

And of course, I cannot forget my brother, whose birthday was on the sixth. Happy belated birthday!



Summer Rules!!!!

Lonely Day

Another song that Tyler made me aware of. I love the solo.

Metallica - Mama Said

This is probably the closest Metallica has ever come to country, and had it not been for Tyler, I would've never known that this was indeed Metallica. Its a good song.

I do understand the Bible...

You know the Bible 98%!

 

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes

more quizzes

ANIMOLOGY: What Animal Are You? Your Result: Blue Fox You are the blue fox! A total perfectionist and a true born leader. You can never resist a challenge! Your Soul Mate is the Yellow Trout and you loathe the Indigo Beaver.
Silver and Red Wolf
Teal Cat
Red Jaguar
Gold Falcon
Ocre and Gray Dolphin
Tan Giraffe
Yellow Trout
ANIMOLOGY: What Animal Are You?

What mental disorder do you have? Your Result: GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) You can never seem to calm down and always feel anxious for unknown reasons. You tend to not be able to concentrate and have headaches or other anxiety symptoms.
Paranoia
Manic Depressive
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
What mental disorder do you have?

what metal genre are you? Your Result: Classic Metal The type that started it all!, Dark bluesy rock combined with wailing vocals and even some new fretwork, original uncompromising and daring this is what metal was all about and in essence still is
Death Metal
Black metal
Nu metal
Power Metal
Thrash metal
what metal genre are you?

Absolute Stupidity

Ok this is a brief story concerning guitar picks that I'm gonna share with you. Ok, after school I went to buy some new picks because I lost one, and the one I had left had a nearly serrated edge from too much tapping. So I bought 2 new ones, raising my total to 4. Then I leave them on my desk while I go to pick up a pizza. After dinner I went into my room, and only 3 picks were where I left four. One of my new ones was missing. So me and my brother searched for it for nearly an hour. But it doesn't end there, I set the remaining three picks on my bed, and I went to take a shower. Guess what happened when I got back out... only 2 were left! a new one, and my first pick. Now if thats not disturbing enough, the one that went missing was purple. My brother reported seeing the purple pick on my bed next to the other two on my bed while he was searching for the lost red one. I trust my brother when he says that he saw it and didn't take it. I think I have a ghost or something.

I might as well join everyone else...

Your score on this personality test was 76%

 

Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile, rather impulsive personality; a natural lead, who's quick to make decisions, though not always the right ones. They see you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will try anything once; someone who takes chances and enjoys an adventure. They enjoy being in your company because of the excitement you radiate.

Personality Quiz
Take More Quizzes

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Musician   Doo doo de doo waaaa doo de doo! (<-- That's you playing something.) Everyone appreciates the band/orchestra geeks and the pretty voices. Whether you sing in the choir, participate in a school/local band, or sit at home writing music, you contribute a joy to society that everyone can agree on. Yay! Welcome to actually doing something for poor, pathetic human souls. (Just kidding.)
Literature Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Social Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Anime Nerd
Drama Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

Ultimate '80's Rock quiz Your Result: YOU ROCK!! you definately know your '80's rock! Eddie Van Halen would be proud. Go out, buy your first real six-string and play it 'till your fingers bleed. if that's not your thing then go put on a good rock tune and play air guitar until someone makes fun of you, at that point tell them to go screw themselves and get ready for the guitar solo!!!
YOU SUCK!!!
Ultimate '80's Rock quiz Create Your Own Quiz

One more amazing guitar

This is an Epiphone model of the Gibson Moderne.

Its another amazing guitar that I wish I owned. I bet my mom would even wish I had this one (well, actually the Gibson model), because I could sell it and we would have enough money to buy Norwalk.

I have not forgotten about my blog just yet!!!

Ok, so I'm updating my blog... what do I say now...

Well, over the course of the past 3 days I've practiced playing my guitar so much that my fingers are coming dangerously close to bleeding. I guess that kind of gives new meaning to the phrase "working your fingers to the bone," because I can now say that I have almost accomplished that... its cool.

I learned all of "Ride the Lightning" except the solo... the solo is a power chord arpeggio thats faster than most normal arpeggios that I have seen. I'll learn it eventually... just not now. Today I made it my mission to start learning "The Call of Ktulu," and my mom wasn't too thrilled that I started practicing at 1 in the morning... what, I couldn't sleep. Also, I learned a bit of "Alone" by Sanctus Real (did I spell that right?), which is also an awesome song.

I ran again earlier this week, it was like 80+ degrees out, so needless to say it was a little hot out.

Ok, so now I've got some pictures of guitars, that I found on the internet. I plan to own them someday... they would definitely be in my dream collection.









My future collection is a thing of beauty isn't it?

The tortures of long distance running...

So yesterday I went running for the first time in about three or four months. It wasn't fun. I definitely over did it. You are generally supposed to ease your way into long distance running, but being me, I decided what the heck, I may as well just keep going. I kept going and going for more than four miles. Not a particularly wise decision. Don't get me wrong, I have been known to run for up to ten plus miles at once, but thats generally after being used to running. After about the second mile I felt like I was running through fire, and my fingers were numb. Sorry for complaining about my stupid decision, but there is a moral to this story. That is don't go running at a long distance, if you haven't been seriously running for more than a month.

~Storm~

Paint is an awesome Program!

I drew this, its cool. By the way, this will probably be the last Metallica related post for a while. Go ahead Daniel breath a sigh of relief.

Master of Puppets

This is the song my blog is named after. Sylvia made the Youtube part for me, so thank you very much.

New Stuff

Ok, so some of you may have noticed the changes in my blog. Well they are a result of some stuff happening. I changed the name to "Master of Puppets" because that is an awesome song by Metallica. Also, Sylvia suggested I change my name to "Sandman" another Metallica reference. But, until I get email addresses not everyone can get on here. So I apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

Mystery Person Revealed

Hi, I'm back, this is Storm this time. So, I bet some of you who are wondering who the mystery person is... too bad... just kidding. 50 points to anyone who guessed Sylvia. Tyler, you should get a muffin, I don't expect many people to understand that. Oh and, negative 5 points to anyone who guessed wrong. Mwahahaha!

I'm having a fairly good, and random day. I have to go drive with the instructor soon... last time yay!!!

See y'all later.

~Storm~

Nonsense....

Hello again. Well, not again really, because this isn't Storm talking...

Yes, I do have permission to invade his blog, don't worry. But I think you're all wondering who this masked person is, right? I'll give you some clues.

I am a good friend of Storm's...

Everyone of you knows me...

I have Brown hair...

And a passion for music and singing.

Hehehe, who am I?

Another Day...

Hi everyone, once again it has been a while since I last updated, and I apologize.

Hardly anything interesting has happened here in Norwalk for a while. Hopefully that will change soon.

In other news, I drove to Danbury this last Sunday, and nobody was injured as a result of my driving, so that means I must be getting better at it. I had a great time that day, and I am again thanking Sylvia and her family for having me over.

In other other news I have learned a ton of the song "For Whom the Bell Tolls" on guitar. Along with a good portion of "Master of Puppets." So somebody go ahead and tell me that I'm too obsessed with Metallica, I dare you. XD
We'll see where that gets.

Today we had a test in physical science, over a bunch of rocks.... we were supposed to memorize them, but I put no effort into it. I still think that I did ok. I just put graywacke for the ones that I didn't know (graywacke is a completely unidentifiable rock that could have been virtually any of the rocks that I wrote it down for). I also got a 16 out of 20 on a math "elephant quiz," that I expected to get maybe 2 right on. For those of you who don't know what "elephant quizzes" are I will explain, they are these tests over completely useless trivial little math facts, like the unit circle (sorry math enthusiasts, but I hate the unit circle with a passion) that we get once a week.

The song that best describes my day is... "Symphony of Destruction" by Megadeth. Random I know. This post has violated the laws of reality by mentioning both Metallica and Megadeth in the same post, and the same sentence.

I have to type a Friday report for earth science on astronomy. It should be easy, so I think that I will start it now.

Later...
~Storm~

Above the Clouds

Flying high today, and I can't wait until tomorrow. I found a picture on the web that pretty much describes how i feel.

I don't know who took it, but its a beautiful picture... (If I sound like I'm not myself, its because I've never felt this good in my life).

Recent Computer Endeavors

So yesterday Alex (with a little of my help) took over my laptop, from his house. Remote assistance is cool. We ended up fighting over control of the mouse a couple of times, because I wanted to use the AIM thing, to tell him stuff about the computer that he probably already knew, it was quite funny.

In other news prom is tonight, so everyone who is going, have fun.

My life currently

So yeah, hows life? Mine's good, really good. So awhile back I said that I was very happy, but I didn't give a reason why. Well, Karolyn suggested that I just come out and say what's been making me so happy. There has been a mutual decision that I respond to Karolyn's comment. So here it is Sylvia and I have been dating since the beginning of Spring break. I have never been so happy in my entire life, and I hope that she is too.

^__^

Some pictures from guitar practice...

Hi everyone. I had Tyler over today, and we practiced guitar for quite some time. In the process we took some pictures, here are some of them.


(this is me)
(Tyler)

(Lola and Laila, strong family resemblance no?)

OK, so now that all of the introductions are complete...

(A totally random picture that was taken by accident)

(Tyler took this one, pretty awesome, I mean seriously who can hold a guitar and take a picture of it at the same time?)

(Some trick playing, only the privileged few get to see me play behind my head, in person. It's rather difficult, but challenges are fun. "Sweet Child O' Mine" is one of the few songs I can actually use this trick for.)

(The next Steve Vai... If you have ever seen Steve Vai play, you'll get that. If not look him up. Tyler's the man.)

(In addition to being the man, he was also very tired. XD
Too much caffeine, I assume... see the empty Mt. Dew can... well that was already there, but oh well you get the point.)

Tremolo picking... one of the coolest guitar techniques ever

OK, so tremolo picking is playing one note (one string), over and over again as fast as possible. Its really difficult, but I have been practicing it and have gotten to be able to do it consistently, well sort of. Some days I can do it other days I can't, much like artificial harmonics. Anyway, it sounds sweet, and I think I'm going to incorporate the technique into my own guitar playing style as much as possible.

I am developing a guitar playing style (as mentioned above), and it is still quite basic. But here's some of what it includes: fast power chords, tremolo picking, clean (on the amp, when I can effectively use it), some slides and of course really fast finger/pick tapping (I don't really know if that is the technical term for it). A few of you have heard that last technique, and it is by far my favorite to use spontaneously.

RANDOM STUFF!!!

So I'm gonna talk about random stuff now, so don't think I've gone insane, I've just had a good day. Hmm... first topic... has anyone ever had a computer that keeps losing memory for no apparent reason. My laptop seems to be losing hard drive space rapidly for no apparent cause. As far as I can tell it hasn't gotten any new programs or other files, so its rather puzzling... could be FireFox.

Next, it has been suggested that I talk about cheese. Cheese is cool!!! I like almost every kind of cheese. American is my favorite. What is your favorite kind of cheese? Melted or cold?

I now have AIM so if anyone wants my screen name thing, contact me via email or phone or whatever.

So my brother doesn't like taking vitamins in the morning, so he hides them around the house. He got caught today... It was kind of funny. Besides my brother, who hides vitamins?

I guess Tyler's coming over tomorrow or sometime. I have yet to finalize the details, but it should be interesting.

Sylvia is singing at a wedding (sorry I didn't mention this sooner).

The weather here is awesome! Not freezing any more, because freezing+Storm=bad. It actually feels kind of like Spring now. I hope it stays like this, and perhaps gets warmer. Not a cloud in the sky right now.

And finally and most importantly it is the weekend!

This has been a series of random thoughts from Storm.

Metallica - For Whom the Bell Tolls

Awesome song by Metallica...
Listen to it.

Yesterday

Hi everyone! Yesterday was awesome, and so was today despite having an awful headache and perhaps having done some terrible damage to my shoulder. It was Matt's party yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. We watched Sahara, well most of us did, I personally was nearly out cold from an excessive intake of caffeine. I drank a mountain dew, a mountain dew livewire, and most of a mountain dew AMP. A lot of mountain dew I know. Well, long story short, too much caffeine sucked out my energy and I was nearly asleep on the couch for most of the party.

Tyler said that the AMP stuff takes some getting used to, but I think that I'm not even gonna try.

Francisco break-danced, and surprisingly didn't break anything (just kidding Ocsicnarf, or Francisco whichever you like). If you can't tell, I'm in an excessively good mood today.

See ya!

WINDOWS 2000!!!

I got Windows 2000 on my desktop today, mostly because the 98 version just wasn't working right. I am truly extending my gratitude to Alex, because he is completely responsible for this development. Because of this, he is the hero of the day today!

*salutes Alex* (only people who know Alex will get that...)

Metallica Ride The Lightning

Ok, so this is awesome. It is a slide show of some of the coolest lightning pictures ever taken. Again, there is a bit of langauge, but this is overall one of my favorite metal songs. Credit for the video goes to "electro" and credit for the pictures goes to whoever took them.

By the way, this song is one of the few songs that I HAVE to learn on guitar, so wish me luck.

Victory over the Computer!!!

I am officially wireless, unless you count the power cable sometimes. I worked on setting up the router for hours (go ahead and laugh all you want Alex, just because I'm terrible with computers). The trick, was turning off the modem, turning it back on, and finally wait a few minutes to let it identify the router. Its working so far, so keep your fingers crossed for me...

Hero of the Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey everyone, Francisco is the hero of the day. That quote from his blog, was one that I used against my dad when he was being lazy and said that he couldn't walk as fast as my brother because he was old. So I asked him if he learned anything from that movie at all.

Master of Puppets (music that describes me)

What does next year have in store for me?
>Hide Your Heart by KISS (that isn't good...)

What does your love life look like?
>Sacred Heart by Dio

What do I say when life gets hard?
>For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica (wow, I sound depressed right now don't I?)

What do I think of when I get up in the morning?
>We Rock by Dio (???)

What song will I dance to at my wedding?
>Thunderstruck by ACDC (is that even possible?)

What do you want to do for your career?
>Fight Fire with Fire by Metallica (so far of the ones that made any sense, this is by far the most ominous)

Your favorite saying?
>All Hells Breakin Loose by KISS (I suppose that kind of makes some sense... ha ha ha)

Favorite place?
>Hangar 18 by Megadeth (I have a dim future...)

What do you think of your parents?
>Seek and Destroy by Metallica (well, we do fight a lot, but we have never really destroyed eachother...)

Where would you go on a first date?
>Strange Highways by Dio (weird first date...)

Drug of choice?
>Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden

Describe yourself.
>Trapped Under Ice by Metallica (true, but perhaps even more frightening that the Fight Fire with Fire thing)

What is the thing I like doing most?
>Enter Sandman by Metallica (is that a valid answer?)

What is my state of mind like at the moment?
>We Rock by Dio (again ???)

How will I die?
>Nothing Else Matters by Metallica (huh? now that's what I call irony)

The song that will be played at your funeral?
>Flight of Icarus by Iron Maiden

The song you'll put as the subject.
>Master of Puppets by Metallica (and I thought the one before last was ironic)

The song that describes my friendships?
>Straight through the Heart by Dio

The song that describes my future marriage.
>For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica (man my future sounds awful right about now)

The song that describes my future children?
>Eye of the Beholder by Metallica (hmm.......)

The song that describes what this summer will be like?
>Forever by KISS (finally a positive song...)

The song that describes what people think of me?
>Tears are Falling by KISS (that's not good)

The song that describes how I will do in school?
>Looks that Kill by Motley Crue (that's gotta be a joke ha ha ha)

The song that describes how nice of a career I'll have?
>Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) by Motley Crue

The song that describes my personality?
>Nothing Else Matters by Metallica (even more ironic than before, considering that it's my favorite song)

OK, I was right to be afraid of the results of this test.

Sorry for following the crowd on this, but it looked (and was) interesting/fun/hilarious.

Song from last year...

So, last year for English class, we were required to pick a song that has described our year. I picked "The Unforgiven" by Metallica. It's a rather depressing song, but that's nothing, Dalton picked "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" as his song.

Oh, and Alex has requested that I update my blog so he can make fun of me. So don't listen to anything he says.

A Test

You paid attention during 91% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

I guess I did pretty good, considering that I'm only a sophomore.

Most Awesome Day Ever

Today was the greatest day ever. And quite honestly, I can't remember if I have ever been this happy before. I don't feel like I'm on my own anymore. Its only Thursday, but I'm considering it to be the end of the week, because school's over.

Overall, this was the perfect week, and I give it 5 out of 5 stars (I would say at least 7 out of 5, but then Alex would have another foolish comment that I have made, to use against me (the lake cold)).

This week so far

Hi everyone, this week has been awesome so far. Hopefully tomorrow will be too. In all honesty, I haven't been this happy (go ahead and laugh Alex) in a long time. Things just seem to be going well, very well. Well, I'll talk to you all later.

ROCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More totally awesome pictures by Alex

Here's some more pictures by Alex, if you didn't believe me the last time that I said that he was "The Man."

But seriously, he is an awesome photographer.


(I thought that this was one of the coolest pictures that I had seen in a while)



(Look slightly familiar?)

Oh, and since I remember, anonymous generally means Alex.

Ha Ha Ha

Rush YYZ

YYZ by Rush, live. They are awesome, and this song ranks as one of the coolest instrumentals ever. Since this is live, it's even more impressive.

Photos by Alex

In a joint effort Alex and I are now adding pictures to my blog from time to time. Currently I have nothing interesting, so these were all taken by Alex.

Flood pictures (I wish I was there...)

(that reminds me of the movie "Independence Day")

Is Alex not "The Man"?

Hopefully I will get some of my own pictures to put on here soon...

Never mind

The music thing isn't working now so I'll try again later.

The Battle is Lost...

I give up fighting them over the driver's ed. thing, I apparently can't win. Oh well.

I'm gonna change the music here in a few minutes, I just don't know what I'm gonna change it to yet...

Heroes of the day

The heroes of the day are Katy and Dalton. Katy is ill (she can't talk) so feel better...

Dalton is a hero for the gym incident...

No more songs of the week...

I'm just going to change the music as I feel like it now. Today, I have chosen "Hangar 18" by Megadeth. It was written about Area 51, so that should clear up some confusion. It has a lot of guitar solos, all of which are amazing (64th notes= extremely hard to play). It is also important to note that as long as I have the tab in front of me I can play most of this song, just no solos yet.

Nothing like a true metal song...

Bad Day...

Today hasn't been that great. It just seems like nearly everyone is on my case. First with school in general, which I can deal with because school is supposed to be a pain. Then with the office, me and my friends usually go to the high school building and hang out in either the office or one of the surrounding classrooms, well now we're not allowed to do that. After the field trip we weren't supposed to have 8th period, in fact we were told we wouldn't, but guess what, we did. Then to top it all off I got home and my mom wouldn't let me wait to start driver's ed. until after Spring break. It starts the day I get off of school and I only get weekends completely free. That totally ruins the point of having Spring break at all. Sorry for complaining so much, but I just had to say something.

P.S. My aunt is supposedly reading this now, so if she could it would be nice of her to give my mom a call and try to convince her to let me take driver's ed. later, it would be very nice of her.

Working now

I think its working now just give it a few minutes to load. I'm still not sure though, my computer tends to not work, or work just fine (as long as its at odds with any XP computer).

More Errors...

I had the song working just fine, but now its not again, it won't even start here. So, I think I'll just start changing the music a little more regularly. But first, I will attempt this one more time.

Error...

There was an error in the music code thing before, so I recopied it from a different file on the music hosting website. So the song should play all the way through now, if it doesn't please let me know.

Song of the Week part IV

The song of the week is "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses. I can play the whole intro on my guitar. It came off of Guns N' Roses' 1987 debut album "Appetite for Destruction." It was arguably their most successful song. My favorite GNR song by far.

By the way Tyler was here earlier, we sang happy birthday to Matt over the phone. It was a bit late though. He can also play this song.

Hero of the day part X and XI

Again, there are two heroes of the day. Sylvia and Karolyn. Did I not say you are both awesome singers? I also believe I said that you wouldn't here the end of this for a long time. Good job, and if you read this before the final show, good luck.

P.S. I'm updating the music on my blog later if anyone is interested. I'm thinking GNR.

Hero of the Day part VIII and IX

I couldn't decide between the two, so the heroes of the day are Karolyn and Rob.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!!!/Hero of the Day part VII

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!! This post is dedicated to your awesomeness. You are the Hero of the Day. You are the man. Francisco was right about the whole being friends thing, we've been friends since pre-school, that ain't gonna change. So, happy birthday. I was going to show up at your house and sing, but someone would probably report me for disturbing the peace.

Another new blog

My friend Pat has created a blog. However, much like Peter's it is currently completely empty, but I think that Pat will actually update from time to time.

(I might be wrong though, who knows for sure)

Cold Weather

For anyone who doesn't know, its been a long cold winter here in Ohio. Between me and my friend Alex (also did the C.O.R.A.L. project), we have a few pictures. The first ones that look like some kind of explosion, or stars, or something else, are actually of a snow storm.

Here they are:

These were taken by Alex, and they are of the icicles we walked under "gasp."

By the looks of these pictures, it is safe to say that people are happy that Spring is almost here.

By the way, the icicle pictures were taken at "Firelands Rails To Trails," I volunteer there. The work is a lot of fun. If anyone is interested try to contact me. It counts for (easy) service hours.

I forgot!

I forgot, Peter almost cut off his finger, I guess he was chopping up vegetables or something along those lines. It looked like it hurt, but he doesn't seem to care. So say a prayer for him, he may need surgery.

School is just plain boring

The name says it all. Nothing happened today,except for the fire drills. We had two fire drills in a row. I guess they were a result of a technical flaw in the new system. If you didn't know our school had a major addition added this last year, or so. With the addition came a new security/alarm system. As you can see, the faculty (or whoever is in charge of it), haven't figured it out yet.





In other news Daniel found his math binder. This is good, because we just started taking notes in class again (ZZZ...ZZZ...ZZZ...).





I'm working on getting weather pictures for the next post.





In the mean time, thought this was funny, considering that it was on a shoe box, that I got for Christmas.

I thought it was funny, but I have a weird sense of humor. Who eats shoe boxes anyway?

I guess it's a mystery (note, there weren't any of those poisonous things that you normally find in shoe boxes either (there may have been at one point or another though).

Please give me some ideas for an interesting post, I'm desperate.

Busy Day

Today has been busy. We took notes on the overhead a lot today, far from fun. I made a big recycle symbol on my math binder, with fluorescent green duct tape. This was the first thing one of my unnamed friends has applauded me for concerning duct tape, if you know who I'm talking about you understand, if not don't try.

I have a small amount of free time before I have anything else to do.

Anyone got anything interesting to talk about? Please tell me, my brain has been slowed by the boring and repetitive process of note taking.

Song of the Week part III

OK so I lied I changed the song today instead of Monday. I'm just going to be busy tomorrow...

The song of the week is "Nothing Else Matters," by Metallica. Unlike the first song this one actually involves vocals. It came off of the 1991 album "Metallica."

Just so you know this album is more commonly called the "Black Album."

I chose this song for two reasons; I like it, and I am learning to play it on guitar. It's a lot harder than the other stuff I can play (even though it is considered by some experienced guitarists to be slow and easy).

For future reference, I am not going to put the same bands on here for more than two in a row, next week will probably be Guns N' Roses, or Dio.

Hero of the day part VI

Remember how I said that there might be more than one hero of the day? Well today is the day. Anyone who had any hand in the bowling party yesterday is an honorary hero of the day today. Thanks everyone you are awesome.

Hero of the day part V

Tyler is the hero of the day, because he is the man. Also, he told me that he played his guitar at a party. The people who were there that I talked to said he was SWEET. In the words of ACDC "For those about to rock, we salute you!"

The end of the OGTs

Today we had history, everyone said that it was sooooo hard. I think that it was one of the easiest tests I have ever taken Hopefully my grade will reflect that. But the maintenance team came in today and tore up an entire room, dry wall dust has covered the entire school. I have very bad allergies so the dust and me just didn't get along. I was miserable all day, but I'm still happy. FYI I feel better now so I will be bowling tomorrow as long as I stay better.

Hero of the day part IV

As promised, the hero of the day is definitely Francisco. Thanks for everything you did for me today, even if I seemed resistant. Birthday's make me uncomfortable.

Just so everyone knows, I have the next 2 heroes figured out.

Going Mobile... Into the Digital Age

So the birthday celebration is officially over, and I have a few announcements and final statistics.

Totals;
5 times being sung to in English
1 time being sung to in German
1 time being sung to over the phone (laughs (this was also counted under English))
About a thousand "happy birthdays," the majority as I have said from Francisco.

Announcements;
www.duct-tape-phantom.blogspot.com will be going into the digital age
My grandpa gave me his old laptop so I should be able to update more often (once I get the Internet). I have a lot of work to do before I get to that point though.
Overall it was a good birthday.

P.S. see the next post!

4 down 1 to go

1 more OGT! I have survived the first 4, and now I have to do history. It should be a piece of cake. I can't wait to finish it, the juniors say that after the test, we learn stuff that we actually care about. In other news I made it through the school day, and there is currently no sign of Francisco at my house (HA HA HA VICTORY)! He did hug me though, but only because I got cornered while trying to resist. About a million people said "happy birthday," and I got sang to three times in English and once in German. So, thanks to everyone.

I should probably do my Friday report, but I'm not too concerned. Its cold again...

So a big storm went through last night, it was cool. A tornado hit somewhere though, so pray for anyone who might have been effected.

Hero of the Day part III

Sylvia is the hero of the day today! Congratulations! And as my history teacher would say "good effort." Thanks for wishing me luck on the OGTs yesterday (or two days ago), I needed it.
:)

More OGT's

Today, we took the writing OGT. It was actually worthwhile. I got to write about how I think society should be...

So I gave them almost four pages of my social theories, how to enforce them, their effects on the society, and why I think that what I wrote is the right thing to do.

Here's some of my ideas
prohibition of alcohol (outside of religious ceremonies)
prohibition of the development and testing of nuclear devices (that's about as liberal as I go)
more rights to police, less probable cause, drug testing, drug task forces
elimination of stigmas towards people who are different in any way from the average person
and teaching good values to the next generation

I think I covered enough on that one to get a good score.

The other essay was just a story.

WE GOT DONUTS!!!

That's all for now.

Hero of the Day part II

The second official hero of the day is Katy. The reasoning here: Katy is cool. Still working on deciding who the third hero of the day will be, I've narrowed it down to two people (I'm not going to say who though, it would ruin the surprise, plus who's to say that there can't be two heroes of the day).

:)

OGT's continued

We took the math OGT today, and I seem to be the only one who thought it was difficult. I just lost focus though, as far as I can see I passed. I just don't think that I did as well as I'd hoped. Still no donuts...

We are getting donated blueberry donuts tomorrow. I know, because I helped unload them.

No Daniel today, so if he reads this feel better. Also, Daniel try to contact me if you read this tonight by any chance, I need to talk to you about a variety of important things.

I'm really sore from weight lifting yesterday, and bike riding today I am impressed that I can even stand. The weird thing is it didn't bother me at all until after school (typical). But the bike ride was nice, the weather was awesome today. It was like a little bit of summer. But the bad news is that I here it will be snowing again by Friday(UGH).

I don't know what OGT I take tomorrow, but I want to say that it's writing, but regardless of what it is I still don't care.

OGT's

BLAH!!!

I have only taken one, and I already am unable to stand them. They are a waste of my time. And worst of all; my teacher said there would be donuts, when I got there NO DONUTS! It was awful. One plus is that I have virtually no classes this week.

In other news, the rest of my day was normal. My friend is making a computer game and I am a character, so I came up with some suggestions for him. My character will be awesome if I can help it. I will explain more later, when the game's layout is a bit more concrete.

I can't convince Francisco to hold off on whatever it is he claims to be planning. If you read this I am begging you to wait until Friday or Saturday... please, Thursday is potentially dangerous as you learned earlier.

Nothing else is new though.

P.S. Katy wants to be the next hero of the day what do you all think of that? I think that its a good idea.

Hero of the Day

I would like to give special recognition to my good friend Daniel. Therefore, I am granting him the great honor of being the hero of the day. His incredible performance at the play is what prompts this (check his blog if you don't already know the whole story).

I will end this by simply saying "Daniel you are the man!"

Song of the Week part II

I got the music thing to work!!! I plan to post a new song every week, and give a bit of information about the song along with it. This week's song is "The Call of Ktulu" performed by Metallica. This song came off of the 1984 album "Ride the Lightning," and it is an instrumental. I think its a cool song, and I would like to add it to one of the areas in the RPG Chris Matt and I (possibly Daniel too) are working on. So go ahead and give me your input.

P.S. The next new music post will be Monday after OGT week, so this song will get a little more than a week.

Song of the Week...

Once I figure out how to put music on my blog, I am going to have a song of the week. So in the meantime could someone teach me (or leave me instructions) how to put music on here?

Thanks

Still on my own...

This year has been good, so far. I have finally fallen in with a group of friends, and that's good. But I still feel like I'm on the outside. I'm just too different. I've tried to conform, but that hasn't helped because I acknowledge that I can't do it. I have tried to relax and have fun, but that obviously hasn't worked. I realize that when I do that I let my guard down, and whenever I let my guard down bad things happen. I don't think that I will ever be in the "inner circle." People are at least trying to understand me now, but I think I've given them a puzzle that they couldn't possibly solve. So, life will go on the same way it always has and probably always will. No past a hopeless present and a nearly invisible future.

BIOHAZARD

I added a biohazard sign and a quote at the side and bottom of this page (respectively). The biohazard sign will end up on my locker at school, so I certainly hope it's not illegal to put one of those signs in a public place (although it's not the officially recognized colors, orange and black). You may ask why I put these signs up everywhere, well the answer is simple they're cool and that's my kind of style.

A different light part III

So, now I'm going to start up this old series of posts again. This time I'm going to talk more about unimportant stuff that people might want to know about me.

Fears (in order of severity(also please excuse my poor use of grammar)): losing my family or friends, water (drowning), heights (falling), small confined spaces/large open spaces, people I don't know, anything involving the obscure and painful ways that I might die, spiders, snakes, clowns (just kidding on that one, although they are rather strange...), anything that is truly evil, caring too much, DISEASE (even anything that won't seriously hurt me), nearly every bad "what if" you can think of, not being able to express my true feelings, conspiracies I don't know about, people who seem as though they are putting on some kind of "act," (sometimes) people who I can't tell what they are thinking just by looking at them or listening to them, what people say about me behind my back, nuclear war, the Yellowstone Super volcano, failure, ever having too much responsibility, the thought that everything I do now may be for nothing, judgement, talking to people (the Internet is quite useful), being foolish in my choices, letting people down.

I enjoy: actually having friends (something that is new as of this year), anything that challenges me, listening to loud metal music, playing loud metal music on my guitar (could still use some work though), daydreaming, working on my computer, working out, running long distances, fixing stuff with duct tape, eating virtually anything with ranch dressing, going to XC meets (more for the hanging out than the racing), fishing (as long as I'm on land or someone is with me if I go in a boat), going on vacation with my family, a little bit of singing from time to time (as long as I'm the only one who can hear me (other people would either die laughing or experience terrible pain if they heard me sing)), driving (license soon I hope), bike riding, going to Matt's to do some serious video gaming with him and Chris.

I believe: in God, in some hope, that I have a future, that times will get better, some people do care, death isn't the end, Metallica is cool, symphonies are cool too, I have mixed feelings about nearly everything (the last two are prime examples), that if Al Gore ran for president he would win, I am doing better at expressing myself, blue green and red are the three coolest colors (I can't decide which is best), reading makes you smarter, the past is almost as important as the future, I live too far in the future and not enough in the present.

So those were just some random qualities/thoughts that I have had over the past two days. If they're hard to follow and repetitive I'm sorry.

Pyro Climber

Peter now has a blog, but its under construction (empty...) so check it some time down the road he will probably add something to it.

New Friends

Just recently I went to a party, at Daniel's, and I made some new friends. This is cool, normally when I meet people that don't go to my school, they never try to contact me again. So needless to say when two of the people I met left comments here I was surprised. Thank you I appreciate it. ROCK ON!!!

The Storm Signal

The other day, the German 4 students drew the bat signal (from batman, if you didn't know that go catch up on your childhood (just kidding)). So I added to it with "The Storm Signal" which is this cheap "paint" drawing.

Just Some Stuff

Today all of the band kids were off to see the Cleavland Orchestra, something I would have been interested in seeing after listening to Metallica S&M (orchestra accompanied Metallica). But, I'm not in band, so I didn't get to go. Speaking of Metallica, I am currently learning "For Whom the Bell Tolls," a sweet song that you need to listen to. Other than that nothing interesting has occurred.

I am still in a mental block phase, my mind hasn't come up with anything good to write about. So, I am just going to ramble.

To announce my final decision concerning track, I'm not doing it anymore. Why, I can't stand most of the team. Plus its just not fun like XC.

I got 2 B's on my mid-term so my parents are angry, really really angry. Both of them are unexplainable; English (for some stupid reason I'm sure), and Algebra 2 which makes no sense, because we have only had like 2 (completion) grades so far this quarter (so a dumber reason than English).

I missed getting an A on the standing long jump test in gym by 4 inches.

I had a frightening realization today of what it will be like after the next two classes graduate. I have a couple of friends in my grade, but the vast majority of them are older. None of them were here today, it was really strange. Unfortunately it forced me to interact with a lot of my class (bad (but a few of them were my friends so they were OK to talk to (its just that most of them weren't))). If this is what its like the next 2 years I want to go somewhere else, because I would go insane.

Exhaustion

I have been so exhausted for the past couple of days. I started weight lifting again yesterday. But that doesn't explain why I was tired before that. It must be school, its finally getting to me. Everyone else says that they're tired to, maybe we're all sick with some sleeping virus or something. A lot of them have mono though, I'm not worried about that, since I couldn't possibly have it (thank goodness).

Mental Block

Lately I have been having a hard time thinking clearly. I suppose this is what you'd call a mental block. From re-writing research papers to writing this blog, I just can't think!

I could use some ideas on what to write about too. If anyone has any suggestions, please voice them. I'd be happy to talk about nearly anything.

Puzzles

As you may have noticed in the last two posts, I have hidden words, and camouflaged phrases. I kind of want to see if people can figure out these things. Plus once I get better at this it could prove ot be fun. So, try and find the hidden phrase.

*note the first three posts are easy (this one the last one and the one before that)
**hint some letters just don't fit

Enough of the TV Stars!!!!!!!!!!!

Is anyone else sick of hearing about the people who are famous for either being stupid or being rich. I am! They really annoy me, it wouldn't be so bad if either A. they had some talent, or B. used there wealth for something important (I.E. cancer research, feeding the poor etc. etc.). They've gotten to the point where they seem to think that they are bigger and more important than everyone else, and that bothers me.

On top of that, they get away with breaking laws all the time, from being caught with drugs to drunk driving. They never get in trouble, so what makes them so special, if I did anything like that I'd be looking at jail-time! But not them they're just so special (HA). I say arrest every one of them that has ever broken a law, to teach them a lesson about justice. No one should be immune to punishment. If I were any of them I would much rather serve my punishment in this life, because after its over there's no going back. Not that I'm qualified to make judgements like that, I'm just saying that I wouldn't want to take the risk.

Look at today's most influential people, we should be ashamed that we allow them to do what they do. The worst part is, that people are being influenced to act like them all of the time. A prime example is my class, just look at them for like five minutes and you'll see this. The girls all act like whats her name Paris something. And the guys all try to be like every comedian they see on comedy central,and quite frankly they do very poor impressions.

It all comes down to them being "starved for attention," if anyone is starved for attention its me (that was blunt), I just know how to control myself most of the time.

So here's an idea; stop idolizing idiots, and wake up to reality. You'll never be one of them because face it, you go to St. Paul's which means you weren't born famous, or rich enough to be famous. I know its harsh but its true, and the truth hurts. I'm not saying you will never be famous, I'm saying you won't be famous for accomplishing nothing at all, you will have to do something important first. Good luck with that.

To most of my overly obsessed class, these are stars not you.

Figure that out.

Clue: it has to do with the picture

A different light part II

I said I would continue the first one of these posts so, I will tell you some more about me (uh oh).

People always see me the wrong way and it drives me insane. Is that reasonable? I have no means of truly expressing myself accurately. I often try, but people (my class in particular) twist my image well enough to convince everyone that I am some terrible uncaring monstrosity of a person (if they give me the courtesy of calling me a person I don't know). I would like to tell them all to go take good looks at themselves, and tell me what they see. Most of them (not all) would see exactly what they describe me as.

I understand that I started this post on a rather dark note, but I needed to say something. As I mentioned on Katy's blog in one of the comments, I am forced to keep silent about things that really matter to me. These things range from political issues to feelings. I want to express my views, but if I do everything will backfire and end up hurting me. So, as of right now, I don't care and I am going to speak my mind about everything that is thrown at me.

I have to start somewhere, so I think our nation's war is a good place to begin. I didn't want to go to war, but we're there, so we have to stay there until we're finished. If we don't we're all as good as dead when Iraq falls back into a stronger dictatorship, which is bound to happen. I don't think anyone, except the people who have been off at war, have the right to complain about it.

Next, the corrupt nature of our living environment(s). People (c)all me bad, but w(h)ile I'm certainly n(o)t perfect I qu(o)te the Bible and say "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." John 8:7. As you can see I know I'm not perfect, just wish peop(l)e would treat everyone well, because we're all on the same "playing field" when it comes to sin. I also believe that we need to acknowledge this if we truly want to get to Heaven. I just want to see people get along.

Sorry for repeating myself from post to post, but something must be done.

I don't know how you feel on this but, I would like you to tell me. If there's any hope at all its difficult to find, but some support would help.

This was more on my feelings, so I will probably continue this post with something more concrete later.

Try to find the hidden word, this one's easy.
Clue: Its the environment I talk about through nearly the whole thing, and it is really easy.

Katy's Poems

I just finished reading Katy's poems. They are really good, and I wish I could write like that. But, seriously, go check them out, follow the link that says "Katy's Blog" on the side of the page. Matt and Daniel if you read this you need to update, I enjoy reading your blogs, but Matt you haven't updated for a while (understandable because you don't have Internet).

Weekends

Weekends are cool. Especially when it is nice out like this. I want to do something, but what I do not know. In other news Francisco has his blog operating again, I'm emailing math fair stuff to Daniel, (musical) Alex is sending me music papers (hopefully), I'm going to try and de-frag my computer (it hasn't been able to since we got road-runner), and I plan on attempting to add more pictures.

School was boring (as usual). We learned (oh no) in German class. I guess I have to type a "Friday Report," that is due Monday, for Earth Science. My physical science teacher was freaking out because the OGT is in two weeks and she thinks we aren't ready. Other than that nothing even remotely interesting has happened. Hopefully the weekend will be good.

Gym

The first of many records in gym fell to me today (at least I think it did). While there is some controversy, about three quarters of my class say that I took the record, and a few others are saying that another kid got it (just to confuse me (as they said)). The record was in pull-ups, I did twenty-two. The old record was twenty-one set by a friend from XC.

I also hold the unofficial track (weight-lifting) record for wide grip pull-ups. I got eight, no body else got one.

It helps that I trained all summer for this.

So wish me luck in my future endeavors to break other gym records like sit-ups and maybe the running tests.