The Band Bus

I feel this trip needs some explanation. You're probably thinking "Ok, it's a road trip. Fun, but whatever." To anyone else, I'm sure that's what it would be. I can't explain why I want this place so much. It's like what Zach Braff's character on Garden State said: "You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone."

I enjoy Oregon. Hell, I love it, but it just doesn't fit anymore, atleast not right now. In the fall and winter, I'll learn to appreciate this place again, but for now, I'm homesick. I need sweeping canyons, delicate arches, and...well, something that's not here. I'm in love, I swear, and every day that I'm not there takes a little piece of me. What if one were to take Andrea's bikes away, or someone where to ban Bre from all forms of music? You see, that's me without this place. It's a need greater than anything I've ever felt before. All of you have a passion, I know. Now, imagine yourself without it. Surely you can understand that.

Ok, so, I've been giving this a lot of thought, and the only way to win back some sanity is to go back to Moab and see everything again. Either it'll help, or it'll make things worse. The picture seen above is a road trip I've been planning in my head for quite a while now. The first major stop is Moab (C), where we'll stay for a couple nights, and have time to go see Arches and Canyonlands. After we've had our fill, we depart for Kanab (E), and go through Monument Valley on the way (D). Kanab is centraly located, and from there we can easily access Zion Nat'l Park, Bryce Canyon Nat'l Park, and Grand Canyon Nat'l Park (can you see a theme here?). From there, though, the canyon leg of the trip ends and we head for Yosemite, but not before passing through Las Vegas and Death Valley Nat'l Park first. We'll stay in Mammoth Falls (F), a town close to Yosemite, for a couple nights, giving the park the attention it deserves. After then, we'll cut across to the coast, passing through San Francisco (G) and up to Eureka, where we'll stay the night. From there, we'll travel through Redwoods Nat'l Park and up the coast to Newport. After spending a few nights there, we'll head on home.

From what I figure (from some recent research), the cost for lodging will be about $1200-$1300. I estimate the cost of gas will be about $450ish. Food and entertainment, well, I don't know. We can usually bring food time down to a snack and dinner, so for 12 days, it shouldn't be that expensive. Each park should be about $10 to get into, and we're going to eight. Actually, I think the year-long national parks passes are $50, so we'll probably just end up getting one of those. The total shouldn't exceed $2000, which is pretty good, I think.

I need this trip. More than I'm sure you can understand. I'm not going to drive it, though. Oh no. I couldn't appreciate the scenerey if I did. Or take pictures. God, if I couldn't take pictures, I'd go insane. So, right now, I'm just bouncing the idea around with the parents. My dad sounded eager to go back to Arches, so that's a good sign. If dad's on board, then that means the hard part's over. Now, I hope we have enough money....

Face it, it's the end of the summer, and we've exausted nearly every possible way to entertain ourselves. That is why I give you this (it's a nifty link, if you're confuzed). I don't know what it is, and I don't get how it works, but you type in a few words, then is starts spitting out words of its own, sometimes making sense, sometimes gibberish. Quite ammusing, actually. Here are some examples of what I got (with the part I typed in bold, and the stuff the computer says in, well, normal). I find the first one rather ammusing, although the ending resorts back to the gibberish I mentioned....

Once I was a Punk Rocker with Flowers In My hair and I m

Naughty penguins enjoy did did even know what I mean. is: there a Santa Claus? He exists as a complete sweep. of Rockies- POSTED: did did might Daddy catch seperate Moss reply use did did eg: Did you see that? Did you know that MySQL is running on the Sun: s to the Crazy Ones: The misfits. The Misfits, The Misfits, The Misfits, The Misfits, The Misfits, The Misfits, The Misfits, The Misfits, The Misfits, The Misfits, The Misfits, The Misfits, (the whole Misfits thing went on for several more minutes before I finally too pity on it and stopped it)

Jesse is a Crime Against humanity.... (lol, I found the similarities to be amussing)


Seriously, the amount of fun that can be had on this thing is rediculous. Words randomly popping up on screen doesn't seem like a laugh riot, but seeing some of the things it spits out is pretty amussing.

Day 1:

1. Future Focus--Arend
2. Honors Physics--Reynolds
3. English 10 (wtf?)--Mayer
4. Honors Algebra 2--Stidham

Day 2:

1. French 1-2--Cauthers
2. Symphonic Band--Wilson
3. Intro Game Programming--Sellevaag (Schelenburg)
4. Health--Hill

I'm so excited!! I start out the day with Arend (yay!) and I have Intro to Game Programming!! W00t w00t!! Do and of you have any of these classes?

The best movie-going experience ever. Period.

It had snakes, Sam Jackson, boobs, and semi-drunk SoaP fanatics. What more could one ask for? Plus, all the free posters and other swag was a nice plus. The poster's currently hanging on my wall. Well, I think it is....You see, the paint we used for my room is sorta sticky, so I just pressed the poster on the wall and hoped for the best. Surprisingly, it hasn't fallen down yet. But that's neither here nor there, so....

For those of you who went to go see the Return of the King with the school back in seventh grade (or the Ring 2, for that matter), imagine that experience, only multiplied by, oh, say, ten. Yeah, it was that good. From the crowd throwing rubber snakes at the first appearance of the slithery devils to playing the Product Placement Drinking Game (with non-alcoholic Icees, I swear! Although I can't say the same about the rest of the crowd....) to screaming out The Line when it came on (if you've been living in a box for the past year, and you don't know what The Line is, just check the title. Idiot....), this experience was awesome.

But no, I'm not planning on seeing it again. Why? Because that would just ruin it for me. Without the crowd, the movie, was, well, meh. Unless seen with a legion of SoaP fanatics, it's really not worth seeing. Ok, that's a bit cruel. It's friggin' Snakes on a Plane! It did have its funny moments, and I don't think I've jumped that many times in one movie. And, of course, there's snakes. On a plane! Let me put it this way: If you weren't excited about it before, your mind isn't gonna be changed afterwards.

Hold on, the Daily Show's doing something about mother fuckin' snakes on a mother fuckin' plane. YES! THEY HAD THE LINE!! But moving on....

Think of Snakes like Napoleon Dynamite. You're either gonna come from it thinking "What the fuck was that?" or "That. Was. AWESOME!" Or, in all likelihood, both, as I did, although "What the fuck was that?" was said with all due love and respect, of course.

Bottom Line -- Snakes on a Plane: yeah, sure, it's ok, I guess. Snakes on a Plane + Fanatics: The greatest thing EVER.

That was my theme song for the year, for really only two lines in the entire song. That's not to say my entire year was depressing, although reading this blog, you definitely get that impression. The funny thing is, I'm usually happy when I sit down to make a new post. But then, the fool I am, I let myself think. It's a downward spiral from there.

So, last post, I really addressed only one even that happened last year, even though there's dozens more. My "100 Posts Later" post really shows just how much I've grown. You see, back then, I actually thought the samurai level on Pump It Up was challenging. Oh hahaha, how cute. And, awww, I hadn't even finished Celebrian. Back then, I still thought of ice cream as a delicious, innocent dessert of youth. Little did I know.... (notice the 4 dots. At the beginning of the year, that would've just been 3. Thank you Mr. Hammonds)

FNF has really seen its ups and downs. In one post (back in January, I think), I had the time of my life. I rocked at DDR (but, come on, when do I not?), and I even placed 1st in laser tag. After the FNF in May, though, I really was considering investing in a punching bag. I wrote a furious entry in my journal, but I chose not to post it on here because there are some things even the Band Bus just can't take. That one post back in February that I talked about last time is about as nasty as this place gets. Also, the thing I wrote in my journal had a declaration that I found wasn't true at all.

And then there was pep band. Lets have a moment of awed silence for the pep band games that have been, and the ones that will be (although not the basketball ones; those sucked). I leanred many things during these past football games. One, that you can actually choke on a feather, and two, that saxophones aren't really all the bad. I can't wait for the season to start up again, because I've not tasted a cheese covered quarter in a long, long while. Of course, we're gonna be missing one awesome flute player, and the group has somewhat split, so things're gonna be different. The change is something I'm looking forward to though. And dreading. But that's what's fun about it, right?

The new school year is swiftly approaching, so I suppose this requires a look back at last year; the good, the bad, and the ugly. I'm sure we'll all agree that it wasn't the best year. It certainly didn't top 8th grade, but it was enjoyable none the less. It may not have been as fun filled, but it definately made me realize a few things. Last year was a year of growth, rather than a year of coasting.

The moment that screams loudest happened way back in the month of February. You might know already what I'm about to say. Bre and Jeremy had just started going out. Well, this bugged me for several reasons, but the worst was that both these people that I considered friends at the time (and still do, don't worry) totally neglected to fill me in on something that was pretty major. Truth be told, I've never been so angry in my life. But that's also what I enjoyed about it.

Some may not realize it, as I usually keep it in check, but I have a horrible temper. When I have too much on my plate (like around Finals), I let it slip a bit. The reason that I found the event in February mildly enjoyable was because I could finally be angry. It was a little, much needed vacation from happy and calm. I began to notice that it wasn't just the lack of information that upset me, although I was able to rationalize those thoughts away pretty fast.

Now, I'm not saying I enjoyed being left in the dark, but I found that it's important to have someone or something to act as a vent, because the more it's built up, the worse it's gonna be. Pleasantness, at times, can be a vice.

*This should be a comment on Bre's post about this, but she's posted several posts since that one, so I figured no one would read it. Plus, it's kinda long. So, without further ado, here it is in non-comment post form*

Some people feel that it's too soon for this movie. Why? What happened on that day seems to have become no more than leverage Republicans use when they're falling behind in the polls. It's a date used in vain attempts to create compassion for political figures who are too dense to remember what that day was really about. That event, it wasn't about terrorists, the Middle East, or our failing government. For once, for once!, it was about the people. It was about eachother.

There wasn't a left or right wing. There were Americans. Not the nationalist, conservative Christian Americans we resent now, but Americans the way they should be. We looked out for eachother. We ran into burning buildings for eachother because that's what was right. The world was there for us, and, for once, we were there for us. Even a 3rd grader on the other side of the country, not knowing, not understanding what she was witnessing on her TV, could feel that grief, that tug of humanity that's stored inside all of us.

We told ourselves, "We Will Never Forget", but that, ironically, is what has been forgotten. The human aspect, the part that truly brought us to tears, has been seemingly buried by the politics. How could we dishonor the fallen like that? Never in our history have we been united like that. Flags flew in front of every house, moments of silence were taken in every country. Show me another event that even came close to that!

How, then, could we wind up with a country that's practically in a civil war, and a world that wants nothing to do with us, besides blow us up? Because of the politics. That's all we get any more. 9/11 is leverage. It's a magic date that, when said, has the power to give you votes. Why? I don't know. It just does. "Oh, that must mean he's a patriot and loves our country. I should vote for him." That, to the extent of my knowledge, is the thought process that happens whenever that magic date is mentioned.

God Bless America. I'm an American. America the Beautiful. I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag.

We don't give a damn about these phrases anymore, because they've been used far too much, and for all the wrong reasons. I still remember the time when I said "I am an American," and took the Pledge of allegiance with pride, because that's what September 11th did to me. But I've forgotten. We've all forgotten. How can you feel that compassion for a country that's gone wrong in so many ways?

September 11th can be both a defense and an attack, and primarily against who? Other Americans! What the hell is wrong with that? John Stewart was right when he said, "They're this close to yadda-yadda-ing September 11th." It's just leverage any more. The human side has been buried midst the political jabs. That's why we need this movie. America seems to have forgotten what it truly means to be an American.