cmbaker91

Winding down of summer

2006-08-09T14:30:00.000-05:00

Summer is winding down. One can tell: yesterday I went to get my textbooks, i got my schedule on saturday, and today i went in to make some changes on my schedule. I'm glad i went dang early yesterday to get textbooks. I got all used ones, but you cant tell. Not even the corners of the front and back covers are broken and smashed. After that, i got a ride with wes back to his house. we stopped by broadway cafe before we went home. it was good. their croisants are great. we later went to waldo bike and got some stuff to repair wes' flat tire. went back to his house and just chilled. we were both really tired. didn't really do much: had fun with lucy, went to topsies on account the grosses dont buy drinks besides milk, listened to music really loud. I went and made schedule changes today. Some for the good, some for the worse. i switched mcgee for jones in history and sigler for jones in chemistry. they didn't put choir down on the schedule they mailed me, so i had to figure that out. i didn't get into chorale, so that bumped my art classes to the morning, unfortunately, so now im not in debate or arts foundations with david. ah well, not i have him in science and have the same history teacher as him in history. also, i have the same chem teacher as wes. thats always good.

now im packing for chicago. i leave really early tomorrow morning, so i definately cant do anything tonight. Im really excited for chicago. its going to be an end of the summer hoopla (yeah...with my mom, ah well).

Lazy Sunday....Lazy Monday

2006-08-07T16:22:00.000-05:00

I didnt do much of circumstance these past two days. I saw talladega nights last night. It was okay, not great. Certainly not as good as Anchorman or Old School or other will ferrell movies. That was the highlight of yesterday. Today, scouts tonght might be the highlight, i fear. maybe do something afterwards(wes?). ah well, i haven't swam in a long time.

Sleepy, drowsy, and, over all, just worn out

2006-08-06T14:54:00.000-05:00

That pretty much explains how i feel. As wes has already iterated, this past week or so has been intense, thus tiring. Lack of healthy sleep has taken its toll, and im going to bed early tonight. I keep saying to myself that im going to bed early, but i always stay up until like 11:45, and wake up around 9. Tonight im gonna watch a movie and go to bed early. For real, this time.

2006-08-05T13:56:00.000-05:00

Thursday night was filled with fun. German spotlight, swimming at 2 in the morning, listening to and watching Sam and Jordan dance to 90s music, Getting hardly any sleep.

Last night i went to erin's, along with gregg and wes. we had fajitas. they were very good. We kinda gave up on going to first fridays, so we popped in a movie. However, david and nick showed up, and voila, we had a ride to first fridays. Went to the top of some buildings, some good views. A couple of neat galleries. some break dancing, a nice tour of the construction of the entertainment district, some good conversation too.

Im tired and sleepy. I hope i can go to concert.

David's bday and such

2006-08-01T21:27:00.000-05:00

Sunday night, i watch a wonderful, funny, touching, fun, and intertaining movie. I highly recommend it. It's called The World's Fastest Indian. It's not at all about Native Americans, but about an old guy who modifys an antique 1920 Indian motorcycle so that it sets the world record for a motorcycle. It's a good movie. See it. It has Anthony Hopkins as the main character.

Monday I spent mostly at Wes' house. we didn't do anything of much circumstance, beside shopping for a gift for David. I got him a plumber plunging a badet (sp?). I thought it was kinda funny. We swam, played pool games. We had brats and hot dogs for dinner.

Then we went to winsteads, had skyscrapers, and lea had her first bananna split. They were really good. It was fun sharing with and all drinking from it at the same time.

Went back to David's, Lydia and Allison left because of early mornings. The rest of us stuck around and played 3 or 4 rounds of german spotlight. It was fun, i really enjoyed it.

Today was...well hot. It sucked having to ride my bike to and from the Wornall campus, especially coming home in the afternoon heat. Drivers ed kinda jipped me. I was hoping we would be driving on like 70-75 hiways, but no, wichmann (our teacher) took us on 55 and 45 hiways for the vast majority of the time. what? could that speed be considered a hiway? I never thought so. but i guess...kinda sorta it could be. At least we got to drive on a 65 hiway for about 10 minutes. ah well. no need to rush my hiway experience.

Nelson, Jerusalem, and Dodgeball

2006-07-29T14:12:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so pretty much those were the highlights of lastnight.

Went to David's, went in Miata (yes!) to a staffed concert for the Quartet camp Nick and David are in. I was too lazy to walk up to the Nelson to meet Allison, Wesley, and Gregg. The concert was pretty boring, I'm sorry. Then Nick took us to the Nelson. We hung around outside and briefly there. Then we went to Wesport and ate at Jerusalem Cafe. It was good. Their Gyros are really big. I was impressed.

We went back to David's and hung out in the attic, but it was really hot so we eventually moved to the 3rd floor. After a while, some great Satanic drawings, some intense chinese checkers, Lydia and Allison left.

We then went down to basement and watched Dodgeball. Overall, it was a pretty relaxing night, lol.

Swimming...

2006-07-27T10:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening, went to swim at david's pool. marco polo and water polo were fun, then we ate and played mafia. I dunno, but there was something about it that i didn't like. It was really boring, and it kinda killed the fun that we had earier. bleh. Allison left right after that, and wes thought he would too, and then so did I. I bike to wes' house with him. we hung out there for about an hour, then my dad came. we went to foo's, then home.

I'm looking forward to museum rounds and then a sleep over?maybe? I hope I can go to the zoo after drivers ed on saturday, depending on what time you guys are going.

A typical summer day

2006-07-26T15:42:00.000-05:00

I missed the fountain-fun downtown today because of drivers ed. Dang that danged drivers ed. Ah well. Speaking of, drivers ed was fin today. Parked uphill and downhill, learned 3pt. turns, and drove on faster roads, like wornall and wardparkway. Actually, my teacher let me drive a lot more than Kate today. It was weird. Instead of testing me once on parking he did it twice, and then let me drive through the plaza to grand ( to whatever the street is one block east of brookside blvd.). It was funny cuz he wouldn't let Kate drive on ward except for like five blocks. It was great. Now stuck at home. But Im going to bed earlier tonight to catch up on some reading and sleep. cya.

Today

2006-07-25T23:47:00.000-05:00

I took the first lesson in drivers ed today. I knew most of the stuff, so it was pretty useless. It was okay though, cuz i haven't driven in a long time. My driving partner is Kate Mundy. Afterwards, I decided that i'd go to chipotle, and that's what i did. It was good, great even. I haven't had chipotle since i've been back from Philmont. It was really interesting watching the people come and go from the library. There was this really funny window-washer incident....but you kinda had to be there.

Tonight I went to wes'. David was there. we were originally going to watch jackass, but my mom decided to stay and "chat" with mrs. gross...so we proceded to bike around. We made our way back to david's, hoping that his parental units were gone so we could watch jackass on the bigscreen. unfotunately, they decided to stay home tonight. we went back to wes', and I was really hoping my mom had left, after all, we'd been at david's/biking for like 45 minutes or so. But, not so much to my surprise, she was still chatting away with mrs. gross at 8:45. we went ahead and started jackass anyways. so...2 and a half hours later and after about 5 or 6 episodes around 11:15, we finished. It was a lot of really dramatic and tear-jerking cinematography to digest, but we pulled through and live on to tell our tale. Then we dumped out like 50 gallons of water across wes' lawn. It was awesome. then i left.

goodnight.

Wow....a ton has happened since i last posted

2006-07-25T14:49:00.000-05:00

I went to Philmont....great, awesome, too much to splain...david and i have facebook pics for it.

Been hangin out a lot with mes amis. Been to Double Dragon, which i have never been to. It was pretty good for the price. Saw the second Pirates of the Caribbean, and I thought it was really fun. I've never seen the first, and the people who had seen both told me the first was better...I dunno. Met Lea, Erin's French foreign exchange student. It's pretty awesome to talk in French with someone who is French (i know, we're supposed to talk to her in English so she learns it!).

I've had a great summer, and I hope it continues to be full of awesomeness.

Camp and stuff since then

2006-07-02T17:20:00.000-05:00

Camp was great. Probably one of the best years yet. I really enjoyed having the addition of JT. He fit in well and was fun. Eagle's Nest was a plus. Dance of Joy=Dance of Pain, Suffering, Fealings of Death. Warrior stuff= a big pain, but probably worth it (time will tell).

Been mostly preparing for Philmont and working on Eagle Project since I've been back. I'm getting hyped for Philmont. I'm a little worried that two weeks with Mr. Lochman (a very tightly-wound, anal person...but nice) could be the hardest part. There should be some interesting political debates between the extremest right-wing conservative Andrew and then the leftist Nicolas.

Today I went to the races with the four schmos, including the honorary schmo JT, and their dads. It was an Indy race, so the cars went around 210-215 miles hour. They could do a 1.5 mile loop in 16-18 seconds!! Amazing, I thought. They are also the loudest thing I've ever heard. It is so loud that your brain cannot interpret the sound, so it is just a constant wall of extremely, very, almost beyond possibility noise. But, good thing we had ear plugs. Also, it was a major cultural experience. There were so many Redneckish/WT people (not trying to insult them at all), but it was like stepping into a completely different culture that none of us had experienced in great depth or length. For instance, there was the flagpole from a camper that had the Confederate flag and the German flag on it.....yeah....kinda creepy. Also, every thing was insationably overpriced. a 24oz. can of Bud Light cost $7.50. I had a great time. It was a really awesome experience and cool race.

Cars

2006-06-17T22:49:00.000-05:00

I saw cars today with allison, wesley, adam, and lydia. it was good, and well done, like most pixar films. it was definitely a kids movie, but there were some funny parts. overall, a good movie that is funny, has a good storyline, original ideas, and is well animated. After, we went to chipotle and gregg met us there. yummmmmm....it was good, but you could tell there was a new staff who made the food. but why should we complain, it's Chipotle!!! then people went to adam's house afterwards to watch gone in 60 seconds. I couldn't go because I had (and still have) a lot of stuff to do before i go to scout camp. now im off to sleep. g'night.

Gatherings

2006-06-17T11:13:00.000-05:00

Thurday night, some people went over to Washo7's house for swimming and s'mores. Swimming was so great. I dunno why, but i was soooooo in the mood for it, and if felt great and was awesome fun. As we were drying off 5kills arrived after work. Then, we prepared s'mores around a chiminea (sp?) and discovered the hole at the top is like a jet of flames, smoke, and hot heat, and that cooking your marshmallows in it is like cooking them behind car exhaust b/c the smoke is so black and sooty from the aritficial log we used. then we departed early (around 9:30). Last night, I had some Gregg, Wes, and Aedam over to my place. We had crazy delicious burgers of my making, hanging out with BB gun and cans, playing with my dog, watching Jackass the movie, the having and outback-fire. Oh, and wes, busse, and gregg climbed trees. busse brought over his recently acquired Soviet stuff. And yeah.

So...I haven't updated in more than a month. And...I'm about to leave again.

2006-06-16T09:56:00.000-05:00

I'll do a brief recap of the last month.
-Finals:sucked, hellish, terrible, but did well.
-Mission trip: in Mississippi, helped hurricane Katrina victims, really fun, met new friends, eye-opening, took tons of pics, went to the French Quarter in Nawlins and Graceland in Memphis.
-This past week: boring, BORING, working on stupid mic-o-say crap that's useless, hung out on saturday evening ot 5kill's home, hung out with all juniors + claire on wednesday (a bit awkward), went to Washo7's house last night for swimming and s'mores.
-Tonight: having an all-guys gathering at my place. Leave for camp on Monday morning.

Mother's Day, so far

2006-05-14T15:54:00.000-05:00

Today, we maintained a Baker Family Tradition for either Mother's Day or my mother's birthday (they're only about 2 weeks apart). We went on our annual asparagus picking outing at Pendleton's Kaw Valley Farm. Beforehand, we stopped at Winstead's for some good ol' American eating. This year, we also brought along my dad's mother. It was fun, like usual, but very windy. Lilly (the dog) had a great time, like usual, rooting out field mice and their nests, birds, and the like. We picked a whopping 5.5 lbs of asparagus and some spinach. And (yay!) they still have this 1930's tractor that I used to love to climb on and play with. The place looked great, considering on March 12, a major tornado wiped out most of the farm buildings. Now I'm home doing homework (poo).

Hiking

2006-05-13T15:29:00.000-05:00

Today, my dad and I went on a hike. We set out with the intent of scouting out a place for a practice hike for Philmont. This trail that Dad had heard of was really pretty. It's by Swope Park, on Blue River Parkway. There were these massive limestone chunks (I try to capture them in pics, but it's hard) that were really cool. We encountered some climbers, practicing their holds on rock and improving their strength. It was a pleasant surprise: I had feared that my dad was dragging me on a boring outing, but I'm definitely glad I went. We also stopped by Lakeside Nature Center, but I forgot my camera in the car. Oh yeah, and I drove during the entire trip.

A Bad Year for Tomatoes, and beyond...

2006-05-13T11:14:00.000-05:00

Last night was amazing. The play far, far exceeded my expectations. It was perhaps the most hilarious play I have seen. (not that I've seen a ton). It was a great, entertaining mix of stupid, silly comedy and sophisticated comedy. I couldn't stop laughing. If you didn't go last night, go tonight!! That's a command. Drop all your other plans, and GOOOO!!

Being at The Wornall Campus, the play also was a great opportunity for Busse, David, and I to reminisce over the great, simple, happy days of our young youth. That campus is also very beautiful. I miss it, but I'm not saying I don't like the one I'm currently at.

Afterwards was, well, as Wes put on his xanga "wow." A great conglomeration of people came over. We hung out in attic, opened Mr. Surprise Bag, laughed, drank juice, ate Play-Dohish Twizzlers, listened to music. Then, when Busse had to go, we all migrated over to his house, David convinced his parents to let him spend the night at David's. Then we went back to David's. Soon, the seniors + erin left.

The remaining (me, gregg, david, wes, busse) hung out in his basement. We played a race/destruction game on the xbox until about 2, with interruptions of busse's thigh obsession, yelling "THIGHS" randomly. It was so great. Then we put that up, busse continued in his delirious state, we eventually fell asleep around 2:30.

We got up, David's dad made us eggs, bacon, and sweet roll. Then, we all kinda cleaned up and left.

And I just finished mowing.

Bready bready

2006-05-10T17:28:00.000-05:00

Today, I felt happy. I don't know what made such a better day. maybe its that my audition is off my back, although i fear i didn't do so well. Math was better, cuz we did something different then having her drone on an on. We got a partner, mine being Nick K. (the russian/canadian one) and went outside to draw concentric circles. twas a rather pointless activity, but wasted boring math class time. During meetings, french club had some really, really good baguette and sourdough-ish bread with creamy swiss and cheddar cheezes. That was definitely a pick-me-up. Meetings, after several bread stops, we passed el frisbeeo and hung out in courtyard area. French was awesome, for french. madame wasn't there, so we had a study hall, and david and i could finally sit together. It was the first time in epochs!!! we explained to mr. max that madame has no real reason to segregate david and I. In Bio, rup-dert and i continued on the rat's heart and lungs. played alone squash afterschool. now im home

2006-05-04T19:32:00.000-05:00

Today wasn't bad. It was kinda gloomy and cold again. Some parts of the day were a bit awkward, for reasons most don't know about. I really wanna work throught that though, b/c its annoying. The Solicitor General was boring, although i was impressed that our school was able to pull such a high govt. official to come talk to high school students. After school was okay, busse got really hyper/ADDish. I feel good that i finally go it off my back, and i think we're gonna have a great time. Yeah, so i realized that several people took the superhero personality test, so i thought i'd give it a try. here are the results:
Your results:
You are Superman

Superman		60%
Spider-Man		60%
Green Lantern		55%
The Flash		55%
Robin		52%
Hulk		50%
Supergirl		50%
Catwoman		50%
Iron Man		45%
Wonder Woman		40%
Batman		35%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Badumdumdum

2006-05-02T19:28:00.000-05:00

Today wasn't too bad. history test easier than i anticipated. Started to have good game of ultimate frisbee, but annoying people came and ruined it. busse made us some lovely doughnuts, which were great, lol. English was nice cuz for the second half of the quad pod, he gave us a study hall, and then i had study hall right after that, so i essentially had another quadpod of study hall. Bike ride after school was pretty dang good. I like going down suicide hill and i liked trying hedge jumping, although i had a nasty spill that nearly crushed my glasses and broke me jaw. We then hung out around the nelson. I was late getting back to david's, so my mother nearly chewed my head off. This was unpleasant, and unfortunately tainted the pretty good day. Then french horn went well. Only one week till audition, ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! But im trying not to be too nervous. Hey, and i got an invite from Lydia for graduation, but unfortunately, ill be missing it cuz ill be in mississippi.

yesterday, not to great; better today

2006-04-26T19:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a pretty lame day, except for an ok game of frisbee. some people (no need to use names) kinda barged in on the great game we were having, deceided they should play, and i got stuck on their team. ah well, i shouldn't complain because it was still a good workout and definately better than doing nothing during meetings. also, i had to rewrite my english paper last night, and i was soooooooooo exhausted after another tortuous day of track. i dont feel i did great on the paper, considering i was so comatose when i wrote it. today was better, although i never completely woke up. i was so wiped out that may parents forbade me to go to track (no joke). so that made my day better, cuz i came home at 310, and slept from 420-530. now im doing the little bit of hw i have.

Ehhh...ok day

2006-04-24T20:38:00.000-05:00

Today at school wasn't bad. Not a bad case of the Mondays. Wes quit track (bittersweet feelings about this) But he's excited. Track was the worst day so far. We ran a 10k (6.2...miles) at a nice easy RACE PACE. Then if that weren't a big enough present from Mizzuno, he gave us 6 200m sprints afterwards. Ahhhh...the joys of a annoying track coach. Exhasted from this torture.

Hard Times

2006-04-22T10:13:00.000-05:00

I dont feel so great. Im depressed about stuff. I feel like i have no friends besides 'school friends' and im sick of being excluded. i wish people would make the effort to contact me when something is happening, but noone really cares enough about me to do that. and when i try to arrangements to meet with people, they just blow me off. this weekend sucks, along with the last one.

Clothesline Day

2006-04-20T19:56:00.000-05:00

Today was definitely the best day of the week so far. I felt more energized at the beginning of school, we goofed off in the computer lab during history, math was a day of review in which I did all my homework, FREE MEETINGS that we used to pass the Frisbee and then play a game of ultimate, French was typical, English=not so great cuz of boring poem presentations, biology good b/c we watched a lot of videos of disappearing octopi and then of squids eating. I left school early for the check-up, and some shots (i hate deez). And, then CLOTHESLINE. It was fun, I got some new CDs for a great price($2 a piece) and hung out looking for Serenity Part Deux, or however one likes to call it, costume stuff. But I couldn't go to chipotle cuz my mom didn't know about it in enough time beforehand, so she didn't let me go. And now im doing homework.

Easter and Things

2006-04-17T18:15:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so, I haven't updated in about a week. Sorry about that. So Unitown on Saturday was great. It was a deep bonding experience. I got to meet so many new people and my relationships with others were strengthened. Easter was okay, I spent most of the day doing the unimaginable amounts of homework (history notes, history paper, studying for a history test, English poetry presentation, French quiz studying, biology take-home test). Church was ok, it seemed really long. I didn't take any pics though. Easter evening was great though. Went over to my aunt and uncle's for a great prime rib with horseradish and caper mouse. We talked, drank, listened to good music, enjoyed great weather and food. I unfortunately had to leave early because of all my homework. Today was fine, kinda boring. Although, nicolas and i had a great run around the campus (hmmm...hmmm), we played catch with a baseball afterwards, i learned im not going to the dreadful meet tomorrow, and i got a much anticipated late birthday gift from my other aunt and uncle (in Washington, d.c.). It is unfortunately another B&O receiver, but definitely a much cooler one and it comes with matching speakers. Im really excited. Now i just need a cable to connect it to my computer.
Cya later

Pics to come later

Wes' Early Bday

2006-04-11T18:34:00.000-05:00

I had a good day today. The only crappy thing was that I had to wake up early (6) to practice the French Horn (no more fhorn jokes. it's a fun and very challenging instrument). Then I had a good day of school. History was kinda boring, typical useless math class, choir=not bad, french wasn't the worst, english w/d loeb was, like always, fun, study hall=fun and unproductive, bio=typical. Early dissmissal rocked. We (Lydia, Busse, Wes, David, and I) ventured to david's by foot. Was a nice stroll, more like hike with a heavy backpack and a french horn w/music that got heavier as we went. Anyways, saw Octavio burning fuel by driving in circles around the neighborhood and then he pick busse and me up (which was a great relief to my arms). But low and behold, lydia, david, and wes sneaked into david's without us knowing, we got in though. hung out on computer, in london room, allison came over, did frisbee/wrestling/practicing for movie and started a cookout. I coudn't eat cuz i had fhorn lesson. now im home, getting ready to eat planet sub. And....I just ate it.

Saturday Evening

2006-04-09T15:34:00.000-05:00

This one is of Alex before everyone else arrived.

This is a really cool photo us making our way to Busse's house to attempt to rescue him from the confinement of his house. Unfortunately, it failed then, but his parents eventually let him come over later.

This is of David and Adam Y. wrestling in Busse's lawn.

The bunch in the London/Train room hanging out/ writing script/making prank calls.

Alex, Gregg, and I having some fun with a slow shutter speed.

Symphony Tonight

2006-04-07T22:48:00.000-05:00

Twas pretty good tonight, not the best I've seen. Good pianest, Joseph Kolichstein or something similar to that. A neat thing about tonight's performance was that the symphony play Mozart's first and last symphonies (no. 1 and no. 41). I saw David's grandfather. I also saw the McDowells (old PS1 and CS1 people). I also was Ben K's (in Scouts) dad and new wife. I admit that I started to nod off a little, I suppose from being tired because of the track meet. I'm wiped out now.
sorry I couldn't make it to ff, couldn't get away from the track meet, and i was pooped after the symphony. Ill be at Caledonian practice tomorrow though.

P.S. I got that photo of the cellos for you david. I learned that taking photos is a major offence during the show.

Track or No Track?

2006-04-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

Today was pretty much average, minus the injury that finally showed itself today. I highly suspect that Coach Mlika is the one who put this sharp pain through my right knee from overtraining me (and the rest of the team) so early in the season. It was very painful indeed this afternoon, but after i iced it and took two advil, it's not so bad. Now that I feel better, my parents think I should go to the track meet, eventhough i already told the coach I cant go because of my knee. They're changing their minds!! I feel like I need to go to support my team, and if i can run, then run. I just don't want to be halfway through the 800 meter relay, and have my knee give out to pain. Also, now that the meet was postponed back to 2:00, i will most definitely miss the several social activities I had set forth for Friday night. I've tried to get ahold of Mlika many a time, but i cant get him. What should I do?

Another Apple Breakthrough

2006-04-05T20:16:00.000-05:00

Today Apple Computer announced it has released software, called Boot Camp, to allow Microsoft's Windows XP on its computers. Boot Camp is available for free on Apple's website. This sofware only works on Apple's new Intel-chipped computers. Although only certain computers can use Boot Camp, this is a major breakthrough in the separation between Macs and PCs. Apple thinks it will help people make the swich from PCs to Macs because it will now allow them to use software only written for PCs on Macs. This is amazing. Yet again, Apple makes a fast, timely, and effective innovation that will revolutionize computing. Here is a good article on the matter: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/technology/05cnd-apple.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

P.S.
Apple also announced that it would release a new version of its running program in early 2007, called Leopard. Let's see...thats the fourth or fifth new running system for Macs since XP has been out, and Microsoft STILL hasn't released Vista.

Escuala aujourd'hui

2006-04-04T20:44:00.000-05:00

I woke up and was in a complete state of daze and comatose until meetings (those hershey's kisses surprisingly gave me a boost). However I have vague remembrances of history today, which was enjoyable. We watched a former Monty Python dude who does history documentaries on old Europe nowadays. He threw in some Monty Python clips and Monty Python-like jokes, which made it a pretty good start to the day. English cinco-pod was not so great. I'm not a fan of the "Loeb in-class essay." Bio quad pod was interesting. Sea star dissection was really interesting, b/c they are nothing at all like humans. Like how they regurgitate their stomachs to eat their food, digest it outside of their bodies, the bring their stomach back in. And the tube feet, cool. I'm glad I didn't have a terrible, unbearable partner like Jessica Bly or Katie Duffy, who both refused to touch the sea star. Track wasn't bad. Nicolas really pushed me, which felt good and was beneficial. Had a good Juice Stop before French Horn. French Horn wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Worked on legato tonguing, double octave slurs, audition piece, scales. He said I had made considerable progress on my audition piece, made me feel good. Finally, I had like 30 minutes of homework, which is always, always nice.

Family Birthday Gathering

2006-04-02T21:47:00.000-05:00

This evening my family got together at my house to socialize and open several birthday gifts. Was nice to see some family I don't see often enough. The "mudburgers" (hamburgers from Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes) were really good, like usual. Had a nice out-back fire. A good homemade chocolate cake and ice cream. I got a $20 bill, a running shirt and shorts, a Barns and Noble gift card, and a digital camera. I really hyped about having my own camera now, esp. that I have a blog. Can't wait to start putting it to use.
Good day in general. Confirmation class seemed a bit too early b/c of Daylight savings.

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones Concert

2006-04-01T17:51:00.000-06:00

Great concert last night. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones are amazingly versatile and play some awesomely cool music. Victor Wooten, the bassist, is the greatest I've seen or heard. He could freakin' play the thing with two hands, like it was a harp or somethin. Great time. Bela Fleck was at his best, a brilliant banjoist and folk/eclectic/jazz musician. The horn player (played the soprano, alto, and tenor sax, recorder, and flute) is astounding. Recommend this great group of 4 musicians to anyone who likes cool music and anything new and different. Bela did an awesome jam-session type-thingy where he played regular acoustic banjo for like 20 minutes. Here are some photos. Sorry, they didn't come out very good.

Magda & Eckhard's Patagonia Trip Open House

2006-03-31T16:41:00.000-06:00

Date of open house: March 25. My former preschool teacher and her husband went to Patagonia last winter as a retirement gift from all the people (former students and parents) that donated money for the trip. She has always wanted to go there. Magda was born in Estonia in the 1930s, and was annexed by the Nazi's in 1941. Her family was forced into poverty, and she and her siblings had to sneak into the potato fields at night to eat. Her husband, Eckhard (pronounced like the Eckerd drug store) was born in Germany around the same time. I don't really know anything about him, besides he is a brilliant physicist and chemist who teaches at UMKC and Park Unversity. He will ramble on and on and on and on and on and on about one thing, and you can understand about 1/5 of what he says (his accent is so strong). He's kinda like a hobbit though.
Anyways, this openhouse was to display some of the 1500 photos they took on their month-long excursion in Patagonia. It was pretty cool, and they had some really funny and interesting stories to tell. I didn't take many photos, but here are some that I did take.

Pictures below

2006-03-31T10:21:00.000-06:00

top: Our Lady of Guadaloupe church from the front
2nd: Inside from entrance
3rd: Dad and I after the second day of squash games.
4th: Los Archos on the Malecon
5th: Me warming up 2nd day of squash
6th: Pool from my chaise
7th: Center of building we stayed at with ma, pa, grandma
8th: People waiting to eat at the famous PiPi's restaurant (bad food, all atmosphere)
9th: View of the river and across the bay. You can see the hotel district and a blurry image of downtown.
10th: My grandma "firing up a rocket" or "igniting a cancer stick"

Spring break photos, R. II

2006-03-30T22:48:00.000-06:00

Spring Break

2006-03-30T22:20:00.000-06:00

I had a good spring break. First week was pretty good. Hung out with David, gregg, busse, some others (cant remember). Shot off rockets/ rocket engines at loose park. very fun indeed. David has some pics and vids of it on google video (if anyone cares) Second week, went to Mexico (Puerto Vallarta, to be exact) w/ ma, pa, grandma. Fun, but limited as far was what we could do b/c my grandma has really bad arthritis, and she move slower than a street sweeper and has the stamina and strength of a sea monkey. Anyways, dad and i had some gnarlius maximus squash matches. he was damn better than i thought. beet me 8 games to 2. Oh well, he taught me some tricks he learned from his glory days of racquetball. Pool and beach was relaxing, downtown was cool like always, a lot of expansion and growth (too bad). got to go into the spanish colonial church this time. quite neat on the inside as well as the outside. went to a small town outside of puerto vallara, called becerias. it was exactly as my dad described it to me before we went, "a dirt, trashy, dusty, boring, little mexican town." but we ate good seafood (or should i say mariscos) there. Then we ended our relaxing sojourn with a visit to my legenday preschool teacher and her husband's open house on their month-long trip in Patagonia last winter. later posts talking about this.