Seems I'm beginning to fall ill. At first I was attributing my sniffles and sore eyes to allergies from the bad weather and my recent "camping" (if you can even call it that) adventure. We humans aren't built for the "great outdoors," after all. However, a continuing, worsening cough among other symptoms is convincing me otherwise.
I've noticed a pattern in my sicknesses. They usually occur once every few months. Two to three times a year, discounting normal seasonal crap or minor bugs, I get SICK. I'm worried this week is going to be one such time.
Oh body of mine: Could you not have picked a better time? Way to get ill just in time for $164 of tests that I NEED to pass for college credit AND an orchestra concert tomorrow.... thanks.
Hopefully I can clear my sinuses and bounce back quickly. If I'm sick for my AP tests, I imagine my scores will suffer as well.
Here's hoping for the best, I'll be sure to let you all know how things go... may not be an entry tomorrow on account of my aforementioned concert.
Hasta.
Leif
Monday, May 3, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Catching up...
Been either a.) too busy or b.) not near a computer, so sorry for the huge delay!
Anyhow...
I initially began drafting this at 7:30 AM, sitting in my chemistry class and pretending to take notes on material I was already familiar with from my physics studies. As wiped out as I was feeling (sleep deprivation while out of town (this was April... 25th, 26th)), I figured I could at least start an entry for all I've missed.
And what better place to start than all that lost time? I only wrote an entry for the first night of the play. Each progressive showing only seemed to improve its overall quality. According to the stage manager, I've finally "come out of my shell" with the cast and crew. They're all, for the most part, interesting, likable people. Despite having joined the group late to play a lead role with no prior acting experience, it seems everyone's warmed up to me AND the play has turned out to be a hit as well.Though I've affectionately sworn to "what happens backstage, stays backstage," I can certainly tell you that thespians are exotic, active, wildly full of personality, and simply fun people.
One such example of what's to be expected around thespians is rampant crossdressing. Due to a lack of male actors, many of the female performers had to dress and act for male parts (take THAT Shakespeare!). To advertise for the play, another actor and friend of mine "volunteered" to parade around campus in a dress. It worked.
With the play finished on the final night, -I- was volunteered to do the same. I'm still awaiting pictures of my antics, though I'm certain you all will be quite... amused.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now onto more recent concerns considering it's MAY now. It seems things will finally be simmering down for me by the end of this week. I have an orchestra concert Tuesday and a pair of AP Tests on... Thursday and Friday...? Anyhow, my plate's VERY full, not to mention the work I'm still in the process of catching up on for the time I've missed.
Despite that, I did, to an extent, enjoy the camping (if you can call sitting around in a trailer with laptops, television, and DS's camping) trip I recently went on.
Anyhow, it's been a long run this school year, hopefully I'll be able to sit back and be insightful, comedic, or just simply relaxed, regular, and interesting with this blog.
Hasta Luega,
Leif
Oh right!
Feel free to spread the word about this project of mine! I would love to have people actually READ what I write here :)
Anyhow...
I initially began drafting this at 7:30 AM, sitting in my chemistry class and pretending to take notes on material I was already familiar with from my physics studies. As wiped out as I was feeling (sleep deprivation while out of town (this was April... 25th, 26th)), I figured I could at least start an entry for all I've missed.
And what better place to start than all that lost time? I only wrote an entry for the first night of the play. Each progressive showing only seemed to improve its overall quality. According to the stage manager, I've finally "come out of my shell" with the cast and crew. They're all, for the most part, interesting, likable people. Despite having joined the group late to play a lead role with no prior acting experience, it seems everyone's warmed up to me AND the play has turned out to be a hit as well.Though I've affectionately sworn to "what happens backstage, stays backstage," I can certainly tell you that thespians are exotic, active, wildly full of personality, and simply fun people.
One such example of what's to be expected around thespians is rampant crossdressing. Due to a lack of male actors, many of the female performers had to dress and act for male parts (take THAT Shakespeare!). To advertise for the play, another actor and friend of mine "volunteered" to parade around campus in a dress. It worked.
With the play finished on the final night, -I- was volunteered to do the same. I'm still awaiting pictures of my antics, though I'm certain you all will be quite... amused.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now onto more recent concerns considering it's MAY now. It seems things will finally be simmering down for me by the end of this week. I have an orchestra concert Tuesday and a pair of AP Tests on... Thursday and Friday...? Anyhow, my plate's VERY full, not to mention the work I'm still in the process of catching up on for the time I've missed.
Despite that, I did, to an extent, enjoy the camping (if you can call sitting around in a trailer with laptops, television, and DS's camping) trip I recently went on.
Anyhow, it's been a long run this school year, hopefully I'll be able to sit back and be insightful, comedic, or just simply relaxed, regular, and interesting with this blog.
Hasta Luega,
Leif
Oh right!
Feel free to spread the word about this project of mine! I would love to have people actually READ what I write here :)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Opening Night
So, after a bit of drama, stress, errors, anger, and some dancing to techno music, the Cleveland High School Drama Troupe made its first performance of "Arsenic and Old Lace." For those of you still as of yet unaware, I played (and will be playing tomorrow and the next night) the lead protagonist role of Mortimer Brewster.
I must say, we did EXCELLENTLY! Every known error was covered for, but even better, the audience laughed, applauded, they were really impressed! I'm practically bursting at the seams with pride, both in myself and in my fellow actors.
Of course... I also feel like my heels are about to burst from my uncomfortable dress shoes, but that's another story.
I have family staying at my place until this Sunday (they originally came for tonight's performance), and on next Monday and Tuesday, I will be out of town for a Supercomputing Project Exposition. Between acting, preparing for Monday and Tuesday, and trying to keep up with my homework, I'm probably going to be really busy... I actually ought to be working on studying for history right now, but hey, I said I was going to do this blog and damnit I am GOING to :3
So yes, the very first ever performance of Cleveland High's Drama Crew... and in my previous sentence, the very first time I, Mortimer Brewster, bastard son, have cursed in this blog.
I'm feeling giddy, I had to go for two cuss words :)
Take care, everyone, I'll see you whenever I get the chance to post again.
~Leif
I must say, we did EXCELLENTLY! Every known error was covered for, but even better, the audience laughed, applauded, they were really impressed! I'm practically bursting at the seams with pride, both in myself and in my fellow actors.
Of course... I also feel like my heels are about to burst from my uncomfortable dress shoes, but that's another story.
I have family staying at my place until this Sunday (they originally came for tonight's performance), and on next Monday and Tuesday, I will be out of town for a Supercomputing Project Exposition. Between acting, preparing for Monday and Tuesday, and trying to keep up with my homework, I'm probably going to be really busy... I actually ought to be working on studying for history right now, but hey, I said I was going to do this blog and damnit I am GOING to :3
So yes, the very first ever performance of Cleveland High's Drama Crew... and in my previous sentence, the very first time I, Mortimer Brewster, bastard son, have cursed in this blog.
I'm feeling giddy, I had to go for two cuss words :)
Take care, everyone, I'll see you whenever I get the chance to post again.
~Leif
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Driving
I've got a bit of a random note to do my first real post on, but since I've started driving, I've discovered it's a very enthralling experience.
Driving has, in a sense, transformed my life. Though at first I was a bit hesitant and uncertain behind the wheel, with practice and confidence, the act of doing so has become one of the most liberating things I can do at my age.
Being only 16, I'm, obviously, still a minor. My parents have final jurisdiction over most every aspect of my life and being. I'm quite grateful for all they've provided, however, I have an independent streak and INCREDIBLY different views with them on a number of subjects. Home and my room can be just as much a prison as a sanctuary for me.
Things change when I'm sitting behind my truck, though. There's a certain thrill to being outside of your superiors' direct jurisdiction, a thrill to conquering distances that would take hours on foot in mere minutes, a thrill to being alone and in complete control of a gigas of a piece of machinery. The mental freedom, the merging of being in the privacy of a vehicle and the public of the rest of the world, and the physical occupation (I have a bit of a nervous twitch)... the whole experience blissfully treads on the border between hypnotic and attentive.
Besides just the mental... satisfaction, let's say (sometimes my trains of thought can derail my self-opinion, but that's another story. Sometimes a bit of emotional chaos can satisfy you, believe it or not), driving offers freedom and allows one to transcend distances. It gives one something to be responsible for, something to employ, yet, most of all, something to enjoy. My friends, my extracurricular obligations, sometimes just even indulging myself, all are made possible with the turn of a key and the manipulation of a wheel, some pedals, and some levers.
So, yes, in short, I am a teenager who likes to drive.
Oh, on a side note, tomorrow's musing may be short or otherwise non-existent in light of the fact that I will be at school balancing play practices, supercomputing preparations, and an actual play performance from 7:00 AM to... probably about 9:00 PM.
Take care, have a good one.
Leif
Driving has, in a sense, transformed my life. Though at first I was a bit hesitant and uncertain behind the wheel, with practice and confidence, the act of doing so has become one of the most liberating things I can do at my age.
Being only 16, I'm, obviously, still a minor. My parents have final jurisdiction over most every aspect of my life and being. I'm quite grateful for all they've provided, however, I have an independent streak and INCREDIBLY different views with them on a number of subjects. Home and my room can be just as much a prison as a sanctuary for me.
Things change when I'm sitting behind my truck, though. There's a certain thrill to being outside of your superiors' direct jurisdiction, a thrill to conquering distances that would take hours on foot in mere minutes, a thrill to being alone and in complete control of a gigas of a piece of machinery. The mental freedom, the merging of being in the privacy of a vehicle and the public of the rest of the world, and the physical occupation (I have a bit of a nervous twitch)... the whole experience blissfully treads on the border between hypnotic and attentive.
Besides just the mental... satisfaction, let's say (sometimes my trains of thought can derail my self-opinion, but that's another story. Sometimes a bit of emotional chaos can satisfy you, believe it or not), driving offers freedom and allows one to transcend distances. It gives one something to be responsible for, something to employ, yet, most of all, something to enjoy. My friends, my extracurricular obligations, sometimes just even indulging myself, all are made possible with the turn of a key and the manipulation of a wheel, some pedals, and some levers.
So, yes, in short, I am a teenager who likes to drive.
Oh, on a side note, tomorrow's musing may be short or otherwise non-existent in light of the fact that I will be at school balancing play practices, supercomputing preparations, and an actual play performance from 7:00 AM to... probably about 9:00 PM.
Take care, have a good one.
Leif
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
And so it begins...
It feels like it's been ages since I've done this. The last time I remember so publicly flaunting my life online was back in the glory days of Myfursona. I felt like I had a following there. Then again, I was rather foolish and naive (I still am).
Anyhow, most of you may know me... most of you probably don't. My name is Matthew Bradley, though online, I adopt the alias of Leif. I'm a 16-year-old junior currently living near Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'm a general, all-around geek, participating in everything from Programming-Based Science Fair Projects to being the lead role in the school's play. I absolutely adore most video-games, witty reads, movies, the internet, and, perhaps most foreign (or familiar) to some of you, furries. I'm a firm member of the furry/anthro community (my fursona is an otter, hence the name of the blog), though I'm not going to waste my first blog giving a dissertation on that. Those that know of it will know it's part of what makes me me... the rest shall either find out on their own or perhaps through later posts of mine.
I decided to start this blog with a certain epiphany I had. Back when Myfursona began to fail and my own life began to die down, I realized that my day-to-day experiences were boring, uneventful, or otherwise just plain silly to recount online. Now, despite massive stress levels, an always cramped schedule, and more extracurricular activities than I can shake a spoon at, I've finally discovered that I'm living. Good, bad, easy, difficult, my life is finally going somewhere. I don't want to keep such experiences, be they trivial or significant, material or maybe even someday spiritual, whatever the case, I don't want those experiences to be selfishly hoarded.
So here I am, clacking away on my keyboard, wondering just who on the other side of the world may one day gander at this. Here is where I will start.
This is me. Let's get started.
Anyhow, most of you may know me... most of you probably don't. My name is Matthew Bradley, though online, I adopt the alias of Leif. I'm a 16-year-old junior currently living near Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'm a general, all-around geek, participating in everything from Programming-Based Science Fair Projects to being the lead role in the school's play. I absolutely adore most video-games, witty reads, movies, the internet, and, perhaps most foreign (or familiar) to some of you, furries. I'm a firm member of the furry/anthro community (my fursona is an otter, hence the name of the blog), though I'm not going to waste my first blog giving a dissertation on that. Those that know of it will know it's part of what makes me me... the rest shall either find out on their own or perhaps through later posts of mine.
I decided to start this blog with a certain epiphany I had. Back when Myfursona began to fail and my own life began to die down, I realized that my day-to-day experiences were boring, uneventful, or otherwise just plain silly to recount online. Now, despite massive stress levels, an always cramped schedule, and more extracurricular activities than I can shake a spoon at, I've finally discovered that I'm living. Good, bad, easy, difficult, my life is finally going somewhere. I don't want to keep such experiences, be they trivial or significant, material or maybe even someday spiritual, whatever the case, I don't want those experiences to be selfishly hoarded.
So here I am, clacking away on my keyboard, wondering just who on the other side of the world may one day gander at this. Here is where I will start.
This is me. Let's get started.
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