I started Driver's Education today. Yippee. I'm dead scared of driving to be honest. I'm so mad: I didn't get to trick-or-treat today, and I probably won't have time to practice dance. I won't have the November wallpaper up for a while. The amount of homework I'm getting is just unbelievable. Again, something must be done...
10/31/2002 08:37:41 PM •
Life would be better without homework. I would actually be able to practice dance. I either have to work faster or lower my standards a bit or both. Funny how I don't care about grades or class rank but then work my butt off on schoolwork. I definitely must do something about this. The Big O approaches ominously...
10/29/2002 09:08:41 PM •
Whoa, busy week! First art club meeting Wednesday, braces off yesterday, got my driver's instruction permit today. Yeep. Dance class yesterday was an ordeal. I'd just caught a cold that day, and that week was so full of homework that to practice dance would've been insane. Gee, we've been learning new steps and variations of steps at an unthinkable rate. I guess my teacher finally decided to get serious about Oireachtas. Hopefully she'll get started earlier next time. The bright side is that I'll probably get much better at my steps, so even if I embarass myself at the O, I'll have a much better chance at next year's feiseanna.
10/26/2002 01:27:09 PM •
Ooh, major workload this week, dude. And this is a major week in my life: I might actually join my first school-sponsored extracurricular of high school! I was completely uninvolved freshman year. I guess I had to be. Anyway, It's the art studio club of course. Which means we'll actually draw, paint, etc. My school has no art classes because we have religion instead. I hope I can make it to the meetings, though. There's NO way I'm missing any dance classes. Oh, and on Friday, I might get my braces off! Hellloooo, retainer...
10/21/2002 09:58:10 PM •
Something was strange about Pat Roche Feis yesterday, probably due to it being the last feis before Oireachtas and the end of the year. There were so many people in my age group, it was insane. My little four-hand team got fourth place; there were only four groups in that competition. I also got fourth in treble jig. Most of my feis buddies didn't place at all. I think some kids came out of nowhere and got all the first places. The conference center wasn't exactly the best place for a feis with over a thousand competitors. Some of the stages were downstairs in the ballrooms. The other stages were upstairs. The results and awards were upstairs in a small room and a very far walk from the stages downstairs. It was extremely crowded everywhere. All the stages went quite slowly except mine. That is, before we were missing a judge for an hour or so. Well, I'm not done, but I'm tired of complaining...
We had an Oireachtas practice today. I'm not sure how long it was supposed to be, but it ended up two and a half hours. We learned new slip jig and reel steps and a new and improved beginning for the treble jig. There was great critiquing of our steps. A friend of our teacher was so kind as to help with the class, hence the burst of progress.
10/20/2002 09:15:16 PM •
I'm baaack! Interesting weekend. My family and I left for the airport after my school on Friday. Brampton Feis was Saturday. And today, Monday, we returned to the airport after lunch. And now I'm home all comfy with three first place medals and two thirds sitting in a suitcase somewhere. Okay. So the feis was great. Really organized, not bad, results came out after a reasonable amount on time. Most things seemed to be computerized, which is nearly always a good thing. The beginner comps and then the figures went first, so we didn't even have to get there until later in the day. Still, there was a large gap between my dances. Maybe it just seemed that way... The stages had good grip but were unusually bouncy. The problem for me was that for the first time, I had less than five people in all of my six competitions. I got first in treble jig because I was actually quite good. But I won the set (I did Madame Bonaparte) because I was agaist one other girl who had trouble with her steps. I got first in traditional set because I, honest to God, was the only competitor. Imagine doing St. Patrick's Day in front of the adjudicator all by yourself... Yeah. So I got third in slip jig and hornpipe because there were only three people including me. And I got nothing in reel because there were four people. Needless to say, I don't feel like I deserve my medals. I think I'd rather have ten people in my comp and get nothing. At least I'd be getting proper feedback. But nobody seemed to understand. I had three firsts in one feis! Wasn't I happy? Not really. Anyway... Today is Canadian Thanksgiving! I'll have gotten to celebrate two Thanksgivings in one year! Whee!
10/14/2002 10:24:28 PM •
Today was my last dance lesson before Brampton Feis this Saturday. Boy, I'm in trouble. My new slip jig is still a little awkward, especially that point point point kick. That's all with the same foot, standing tiptoe on the other. It's times like this I wish I had a sense of balance. Fortunately, I'll be overall better in softshoe because of those toe cushions. I only have one more day to practice on the comfort of my compressed plywood sheets. The problem is I also have only one more day to do my history chapter homework before the test on Friday.
10/9/2002 09:46:08 PM •
I finally got those toe cushion thingies for dancing! Like the Ouch Pouch, but another brand and made of rubber. I just tried them out. Very comfy. And they seem to boost my tiptoe height by quite a bit. Putting them under my socks was a bit odd, but I guess I'll get used to it. They're almost more trouble than they're worth considering the price and the fact that you have to put baby powder on them every time you put them on and probably have to hand-wash them after you wear them, followed by another round of baby powder. But they do make my new slip jig step look reeaaally good. They're called "pointe shoe pads", though. As far as I'm concerned, they're ghillie/hardshoe cushions, dangit!
10/8/2002 11:14:33 PM •
Irish dance lesson yesterday! So fun. I'm taking some PLAN standardized test thingy tomorrow, so there's no real classes. So I felt lazy today and started another dress design in Painter Classic. I'm wondering when the next time I'll get to work on it will be. I have plenty homwork to keep my weekend busy. Ooh, and another Irish dance lesson tomorrow... My teacher says she'll teach me a new slip jig for Oireachtas. *hopes*
10/3/2002 10:11:15 PM •
Sweetness. I'm getting a 103.3% in Advanced Algebra Trig. If only Chemistry came that easy...
10/1/2002 07:50:19 PM •
"What's nu?" "C over lambda!" Bwahahaha. Okay, that was funny once... And my chem teacher got it from the other chem teacher and who knows where she got it. But I've been practicing dance daily for all of, what, two days? Plus a few days last week. So proud of me. :) They all said time management. I said time management was beyond my human abilities. Then I gave in and made myself an afternoon schedule. And whaddya know? I get my homework done AND practice dance for 30-60 minutes. Go me. Of course, I'm so darn sleepy I probably should incorporate a nap into that schedule. I don't get it. I've been sleeping at least 7 full hours a night. I used to get six.
10/1/2002 07:35:07 PM •
