Hate to say I told you so, BUT...

So, folks, I suppose that you remember my post about my wonderful encounter with Coach O'Niell when I confronted her about our group dance? Yeah. Well, based on the praise we received from the audience, it turns out that her highness - (gasp) - was, believe it or not, WRONG. My first thought we walked onto the gym floor was "all right guys, if we screw up, just laugh it off and act like nothing happened." As it turned out, we had nothing to fear. As soon as we began our first segment of the dance, the crowd of students erupted into applause. Before we knew it countless people were fist pumping to the beat, shouting out "WOOHOO" followed by one of our names. I was surprised to hear mine called out several times. Every time the remix (that I made and am very proud of) faded out and switched to another segment of a song, there was an immediate round of whooping and cheering. We undoubtedly received the biggest applause of all the groups. Coach O'Niell's expression when we were finished just made my day. Not one muscle in her face attempted to hide just how furious she was that the crowd had loved our dance so much, while she had spent weeks turning her nose up at it in any way possible. Every day something else was bad about it. Then we perform for the people whose opinions actually matter to us, and we get the most rewarding reaction we could have asked for. Coach can suck it.

4 things NOT to buy online

So, lately, I've had some REALLY bad online shopping experiences lately, what with holiday shopping and all. And I've since realized that there are definitely some products you have to buy in stores. Here's my list of 4: 1. Makeup. For one, you have no sure way of determining the shade of anything because it all looks different on a screen. Often times the picture only shows you a solid color, not showing the texture or sheen of the makeup. There's no way of knowing how well the product blends or how natural it looks - sometimes you can't trust the reviews because others use different brushes and some are better at applying the product than others. Another problem: say some kind of chemical irritates your skin, or you have an allergy. Can't read the ingredients (at least not on every site I've checked). You can't sample anything. There are just so many factors involved that you can't test online. 2. Fragrance. That's pretty self explanatory - can't try the scent! Unless you've sampled the perfume/cologne in a magazine or store before, and you remember liking it, then this is a really dumb thing to do. Period. 3. Clothes. Especially pants, because everyone is built so differently in their lower body. Even if you know the brand and know your size, the pants could still end up not flattering you. Some brands run large and some small. Sometimes the way the pants are made just fets too tight in one area, and maybe it's got this one feature on it that's really unappealing, and it never ahowed up in the online picture. Shirts are less risky because they're usually more conforming to one's specific shape, but can still end you up dissapointed when you recieve the package. Shoes - again, different sizes for different brands. 4. Cheap designer goods. If you see an ad telling you about these Gucci jewelry and Burberry handbags for ridiculously low prices, that should be a big red flag with "counterfeit" written all over it. Chances are, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. And now you know. Thanks for reading!

This really hurt to hear

So, in 7th period today (a dance class I was put into regardless of my elective choices) each of our groups had to perform our own choreographed dances in front of coach O'Niell and the rest of the class. Of course, it had to be on the day when we are missing 3 people from our group, including the only one of us who has any dancing talent whatsoever. It ended up only being two of us, just me and a girl who's been absent a lot this year. Because of her absence, we had spent a lot of time trying to get her caught up on the choreography. I'm going to be completely honest with you, and I guaruntee you the other girl would say the same about herself: I am neither coordinated nor graceful in any way, point blank. I just don't dance. But, since I'm in this class, I'll do what I can. After mustering up the courge to get out in the center of the gym to perform our barely-practiced dance, practically on my own, I got up there and dis my best to remember to stick to the beat and remember the moves. I think I did alright at first, but then I got off beat after the other girl accidentally tripped. It would have been no big deal, if it weren't for our killjoy of a gym teacher, coach O'Niell, glaring right at us. At last we finished the dance. And you know what we recieved as feedback after weeks of working, editing, and creating the custom music and dance moves? Insults. From the teacher herself. All I got to hear about was how short it was and how sloppy it looked - right to my face in front of the entire gym period. The second after I attempted to explain the reason for something, she cut me off and retorted back at me with one of the harshest things I've ever heard from a teacher, and I quote: "You know what? No, you listen to me, that was painful, downright painful, for me to watch. The entire audience is sitting here wincing at how awful that looked. Even though that was only a 2-minute piece, I was just waiting for it to end. And if you don't get that dance cleaned up by tomorrow, your entire group has zeros for their mid-term exam grade." Even after that verbal punch in the stomach, I pulled myself together enough to calmly ask her if it was mandatory we perform for the school. Again, she answered that we would all have zeros if we didn't. I was inclined to say "Well, you're obviously embarrased to have me as a student... After all, if I'm not going to be your pride and joy, why show it off to the audience?!". Good Lord. And I have that woman next semester too...

Florida's new divorce laws: more hell for me

So, recently, state courts changed the divorce laws here so that they now do not entitle the main caregiver to nearly as much child support as previously. My parents are about to separate, and it's getting ugly. Since my father refuses to let go of his unnessecary grudge toward my mother, who did nothing, he refuses to give any more child support than is required by the law. He has some stupid paranoia that my mother is going to use that money for her own benefit. What a typical male - understands nothing of how selfless a mother becomes when it comes down to the well being of her children. Basically, this leaves him free as a bird to spend his $200,000 annual salary on whatever he pleases, on his own, while my mother, sister and I are left on nothing but child support - pretty much equivilent to miminum wage of a zoo technician. Not to mention she is out of work, and will be for some time until she gets the required education to begin her teaching career (and that job doesn't offer much financial support either). And, of course, all this crap had to spring up around Christmas time - way to go, Dad. I love him as my father, but I look with scorn upon him as my mother's husband.