Wanna hear a joke? It's Friday!!! Okay, it's not a joke, but if I asked you "Wanna hear what day of the week it is?," I doubt you would have been as excited.

Ahh... field training. As I stated before, I work as an umpire for the local little league. Last night was field training, when we all go out to the field so the newbies can get some hands-on experience making calls and standing around. As a level 5 this year, I just have to be there to kind of "teach" the level 1's what to do. In the HCYP umpire system, the level 1's are the lowest of the low: pick up trash and equipment in the shed, sweep up dirt on the floor, and pretty much do all the dirty work. Good news this year! We're getting paid in cash! Better news: We get free snowballs! Not so good news: We still don't get free hamburgers. Even though they're the same freaking price, we still only get our hot dog and soda per game.

Hot Hot Heat. Favorite band at the moment.

You may notice that this post has no title. This is because last night I was up until midnight writing an English paper. I finished the paper in about 45 minutes, but then was up for about another half hour attempting to come up with a title (That, and the fact that I was distracted by the Xavier/Kansas St. basketball game). I finally got one, but I've used up all of my title creativity.

Spring!

If, while reading this post, you notice any similarities to John Quinn's latest post, which I just read, you can be assured that this has nothing to do with it.

It's 63° out, it's sunny, I'm sitting here watching spring training baseball, and everything about life right now yells "spring." I can't help but yell back. Spring is probably my favorite season of the year. Sun, warmth, colors, my birthday, and, best of all, baseball. The Major League season kicks off in eleven days, and you can bet I'm going to be in front of my TV watching. Now, you may argue, "Oh, but Ted, baseball is so slow and it's boring and it takes no skill at all and you have to wear tight pants to play." Well, try playing it. It's fast, intense, and takes more skill most people think. Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest jobs in all of sports. When you think about it, reacting to a small white ball with a circumference of 9 inches and then bringing a bat around to hit it back all in less than a second seems a lot more complicated. Also, one of my coaches in the past told me something that I'll probably never forget. Baseball is the best sport out there for one reason: It's the only sport where every player needs to be at the top of their game at all times, because you never know who it'll come down to in the clutch. In football, with a minute left and the score tied, what do you do? You hand the ball off or pass it to the best player on the team. In basketball, down 1 with 2 seconds left, you give the ball to Kobe or LeBron. You can't control who will come up to bat with a man on third and two outs in the ninth. And that, my friends, is what makes baseball great. That, and the fact that I make great money doing what I love by umpiring for HCYP.

Return of the Tedi

I'M BACK!!!!!!!

This is my first post-Oklahoma! blog post, and I was up late last night working on an English research paper, so please forgive any lack of literary expertise shown in this post.

The show was great! If you saw it, you either loved it or fell asleep because it was almost three hours long. If you didn't see it, I hate you forever and the only thing you can do to lessen that hatred is to tell all your friends to follow this blog.

You know what I realized today? In The Wizard of Oz, you know, when they're singing "We're Off to See the Wizard," most of the stuff they sing about is based off of generalizations and assumptions. They hadn't met the guy yet, and they're singing about how brilliant of a guy he is and how he's got more wizarding skills than Harry Potter on 'roids. When they finally get to the Emerald City and meet him, he's a huge disappointment. You don't see them singing about that on the way back, though.

Got the new Pokemon game the other day. SoulSilver. I beat the fourth gym in math today. Don't judge.

Widget

A Capella, Fellas.

Recently, due to excessive boredom, I've spent most of my time on YouTube. For the most part, I've been watching a cappella groups do arrangements of popular songs. Everything from Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something to I'm on a Boat by comedy group The Lonely Island. I think it gives any song a unique quality not found in any other kind of music.

My mom's all excited because American Idol contestant Lee Dewize is from her hometown of Mount Prospect, Illinois. She says since it's a small (smaller that Ellicott City) town, she wouldn't be surprised if he lives close to where she grew up. Pretty cool. I like him, too. He's one of the better singers. If you ask me, the talent this year on the show isn't amazing compared to previous years.

One more dress rehearsal tomorrow, then our performance! You should come. All four days.

Coughcomeseeoklahomacough

I was up until midnight last night doing research for English. Five sources. About Catcher in the Rye and censorship. Which we did almost a month ago. We've almost completed an entire book since then. So going back to Catcher for a huge research paper isn't exactly the most fun thing ever. Especially when I have no free time at all because of Oklahoma! (Which you should come see). Bottom line: Staying up late on the one day of the year when we decide to get rid of an hour of the day... sucks.

Math test went well today. I knew how to do everything for once (yay!) and I drew very detailed pictures for the word problems, just because I could.

Guess what? The new Pokemon games came out today. I'm fifteen years old, but who cares? I want that game.

Lauren Ferguson. Know who that is? Yup. The girl from Facebook. Turns out she's real. And she's in Maryland this weeeeeeek!!!! She came to school today and I was able to see her for the first time in like a yearrrrrr and it was greattttttttt.

My other foreign friend, Jordyn Catencamp, does not have her phone. She's a loser. Not really. But kinda.

Hmm... I don't have any homework tonight... this isn't good... I feel like I'm forgetting something...



...oh well.

Procrastination, Reprise

Now is a perfect time to reiterate my point which I made earlier about procrastination: DON'T DO IT. It's sad, really. One would think I would learn from previous instances, but nope. It's 9:23 PM on a Sunday, and I'm still finding sources for my English research paper on Catcher. Due tomorrow. You know, I shouldn't even be on here. Oh well. 

I found a new band I like today. They're called Oedipus. I found them on Facebook out of pure boredom. I searched "Oedipus," and they came up first. Their description on their page makes me happy:

"Oedipus seems pre-destined to kill convention and marry progressive heavy rock with an artistic twist that most certainly makes their sound rise high above the dull roar of mainstream modern rock."

Also, their EP Covetous has a great cover which, alone, may prompt me to get it:

 

DESPAIRRR... OEEEEDIPUSSS... LAIUUUSS...

Move Over, Jaws...

According to IMDB, Malibu Shark Attack went down 91% in popularity this week. That makes me sad. Although it's a terrible movie, it's one of those terrible movies that's so bad it's hilarious. It's number one on my list of favorite bad movies, right in front of Ping Pong Playa. One day, I just want to get together with a bunch of friends and watch really pathetic movies. If that ever happens, these two have to be part of it.

You know who's a great band? Jet. Just putting that out there.

While I pride myself on the unknown music in my collection, I'm not afraid to go mainstream every once in a while. So even though I have music by bands such as Broadway Calls and the Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers, I also have a ton of stuff by well-known, often-(and unfortunately-)cliched bands like Green Day and blink-182. I was talking to one of my friends the other day in school about the Green Day concert I went to over the summer, and he said "I don't like them too much. Too many people like them." I respect his taste in music and all, but what does that have to do with anything? Too many people? Since when was there a limit on how many people can like a band? I don't know, maybe that's just me.

In other news, "smh" has replaced "lls" as the stupidest IM abbreviation of all time.

Wanna hear a joke? Auto-tune.

A Quick One While He's Away

Yeah so it's 5 minutes to midnight and I just got home from Alice in Wonderland. Pretty great movie. Not overly Tim Burtony. I like his stuff, but sometimes it can get a little too much. I'm tired and I have rehearsal at 9:30 tomorrow until like 6 I think. So Internet, I'm really happy for you and I'mma let you finish, but I need some sleep. Goodnight, hormigas.

[Title Left Blank For Literary Effect]

"Today, I found out that the people I grew up and live with weren't my parents, the people I rule are dying from a plague, I killed the king (who turned out to by my real dad), married the queen (mom) and had kids with her, then got angry with myself so I gouged out my eyes and was banished from the city I ruled. FML."

Yup, we're reading Oedipus Rex in English now. I like it. It's especially enjoyable because we're reading it/acting it out in class, so there's no real homework for it. The opening scene is pretty much CSI: Ancient Greece. I wonder what song by the Who they would use for the title sequence...

Oklahoma! is coming down to the final week, and it's gonna be great. I made a mistake on a previous post about the Sunday matinee time. It's at 3:00, not 1:00. You should still come. You'll love it.

Tomorrow, I'm going to see Alice in Wonderland with some friends. It's supposed to be amazing, and I'm really looking forward to it. Random fact: Tim Burton lives in a manor-house in our friends' community in England. I feel special.

Smile!

After almost three years, I finally got my braces off today. Oh my gosh, what a difference. My teeth look so good! I stopped by CVS after my appointment and got a big bag of Swedish Fish. Why? Because I could (Not that I never ate them with my braces ON). I ate about half by myself, and then shared the rest at Oklahoma!. But YAYYYY I love my new teeth!

Today was just an incredble day all around. Got my braces off, did well on a science test, went outside in the BEAUTIFUL almost-spring weather here in Maryland after school and played with a Frisbee, hooked up my old Gamecube (which I've kept in my locker) to the TV in the auditorium and had a big winner-goes-on round of Mario Kart during our free time at rehearsal.

Baseball season is starting up soon, and all I'm hearing on local radio stations is optimism about the Orioles. "People have come to just cast out the O's quickly, but when we get to the World Series, it's gonna be huge." Now don't get me wrong, I love my Orioles. Favorite team in my favorite sport. But still... I'm not going to go that far as to say this'll be their year. Every year, they get "star" pitchers that'll "save" their franchise, but end up screwing them over by the All-Star break. In my opinion, the O's can't move on until Peter Angelos leaves. He's a terrible owner, and I think anyone who follows baseball can see that.

Cruisin' Down Rainbow Road

Guitar. Half-eaten plate of pasta and sausage. Phone. Remote control for television. Precalculus textbook. Science fair binder. Backpack. Sports Illustrated. Torso mannequin. Internet radio. These are some of the random items surrounding me at the moment.

Due to the massive amount of free time we have at Oklahoma! rehearsal, at least five people brought in their Nintendo DS today so we could have a massive tournament of Mario Kart. I wonder if Nintendo has ever gotten in trouble about that game. I'm sure PETA would have more than enough to say about throwing turtles at other drivers with malicious intent. Also, something tells me that eating mushrooms to go faster wouldn't fly too well with the DEA. I guess things are different in Japan.

Again, come see Oklahoma! next weekend: 3/18-3/20 @ 7:00 PM and 3/21 @ 1:00

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

I think it's kind of incredible how much we take some of our best friends for granted. We all know who they are. The people you spend the most time with, laugh the loudest with, talk the most with. But to me, I think the most defining quality in a best friend is your ability to come to them about anything. Someone you can complain to, someone you can rejoice to, someone you can talk to when you're having the worst day of your life, someone you can talk to when you're having the best day of your life. Unfortunately, we often overlook this trait in our friends. Even so, we all have these kinds of friends. Take five minutes to think about what those friends do for you, and what life would be like without them. Maybe even say thanks, if you're feeling up to it. They're as important to your life as your family.

WOAHklahoma!

So as of today, there's a grand total of TWELVE days until Marriotts Ridge High School puts on Oklahoma! March 18th is opening night. Today's rehearsal was from 9:30 to 5:00. Now, don't get me wrong, we got a lot done (we put together the platforms for the pit and other miscellaneous set items), but the only time we actually did scene-related stuff was for the last hour, when we worked on scene changes. I think tomorrow's rehearsal will focus more on the rest of it. Let's hope it all comes together by the 18th.

The Marriotts Ridge Madrigals will be on PBS at 6:30 PM. Three minutes. Pretty cool.

What's up with this recent flood of stupid Facebook fan pages for pictures? Some guy must have figured out how to set it so only fans can see content, and then that information got relayed to some idiot who decided to put a Photoshopped picture of Justin Bieber in makeup on a page and simply said "I LOL'D." I feel sorry for the makers of those pages. They really must have no life.

Not cool. It's now 6:32 and the only thing on PBS is some guy with long hair playing Metallica on violin at a concert. That is definitely not what's supposed to be on.

Hot Tub Time Ma- What???

Good day today. Great day, actually, especially after yesterday. Look at it this way: it's like watching Titanic and then Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure immediately after. Huge dramatic change. Good change, though. Not bad change. Bad change isn't that good. That's why it's called bad change. Bad change can lead to good change, though. That's why bad change can be good sometimes.

What's up with all these bad movies coming out? I honestly have no interest to see any of the upcoming movies, with the large exception of Alice in Wonderland. Hot Tub Time Machine? Come on. Have they run out of ideas for movies, or are they just lazy? I could come up with a better plot than that. Sad thing is, people are going to go see that, love it, tell their friends, and it'll end up an incredibly successful movie. All because some camera guy's four-year-old nephew was probably acting like his hot tub was a spaceship or something, then... BOOM! Pathetic epiphany.

This weekend is gonna suck. Saturday I have rehearsal from 9 to 5. That's like a freaking JOB. Plus, there'll probably about 4 hours during which I'm not doing anything. What am I going to do? Some of us were talking about bringing a Gamecube and playing Mario Kart, but that's good for only, what, 2 hours? I guess we'll be able to figure it out from there.

In eight days, my friend from Texas comes back to Maryland (she moved there in middle school). Yup, she's pretty cool. Good looking too. Can't wait.

Upset.

My life isn't so great right now. Well, it's not as much my life as it is my friends' lives. I'm both incredibly gifted and somewhat cursed by my strong emotional attachment to my friends. My emotions are often influenced by the moods of my friends. I can talk to them about anything, which is great, but it's also kind of disappointing sometimes. I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, but I'm just trying to say what I want to say. Frustration, boredom, tiredness, disappointment, jealousy. We all feel these at some point in our lives. Nothing to freak out about, but not the best either, especially when they're all at once. I guess I'll just get some sleep tonight and hope that tomorrow is better.

A Series of Unfortunate Math Tests

I'm sick. I'm tired. I have two tests tomorrow. One of them is on stuff that makes no sense whatsoever, even after learning about it for weeks, studying for two hours in the textbook, and looking it up on YouTube. Precalculus is probably the worst class of my day at the moment.

My phone is pretty much broken. Luckily, I have a warranty on it. So I'm probably just gonna go in and say I lost it so I can get a new one.

This Sunday, I have Oklahoma! rehearsal from 3-8. Not my idea of an incredible weekend. The show is coming along, but to put it lightly, it still sucks. But it'll get there. You know what you should do? You should come see it. Marriotts Ridge High School. March 18-20 at 7:00. March 21 at 3:00.

Well, I'm bored and I don't feel like writing a ton. Goodnight, faithful reader. Congratulations on your literacy.

"AWESOME!!!"

IHOP
Articuno
Kryptonite
Liberate
Pikachu
Algernon
Oogenesis
Fever
Wrath
Chocolate
Agnes
Austere
Neophyte
Beta
Atticus
Corpse
Aubrey
Crowbar
Calculus
Brine
Psyche
Cruisin'
Liam Neeson

You may be saying to yourself, "Ted, what was that list of random and exotic words?" Well, those words were just some highlights from my list of words you can spell using the symbols on the periodic table. The full list has 76 words. I've come up with these words during biology and precalc.

I'm 100% caught up with FlashForward now. Too bad it doesn't come back on until March 18. Thankfully, The Office comes back this Thursday. I can't wait.

All-State was amazing. The talent was great, I met some new friends from all over Maryland, and I had a great time overall. Hope I make it next year.

So I have a math test on Thursday. I wouldn't be so worried about it if I knew how to do the stuff. Ugh. 

Random fact:
If you move South America on top of Africa and then turn it counterclockwise, it makes A FREAKING T-REX HEAD