Sox have taken 2 out of 3 this weekend from the Chokers! My sign proves that I am once again right!

Well, I'm off to bed!

It's true.

Got back around 10:15, and left again for a party lol

Now its 1:15 and I'm back and showered and ready for bed...

Twas a good trip.

My trip starts tomorrow! I'll be back on Sunday! Adios, everyone!

And since it's baseball-related... I gotta say this:

CHICAGO WHITE SOX-- 6.5 GAME LEAD BABY!!!

Bit of a departure from my normal blog. I'm a history buff, so here we go. I want to take today to honor our veterans that are still alive today who fought in World War II. Many of these people took part in the European theatre of the war. Today marks the 64th anniversary of the largest invasion in the history of World War II. Well over three million troops eventually took part in the Invasion of Normandy over several months. This was the beginning of the end of the Nazi regime in Germany.

After the Normandy Invasion, the Allies took Carentan, France, linking the beacheads and allowing more troops than ever to come aboard as casualty rates began to decline. They pushed through France, liberating Paris a couple months later. They then went on to Holland, and that part was a failure. But the Germans continued to be pushed back elsewhere.

In December of 1944, the Fuhrer of Germany launched a counteroffensive in the Ardennes Forest, breaking through the Allied line. This could have negated everything that the Allies had accomplished since D-Day. Easy Company of the 506th Airborne hunkered down in Bastogne for over two weeks, hurling everything the Germans could throw back at them. Eventually the Bulge was recaptured and the Germans were in full retreat for the rest of the war.

On April 30, 1945, the German leader committed suicide as the Allies closed in for the Battle of Berlin, possibly the most vicious fighting of the European front of the Second World War.

Thanks to the men who took part in the Normandy Invasion 64 years ago. and started the movement of recapturing Europe for freedom, which ended in the V-E Day culmination of May 8, 1945.

Well, a week from today, I'll be in the midst of my first vacation of this summer break. Here's how it goes

(Steph, you'll be jealous of me for this one haha)

Tuesday, 10 June: Detroit, Michigan: Chicago White Sox @ Detroit Tigers

Wednesday, 11 June: Toronto, Ontario: Seattle Mariners @ Toronto Blue Jays

Thursday, 12 June: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Washington Nationals @ Pittsburgh Pirates

Friday, 13 June: Cleveland, Ohio: San Diego Padres @ Cleveland Indians

Saturday, 14 June: Cincinnati, Ohio: Boston Red Sox @ Cincinnati Reds

Yes, my father and I are going to be on a baseball trip! But that's not even the entire streak of games... From Monday, 9 June
to Sunday, 15 June (Father's Day), he and I are going to see, at minimum, 63 innings of baseball in six different cities in seven days. On Monday, the 9th, we'll watch the White Sox take on the Twins in Chicago, and finish it off with the Rockies playing the White Sox in Chicago. It's gonna be great.

We'll be driving, so we'll stock up 1500-plus miles on the car, but it'll be fun. Don't worry, we'll do some touring too- just not as much as one might suggest that we do!

Two things:

Summer!!!

Senior!!!

That's all I need to say for this blog.

Have a nice day!

Well, I've gotten my finals pretty much over with.. except for that one on Monday, which I'm still not happy about.

Thursday was hard. I had only one final that day, but it was a real b!tch.

Honors Advanced Algebra. Going into the final I thought I was confident, that I would get at least a C or better. All I needed to keep my C for the semester was a 62.9%. That would be easy.

Ha.

I went in after second hour, and asked my teacher... guess what I wound up with on the final?

63.6%

Man, I'm living on the edge, ain't I? My final semester grade was a 70.17%.

Second hour was AP US History, and we already had the final exam- I got a B. Not that it really mattered anyway, I had a B for the semester, which counts as an A.

Third hour was European History. All the seniors that were in the class are gone, and we'd already taken the final like in AP US History, so we didn't have to stay for that period. I got a B on that final as well.

As for Friday, it was much easier

Sixth period was AP Human Geography. All the seniors are gone like European History, so we just helped the teacher take down the posters and everything on his walls -- and he gave us extra credit for doing so.

Seventh period was English 6 (that is to say, the second semester of our junior year of English. They're changing the names next year so this class will be English III 2.) This was a joke compared to math, I breezed right through it. Wrote a 2 1/2 page essay and did 98 scantron questions, and finished that in 35 minutes, giving me an hour to sleep.

Monday is Accounting, so we'll see how that goes. I think it'll be fine though. And then after Accounting is PE, so I'll just get to play softball for an hour and a half before summer begins.

Why the hell do I have to have a final exam on a MONDAY and then start summer?! Something's not right.

Isn't it scientifically proven that high schoolers do the worst on tests when they're given on a Monday?

Ah, well. At 11:10 AM I'm officially a senior in high school. Time to let senioritis set in....

Sorry for the hiatus again. It's due to the craziness of track. I could also add that I've been drawn to Facebook, so I got distracted there as well. *sheepish* Track's over with now, with the exception of Boys' State- which is this weekend, and I'll be going down to watch the boys state qualifiers on Saturday in the finals, assuming we have anybody go to finals. Which I'm pretty sure we will.

I'm headed to my grandmother's here in a moment, so sorry for the short blog- I promise I'll get a longer one up soon!

What a terrible, senseless tragedy, and again on another university campus. Why do people do this to each other? And, as if it needed anything to make it worse than it already was, it was on Valentine's Day, a day supposed to be devoted to love.

Six dead, including the gunman, and sixteen more injured. This is so sad. Virginia Tech and now Northern Illinois University, less than a year apart. What is it with schools and violence?

Come one, come all, Chicago sports fans!

Now, I know this is a bit of a departure from my usual type of blogging, but I am a moderator at a fabulous new website dedicated to Chicago sports. You don't have to be a fan of every team- even if you're a fan of only one Chicago sports team, we'd love to have you posting over there. There is plenty of controversy to discuss

The main website is still working out its kinks, but it is looking great, and we have article writers contributing already. You can also find schedules, team standings, and more.

www.chicagosportingzone.com (this is the main site)

The forums are already blossoming beautifully, with just short of 200 members and almost 10,000 posts! The forums are not limited to Chicago sports -- we have general MLB, NFL, etc. As most forums do, we have an off-topic area, which is full of controversy. If you're a GFX guy, then we've got a place for you! If you love to write about sports, especially Chicago sports -- we could use writers! We even have an arcade, which is growing! Help us grow into a huge website and recruit any fellow Chicago sports fans to join up and discuss with us.

www.chicagosportingzone.com/forums (obviously, these are the forums)

Come check it out and join up, my username over there as usual, is SiderSouth. I'm your Head Moderator over there.

If you do join up, thank you so much, and please make an introduction topic as your first post! Thanks!

So, join up if you are a Chicago sports fan! Baseball season is approaching, things should get really interesting!

My Friday's been a crazy-@$$ day. Let me explain....

First of all, we had the blizzard that pounded the Plains tear through the state of Illinois. Every single school in my county had their classes canceled as well as numerous ones across the state. I talked with the principal at the basketball game (explain more later about that particular adventure), and he said we will probably be able to forget about making up that day, since so many schools state-wide were canceled. Here, just outside of Chicago, we got about 14ish inches of snow. It was not fun shoveling this morning.

Next, I did my Kaplan ACT prep homework.. that was also not fun.

Then, at about 5:30p, I drove over to the school for our HUGE game tonight... It was pretty good, until about the last minute. That's when the refs f***ed it up. We were tied, and there was a flagrant foul, our guy got nailed in the face, and they didn't even call it. That's when our coach started railing at the ref, with the crowd supporting him. Coach, who happens to be my fifth period PE teacher, and one of the calmest teachers in the school, got right into the ref's face, and he was yelling at the top of his lungs, and I could clearly hear what he was saying on the opposite end of the gym.

It was a sight to behold, and I could tell that right after the game, his tirade at the ref was already becoming the stuff of legend at our school. This is the maddest I've ever seen him, in three years at the school, PE, Health, or basketball. Only time I've ever seen his face beet red.

Alas, we lost by four.

And to round off Friday, I saw a video of SSBB Final Smashes... looks bad@$$.

Happy Super Bowl weekend everybody!

Just a quickie blog as it's 11:10 pm and I should be in bed, not doing homework. Unfortunately, I didn't get home until 9 pm so I had no chance.

This week is course selection week, so we got to pick out our schedules for 2008-09, which is my senior year of high school (where has the time gone!? I started posting here as a freshman and now look, I'm picking classes for my last year of high school!)

Anyway, this schedule is going to be easy as hell... they are not necessarily in order. I will not know the order until we get schedules mailed home sometime in late July or early August.

Semester 1

College Algebra I
Physics I
Advanced Accounting I
Advanced Comp Apps I
Psych and Lit
Economics
Swim (sophomores, but they'll let juniors and seniors in anyway)

Semester 2

College Algebra II
Physics II
Advanced Accounting II
Advanced Computer Apps II
Our Society in Lit
Jr/Sr PE II
Study Hall

So first semester out of seven c.lasses, I have only three (algebra, physics and econ) with homework, and second semester two out of six (algebra and physics). Second semester's study hall, I will not be in the study hall, but I will be in the office helping Mrs. W. I wouldn't've taken a study hall, but there was no other semester-long course that I was interested in. So, I'll take the study hall, and I'll get free credit for helping her out second semester.

Also, in other news.. my PE c.lass 5th period, I have lunch BEFORE PE instead of AFTER. Also, my PE c.lass was 42 kids on Tuesday, it's now up to 44, with 41 of them seniors, and only 3 juniors. More might be coming. Since there's senior checkout, for like the last week of school, we'll just hang with the sophomore PE c.lass and for the "final exam", my teacher is letting us stay home, since there's so few of us. In May, I will probably also be able to get exempt from my AP History and AP Geography final exams, as well as maybe European History. If the final exam schedule falls just right, then I might be able to take all 3 of my final exams on Wednesday, May 28 and start my summer vacation after that day instead of on May 30th, two days early. We shall see.

It's been a busy week, that's all I can say.

Monday and Tuesday, we reviewed for exams, which have taken up the last three days.

Wednesday exams:

Honors Advanced Algebra: This exam went much better than I expected, and I wound up with a high C, which pleases my parents alot. This makes my semester grade a C, but since it's an honors class, I get credit for a B.

AP United States History: As far as I know, I got a 75% (not including extra credit) on the scantron portion. With the extra credit, I think I got 6 or 7 points extra credit, and then if I get 13 points total on the two essays (out of 20) then I'm guaranteed a B.

Junior/Senior PE: This was not an actual exam, but more 90 minutes of relaxation. The first 45 minutes, I was downstairs with my classmates playing volleyball, and then we switched with the freshman class, and I was able to stay down with them, as it was my birthday. We played two games of volleyball, and then a furious 30-minute duel of Nuke 'Em that still hasn't been resolved.

Now, this is where the blackmail comes in...

My former Spanish teacher and current track coach, Senora Kaplan, knew it was my birthday on Wednesday, so as I was walking to my math final on Wednesday, she said "Brian, get over here. Happy birthday, here's your birthday pencil." I said thanks, but I had a gut feeling that wasn't all. I turned out, most unfortunately, to be correct in that aspect. She continued, "Right then, you'd better get to your math final, but there's something else -- you gotta wear this hat all day." I just stared at her. She then said "Well, aren't you going to put it on?" Knowing that I would've gotten fifty burpies to start track season if I didn't wear it, I took the hat, which said "Happy Birthday" on the side and had little fake candles on top of it. Before my second period history final, I dropped in her room and said "You know, I think this actually looks quite good on me." She agreed and said "I should've brought my camera -- oh wait!" She went and got her cell phone, took a picture of me on her cell phone with that damn hat on, and then proceeded to send it to half of the track team. After history, I asked her if I also had to wear it for PE, and she said "You bet." So I did... and it fell off about fifty times during Volleyball/Nuke 'Em.

After I gave her the hat back and changed the track number (it stood at 39 for Thursday), I went home, showered and headed over to the DMV to get my license at long last. We checked in, made sure all the paperwork was correct, got my picture taken, and left all in about twenty minutes. I didn't have to take the test as I already took it during behind-the-wheel through school in June. We go to the insurance guy on Tuesday after my track meeting after school.

Then, I went home, and studied for English and Genetics for Thursday's exams.

That night, we had my birthday dinner of flank steak and then of course, cake, and it was all ice cream! For presents, I got some candy, "We Are Marshall" and "The Matrix" series on DVD. I also got a few checks for my car fund. I watched "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (I never got around to watching it over break) and then went to bed.

Thursday exams:

English 5: This exam was relatively easy. It consisted of 83 scantron questions on The Crucible and then we had a short passage to read on the debate over Huckleberry Finn and answer some questions. Then we had a fifty point essay to write on what might have caused the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Rounding it off was a twenty point essay connecting The Crucible and Huckleberry Finn.

Genetics: It was 150 multiple choice scantron questions. Piece of cake. Got a B.

After school, I drove by myself for the first time ever, when I went to pick up my brother from the junior high (it was snowing out, and when there's rain/snow, we pick my brother up even though the junior high is right next to the high school, which I can see out of my back window). After that, he changed, and then I took him and his friend to the park to play football with their friends and I came home to study Geography and Accounting, which I had today.

Friday exams:

Accounting: I thought this was a rather easy exam, but it turns out that I should be very grateful that I did those study guides, as I actually failed the scantron, but those study guides not only saved me from failing, but saved me from getting a D, and punting my grade up to a C -- and thus ensuring I kept my semester A, possibly with further extra credit coming.

AP Geography: Eighty countries of the world on the map, I got at least 70-75, which ensures me of a B to an A on that portion. I hope I did well on the scantron and the essays, though. I'll have all grades by this coming Wednesday.

Now, my schedule for second semester..

Period 1: Honors Advanced Algebra: Unfortunately, in second semester, everything we do in this class is NEW... so I'd better study my arse off!

Period 2: AP United States History: Second semester in this class should be much more interesting than first, as we are now moving into the 20th century with the World Wars, Depression, Korea, Vietnam, Cold War, before we take the AP exam in May to finish off the year. I plan on taking the AP exam in May so that I can get exempt from the second semester final exam.

Period 3: European History: I will remain in the same classroom for European History with the same teacher as AP History, so this oughta be an interesting class. Mr. Beguin says we're probably going to start with the Romans.

Period 4: Accounting: This should be an easy class, even if my exam didn't go so hot. I bet I'll get another A in here for the semester

Period 5: Junior/Senior PE: Having PE fifth period with perhaps the greatest basketball coach isince the now-retired Mr. Soldwedel (only art teacher in our school's history up until this year) is awesome, even if I am forced to have C lunch for the first time in my high school career. All of third quarter (from now through March 20th) is badminton, and every year he takes the three best players in the class on in a 3-on-1 match and every year he wins.

C Lunch: This is the first time I've ever had C lunch, but at least this means I'll have a very short afternoon. Every semester before now, I had A Lunch, which was from 11:38-12:08, but C lunch is from 12:32-1:02. At least I have PE right before it, so I'll always work up a nice appetite for food.

Period 6: AP Human Geography: Continuing on from first semester, this will prepare us for the AP exam and another final exam exemption in May. We have a class field trip in about 3 weeks to the Chicago Board of Trade, Field Museum, and other various places. I just hope it isn't about 5 degrees out like it will be tomorrow!

Period 7: English 6: I don't know what we're reading this semester yet. Might be some British literature of some sort. We'll see.

And now, I'm going to go enjoy my long weekend without any homework or studying! SEE YA!

And I'd better get straight A's with all this fricken studying I'm doing.

Anyway.... time for my bi-annual pre-final exam review...

Wednesday, January 16: (which, most unfortunately, due to extremely poor and idiotic scheduling on the dumb school district's part, happens to be my 17th birthday)...

8:00-9:30: Honors Advanced Algebra I

This is by far the class I'm most worried about. I do get five free percentage points partly because it's my birthday. Also, for this class, we get to cram as much information as we can onto a 3x5 notecard and we can use both sides... anything goes, even if it's examples of how to do the problem. The exam consists of 15 multiple choice questions, and 10 free-answer questions. I expect that I will take more than 70 minutes to do this exam.

9:30-9:40 Passing Period 1

9:40-11:10 Advanced Placement United States History I

This should be much easier than Honors Advanced Algebra. The exam consists of eighty questions in the AP Exam style, with two FRQ (Free-Response) essays, which should be about one page in length each. I expect this exam to take no longer than 45 minutes, essays included.

11:10-11:20 Passing Period 2

11:20-12:50 Junior/Senior PE

This is not really an exam, but rather ninety minutes to play volleyball. This is perfect timing after that math final exam, it will be a great way to relax and have fun (we're combining with the freshman class) before going home to recuperate for Thursday exams.

After exams, my mother and I are heading over to the DMV (hopefully, there won't be any long-@$$ lines) to get me my license! What a great reward/present for having to take final exams on my 17th birthday!

Thursday, January 17:

8:00-9:30 English 5

This is another easy exam. We can use our notes for the entirety of the Scantron portion of the exam, which consists of 110 questions, 80 on The Crucible, 20 on various colonial literature (we can use the textbook for this portion), and 10 ACT-style questions. Two essays follow, one ACT-style, and the other connecting Huckleberry Finn to The Crucible, for a total of 190 points. I expect this exam to take the full ninety minutes, mostly because of the two essays.

9:30-9:40 Passing Period

9:40-11:10 Advanced Biology III -- Genetics Semester

This should be an easy B or even A. The exam, which consists of 150 questions, is not the most I've ever had. The most exam questions I've had in one final exam was 221 for Spanish Second II in June, 2007. This should be a breeze, and I don't expect it to take more than 40 minutes. We also get a 3x5 notecard "cheat sheet" just like in math. I don't think I'll need to refer to it as much as I will in math.

Friday, January 18:

8:00-9:30 Accounting I

Yet another easy exam. The majority of it will be on the computer, thank God. We will have to fill out accounts, etc. I think the point total is in the neighborhood of 500 points, which makes it literally impossible not to fail it, because she doesn't mark the whole thing wrong if we mess it up, like some teachers.

9:30-9:40 Passing Period

9:40-11:10 Advanced Placement Human Geography I

This should be a mildly challenging exam -- the first part consists of about 60 questions over Chapters 5 and 8; and the second part is of the countries of the world. We will be given a blown-up map, with eighty countries numbered, and we have to identify the eighty countries. Thankfully, we won't have to worry about some of those super-small Oceania countries. This exam should be worth about 150 points.

Five days until all this is over. I'll be glad when it is. We start second semester after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 21.

My second semester schedule is as follows:

Period 1: Honors Advanced Algebra II
Period 2: Advanced Placement United States History II
Period 3: European History
Period 4: Accounting II
Period 5: Junior/Senior PE II
C lunch
Period 6: Advanced Placement Human Geography II
Period 7: English 6

I'll elaborate more on next semester's schedule this weekend after exams are over. Have a good week, everyone, I'm outta here, I need to get my rest.

Even in spite of the fact that it was nearly 40 degrees above normal on Monday..

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/snow-falls-in-baghdad/20080111091609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Why am I saying "Damn!"?

Because of the record warmth.

A day after the calendar turned to 2008, after the mini-snowstorm subsided, the temperature bottomed out at -1. And today, it's 63 degrees warmer than January 2nd.

Right now, it's back down to 60 degrees, but earlier it was 62 degrees. That exceeded the forecast high for today by nine degrees (it was 53 in the paper), and broke the record high for today's date by eight degrees, which was 54 degrees, set 101 years ago, in 1907.

Tomorrow, the warmth could threaten the all-time January record high, which is 65 degrees, set on January 31, 1989. The forecast is for 64 degrees, and if the thunderstorms hold off until evening, that could not only set a new record, but reach into the lower 70s, forecasters say.

So, you all know what that means... time to wear SHORTS!!

Yes, 2008 may be only four days old, but this was an amazing night.

We had the first SuperFan basketball game of the New Year, and I was surprised by the turnout, considering that it is still winter break (we do not go back until Monday). The place was jammed to standing-room only, and the crowd was nuts, so into it. We SuperFans led the charge.

The crowd continued to grow as we settled in for the start of the game. By the end of the first quarter, it was 18-1 us. In the second quarter, they turned it into a tight game, as it was 28-22 at halftime.

With about two minutes left in the third quarter, it was 42-36. That's when IT happened.

What is IT, you ask?

With 1:58 left to play, one of my longtime friends who had been on Varsity since freshman year, stole the ball, broke away from the other nine guys on the court and nailed a slam dunk home, the first one this season not only for us, but in our conference, as well as in the state. The crowd went absolutely wild and refused to stop cheering, giving Joe a standing ovation for ten full minutes, delaying the game. After he dunked, you could feel a change in the game, and by that change, I knew instantly it was game over. The other guys were so deflated by that amazing dunk, we pulled away and eventually won by sixteen points, 58-42.

And to make sure that he really literally single-handedly defeated the other guys, he nearly nailed two more slam dunks in the fourth quarter.