Been a while.

Yeah, I have indeed been busy for quite some time. Also, whenever I'm skipping writing more important things than a blog entry, like college applications or my extended essay, I feel like I should do the blog, either. Wow, I'm looking back to see where I last wrote and it really has been a hideously long time since the last time I posted. I suppose I'll start with broad strokes again, because I really do plan on refining the image this time round.

Scouts - Well, I'm president of Venture Crew 430, and things have been going pretty well. Most of us are going to Philmont this summer, so we've started doing training hikes out at Red Rock Canyon. Our last one was a 20 mile loop. That went pretty well, so from now on, we're going to be carrying our backpacks on our hikes. Also, I'm an assistant scoutmaster with Troop 669, an offshoot of Troop 430. There's all sorts of politics in his, and I'll prolly end up writing about them the next time they bug me again. Oh, I went to OA Ordeal as an Elangomat and that really wasn't too fun, but now I might end up joining OA ceremonies team, if I ever go to another meeting.

College apps: Are finally all sent in. Now it's just scholarship apps and the CSS/PROFILE to be done. All those applications were a huge pain, I probably applied to a few too many schools. I've already been accepted to Florida Tech and University of Minnesota, so that's cool. Especially the $50k scholarship to Florida Tech.

Running - I really haven't done much since cross country ended. I'm going to have to start again for Philmont training though, DDR just doesn't quite cut it.

School - Wow, tons has happened since the first few weeks of school. I'm nearly done with my extended essay, I'm just waiting for Mrs. Keko to finish going over it so I can add my citation and write the final draft. I finished one more internal assessment: history. It was basically a report on the US and USSR's arms trade with the Third World during the Cold War. My Theory of Knowledge paper is going to be on the methods of seeking knowledge utilised by the different areas of knowledge and how that affects what is found.

I am a little worried about my English oral, however. Basically, you research your chosen passage as much as possible, then are asked a question, given 20 minutes to prepare, then talk for 15 minutes. It's a just a little scary. My topic is Act 4, Scene 4 of Hamlet. The soliloquy where Hamlet admires Fortinbras' action and resolves to kill Claudius once again, or so it seems. Some of the interpretations I've read disagree with the traditional reading, but whatever.

Rest of my life: I broke up with Moriah a few months ago. She was driving me absolutely nuts, so I'm pretty happy with this decision, though she was bummed. :( I enjoyed several months of being single afterward, easily defying Moriah's claims that after having a girlfriend, a guy can't live without one. Oh, she has so many crazy ideas. Then, over New Year's Eve, Ashley and I became an item, and that's pretty cool. It was kinda weird at first though, because I've always set her on a level of her own. Things have been going well with her, and life is going well.

Thing sucking away my time: After reaching level 47 in World of Warcraft, my obsession has tapered off. I don't plan on ending my subscription, but I've picked up playing Discworld once again. I've been playing on and off since around '99, so it's interesting to seee the changes wrought. I got tired of my samurai and wizard, so I've started a new character: Shuichiro the ninja. Since then I've learn assassinations are the funnest thing ever. For example:

You prepare to inhume Disembowel-Meself-Honourably Dibhala.
You quietly sneak up behind Disembowel-Meself-Honourably Dibhala, suddenly step
in front of him and deliver a nasty chop to his throat.
Disembowel-Meself-Honourably Dibhala tries to gasp for air before turning blue
and collapsing.
Disembowel-Meself-Honourably Dibhala dies.

My haiku to commemorate the event:

Dibhala falls with
the swiftly fading grace of
the cherry blossom

Well, that's a brief overview of what's been going on. Neat stuff, huh? As long as I've started here, I s'pose I'll go on to recent events. I've been selected for to apply for the Presidential Scholar Program, and when they only choose 20 boys and 20 girls from each states to apply, you know it's pretty neat. So I'll be applying for that. It would be nice if there were a scholarship along with the trip to DC, though.

Friday and Saturday were part 2 of my scoutmaster training. It was an outdoor skills course, basically going over the requirement for the First Class rank, so it was pretty easy for me. Cutting wood was kinda fun though, as was setting up a compass course. Also, the breakfast was amazing. We had to cook it, but they provided the food. Bacon and eggs, pancakes and hashbrowns, it was a lot more food than I'd normally have for breakfast, especially when my patrol was supposed to be six people and only two showed. So, though it was mostly a waste of tme for me, I have my little "trained" patch and am now ready to take Woodbadge.

Also, I'm dead sick of Mom being all inquisitive on my doings, then getting offended when I don't want to tell her. She's been really irritable at everyone today, without any good reason.

To finish off the weekend, Ashley and I went down to the UNLV library to research our orals. Amazingly enough to most people, we actually spent the entire time researching and both made a great deal of progress in our studies. She's doing Faulkner, which is all kinds of fun. Heck, I even did my Calculus homework. It's been a very productive and entertaining weekend.

I humbly promise
to post as often as I
possibly can do

You never know, I might keep it. ;-)