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28 July 2006

A Not So Impromptu Proclamation

Well, I’m not using my 75th post to write about camp, although I probably should; so there. Reread last year’s post if you’re really that bored. And I’m spending the weekend locked in a church basement for a youth retreat, so you won’t get it until at least Monday. But I might wait until Tuesday; you’ll see why.

Now, you may have thought that my last proclamation was going to be the only one. Oh, no. Although International Blog Post Remembrance Day is very important, it was a spur-of-the-moment holiday created because of the loss of one particular post. But rest assured, BPRD will be observed again next May, provided that I remember, which I more than likely will.

But this is the proclamation of the holiday that I mentioned I would create back in April. It is a “not so impromptu” proclamation in the regard that I've been planning it for months now. And the time has now come to announce it.

A Proclamation by the Author of Randomness

On 29 August 2005, for no apparent reason, except maybe in part due to the addition of a post that to this day remains my favorite, Randomness had 53 visitors in one calendar day, setting a record that has not yet been broken. Such a record should be celebrated, but it cannot be allowed to stand forever. So in an effort to break the record, but also in celebration of Randomness and its past visitors, a holiday is needed.

However, 29 August, being the second day of Pitt's academic term, is a ridiculously inconvenient time for me to celebrate this. In addition, other people would be in the full swing of their own back-to-school transitions, and would not want to celebrate it on this date.

THEREFORE, I, "TJ," author of Randomness, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the fact that I write this blog, do hereby proclaim the first day of August 2006, as well as the first Tuesday of August in all years thereafter as Visit Randomness Day. I plan to mark this unofficial holiday by blogging in a celebratory manner. I ask that my readers celebrate by visiting Randomness, reading its posts, and commenting on them, as well as by encouraging others to do the same.

IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of this blog the second.

"TJ"
Yes, I just created a holiday solely for the promotion of my blog. More may come. Deal with it.

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19 July 2006

Sick

Okay. I know that everyone is dying to hear about camp, but the fact is I'm too tired to write about it now. In fact, I'm too tired to do just about anything except lie in bed and type this on my calculator. The reason is, as the title suggests, because I'm sick. Not the disgusting vomit-y kind of sick... more like immense fatigue with a fever attached.

It started yesterday afternoon, although obviously I didn't notice it at the time. I had biked to my grandmother's house, where we discussed preparations for our annual Fun Week with the cousins. Afterwards, as I got on my bike to ride home, I was overcome by exhaustion. I thought little of it, though, as it had been a fairly long ride there.

I then went with my father and brother to the Erie SeaWolves baseball game for Church Night. On the way, we stopped at Lowe's (of all places) for something, and when I stood up to get out of the car, I got dizzy, and that's when the headache came on. It's been throbbing ever since.

Nevertheless, I survived amongst people screaming, "Why don't you swing?" to our players. I mean, three called strikeouts in as many innings? It's enough to drive anyone crazy, especially when you're down 4-0! Well, they did start swinging somewhat, but it wasn't enough, as Erie, the worst team in the division, fell to the second-worst team by a score of 7-0. I don't think I've ever seen the SeaWolves be shut out. Simply pathetic.

It's amazing how different the fans' attitudes are now that the SeaWolves are past their glory days of 1999 and 2001. People come to the ballpark no longer expecting Erie to win, but in hopes that they won't lose. Oh, well. It's been a bad season for baseball in our area, both in AA and in the Major Leagues.

Anywho, I got home, looked around for the thermometer which never seems to be where it's supposed to be, and eventually found it by myself (despite the fact that I was begging others to help me). I took my temperature, and indeed, it wasn't ridiculously high, but considering how rarely I get sick, it was enough to tell me, "Bed. Now." So that's what I did; it was 22:30.

Now, most days in the summer I force myself to be vertical (i.e., "up") by 09:30. On a bad day, when I'm especially tired, I might roll out around 11:00. Anyway, at 13:15, I mustered the strength to crawl out of bed, attempt to shake the stupid thermometer to reset it (although Dad actually did it), and take my temperature again. It was lower, but still elevated. And that has been the story of today for me every time I've checked it: lower, but still elevated.

So needless to say, I've spent most of the day doing very little, which is a shame, because I spent Sunday and Monday doing very little because I was exhausted from camp. I was really hoping to get some things done today. I did, though, spend about a half an hour writing thank you notes to people who gave me things for my graduation, because that's pretty mindless.

Mind you, a great deal of thought went into designing what I would write on them, but actually physically handwriting the notes is something I could do while half asleep. In fact, that's what I was doing today. So don't feel offended. Honestly, do you expect me to write dozens of completely different notes to the dozens of people who just gave me a card and some cash? Not that cards and cash aren't nice, but the answer is no way, José!

For those of you who are concerned about catching my fever through the mail, don't be. If you happen to be one of the lucky few who will receive a thank you note from me dated 19 July, just don't lick it, and you should be fine.

Anyway, at the rate things are going, my temperature should be back to normal by tomorrow morning. But now I've got to stand up; I've been horizontal for the last 45 minutes.

Whoa, dizzy!

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06 July 2006

Insomnia

I must say, I believe this is my first true experience with blogging in the middle of the night. No, posts I've made around 00:00 or 06:00 don't count; those times are either end of the night. This is true nighttime, and it feels good.

Actually, I'm not really feeling like an insomniac tonight. I actually am fairly tired. I just felt like writing right now. My brother got online at a decent hour and played Runescape until midnight. That was when my turn online started. So to those of my friends who've gotten phantom comments on their blogs at odd hours today, I apologize. They'll still be in your inbox when you're awake enough to read them.

So where to start? Well, I guess I'd better apologize. First, to my Canadian readers for not acknowledging Canada Day until 03 July. Secondly, to my American readers (just about everyone else), for leaving the image of the Canadian flag prominently displayed on my homepage for the duration of 04 July, our Independence Day, as well as all of 05 July. Sorry; I was out of town! Besides, back in February, this site boasted the flag of New Zealand for a little more than 48 hours. I figured that the Canadians, being our neighbors to the north, deserved their fair shot, too. But now it's time to honor my own country, so this flag is for all of you people who think I'm unpatriotic. Oh, yeah, and to honor the good old United States, too.

Which brings up several good points. Why do we call ourselves Americans, when technically, we are just as American as Canadians or Brazilians? Is it that we're just so proud of ourselves, we assume the identity of two whole continents, or is it just that "United Stater" isn't as eloquent? I don't think anyone knows for sure, but I'm betting on the latter (although the former probably isn't that far off).

Anyway, a little subtraction proves that this country is 230 years old. And it doesn't look a day over that, although by now it is by two. But that is an especially important milestone because it is 23 decades. And in case you haven't picked up on it yet, I like the number 23. So happy 23 decades, America! My hat goes off to you (that is, if I were wearing a hat)!

Going off on a completely random tangent, I've noticed that my posts have been a lot more random lately. Which I guess, is good, because this blog is, after all, called Randomness. And I guess Jay said a while back that he'd read whatever I write, no matter how random. Funny, though, he hasn't commented me in nearly three weeks (hint, hint). But I think I'm getting the hang of this whole spontaneous writing thing (finally) after 73 posts. Yes, Andrea, only 73, not some ridiculous three-digit number like you.

Music Camp starts on Sunday. I can't wait. Hopefully they won't serve meals buffet-style like last year. But I'll still love it there no matter what, even if my little brother (who's going with me for the first time) gets on my nerves a little bit. I mean, come on; that's practically his job!

Apparently our newspaper gets delivered at 03:15. I just heard the sound of someone opening our screen door and placing an item behind it. It kind of freaked me out, but it's been a while since I've stayed up this late.

Which reminds me, I said I was tired. So I'm going to bed before I get more tired; I've got a long enough day ahead of me as it is.

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03 July 2006

Grad Party, Other Stuff, and Digressions Galore

Wow, that's a long title. So I thought I'd start with a digression. But is it really a digression if you didn't have anything to digress from?

Anyway, Saturday was my graduation party, and it was wonderful. But immensely exhausting. But before I get too much into that, I'd better digress again for a moment and wish my Canadian readers a happy belated Canada Day. Not that I have many, but believe it or not, they do exist.

First of all, thank you to everyone who came out to the party. I couldn't have asked for better weather, and I couldn't have asked for more of my friends and family to have been there. Well, I could have, but that would have been totally unrealistic.

There's an interesting story about that last paragraph, though. I was writing it in the presence of my loving cousin, Laurel, and she saw me writing the part about how "I couldn't have asked for" this and that. She then looked away for a second as she politely informed me that I could have, and as she looked back she realized that I had already started typing that same sentence. Yeah. I don't know if any of that made sense, but the bottom line is that great minds think alike. So there.

Going back to the party, however, it was great. Just about all of my friends were there, and countless family members. And the food. Oh, the food was so good. Even the stuff that wasn't catered. I mean, can you beat having both of your grandmothers' cooking at one event?

At home after the party, I opened dozens of cards, and one envelope that didn't have a card. That one was from Dearbeck (you remember him). The envelope basically said that he knew I wouldn't want him spending the money in the envelope on a card, so he didn't bother getting one. Another card from an old teacher told me how clever I was for starting a new phase of my life on the first day of the new fiscal year. Okay, interesting.

I spent Sunday with the family, eating fish. Oh, and playing really old Pac-Man games on Sega Genesis. But I was born in the eighties so I guess it's okay, even though my Pac-Man kept dying when those of my early-nineties relatives didn't. Oh, well, it's been a while since I played; I'm rusty!

This afternoon I went geocaching with my grandfather and a few of my cousins. Yes, this is the same geocaching that Andrea mentioned a while back. Meanwhile, most of the women of the group went in to town to watch The Devil Wears Prada. Apparently they liked it.

Then we went over to my uncle's house and they did a mini-fireworks display, but nothing that went off the ground, because that would be illegal. But the highlight was watching my grandfather light a many-years-expired emergency flare and not have a place to put it. So he was holding it for quite some time. And I took pictures. We were joking that I would many years from now be pointing to that picture saying, "And this is a picture of my grandpa just before he died."

But he didn't die. So there. The end.

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