Ah! Sore throat.

So on Wednesday, I woke up, and my throat felt a little sore, kind of like it did when I lost my voice. Only I didn't lose my voice, my voice was perfectly fine, and a few hours after I woke up, my throat felt fine.

On Thursday, I woke up, and my throat felt sore and kind of tense. Like it feels when it's really cold out, and you're running around and breathing heavy.

On Friday, I woke up, and my throat felt fine. We had to do a T-30 at swim practice. Conveniently, I had to go to the bathroom really bad about 2/3 of the way through, so I got out and ran quickly to the bathroom, which happened to be 56 degrees. 56 degrees fahrenheit. That's fucking cold for a bathroom! It's cold enough walking in there in, say, jeans and a t-shirt when you're perfectly dry, just imagine walking in there wearing only your bathing suit and flip-flops, and you're soaking wet. For comparison, the pool deck (which is DIRECTLY CONNECTED to this bathroom) is about 80 degreesish. Coffeehouse went alright. I messed up a lot in my first song (the original), and I kept like laughing through the whole thing.

Today, I woke up a little before my alarm was supposed to go off (to wake up me up to go to swim practice), and I had a really sore throat. I decided I didn't want to go to swim practice, because my throat was really sore, and I knew that swimming would just make me feel worse. So I turned off my alarm. My mom asked me if I was going to practice, and I said no. I needed sleep, for pete's sake.

My throat is still sore. I've been drinking room-temperature water, because I hate drinking ice cold water when I have a sore throat. I also didn't have orange juice today at breakfast, because I also hate drinking that when I have a sore throat.

Things I've Learned Recently- Part 2

Back in December, I made a post of Things I've Learned Recently. I've learned a lot of things since then, so I figured I'd make a post of Things I've Learned Recently- Part 2.

1. In Calculus- don't forget the +C when you integrate. If you do, you won't get credit for the super-hard extra-credit problem that you did otherwise correctly.

2. Hot water (not boiling) with honey will make your sore throat feel better, at least temporarily. I woke up this morning, and my throat was a little sore. It felt like it felt when I lost my voice, although I can talk perfectly normally. My throat feels better now, thanks for asking.

3. Eggs (scrambled? omelet? sunny-side up? over-easy?) are a nutritious and delicious breakfast. Chocolate chip muffins are delicious, but not nutritious.

4. Painting with your fingers is way more fun than painting with a paint brush.

5. Translating "The seal is happy" from English to French will likely cause some lulz.

6. Swimming butterfly is hard. Swimming butterfly without messing up is harder. Swimming butterfly fast is even harder. Swimming butterfly fast without messing up is really, really hard.

7. Musicians appreciate it when you add them as friends and leave comments on their myspace pages.

8. Iridescent medium does not always make your painting look iridescent. Yeah, I know, it's a bummer. Mixing the iridescent medium with your paint won't make the paint look iridescent once it's on the canvas. If you REALLY want the paint on the canvas to look iridescent, you have to put iridescent medium OVER the painting.

9. Zebra print pants are AWESOME.

10. Birds are reptiles?

Blog of Awesomeness

Okay, so as a tribute to all things awesome, I decided to make a "BLOG OF AWESOMENESS".

1. Snocap
Snocap is pretty awesome. It basically lets any musician create a free "store" to sell their own songs (like a mini iTunes, sorta)- it's really awesome cuz you can post the store anywhere, and you can also set the price for each song.




This is my Snocap store. Each song is $0.75, which is less than buying a song from iTunes.

2. Snowcaps
I love Snowcaps. Don't you?

3. Sir Isaac Newton of Awesomeness
So, I personally think that Sir Isaac Newton is a pretty awesome guy. Why? Well, I know a few reasons. (1) He pretty much invented (er, discovered?) calculus. (2) Newton's Method for approximating zeros is *awesome*. (3) Newton's Laws of Motion are pretty much the basics of physics (even though I forgot one of the three laws while taking the physics honors final last year...). (4) He has awesome hair. (5) He is credited with the invention of the "cat door".

Seriously, though, where would we be without Newton? (Answer: in a world without calculus, physics, or cat doors.)


4. Water Polo at swim practice
Okay, so "real" water polo is extremely intense. I've never played "real" water polo, but about twice a season, my swim coach lets us play water polo instead of having a real practice. We played water polo today, and it was awesome. It's fun because we get to compete against each other. It gets pretty agressive. I was the goalie for part of the game today, and I actually made a save (I think this is the first time in my life that I have ever done that).


5. Lolcats
A lolcat is basically a picture of cat, with a funny caption. I also like loldogs, lolcelebs, lolnews, lolgraphs, and failblog. I need a daily dose of lulz.

6. Free Kibble and Free Rice
If you go to visit Free Kibble, once a day, if you answer a dog-related trivia question, and (wrong or right), they'll donate 10 pieces of kibble to animal shelters (Free Kibble Kat is the cat version). You can even sign up to get a daily email reminder.
Free Rice is similar. It's all multiple choice questions, and there are tons of different topics (vocabulary, math, art history, foreign languages), and for each one you get correct, they'll donate 10 grains of rice (which might not sound like a lot, but it totally adds up)- you can do it as many times a day as you want, I believe.

Swim Practice Today

Okay, so, today, January 19, 2009, I had swim practice scheduled for 9am.

Of course, I wasn't too excited about that when I realized it yesterday (I mean, who would be?). I complained all yesterday, about how awesome it would be to sleep in and feel fully rested, and how awesome it would be to not go swimming early in the morning.

But I went. I woke up at 7:45am today, and my dad drove me to practice (I was worried the roads would be bad).

Once I got to school, I changed in to my swim suit (which was last year's racing suit). I would have a picture, but I can't find it on the Speedo website, sorry.

Of course, practice didn't actually start until about 9:15. As I started swimming, I realized that the water was really clear... but of course it was only clear for like the first lap. Then, either the water got cloudy, or my goggles did, or both, cuz it looked all foggy.

I'm officially in lane 5 (6 lanes total). Today, I was the only one in lane 5, and there was no one in lane 6. So about halfway through practice (when we would normally have a break, although we didn't have a break today, which sucked), the coach decides that I should go in lane 6 for the rest of practice, and that the girls from lane 4 (which, today, was the most crowded lane) should go in lane 5 (the boys from lane 4 stayed in lane 4). I didn't really mind; I still had a lane all to myself.

Today was annoying, especially because we didn't get a break in the middle. If I can remember correctly (not necessarily in this order):
6*50s freestyle
300 kick
3*100 pull
100 build to sprint, stroke
4*75 IM
6*50 free, tight interval
8*25 free, hypoxic ("no more than 2 breaths")

Not the worst practice, I guess, but it wasn't fun.

Conference Championship Swim Meet

So yesterday was the Conference Championship swim meet! The meet was at my school, and there were so many teams there.

The meet was fun, but it was super long. And while some parts of it are kind of exciting, there's a lot of waiting (just like county championships- except instead of getting to school at 6:45am, I got to stay at school till 9pm).

Yesterday was basically like this:
6:30am- I wake up, got dressed, ate breakfast, brushed my teeth, and got ready for school.
7:10- I leave for school. I left early, because on Thursday, I had accidentally left my swim bag at school, and I wanted to make sure it was still there.
7:45- I get to school. I have a lot to carry: my backpack, my purse, my laptop (in its somewhat bulky case), a small gym bag (I had additional stuff I needed to bring to the swim meet), and oh yeah- some homemade cupcakes. It's about 10 degrees (fahrenheit) out. My whole body is freezing, my hands in particular. My bag isn't outside (which is where I had thought I'd left it). So I go straight to the "downstairs" door, which is closest to the locker room. That door is locked, so I go to the "upstairs" door, which, thankfully, is open. Inside, I put down my stuff (it's a lot to carry!), and I notice that the cupcakes appear to have, like, momentarily almost frozen. Uh, what? Yeah. Then I went down to the P.E. teacher's office, and asked if she had seen my bag. My bag, by the way, is a black and pink Adidas duffle. I got it in 9th grade, specifically for swimming. I think it was about $30. Honestly, it's been such a great investment. Not only have I used it for swimming for four years, I've also used it for dance performances (when I have lots of stuff I need to bring) and for overnight or weekend trips. Anyways, the P.E. teacher hadn't seen my duffle, but she said she'd keep an eye out. I then went in the locker room, where- surprise- I had left my bag. I was glad I had finally found it.
8:10- Morning meeting starts.
8:30- Time for first period! I had English, and we were writing an in-class essay on Last Night at the Lobster, by Stewart O'Nan. I think I did pretty well on the essay.
9:30- French. We were supposed to work for half the period (9:30-10:00), and then have a going-away party for one of the kids in the class (which is why I brought the cupcakes) for the second half (10:00-10:25). The "work" we're doing is basically role-playing scenarios, using vocabulary (our vocabulary is about technology- computers, tv, phones- pretty much). My group had to role-play a scenario about someone pirating the program.
9:45- The teacher realizes that nothing is going to really get done, so she declares that the "party" can start a little early. Everyone likes my cupcakes, which makes me happy.
10:30- Calculus! I love calculus. We reviewed for a test.
11:30- IB Art. I worked on a painting today. I think it's gonna be really cool.
12:30pm- Time for lunch. I had a pizza bagel, which was okay.
1:00- Biotechnology lab. We build terrariums. I planted corn seeds in mine.
2:00- Biotechnology gets out early, so I go back to the painting room to work on my painting.
2:30- The final bell has rung. I'm done working on my painting (although the painting itself is not quite done), so I read Twilight 4 (known to some as Breaking Dawn).
3:15- I go to the senior corridor, and hang out with some of the other swimmers. We sit, talk, and do nothing.
3:25- Time to go down to the meet!
3:30- I get to the Great Hall, which is where everyone hangs out during the meet. I put my stuff down, and go get changed.
4:00- Warmups start. I go down to the pool deck, but then I realize that since I probably won't swim until after 8:00, I should just warmup during the break. Warmups are always extremely crowded at Conference Championships- each team gets only one lane. Normally, at practice, there are 5-6 people in a lane- at Conference Championships, there are like 20something people in a lane.
5:00- Finally, the meet starts. The first event is the girls medley relay. I settle in with my book, Twilight 4.
5:45- I realize that this meet is going to go on... forever.
6:30- The last event before the break is the boys 50 free. I go down to the pool, and when the event is finally over, I get in to warmup. I swam a little freestyle, then a lot of backstroke (as my event was the 100 back). Unfortunately, really fast people keep bumping in to me and passing me, so eventually, even though I haven't had the longest or best warmup ever, I get out of the pool.
6:50- I continue reading Twilight 4.
7:30- I finish Twilight 4. Want some spoilers? Well, you didn't ask, but: Bella marries Edward, gets pregnant with his child while they're on their honeymoon, and, when the mutant half-vampire/half-human almost kills Bella as she's giving birth to it, she becomes a vampire. Jacob imprints on the child, who Bella has lovingly named Renesmee. The Volturri are out to get Bella and the Cullens. It turns out that Jacob and the Quileutes (did I spell that right?) aren't really "werewolves" at all, they're actually "shape-shifters" and the fact that they take the form of wolves is merely coincidental, although real "werewolves" do exist, just not in Forks or La Push. Bella tries to learn to fight and use her magical power (she can project a protective "shield" around herself and others). The good guys win. Bella pushes the shield outside of herself, and finally Edward can hear her thoughts. They all live happily ever after. The end.
8:00- My race is coming up soon, so I go down to the pool to watch the races (the end of the boys 500 free, and the girls and boys 200 free relay), as I stretch out and mentally prepare myself.
8:15- It's time for my race. Originally, I was supposed to be in heat 1, lane 4, but my coach told me that heats 1 and 2 got combined, so I'd be in heat 2 (which was still the first heat) in lane 1. So I go to lane 1, only just as the race is about to start, another girl comes up to the lane- there's some confusion over who's in what lane. I'm in the right lane, so I get in the pool, and take my mark.
8:20- The race is over. My coach says to me that I've been very consistent in my times (which I have been). Then I get in the shower, and get changed.
9:00- After some more waiting around for the end of the meet, it's FINALLY time to go home!

A list of Billys/Billies

Okay, so there are a lot of awesome people with the name Billy/Billie, so I'd like to talk about some of them.

Billie Joe Armstrong


Billie Joe Armstrong is the lead singer/guitarist of the band Green Day. He's awesome because Green Day is awesome. Also, I believe he's a vegetarian, which is also awesome.



















Billy Martin


Billy Martin plays guitar and keyboards in Good Charlotte, which makes him awesome, because Good Charlotte is awesome. I actually did a drawing of this photograph (graphite/soft pastel):






Billy Ray Cyrus

I actually don't think that Billy Ray Cyrus is at all awesome, but his name is Billy, so...
















Billy Elliot

Okay, so over winter break, I saw Billy Elliot on Broadway, and let me just say: it was awesome. Before I went, I didn't know much about it. But I loved it. It was SO funny when the little boys were doing "push-ups" at the beginning. I highly recommend this show. If you haven't seen it, go see it soon!












Billy Shakespeare
Love him or hate him, Billy Shakespeare is probably the best/most well-known writer in the English language, ever. Shakespeare is hard to read, but you can't not love the romance in "Romeo and Juliet", and "Hamlet" was basically a Shakespearean emo kid.














Billy Madison
I love this movie. It's kinda dumb (but then again most movies are), but it's really funny. Watch it.



















Did I miss any Billys/Billies that you think should be on here? Let me know in a comment :)

Some Awesome Bands You Should Really Check Out

Okay, so I've been listening to some pretty awesome bands lately, and I think you should also check them out.

The Shower Scene

The Mile After

Love Is A Story

Call 2 Consciousness

Don't Say Vegas

Downhill

Arcade Party

My Cardboard Spaceship Adventure

Over and Out

Daniel Strider

Under Stars & Gutters

J Minus

Frame 3-13

The Last Six Pages

Hello Kitty (their singer is so cool)

The Strangulation Entanglements (omg, i can't believe how awesome their singer is)

Molly L. H. (this girl is amazing)

All of these bands are extremely awesome, and they deserve to be listened to. If you like them, add them as your friend! And if you don't have a myspace, sign up for one and then add them as your friend.

P.S.- Yes, I do listen to some "popular" music, but I also love a lot of bands that aren't well-known. But guess what? I think all of these bands rock extremely hard, and you're really missing out if you don't listen to them.

Nanotechnology: the answer to all of our problems

So I'm taking Biotechnology right now, and for my final project last term, I researched nanotechnology. And let me tell you, nanotechnology is pretty freaking awesome.

No idea how small a nanometer is? Okay, well think of a meter (it's a little longer than a yard). A nanometer is one billionth of a meter- that's about half the diameter of a DNA helix, 1/40,000 the diameter of a human hair, or 1/10 the thickness of the protective coating on a pair of sunglasses.

In doing research for this project , I came to the conclusion that nanotechnology can solve all of our problems. Well, okay, maybe not ALL of our problems, but nanotechnology can sure solve a lot of problems, including but not limited to:

-Clean water. Nanotechnology could be used to filter water (in theory) 100% effectively. That would be pretty cool, considering all the people that die from drinking dirty or diseased water.
-Cheap computers. Think about this: a supercomputer, only a few cubic millimeters in size. It costs less than a cent, so computers could be affordable for almost everyone.
-Stain-resistant clothing. Many companies are using nanotech-based fabrics that literally repel stains. Pretty cool, right?
-Improved medicine. The applications of nanotechnology in medicine are practically endless- some of them are the Kanzius machine (destroys cancer tumor cells), flesh welding, and improved drug delivery.

And guess what? Once products are actually developed, what's cool about nanotechnology is that since everything is so small, they would be extremely cheap to produce.

Of course, there's also the whole, end-of-the-world, "grey goo" scenario (a theoretical scenario in which self-replicating nanobots consume their environment- the Earth- and create more of themselves). But nanotechnology is pretty cool.

Still don't think nanotechnology is cool? Look at this.

This is a nanoguitar. It's comparable in size to one of your red blood cells. Yeah, if you ask me, that's pretty cool. You wanna know what's even COOLER? It can be played with a laser beam. I don't see how that's NOT cool.






And take a look at this:
This is called "dip pen nanolithography", which is basically writing on the nanoscale. If you think it's cool when someone can write your name on a grain of rice, imagine fitting this entire paragraph onto an area that is much, much smaller than that.








In conclusion: nanotechnology is really cool. Also, science is cool.

Converse All-Stars: the Pros and Cons

First of all, here's some drawings I did of one of my Converses (I have 8 pairs in total; I did 3 drawings, but I couldn't find the pictures of the other 2):

This is my favorite pair of Converse. I did this drawing in oil pastels. My first pair of Converse were high-tops, in pink and orange madras plaid. I bought them when I was at the mall (in New Jersey) with two of my friends. Not long after that, I was in Los Angeles with my family, out shopping, when I went in to a Foot Locker. I went in because I saw a display of Converse. Then, I saw the *coolest* Converse: high-tops, black on the outside, pink on the outside, with pink soles. I think they were on sale- they were only like $30 (Converse high-tops usually cost about $50). I tried them on in my size, and they fit, so I bought them.

That was in August 2005- the summer before 9th grade. It's been almost 3 and a half years since then. I've worn these shoes hundreds of times. I've drawn on them, with pencils, pens, markers, Sharpies, and White-Out. They're so worn-out, but they're so awesome. I've gone through 4 pairs of shoelaces- white (the ones that came with the shoes); black with pink and white butterflies (very hardcore); pink and black checkered (the ones on the shoes in the drawing); and white with black skulls. The soles of these Converse are so thin, I can literally feel everything beneath my feet. Like, when I wore these on stage over the summer, I could feel the microphone cable when I stepped on it, and I can feel things like little pebbles and twigs. The only holes, though, are on the outside of the shoes (like wear my pinkie toes are, on the outside of them are giant holes). Any normal person would throw these shoes out (they probably would've thrown them out a long time ago, actually), but when did I claim to normal?

I felt that it would be fitting to draw them, since they mean so much to me, and I liked how oil pastels would let me get all "smudgy". Sometimes I smudge with a piece of paper towel, but I prefer to use my fingers; it's more organic, and I get more involved in the drawing and more connected. It does, however, mean that when I'm drawing with oil pastels, I have to wash my hands quite frequently.

I absolutely love Converse. The order I got them in:
1. Orange and pink Madras plaid high-tops
2. Black/pink high-tops
3. Beige slip-on low-tops
4. and 5. (on the same day) Black high-tops (I painted flames on them) and white low-tops with pink and gray tongues
6. Brown low-tops
7. Zebra print furry high-tops
8. Gray, black, and red plaid low-tops

Converse are great shoes, but they have some drawbacks. So here are some Pros and Cons about Converse All-Stars (Chuck Taylors):

Pros:
1. They're awesome. Face it, Converse are just cool. They've been around for like a hundred years. Why is that? Because they're awesome.
2. They make a great canvas for art, seeing as they're made out of, well, canvas.
3. They're vintage, but they're also modern.
4. They're multi-purpose; you can wear them to school, to a concert, out shopping, out to dinner (depending on the restaurant)...
5. Once they're worn in, they're extremely comfortable.
6. They last awhile. They don't break. When they do get worn-out, they look kinda cool.
7. They don't get messed up when they get wet. If my Converse get wet, I can just take them off, and soon enough they'll be dry and back to normal. If my Uggs get wet, the water leaves a water mark.
8. They come in SO many colors and styles. It's insane. There are Converse out there to match any and every outfit. I can wear my Converse with any outfit.


Cons:
1. They're kind of expensive. I mean, $50+ for a piece of canvas and some rubber is kind of a lot.
2. They're not the best shoes for your feet, and they're not great for walking a lot, especially if they're new and not broken in (note to self: wearing brand-new Converse to walk around Boston all day WILL give you gigantic, painful blisters, even if you're wearing socks).
3. They have two little holes on the inside of your foot (those little silver rings, that look like the shoelace-holes). On most days, this isn't a big deal, but on snowy days like today, it means that you will get snow in your shoes, and your feet will feel pretty cold.
4. Once you buy one pair, you may be tempted to buy one more (or, in my case, seven more).

Overall, with 8 pros and 4 cons, I'd say Converse are good shoes, and I would definitely recommend them. If you don't have any Converse, you should buy some.

Muffins and butterfly

Okay, so basically, my school cafeteria has THE most delicious chocolate chip muffins... ever. See the muffins in the picture? The muffins at my school look like those muffins, only way more delicious. If you get there before school starts, they're still warm, and what better start to a cold, boring, school day than a nice, warm muffin? Warm muffins make me happy. The tops of the muffins get crispy, and the bottoms are soft and cake-like. The chocolate chips get all melty, which is awesome, and they're so chocolatey you have to eat them pretty much with a spoon or fork- otherwise, you'd get chocolate chips all over your hands. I had a muffin today, by the way; that's why I'm blogging about them.




In other news, I had a swim meet today. The meet was away, so 20 minutes after school ended (last period, I had a French quiz, most of which was easy, but one question just didn't make sense) we left. Once we got there, I changed in to my swim suit, and checked the line-up (line-up = what each person is swimming). I was swimming the 100 yard backstroke (which I almost always swim- I'm always tired after it, but I love it), and... butterfly in the 200 yard medley relay (200 yard medley relay = 4 people, each swimming 50 yards of backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle in that order). See, this year (grade 12) and two years ago (grade 1o), I usually swim the backstroke in the medley relay, but this time, someone else was swimming the backstroke, and I was lucky enough to do the butterfly! Ugh. Last year (grade 11), I did it at a lot of meets, but this is the first time I've done it this year.

Butterfly is really hard. You have to keep your legs together, and your arms have to move together, too. You have to have a really good rhythm to be good at butterfly. Apparently, at least according to my coach, I can swim butterfly pretty well (or at least well enough to not get DQed [disqualified]), but that doesn't mean I'm actually fast, it just means that I can get through two laps of it without dying or getting DQed. In my warmup, I made sure to do some butterfly, of course. On my fourth (not consecutive) lap, I choked on some water and almost died (well, I didn't really almost die, but I did choke on some water and I did have to stop swimming momentarily).

The 200 yard medley relay is the first event, so as soon as warmup time was over, I lined up for my relay. The backstroker went, then the breaststroker, and finally it was my turn for the butterfly. It was hard, but I did make it through. My relay ended up coming in last, but that's okay, because the team we swam against is really good, and they beat us in everything.

Later on, it was time for the 100 back. Of course, on my first flipturn, I turned over on to my stomach, and took an extra stroke before flipping, which means I probably should have gotten DQed. Oh well.

County Championships!

Yesterday was the County Championships for swimming.

On Saturday, I slept at my friend's house, and I fell asleep around 1am. On Sunday, I woke up at around 10:40am. Saturday night, I actually had a dream that I was running late for the meet.

I figured I might as well get to sleep early Sunday night, seeing as I had to wake up at 6am on Monday. So I turned off the lights at 10:40pm (which is early for me), only of course I didn't fall asleep until after 12am- because frankly, I just wasn't tired. And then, of course, I woke up again at 4:30am. I rolled around a bit, and got up to go to the bathroom. I fell in and out of sleep for the next hour, and finally woke up at 6am.

Waking up at 6am meant that I only had 15 minutes before I had to be out the door, so I had to rush as I ate breakfast, brushed my teeth, and got dressed.

I got to school at 6:45 (the time we were supposed to get there). The bus left school at 7. The bus ride wasn't too bad, except for the fact that the bagel I was eating, which I thought was plain, turned out to be a raisin bagel (and I HATE raisins!), which upset me. After we got to the meet at around 7:30 (yes, this is still AM), I got changed. I totally love the design of the the team suits this year:


They're made by Speedo (Speedo is the best, all of my team suits have been from Speedo- TYR is good too, but I think that Speedo is better quality), and the fabric is supposedly chlorine-resistant, which is pretty cool.

Anyways, warmups were at 8, only nobody on my team got in the pool till like 8:15. Warmup was fun (the pool is a good pool to swim in). The meet started at 9. My race wasn't until after 1:00pm. In between, I finished "New Moon" ("Twilight 2") and started "Eclipse" ("Twilight 3"). Yea, I read a LOT of pages! I do like these books, however, they are pretty dumb (expect to see a summary/parody of "New Moon" within a few days). While waiting for my race, I also did a lot of sitting around and being nervous. I was swimming the 100 yard backstroke (a.k.a. the 100 back), which isn't necessarily the hardest race, but I'm usually pretty tired by the end. Also, even though I warmed up, it had been so many hours since my warmup that I no longer felt "warmed up".

I went down to the pool deck and hung out behind the blocks 2 heats before my race. I put on my cap and goggles and stretched a little (actually, I mostly just shook out my arms and legs- I always do that before a race), while I watched the boys compete in the 200 yard freestyle relay. Before the heat, I just remember one of the male swimmers saying to the rest of his relay team, "Okay, just swim as fast as you fucking can."

Finally, it was time for my race- the first (slowest) heat of the girls 100 back. As many times as I've done the 100 back, this was my first time doing it at County Championships (in 9th grade, I swam the 50 yard freestyle; I didn't swim anything in 10th grade; and last year I also swam the 50 free). Based on my previous times for the 100 back, I was seeded to come in 2nd; I was in lane 5 (the pool had 8 lanes). The fastest people in a heat are always in the middle of the pool (in this case, lanes 4 and 5), and the slowest are always on the outside (in this case, lanes 1 and 7). I ended up coming in first place in my heat, which was totally awesome! I was pretty excited, although I was admittedly totally out of breath. After I got out of the pool, I showered and changed, and then read for awhile again.

Our girls team ended up placing 10th out of 12 teams, and our boys team placed 7th out of 12. We got back to school a little after 3:00pm, and by the time I got home at 3:45, I was tired, and at 7:00, after ballet, I was exhausted.

I turned the lights off at about 10:20 last night, which marks the second time in the past month that I have gone to bed before 11pm two nights in a row (the first time I did this was back in December when I was feeling sick).

"Twilight"

Remember my summary of "Twilight"? Well, thankfully, I'm not the only one who is sick of the "Twilight" psychos... I mean fans.

I do like "Twilight". I'm just sick of the craziness.