Camp is Over!

As much fun as this job was, I am exhausted. I was sleeping in the car on my way home. Many of the things I tried to say to my parents were slightly incoherent because I was too tired to care. Tonight...I get to sleep!

Also, I'm aware I missed posting yesterday. I had to pack during my free period, and the camp dance went late so lights out was later than usual. I just didn't have the time. I promise to do an extra post one day before the end of the month. For now though...sleep.

TV I've Been Watching

Lately I started watching two new (to me) series. I started watching Roswell and Parks and Recreation. I'm about midway through the first season of Roswell. I like it, but I don't love it. It's fun but I haven't clicked with it in that "I have to see what happens next/I need to have watched so I'm in on all the jokes" kind of way.

Parks and Recreation on the other hand...I'm midway through season 4. I started season 1 forever ago, and didn't like it. Then I heard season 2 was better, so I powered through season 1 to get to it. Now I love this show.

So yeah, that's wat I've been watching lately.

Oh and Cupcake Wars but I mean, c'mon. Cupcakes.

Quidditch Pictures

So about two weeks after I joined the Quidditch team at my school, we played a tournament against other local schools. Here are some pictures from that weekend. In case you were wondering, we were seeded 6th out of 8 teams, and came in second.

Common Questions People Ask When They Learn You Play Quidditch

I joined my school's Quidditch team in April. Since then I've learned that there are some questions you just get used to answering.

1. How do you play Quidditch?

It's basically the same as wizard Quidditch.
The chaser and keeper play are basically the same, except they use a partially deflated volleyball as a quaffle.
For beaters, obviously the bludgers don't fly around, we use dodgeballs. If we hit someone on the other team, they have to run back to their hoops.
The snitch is a person, rather than a tiny flying ball. They have a sock with a tennis ball in it tucked into their pants and the seeker has to grab the sock. The snitch is also worth 30 points, not 150. For the first 20 minutes the snitch doesn't have to be on the field. He or she can climb a tree, grab a drink at a nearby drink stand, sit in a parked car, you name it, they can do it. After 20 minutes the snitch has to return to the field.

2. But you don't actually fly around, do you?

Well obviously not. You have to keep a broom (or PVC pipe, or bamboo stick) between your legs the whole time. If you dismount, you have to run back to your hoops.

3. What position do you play?

I am a subbing beater. I'm new to the team, so I only go in if one of the starting beaters gets tired and needs a break. Sometimes I start if we don't have enough girls though.

4. What does the number of girls have to do with it?

Not counting the seeker, Muggle Quidditch requires there to be at least two boys and two girls on the field at all times as players. Equality! (The actual rule is a little different, but in most cases this is what it ends up meaning)

5. Have you seen The Internship? They play Quidditch in that movie.

No I have not seen it. Nor do I plan to.

The Twelfth Doctor

So yesterday the actor playing the twelfth doctor was announced, Peter Capaldi. I don't know much about him, but going by his interview, I'm excited to see what's to come.

Personally, I'm excited that they're going back to an older Doctor. I think it will change up the dynamic beteween him and the companion from what it's been since Rose and Nine. I'm hoping we can go back to some of what we had with Donna and Ten honestly.

So yeah, I'm excited, though I won't really know how I feel until I see him in action.

Sleep Schedules

I don't know how it happened but somehow I got on a nice regular sleep schedule during spring quarter at school. I went to sleep around midnight and woke up around 7:30. This kept happening until I finally learned to accept it. Once I accepted it, it was fabulous. I woke up refreshed, not cranky. Although I set an alarm, I never needed it, so the alarm ended up being a "okay, you should start thinking about leaving for class in about 15 minutes" alarm, rather than a "wake-up" alarm.

I kept it up for a while after I got home for the summer, but after about a week I left for my current job as a camp counselor. My sleep schedule has been ruined. I have no consistant sleep time, or wake up time. It's all dependant on when I want to shower, or if I have a staff meeting, or how much sugar I had before bed.

That being said, when the other counselors and I hang out after lights out, I'm the one who falls asleep on the couch in the lounge. Regularly.

Hopefully this means I'll be able to readjust back to my sleep schedule once I finish this job.

Six Flags, more flags more exhaustion

I'm already regretting making myself do this.

Let's see...

I went to Six Flags New England today with the camp I'm working at. I got to go on Bizarro (formerly Superman) pretty much right away, becaue the weather was sort of icky, so there was no line.

I fell asleep on the bus ride back to camp. That part was nice. The part where I had to be awake after that was less nice. But once I post this I can go to sleep so yay!

First Line Challenge

So there's this writing magazine called "The First Line" and they hold a competition where they provide the first line of a story and you write the rest. They do one for each season. I wrote a story for their Fall competition. The deadline to submit was August first. Guess who forgot to submit it? So I'm going to post it here instead.

First Line Challenge (There must have been thousands standing in the rain that day.)"

There must have been thousands standing in the rain that day. Of course, it started as a nice day. A few clouds in the sky, then, gradually, as more and more clouds began to gather strange things started to occur.

Mary Lockwood, the pastor's wife, was in the library, scanning the shelves for the latest AJ Tennent novel when she straightened up and went outside. Robbie Brown was biking to the baseball diamond when he dismounted and walked the opposite direction towards town hall, leaving his shiny, blue bicycle lying on the sidewalk. Drew Edwards, the mayor's assistant stood up in the middle of a budget meeting and walked outside.

If you'd been standing just past the town border, say on Williams Hill, looking through a pair of binoculars you would have thought the whole town was affected. Up close it was easy to tell the difference between those who were compelled to go and those who were just following along, out of concern or curiosity.

Those in the first group were walking slowly but purposefully towards town hall, not stopping for anything including oncoming traffic, reacting only to obstacles like doors or stairs. Their eyes were dull and once outside they traveled like salmon swimming upstream, relying on instinct to get them to town hall.

Those in the second group were noisy, some people calling out to their loved ones with fear, others asking each other what they thought was happening. They moved in starts and fits, attempting to stop those who walked on.

They stopped trying after what happened to Becky Lurna. At first she tried to stop him by blocking his path, but he walked around her with no reaction. She became more determined, stepping into his path once more. When he started to move to the right, slowly and deliberately, she shifted to her left, blocking his path. He paused, then started moving left. Again, she mirrored him. It was when he tried going right again only to be blocked by her once more, that he picked her up and threw her to the side.

Word spread quickly through the crowd, the rumbling voices mimicking the thunder in the distance. People made a point to stop trying to physically block the walkers. Instead they walked alongside, making passionate pleas to their families and friends.

Gradually the crowd flowed onto the lawn in front of town hall, arriving as the last of the clouds gathered, filling any gaps the sun had tried to peek through. Horace Spector, the mayor, had his staff direct onlookers off to the side, separating them from the mob.

Everyone was holding their breath, some eager, some nervous, wondering what would happen next.

That was when the skies opened, drenching the crowd in an ongoing sheet of rain. The bystanders huddled togther, some shrieking, others swearing while the others simply looked up to the sky.

Dottie Marsh was the first to notice the blood. At first it merely trickled out the noses of those who stood still as a statue. As it began to gush more heavily the townspeople began to approach their loved ones, pressing clothes to their faces to staunch the bleeding.

Their hands were pushed away. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed as they began to bleed more heavily, blood gushing out of not only their noses, but also their ears and eyes. Mothers continued to try and push through to their children, but were held back by the other onlookers, who ignored their wails and protests, muttering things like "you can't help them" and "you'll only make it worse".

The dark sky lit up as a bolt of lightning hit town hall, followed immediately by a deafening boom.

All of the bloodied townspeople fell to the ground, along with several of the onlookers. Only the onlookers stood back up a few moments later.

All told, the town's population went down by about three percent, just a few hundred people. Yet there must have been thousands standing in the rain that day.

BEDA's Back!

So it's been a while, huh? The weird thing is I did have posts planned, I just never got around to writing them. So, I'm going to do BEDA again to get back in the habit of writing blog posts about things. Yeah. This is happening. I'm working 16 hour days until August 10, but yeah, I'm doing BEDA again. This is insanity.

In case you were wondering what you can expect this month I will be writing:
-Reviews of the remaining Doctor Who episodes from this last season
-What it's like being on crutches for a week
-What it's like being a sleepaway camp counselor
-Knitting Updates
-Cross Stitch updates
-And More!