Whoa!

It has been about a month and a half since I last gave you pitiful people a precious update on what's happening in my life.
-Well, I have a lot of stuff I have to tell you then, don't I? Let's start off with band camp. Band camp was not as good as most years, and that's not something you just casually say. We have a really young and unruly band this year. There are no seniors in the pit or sousaphone section, and probably another one that Matt will note once I post this. In fact all the sousaphones are sophomore or below, I believe. This young band is not disposed to taking direction from some high-and-mighty baldo who thinks he should be able to tell them what to do just because he's taken several years of college courses on how to do so. I think most of the problem is with a lack of focus. Whenever there's a pause, the band exploits it to recount the latest stupid anecdote that has popped into their brain, or comment on how poorly they just did something, or whatever. And then Mr Canter has to get angry and tell them to stop talking. It happens every five or ten minutes: a waste of time. Or, the band doesn't really want to do anything, despite that it's the middle of a practice, so they just sort of walk around carelessly, don't march, and don't really try anything. This has strayed a bit from the topic of band camp, but it's still all to do with the last month and a half, and now I'm finished writing about band and it won't pop up again.
-Next let's move on to a bit more pleasant a subject: Crowduck. Actually, it's worth mentioning that on the way to Crowduck in Grandma & Grandpa's van, we put in a few prescheduled visits to colleges. First there was Grinnell. I was actually quite taken with Grinnell, which was a surprise because it's in the middle of Iowa with immediate access to a broad variety of exciting cornfields. I don't think I would too much mind being carted off there for a while. However, it lacks something that our next entry, Carleton, has: lakes and trees. People think I want to live in Minnesota just because it's snowy there, and at first this was true, but I've since come to realize that a great amount of what I want is also a place to forget about the century. I can't manage that in a cornfield, but if I get a kayak (something I intend to do someday, and which I would have done sooner, probably, if there were anything appreciable in Ohio to row in) and sit on the water, or I hike a few miles into the old growth trees and lie down, it's all but inevitable. I liked Carleton quite a bit too; however, it wasn't a surprise for me that I should, so until I realized that it seemed a bit muted. I was a little disappointed in the size of their lakes, Upper and Lower Lyman Lakes, which are more like ponds. If I remember accurately, I could probably have (with enough patience) skipped a stone across them. Or at least halfway, to the little island that's in the middle of one of the two. Maybe? In any case, the campus was very great and all that. We also visited Macalester, but I didn't much like that one. It seemed impersonal, unimaginative, and too urban. Though there is a good café called Blondie's nearby.
-For the first time we can remember, it rained while we were at the pickup point on Big Whiteshell, but what the heck? We soon found out that it hadn't rained all month and had been the driest July on record (following, incidentally, the wettest on record last year). But I've been requested to cover Crowduck like I did last year and I think I had better do it in a separate post, and also when I can formulate thoughts better, sometime like not 0200.
-School started up. I'm in five APs: psych, bio, English, Spanish, and math. So far they seem to be living up to the difficult reputation of APs. For English there was summer reading - Heart of Darkness and EITHER Pride and Prejudice OR Beloved. (I picked P&P.) As it turned out I needn't've stressed out about doing it, because though we were going to turn in reading logs on the first day, there were apparently some complaints that she assigned it too late for us to read it all. What kind of moron excuse is that? She gave us - hold on, let me check the date - rather more than a month of warning to get those read. Don't come in telling us that you were constantly engaged in cross-country running or soccer for more than a month. You can find a way to put aside six or seven hours to read some books. Try turning off your TV. The pretense is rife with dumbassedness. Well, as a result the test has been postponed all the way to Tuesday, when we could have been preparing for the AP test.
-This Monday (Labor Day) we've got a krokay game going on. The participants are Aaron, Keith, Rosie, me, and a German exchange girl of Chinese descent named Xinglai. Today I rode up to Winton Woods to look for a spare location, and though I was unable to find good ones, I may be close. The parcours trail seems like it should be near something. Also that trail above Kingfisher. For Monday, though, we'll just be going with the same tried and true spot. Hm. Or maybe Warder. Nope. I would have to go and visualize a layout first, and I didn't do that today. But next time, we will go to Warder. Anyhow, the old site will be new for all the participants except me and Aaron anyhow. I've been there twice, Aaron once. I went with BJ and Henry after a many-player game that I think was going to be Matt, BJ, Aaron, and me fell through and we had to go to a different day. Henry won twice. Strangely enough, I who spearheaded the krokay movement have yet to win a game.
-Tomorrow I'm going to the library to pick up a broad variety of books, and I'm also going to be the Designated Driver for when we go to see the WEBN fireworks. Wait, but is Mom going to be there? She would be the natural choice for DD. Whatever.
-I have to do several more things tonight, which I hope I can remember long enough to carry them through. First is e-mailing all Monday's participants. So here I go