Day Seventy-Three: A Broken Stick

8/23/13, 3:02 PM PDT

Watched Broadchurch as I ate my breakfast at 11 AM. Nice plate of pancakes with syrup and strawberry jam while David Tennant yells at Andrew Buchan. And yes, I did have to look up that second guy's name, mind you.

But WOW, is it intense. And it's only the third episode. You guys should watch it, it's pretty good so far. Especially seeing David Tennant, who is FANTASTIC in the series.

Wow, I'm using A LOT of caps, aren't I? Probably should stick to italics.

Oh, Skype'd with Hellen and Rhea again while reading The Secret Life of Bees. Worthy of mention.



Same day, 8:55 PM PDT

Finished today's scheduled reading of The Secret Life of Bees, which took FOREVER. Now gonna start editing our short film.

Oh, and on a more serious note, there's a pretty bad gash in the Mikabranch Skype Group, which I feel really bad about. Some backstory first.

So Angela suggested about a month ago that we all match in our ID/yearbook pictures. We were all willing to do it and we chose a pretty simple shirt that we could all get our hands on. A plain white baseball shirt with blue shoulders.

(via http://sportheadband.com)

Then, Angela left for Mexico and the rest of us never got around to buying the shirts, much to her disappointment. Now that wouldn't have been that bad. We could've just told her that we didn't do it. She probably would've been fine.

But nope. I had to be stupid and lie, pretending that we actually did it. Now she found out that we didn't actually do it. And she's pretty mad.

I feel really, really bad and now I have to make up for it somehow. But I have no idea what to do.

I'll sleep on it, see what I come up with.



Same day, 11:46 PM PDT

Edited a bit more for our short film while chatting with Rhea about being treasurer and secretary in her bed club. It's hard to explain, lol.

Anyway, I have to say, the film's turning out pretty good so far. Still have a few ways to go before we start shooting again on the 27th, though. I have to come up with a shot list and a basic storyboard so everything runs smoothly since it'll be the last chance we get to film all summer.

Baby steps, Michael. Baby steps.





RFotD: Ever feel uncomfortable that you haven't finished a project you started? You're experiencing the Zeigarnik Effect, where your mind constantly tugs at you to finish something you've already began.

SGAT: Worked some more on my short film, which, based on the pace I'm going right now, is probably gonna take a few weeks to finish. Not counting time to compose a musical score and an introduction animation.

Day Seventy-Two: Japanese Bug Fights

8/22/13, 6:00 PM PDT

I've spent the most of today catching up on summer homework. Read a bit of Secret Life of Bees, but still three chapters behind on my summer schedule. But that's okay, since I have five spare days scheduled in to buffer.

My apologies if I've been really lax with the entries lately, I've been getting more and more busy as school's about to start. Hopefully, something interesting happens before school starts so I can at least end this blog with a bang!

Oh, and by "end this blog," I mean end it for this summer. I'll definitely be keeping this blog for NEXT SUMMER, so don't you dare take it out of your bookmarks just



Same day, 10:46 PM PDT

Finished a few entries for English, then spent practically all day editing my short film.

Actually, I lied. Spent two hours on a Skype call with Brandon and Kayla watching JAPANESE BUG FIGHTS. THIS IS THE GREATEST THING EVER TO HAPPEN TO THE INTERNET. LOOK AT IT. LOOK AT IT.

For the NSA person that's tapped into my computer microphone because of allegations of Internet piracy, I hope you had a good time listening to our yelling and screaming over insect battles. Please tell me that you shared our excitement over Mantis King, who absolutely WRECKED everything he fought against in Season Two.



Same day, 11:56 PM PDT

I can't stop. I just can't stop watching Japanese Bug Fighting.

Seriously. I think this is an addiction. Help me.





RFotD: Insect fighting, notably cricket fighting, dates back to the Tang Dynasty.

SGAT: Roughcut on short film and summer homework.

Day Seventy-One: Andrew Almost Kills Us

8/21/13, 3:43 PM PDT

Orientation today. Took forever to get my ID card because for some reason the booth that they took my photo in took SIXTEEN YEARS to print the card compared to the other booths.

But I look okay in this ID, so I guess that makes up for the wait.

Went to In-N-Out with Andrew and Khai, a trip which unnerved me a bit more than our usual post-school trips because ANDREW DROVE US THERE.

But we managed to make it to In-N-Out with only three crashes and six pedestrian casualties. Not too shabby.

After that, went to Sushi Hut, where I absolutely ROCKED OUT with an impromptu drum set consisting of a pair of chopsticks as my drumsticks, two overturned sauce holders and the lid of a disposable cup as drums, a sheet of paper as a cymbal, and the floor as my bass drum. Since it was after the lunchtime rush and Sushi Hut was really empty, I got a lot of weird stares from the staff. But I don't care.

Oh, and we went to Petco too. Look at this champ of a rat that we found.

Some legends are born. Others are bred.

When I grow up, I wanna be just like that rat.



Same day, 11:13 PM PDT

Oops, wasted a good chunk of the day watching Cr1TiKaL's videos on YouTube. They're more addicting than drugs, I swear to god.

Better read more Secret Life of Bees so that I can say that today wasn't completely unproductive.





RFotD: Rats are sensitive to electromagnetic fields. When bringing a pet rat home, it is recommended to keep the rat in a place with minimal electrical activity until the rat learns to trust you.

SGAT: Read. That's about it.

Day Seventy: WRITING

8/20/13, 11:59 PM PDT

I'M TIRED. SPENT ALL DAY WRITING. STILL NOT DONE. CHECK TOMORROW FOR NEW ENTRY ON BOTH BLOGS.





RFotD: MICHAEL IS REALLY TIRED.

SGAT: WROTE THINGS

Day of Immaturity: Writer's Block

8/19/13, 1:10 PM PDT

Oops, forgot to set the schedule on yesterday's post, so I uploaded it this morning. My bad.

Knocked out the first three chapters of The Secret Life of Bees. Gonna work on my English entries for the work now, back in a bit.



Same day, 6:29 PM PDT

Went to the park with my sister. Pretty dull since no other kids were there. But she suggested that we play "Weeping Angel Tag."

I happily obliged, then proceeded to SCARE THE HELL OUT OF HER BY SPRINTING TOWARDS HER EVERY TIME SHE TURNED HER HEAD. BWAHAHAHAHAHA.

Oh, and also, I HAVE WRITER'S BLOCK. I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what to write for Wednesday's story. Oh no. Better use an online plot generator.



Same day, 11:32 PM PDT

OKAY. I figured out Wednesday's story, after much deliberation. Also, probably gonna do a story involving my Tumblr next week, so look forward to that!

I'm tired now. Good night.





RFotD: SCP-173 was actually created months before Weeping Angels were.

SGAT: None really.

Day Sixty-Eight: In Memory of a Cricket

8/18/13, 9:27 PM PDT

Headed home, at last! Stopped by Applebee's to eat delicious chicken broccoli pasta alfredo, took a two hour nap, and caught up on all my blog entries today. WOW, I'm tired.

...And I still have to finish all my summer homework. And my short film. And some third thing. Probably the stirling engine, which I told my French teacher that I'd be building.

Wait, crap. I said I'd be making an RC car. Better get on that.



Same day, 11:01 PM PDT

Oh god. So apparently, Kevin's finished one book for Honors Amer Lit already and I've just barely started. Everyone else seems to be starting as well. Should I be worried?

Yeah, I should be worried.



Same day, 11:24 PM PDT

There is an OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD cricket in our house. Even with my headphones on, blasting dubstep, I could hear it chirping as if it were right next to my ear. So I look around, can't find it, but it sounds like it's coming from my parents' room. So I decide to warn them about the cricket.

Mom comes over, finds it pinned to the fibers in our potted plant. It's stuck and crying for help. Poor little guy. If you've read my blog before, you probably know that I hate spiders. But I love crickets. They're harmless. They make nice music in a group. They're high in protein. So I always let crickets live. So I stood there, thinking about how we could get this poor guy off the plant when my mom immediately takes off her slipper and KARATE CHOPS THE CRICKET IN THE FACE WITH IT. It survives and manages to wedge itself out of the potted plant, all while I'm screaming "NOOOO, DON'T DO IT!"

And I held my mom back. I HELD HER BACK. BUT SHE BURST THROUGH JUST AS THE CRICKET ENTERED MY SISTER'S ROOM.

And she killed it. My poor cricket is dead.





RFotD: Female crickets do not chirp. You can calculate the temperature based on the frequency of a cricket's chirps by using the following formula: Number of chirps in 15 seconds + 37 = Temperature in Fahrenheit.

SGAT: None really.

Day Sixty-Seven: Frodo's a Pedophile

8/17/13, 7:29 PM PDT

Up early. The entire group of six or so teenagers, including myself, went to the arcade to play pool/random arcade games. Played Metal Slug with Adrien, then made tie dye shirts. Well, the little kids made tie dye shirts. We sort of just watched and harassed them.

Got bored and accidentally stabbed my pinky playing 5 Finger Fillet, then rock climbed against Adrian. Won one because I had a head start, then lost the other two times. In my defense, he's going into his sophomore year of college and I haven't picked up anything heavier than myself and a 5,000 dollar camera all summer.

Then we all swam. And holy crap, was this the funniest part of the day.

So we're just swimming, minding our own business. The pool's only four and a half feet deep, so us teenagers swam with the tiny kids, who were playing with my sister's inner tube. One of the little kids (Kayla) was currently inside the inner tube, minding her own business.

Suddenly, this blue figure moves across the ocean. Is it a shark? Perhaps a dolphin that's lost its way?

Nope. It's a little white boy in a blue rashguard that looks a lot like Frodo Baggins. Nowhere near as graceful as a dolphin (though, probably just as perverted as one). And you know what he does? HE TRIES TO SWIM INTO THE INNER TUBE, CURRENTLY OCCUPIED BY A LITTLE GIRL.

And you know what makes it worse? HE MISSED. AND ACCIDENTALLY STICKS THE TOP OF HIS HEAD ON KAYLA'S BUTT. And of course, Kayla's having NONE OF THIS. She's panicking and flailing and screaming "SOMEONE'S HEAD IS IN MY BUTT" and at this point, I'm just going CRAZY with laughter. Eventually, my sister gets in the inner tube and the same kid tries again. Aw hellllllll naw.

AND HE SUCCEEDS IN BEING IN THE SAME INNER TUBE AS MY SISTER. Being a pacifist (err, coward), I do nothing as my sister manages to free herself from the tube and run away screaming, while the kid's just standing there, oblivious, hiding underneath his scuba goggles.

The kid proceeds to cause general ruckus in the pool, such as swimming under my legs, following a large Mexican guy around the pool (to which the Mexican man exclaimed "He's following me!" after discovering that he has a new follower), and stealing a mermaid tail.

Frodo's a pedophile.

Oh, and we also rented karts and played Egyptian War. Sister and I rode this one kart that was a two-seater, she freaked out about how fast I was going. Worth it.





RFotD: Egyptian War's origins can be dated to a game called "Beggar-My-Neighbour," originating in Britain during the 1860s.

SGAT: None really.

Day Sixty-Six: Film Camp, but with 100% Less Film

8/16/13, 12:30 PM PDT

Woke up at 8 to pack for our family camping trip. So at home, I scream a lot because, well... it's my own home and I can do whatever I want. So while packing, mom told me to bring pillows. I grabbed three of them and ran to the kitchen screaming "PILLOW. PILLOW." in as high a voice as I could muster.

Unfortunately for me, our neighbor was standing right in front of our open front door. And he heard everything.

Ah well. Deal with it.

Now at Denny's, eating food things. Went to the bathroom to wash my hands as per usual and THE STENCH WAS MISERABLE. I swear to god, based on the texture of the floor, I'm willing to bet that someone had explosive diarrhea and wasn't exactly a sharpshooter. UGH. I speed-washed my hands and got the HELL out of there.

Appetite ruined. Good start to a three-day camping trip, huh?



Same day, 7:06 PM PDT

Arrived at camp and immediately went for a swim in our camp's lake.

Oh, did I say lake? I meant pool. Yes. A chlorinated, heated, concrete pool. While camping. Because we're at Kampground [sic] of America.

Anyway, afterwards, more people started showing up. Met this girl named Gail. We went for a bit of a walk outside KoA's gorgeous lakeside view, right on the underbelly of the SR 54. Found a neat little pseudo-cave in the rocky concrete slope outside the camp. It's hard to describe the area, but basically, it's a mini cave, about 8 feet long, with walls of concrete, in the middle of a slope filled with rocks that are coated in concrete. And there was a cardboard bed in it, complete with a matching cardboard nightstand and a cardboard-colored plastic bag as a makeshift pillow.

It was a Hobo Hut. A pretty cool one, too.

Head back to camp, where we played pool. Using my impeccable accuracy, I easily and effortlessly won, performing a perfect break and sinking all of the solid balls without error. She stood in awe as I swept.

...Nah, I won just because she accidentally sunk the 8 ball in. She would've won no matter what.

After that, we climbed trees. I don't know.

OH. And she has DOGS. Look at Kuma.

Fricking HUGE.

D'aww.

And their tiny dog, Tootsie.

Comparatively smaller than Kuma. Also noisier. Significantly noisier.

One of her brothers that came later brought another dog. I think its name was... Kaiju? I can't remember. But it has nice eyes.

Get the Jaeger.

They're all really nice dogs. Kuma and Kaiju really like wrestling. Should've caught it on film.



Same day, 10:00 PM PDT

Played a bit of soccer, where one of our goals was a car parked right in front of the tiny grassy field that we were playing at. Sorry, whoever owns that car. It probably has a thousand dents in it now.





RFotD: Kuma in Japanese means "bear."

SGAT: None.