Monday, October 31, 2011

My First Robotics Competition

October 29, 2011
(10:49pm)
First, it's October 29th, so why is it snowing? It's been snowing all day.

So, today I went to the Caroll County Ag Center to see a robotics competition. I am a bit disappointed that I was the ONLY one that showed up. The others didn't know the address (umm...Mapquest? Google? 5 seconds compared to 5 hours on Facebook). I had fun. I got to hang out with the best experienced vets in the game: Team Cheese. Don't make fun of them, they won the whole thing. One of their robots was DQed because someone put in a game piece when they weren't supposed to, but other than that, they dominated. We have a lot of work to do on our robot. They may help. I spent the whole day. Scouting out designs and taking countless pictures and videos. (Side lesson: whenever you send pictures and videos from your phone to your email, make sure you don't delete them until you have checked your email for them.) I need to document our work and designs, or find someone else, or have others to do it with me. It's go time with no time for slacking. And Prosper, please come to a meeting. On a side note, there are some BEAUTIFUL girls who do robotics. I wish y'all could have seen them girls. I can only remember one girl's name, Amber (who had an awesome robot), but there were these other two girls that I talked too. They kept calling me “Taylor” even though I corrected them about my name. So many girls commented on how deep my voice was (no surprise). I can't wait for next time.


Pumpkins and Recomendations

October 27, 2011
(8:49pm)
The pumpkin of perseverance project looked interesting. The was Oprah (a bunch), Ben Carson (3), and even Martin Luther King Jr. But my favorites were Michael Jackson and Walt Disney's. Those were most creative to me.


Anyways, guess what time I finally left school today.

Yep. I stayed to 1) help Mrs. Simms pack up our protobot, 2) complete my high school resume, 3) work on my checklist for AVID, and 4) get a letter of recomendation from Doña. Doña had a line of people before me, so I didn't get one yet, but I did get help with my resume, and started thinking about who I should mentor. I have a couple in mind. Doña also gave me this neat badge:

And this arm band:


I will NEVER take them off.

Jacquynn, Jaelen, and I had to walk home afterwards. They took a forrest route, so I had to follow. We came across slippery hills, tall grass, mud, and this somewhat idealic spring.

Jaelen and I jumped over it, but Jacquynn decided to walk right through it. Don't know why, the bridge was just a few feet away.

I might use that route again, but it's not shorter like Jaelen said it was.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

October 27, 2011


October 27, 2011
(10:49pm)
Boring day. Doña's not here, wasn't allowed to go to the library (Carney wanted us close by and away from everyone else so we could focus), and I saved all of my college stuff on my hotmail account, so Doña not being here meant I couldn't get it. Should have put it on google, it's more BCPS “friendly”. I was so bored, I made this tower of die by alternating between hard plastics with tiny die inside and foam ones.

After school, stayed in library to work on finding scholarships, working on colleges, finding out more info....not much. I left, came back, and Kayla Clark called me over to say hi. She was going to show me a poem she had written using SAT words, but Mrs. Cathirell called her over for something, so I guess she forgot. I'll ask her later. Mrs. Cathirell asked if I could stay after school some time next week to work on scholarships. She says I'm her project :). I could only stay Friday. I'm tired, going on midnight. Buenos noches!

Side note: Elle and Ethan look so adorable.

"you're so accident prone."

October 26, 2011
(7:49am)
A quick lesson for those of you who like to have things around your necks that entangle: Make sure you don't let them tangle on something too tight or heavy, like your bag. I came in the class room and threw down my bag (which weighs about 7 pounds), and my head phones, which were hooked together around my neck, tangled together with my bag and hoody. My headphones tightened around my neck, and to make matters worse, 1) they were so tight that I couldn't unhook them, 2) they were caught in my hoody, so every time I moved, my hoody strings tightened, and 3) one of my hands was caught, so I couldn't use both hands to free myself. I was scared, Prosper was scared, Jacquynn chastised me while they tried to untangle me, I think Ebe was the most scared, maybe because I was choking right next to her. I need new headphones, and need to learn not to have things around my neck, or wear something choke proof.

(10:50pm)
I'm tired, so here's what I did today:

1. Went to navy band performance in the auditorium. They were awesome. They had a halloween type theme. Camera cut out twice due to lack of memory. My favorite one, also the longest one, was one called “Godzilla eats Las Vegas!” I had to split the recording since the camera only did 10 minutes at a time.

We also had 3 of our band students go up to play with the navy. They played “Washington Post”.

2. After concert, the navy band stayed awhile to help out our band. They get paid to just play, and they're there until they decide to leave.

3. I hung in the library with Mrs. Cathirell, who helped me with my college search and application. She told me that Ms. Mudi told her about me sneeking up behind her and hugging her. She (Mudi) said that she didn't think I liked her much. I can kinda see that. I'm, for the most part, emotionless and stolid, so it would probably be hard to tell anything about me.

4. Watched The Cleveland Show. That is so hilarious. It's funnier than Family guy.

October 25, 2011


October 25, 2011
(11:30am)
Arianna loved the card. It had poems in it. Well, it was more like a book than a card.

(1:37pm)
We have so much music to play in band. Since I'm in jazz band, I have about 3 times more music to play than concert band. We just played All the Lights by Kanye West and Rhianna. We sound beast.

(3:40pm)
Quick question, who took my sticky note off of the computer and replaced it with this one?


I'm not mad, just curious.

October 24, 2011

October 24, 2011
(11:30am)
1. Mrs. Cathirell is back. I'm so excited. That's my favorite teacher. I snuck behind her and gave her a hug during lunch. We caught up about what was happening during her leave. She also agreed to write me a letter of recommendation and gave me some colleges to look at.

2. Arianna's birthday is tomorrow. Since I won't see her tomorrow, I gave her the card I made her. Hope she likes it (I know she will).

3. We got to use the power cutter in robotics. It wasn't completely safe to cut and grind parts off the robot on a classroom counter with papers, but it was fun.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Growing Pains


October 23, 2011
(10:36pm)
Check these out:

Can’t you just tell that we’re siblings? I don’t think that I’m closer to anyone in my family than I am with Jacquynn. We’re closest in age. Only a year and 7 months. I will definitely miss her, maybe even be lost without her, when we go to college. You know we’ve almost never been separated since birth years?

October 22, 2011


October 22, 2011
(10:36pm)
I spent my whole day going through clothes, swapping out summer for winter, cleaning, and watching 1000 Ways to Die. There are some nasty ways to die. Let's just be blessed that we haven't me any. The number one way not to die: DON'T BE STUPID!!! That's my rule. Or you could just watch the show and pray you don't do anything that will land you on there. Sorry y'all, I'm paranoid. Well, I have some hustling to do to complete my checklist for AVID. I got a letter in the mail from UAT with a personalized link for me to apply more quickly, but I don't think that's on the list.


I love how they have a strong “geekosystem” along with a great “geekonomy” and geek culture.

Well, short list today. I'm tired, good night.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

iRobot

October 21, 2011
(10:58pm)
Check this out.

I taped two cameras to the protobot and made a bunch of videos. Ms. Simms (or is it “Mrs.”) Asked me to send her some of the videos so she could put them on Titan TV. It's so cool, I got so many people on the cameras. I wish the phone I used for the claw could have recorded more than just 10 minutes. We also completed our base for the competition bot. It was hard, but easy, work. I know, that seems oxy-moronish (where does “oxy-moron” come from?). We're now designing our contraction that will be used to pick up the ball and barrels. We have a backbone and a design in mind, we just gotta test it out. If it doesn't work, I have another in mind.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Robocam

October 20, 2011

(11:07pm)
Well, I did a cool thing today. I got to go to the PTA Council event to help represent VEX Robotics. I could have gotten hours, but I couldn't be 2 places at once for Doña. Agnes got to help Doña with her table. She looked so adorable in her little safari hat Doña gave her to wear. I told her that, she just gave me a mixture of a glare and a confused look. She looked like she was hiding a smile, too. I also taped my phone camera to one of the robots (one Mr. Needel brought in that had tank treads. It was cool) and gave it robovision. I got a lot of fun out of it. I mostly got feet shots, then I adjusted the the camera to look up a little. It still caught feet, but also a lot of attention. The sensors cut off for a second, so I had to pick it up. As soon as I did, it reconnected, so I just continued driving. I caught Agnes' shoes. Bummer, I wish I got her completely on camera. A lady told me to stop flirting with her (Agnes). That's kinda hard because 1) I'm a flirt and flirt with pretty much everyone, and 2) I can't help it, She and Yemi are just so cute and adorable, and they are both easy to flirt with because they just threaten to hurt me or beat me up (don't let their cute faces fool ya, all roses have thorns). I should stop. Anyways, here's the video feed I got. If you pay attention, you may even see Doña make an appearance or two.

October 19, 2011


October 19, 2011
(12:07pm)
I'm bored. It's not a good day. I really want to go home, but I have robotics.

(5:42pm)
Today was not a good day at all. I had to walk in the rain, I was almost late to school, I forgot to grab my AP Biology homework, Doña was too busy to talk to, I accidentally deleted my October 18th blog....the list could go on. I had to keep a strong composure in order to keep people from noticing my mood, but that only lasted until 2nd period English Honors. Arianna almost immediately picked up on my actual mood, then I wasn't able to hold my front. She got me to smile some, but not much. In 4th period, my AP Psychology student had to take some personal days, so we had another teacher, who put in Mean Girls (I hate that movie so much) because he just found out today that he was teaching, so he had no plans. We had work on it. We have dropped about 200 points from students not having their SAT review packet prepared. I know who the people were, but I'd rather not say who they were on this post. We are way behind schedule in robotics. Well an elderly man gave me a ride home when I was walking home. It was raining. His name was David. That's pretty much the only time I smiled during the day.

(10:12pm)
You know when you casually just run into something (not literally) that you don't mean to, but it later seems that it was a message sent to you? That just happened to me. Here I am all depressed and looking for free LEGAL music downloads. I'm looking for Sign of a Victory by R. Kelly, and I click and download another one, Victory by R. Kelly, instead. I started to listen to it and realize that it wasn't what I wanted. I got mad, then he started singing and I listened. Every word it seemed was a personal message crafted just for me at that moment I hope I can put it on my blog. It should have atleast one video on youtube, considering all of the flat out ignorance that's ALL OVER the internet.

Side notes:
1. I hate this mid-weather season (too hot to wear one thing, too cold to wear something else). I'm lying in bed with my covers off, but I'm cold. If I put the blanket on or get sweats, I'll burn.

2. Mrs. Simms kids are so adorable.

3. I LOVE YOU AGNES AND YEMI!!!! You two are my favorite Africans ;)

(11:43pm)
I just listened to Lighters. Good song, but it had so many blanks that I thought it was a faulty download. Thanx Kim, beautiful choice ;P

October 17, 2011

October 17, 2011
(10:16pm)
1. This phone cut of randomly and erased all of my blog work, so now I have to start from scratch.
2. Jacquynn and I almost got to take a senior picture today, but we only had basic package. We can take one on re-take day if we want. I looked HOT in that half tuxedo. I looked and felt like a sexy, chocolate 007.
3. If someone threw this pencil in the ceiling, that's amazing.

4. Got to give a tour to a new student. I got called to guidance by the new councilor. The boy's name was Tyler. He's a freshman. I don't know how my name got drawn to give a tour to a new student, but I won't complain.
5. I ran into Kayla Clark during my tour. She seemed excited about our meeting tomorrow. I'm guessing she was in a biology lab or an engineering project, because she had on safety goggles. Also ran into Felicity Wiggins. I love her name. It's like something from a kid's book. I might put that as a middle name for one of my daughters. She fits her name. She always seems joyous and happy, and I've also only seen her not smiling once. I think she's in Themis, but I wish she was Hyperion.

6. Can't wait to see all of your faces all together in one room tomorrow. Excited, but nervous. And I have the agenda. Am I the doc holder? Let's hope not. I need Alexis Dillard to organize my binder. I hear she's good at it. I'm joking.

October 16, 2011


October 16, 2011
(11:11pm)
I was an ugly baby:

Well, atleast based on this picture, and the picture my parents saw when they adopted me. They said I was constantly hollering and crying, especially when I couldn't find my pacifier (which I just realized had “pacify” in it). It's amazing that I was always screaming, always smiling, always high energy and talking as a baby and a tyke, but I'm so quiet and stolid as a young man. My whole life is one big confusion if you give it a cursory glance, but dig a little deeper, you're sure to find some understanding.

A baby sister


October 15, 2011
(11:11pm)
Who's this baby?

She looks so adorable in her little Santa hat. In this photo, she's not even a year old yet. It was taken last year. I took the photo off of Doña's Christmas card. The photo is of Elliana Cathirell, Mrs. Cathirell's daughter. She's so adorable in person. She has a head full of hair and is just bursting with baby energy. Last time I saw her was about 2 weeks before school. I was at school for the AVID Atlas program (having nothing to do with the House of Atlas) when Mrs. Cathirell came in with her in a stroller. She was running around giggling and picking out books (like mother, like daughter). She was even saying some words too I think. She was sooo adorable. When it was time to leave, she looked as if she was smiling right at me. She probably was. I wish I had a baby sister. Well, since Mrs. Cathirell said that I'm like a son to her, I guess I could have a baby sister :)

(11:59pm)
By the way, nothing happened today. NOTHING!!!! Well, Oklahoma State whupped Texas, and I figured out the name of the college I was trying to look up, and I found a website call collegeprowler.com that rates and grades schools based on different areas (Hampton didn't rate well it seems), but other than that, nothing.

October 14, 2011


October 14, 2011
(10:51pm)
I had to do the announcements for robotics today. I wasn't alone, Makoon was with me. Our robot wasn't able to pick up the rings because the arm's under bar wasn't bent right. I was hoping to have been able to come in earlier to work on it, but it wasn't the case. I was soooo nervous. I'll have to go on the announcements again. I know it. For one, we still have to build another robot for competitions (2 actually), and Carney came up with something where he draws our names out of a hat and we have to go on the announcements. He wouldn't tell me what we were doing, he just gave me a slight devilish grin.

(11:11pm)
When I woke up and saw this dark and dreary sky:

I almost wanted to stay in bed. I walked to school at 7:16am with it looking like 6 o'clock. But by the end of the day, the sky looked like this:

I almost felt like singing “It's gonna be a bright day” (you know that one song that goes “I can see clearly now the rain is gone”. That song is going on my play list).

(11:20pm)
How could I possibly forget little Zee. She's so precious. She's always so joyous and running and hoping around, just like her mother.



October 13 2011



October 13, 2011
(9:19am)
Sitting in the waiting room about to get my braces tightened. My dad accidentally dropped me off at the wrong place, the place I got my teeth extracted, but I was able to work it out. It was only up the road. When I came in, there was a young girl, about 14, crying. At first, I thought it was because her braces were too tight, then a doctor came out to hug her. Might have been pain from the braces. I didn't cry, but I know how much the braces hurt. I usually can't eat anything for at least 2 weeks.

(10:00am)
Braces are tight. They put a new type of band on to close up the space between the areas of my extractions. It's starting to hurt.

(11:35pm)
This is torture. My teeth hurt like crap, I can't bite or chew, I can barily brush, and I wanna know how much they pay those people on the Orajel commercials because they lied. I'm in pain, and all orajel did was numb my mouth and barily the pain. But mostly, I can't eat.

(11:50pm)
My dad still has these old cassette tapes of the O’jays and Isley brothers that have yet to be opened. Could you make money off of those? We could maybe be rich.


October 12, 2011


October 12, 2011
(5:36pm)
Our bot looks awesome. We had to make some tweaks to get it working, but it was true beauty when it was done. You'll probably see more of it on Titan TV.





(6:06pm)
Sometimes a complete stranger can quell or pacify you when you're already frustrated. My sisters had a friend over, Jessica, who was getting her hair done. After walking home in the cold pouring rain without a jacket or umbrella, my head was just pulsating with pain. I got to my apartment and my sisters were just sooooo negative. They were yelling about “you're in trouble” and saying other things I don't feel like saying (my head still hurts). They got mad because my homework that I was working on before I left was on the table, this time neatly. They also got mad because I didn't take off my shoes. I really wasn't in the mood for all that. While they were still yelling, Jessica came in and quietly asked if I could take off my shoes. I agreed. She was too civil for me to say no.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

October 11, 2011

October 11, 2011
(3:36pm)
Can't remember all that's happened today, but one thing interesting was B4 AP Psychology. We learned about blind spots, sensations, perceptions, and allusions. Like this picture (better seen in real life):

Whenever you covered one eye and looked at the cross and only the cross, and moved the image around, the black dot disappeared. When you looked at the bottom cross, the white dot disappeared and the lines would continue. I've always loved illusions, poems, and riddles. If y'all find any, let me know.

(7:45pm)
Forgot to mention that I was going to be at school tomorrow dispite the PSATs. Robotics. We're completing our proto-bot. Good luck on the PSATs.

October 10, 2011

October 10, 2011
(1:36pm)
I just read Jacquynn's blog about my birthday. It made me almost cry. That's the closest sibling I have. Y'all will have to read it for yourselves (September 9).

(3:15pm)
Just ran into Edann Ofray. Didn't recognize her at first, her head was down. She smiled and waved though.

(3:19pm)
Saw Tiara Morales. She smiled.

(10:22pm)
Thank you Sharee for being the FIRST one (besides Doña and Carney) to comment on my blog!!! And yes, you do look like Loretta Devine. Any ways, speaking of look alikes, do I really look like Wesley Snipes or Miles Davis?
  Preview
Not much happened today. Well, Ebe confirmed that Trey is definitely more annoying (and maybe more of a flirt) than me, Doña set us up a checklist for the month of October (I already have two things done), read Jacquynn's blog, and thought I left my key at home but turns out it was just at the very bottom of my bag. Wait, just thought of something. Today in Jazz. The kids who were going to try out for county got to play for Mr. Evan's class. Well, we all did, but they had to sit and face them. The audience, both band students and Mr. Evan's class, was horrible. They talked very loudly and disruptively. Mrs. Harris let some of the chorus students sit in between us as we played so they could read along as we played. That was fun. Oh, and the BB camera went out again, and Chrysta and Jaelen lost my other “back-ups”. Chrysta owes me $5 for “borrowing” it. I'm screwed, I only have a few extra pictures that I haven't blogged about. I need a camera. I found “Never Could Have Made It” by Marvin Sapps and “The World's Greatest” by R. Kelly, so that's on my playlist now. I haven't stopped listening to “Are You Listening” and “Lean On Me” by Kirk Franklin yet. I can listen to those two songs everyday.
This one is the most memorable thing today that I can remember right now: Doña said that we get to mentor an underclassman. And from the sounds of it, y'all need it. She said that some of the interims were kinda bad. Only one rule: No siblings (No problem). I wonder who I'm best for. Well good night, and good luck to those taking PSATs on Wedenesday.

Monday, October 10, 2011

October 9, 2011

October 9, 2011
(10:01pm)
Remember baby Alex that I mentioned?

Remember when I said that she was calm when I held her? Well today, I was comparing her hand size to my fingers (I love baby hands, they're so tiny), and she wrapped her fingers around my pointer. She wouldn't let go. In fact, her grasp got stronger when I tried to pull away. I know, babies tend to do that. But she wouldn't hold her father's finger. The parents were making jokes, saying that I should take her to prom. That one made me laugh.

(10:11pm)
I was just thinking about something. Why is it almost every baby girl seem to take to me quickly or stare at me or smile, but boys don't seem to take as quickly. I mean, almost every girl baby or toddler will just look or wave at me, but no boy will do anything around me. Is it a pheromone thing? Do humans have pheromones? Is it because girls mature and analyze things more quickly than guys? Am I crazy? Don't answer that last one. Maybe I'm just a natural charmer.

(10:30pm)
I've never thought about it, but I've almost always been around famous people. I met Kenan Thomson when I was nine. He came to my church. Met Jason White, got his autograph. I went to church with Anquan Boldin a couple of times, I shook his and his wifes hands. He's bigger in person. My sisters got to meet Michael Oher during one of their toy drives. They say he was a giant. I don't know, being around famous people just seems to come naturally to me. I mean, it's the same as running into a regular citizen, but one that everyone knows.

(10:45pm)
Always eat your green veggies and chew your food well. I feel like I'm about to throw up. We got to bring home a bunch of food that was left over from the church harvest festival, so we ate that for lunch/snack/dinner today. All it was was just beef hotdogs, chicken hotdogs, turkey burgers, BBQ wings, baked beans, tomatoes, potato salad, and salad. So basically: MEAT, MEAT, MEAT, MEAT, MEAT, potato salad, and a salad, with a side of meat (I think it had bacon bits). I scarfed down like 5 hotdogs, but didn't chew much. People always said I was part shark. I didn't have any veggies or salad, so now I feel sick. My stomach hurts and I want to just drink the whole thing of Pepto Bismal, because I have it all: heartburn, nausea, indigestion, upset stomach, and let's hope not the other one. Our whole fridge is full of the meat. I swear I might become a vegetarian this week.

(11:00pm)
I've been 19 for a full month. Yay. Can't wait for next year. Then again, I said that last year about this time last year.

October 8, 2011

October 8, 2011
(10:17am)
3 commercials I saw that were very good.

1) There's a boy sitting on a bus stop listening to music. The lady next to him gets up to get on the bus and leaves her purse. The boy picks up the purse and looks inside, then runs through an alley, all while the police are following him. He gets to the end and he's tired, then the bus appears and the lady gets off. The boy walks up to her and tells her she left her bag. The police call him over and compliment him. Where is the Love by the Black Eye Peas is playing in the background.
2) This guy created an email account for his daughter on the first day she was born and wrote to her about all his experiences with her. I've always thought about doing that. I even wrote a poem for my unborn children. I'm going to do that. Maybe on the blog, maybe do an email, maybe just write a book. Maybe I'll do a video diary like on Good Luck Charlie. One thing's for sure, I'm keeping this blog and showing it to my kids when they become juniors and seniors. I might even keep doing it until I get married, or get to old to be on a computer.
3) The Sharpie commercials. You can do a lot of creative things with a bunch of Sharpies. One was a guy drawing and writing out every moment that he and his girlfriend shared on a bunch of Post-it notes (so I guess Post-it got a shout out too). Then at the end, he arranged them to say “Will you marry me?”. Creative and romantic, but I think I'll be more simplistic.



 

 



(11:00pm)
I went to my church picnic today. I got to be a judge for the baking contest for all of the women's wonderful treats and got to help light the bonfire. It was hard at first, but I'm from the country, we light some of our trash on fire. Plus, our pastor, who has a fire pit, helped us. I was nominated to help keep the fire running and to find sticks for the s'mores. Do you know how hard it is to find good dry sticks to burn after it's rained or been wet? It was so slippery that I fell into a thorn bush. Twice. And then there were the bad lil' children who just wanted to burn things in the fire. Everytime I'd turn around, some one had a large branch, was too close, had my big stick, or was even trying to roast a marshmellow on a tiny twig. And I'm not even talking all about the kids, some of the adults were taking the large sicks from my pile of fire wood or grabbing a twig and roasting a marshmellow. I went through all that trouble preparing sticks for people to use, and I set them up on the hay stack with the s'mores stuff for people to see them, and people weren't getting the message. Why didn't we buy the sticks? Mr. Omar almost burned my face off. I'm kindling the fire and he squirted the lighter fluid about two inches from me. The wind was blowing my direction. I mean, I know how to deal with fires, and I've been burned, and I've lit myself on fire (I was young and stupid), but still, can ya warn somebody?

Can you believe how many people don't know how to make s'mores? I had to teach atleast three ADULTS how to make s'mores. Does Maryland know how to do anything? Y'all just got a Sonic. Do y'all know what a cayote is? PLEASE don't say “it's the dude who chases that bird that says 'meep meep' around.” Okay, I'm going off now.
I the food was good. The only bad part about it was that this bee landed right on me. I froze. I hate bees, scared is more like it. My dad told me to just swat it off. I hesitantly did so. It flew away, but was back later to attack my potato salad.
My lungs and eyes still burn from the smoke inhalation. I have asthma. I didn't even feel the effect until after we were done with the fire. We poured three bottles of water to put out the fire. The pit was still hot, so I just dumped a bag of ice on it. It cooled it some.