Pont Champlain, Light Boxes, and My New Life.

In my own new fashion, I will start with a quote from Adrianna Flack:

Life= live it fricking epicly

It is an interesting way of putting it, but it is true. I am now addicted to music. I have recently been listening to this song Your Ex-Lover Is Dead by Stars. Now, my ex-lover (do I even have one?) isn't dead, but its a great song. It mentions capturing a taxi and driving across Pont Champlain. I decided to look into this Pont Champlain, and was disappointed to realize that my limited French couldn't tell me that "Pont" really means "bridge". So, Pont Champlain is just the Champlain Bridge in Montreal Canada (yeah!)

I believe that life is kind of like an interstate (Oh, here he goes again), and our adventures are like bridges. I decided to take the one that goes to Canada, and meet some awesome people (See The List) and did some interesting things. In the past month I have:

  - Operated Sound for a talent show
  - Ran for SPL in a boy scouting troop
  - Went to a dance
  - Slow Danced with Two Girls
  - Listened to music
  - Got a combined total of about 20 service hours
  - Decided who I am
  - created The Carlynton Project (In Crystal Clear 1080p High Def!)
  - Ticked some people off (ha)
  - operated lights for a choral concert
  - went at least 10 miles on a track and on a bike
  - Rode a trolley
  - got commended by my superintendent
  - and turned 14.

Now, what have you done? Heck, I have done about 90 times that, but that is what I put in.

Someone once told me to join the band. I did. A year later I quit. That was probably what got me where I am. I love music, I just can't play an instrument worth my life. I got into journalism, web design, video production, people, and high school.

And this is just the beginning. Well, Good luck. I am crossing my bridge, find yours.

Why a Vlog Fails and the Carlynton Project.

I begin with a quote from myself....

It seems that the story of Carlynton's creation hasn't been told. With the proposed consolidation of the two elementary schools, may be a generation that does not see a Crafton Elementary and a Carnegie Elementary.

That is why I did the Carlynton Project, to look at the one unified district that the three towns had in mind. A simple 5-minute video project detailing the general history that everyone knows. Easy project right?

I should know by now that nothing is easy. Relationships, Politics, Baseball, and Carlynton Project all have at least one thing in common: It's Complicated. In order to pull off something as simple as a video project I fought off speed limit signs, woods, black-draped posters, and the web that is the streets of Crafton and Rosslyn Farms. It took months of research, planning, and scripting and at least three hours of editing to get to where it ended up. In the end, I have a 7-minute DVD in HD (So I can't watch it myself) and apparently a GATE project.

So, I submit three copies: One to my adviser, one to my supervisor, and the third to my uncle. My supervisor watched it a week after I submitted it with her daughter (who is a film major) and "loved it".  My adviser, well it took him about three weeks to figure out what it was.

Then, in front of the 7th grade teaching staff, he decides then to premier it. It received the best reviews for a video that I have ever made. He decided the next day to deliver it to the PR director for the district... who is also the secretary for the school district.

She decides to premier the project in front of the whole school board the next day. I have no knowledge there was even a board meeting. The following day, today, the superintendent walks over to me at lunch and asks for a copy for the district. He apparently liked it... a lot.

So this is how a project snowballs. Not through YouTube, but through word-of-mouth. Not through 99 cents per click, but through giving a DVD to your world cultures teacher (yes, the marine) and seeing what happens. Vlogging fails because the story gets told but never gets seen. This is the story, the story to be continued.

Interesting Day

Ok, this will be a long post, and most of it boring to the average Joe (I don't care if your name is Steve, or Bob).

Let me start at the beginning. I get to my bus stop and I see among Luke and Jeff, two seventh graders. Both I have known, and both were in/are in scouts. I say hi, and the bus appears like magic.

We get to Raphy's stop, and she passes up my seat. This isn't normal, but I don't think much of it, for she is Raphy.

I eventually get to school, and who do I see first but Adrian. I have had a locker two down from this guy for about two years, but today was the day that I decided to forget his name. We simply say hi, and are on our way to first period.

I am the first into the locker room, and I put my stuff into my locker like normal. Next to walk in was Donovan. I have known Donovan for, well, forever. He decides to hand me his chocolate bars for safe keeping in my locker.

Fast-forward to gym. The teachers inform us that first, you were to have had changed before the bell. He later informs us that we will be jogging a total of three-quarters of a mile. Our target:get it under seven minutes. Again, I say total. Now if there is one class I hate the subject matter, that would be it. I can play dodge ball as well as the next guy, but I can't do track or field worth crap. Anyway, I get to the finish line six seconds after the target time! That ticked me off. Anyway, it goes on, and by the time I finish, I am slapping hands with people yelling FAIL!!!! I liked that part. I didn't like the kid that puked, but I liked that people slapped my hand.

Fast-Forward to HR-PD2 Switch. That was when I saw for the first time in four days Lindsey. Now, with no way to contact her, there was literally nothing I could do... but that is my personal problem... not my valiant readers'.

Fast-Forward to WC-8. I sit down next to Clay, and Natale decides to sit behind me. Then came one of her most interesting comments:
"Alex, why are you nice on Facebook, but mean in real life?"
The simple answer is that I don't know. But I do, and I won't put that here, for it will bore the readers. My teacher then, at the end of class starts to read a sheet of useless trivia. I mean, really useless (his words, not mine). He starts on this 20-minute rant, and can't stop.

Fast-Forward to Lunch. The last periods' teacher decides to hover over our teacher (yes, the Marine). That, in and of itself was creepy, but what can you do? It is interesting to solve the world's (and imaginary world's) problems. Today's topic was my family. I compared and contrasted my aunts, uncles, and cousins with those of Clay's family. I have an uncle that lives in Alaska. He has an uncle that no one is to ever see or enter his house.


Fast-Forward to part of the reason I wrote this post. This evening, I had the privilege to attend a meeting regarding something close to my heart: Campaganza 2010. Together, we unpacked, inventoried, and re-packed the troop trailer. Now if you know anything about Troop 831, you know that is a group of teenagers that try to accomplish simple tasks by "boy leadership." I'll give an example: JUST TO BACK THE SUV TO THE TRAILER, it took six guys three tries to get it to the point where it was able to be lowered onto the trailer hitch. Anyway, I ended up being the one that wrote inventory, organized who was to do what, and how. This shows that something in the leadership program is working for me. It motivates me more.

Now, keep in mind that I am only 13, keep in mind that I am only SECOND CLASS RANK. Finally, keep in mind two things: I am somewhat of a leader, and I have wasted a lot of website space!

I will probably add a second part later!

Good News, Bad News, and Some "Chroinicles"

Bad News: I was trashed by Sara for using HER Bad Pun Wednesday as a holiday, I apologize Sara.
Good News: This is the 20th post EVER on this website: See the special Header above until we post again.
Now for what you came for, The Chronicles:

The Chronicles of Jr High: The Marine, Gym Class, and some Randomness

Last Week, there was rumored Pep rally everyone was excited, no pep rally that day. Today, we had a random pep rally. Apparently the band and football players were notified, but I wasn't so it was a surprise pep rally in a sense. This 'Pep Rally' had no sense at all. The eight and seventh graders were sitting on the floor watching the band play a few songs (They are great!!!!) the cougar dance around a bit, and some people that really need belts. ZachM Put in in good words: "Pull up your pants!!!!!" So in a sense, Logan said that it was sort of a "disapointment."


As an update, today we played "Super Soccer" in gym, and why it is called "Super" I have absolutely no clue. It may have to do  with the fact that the ball was a red-and-blue exercise ball. Still no clue.



When we last let the Marine, he was talking to a good friend of mine about the "Communist Party Shirt." Today, he was wearing a simple turtle-neck with the word "STEELERS" on the side (GO PITTSBURGH STEELERS!!!!!) because every last day of the week is "Casual Friday." So Yesterday another friend of mine answered the question "What do my clothes say about me?"  he was referring to the fact that he was wearing a tie and nice pants. She simply said "That you're uptight and wear ties all the time" I'm surprised she didn't get the famed "Stare Down" So anyway, point of the story, even teachers can loosen up.

The Chronicles of Jr High: The Marine, Gym Class, and some Randomness

But First, here's the weekly comic for "Bad Pun Wednesday" please submit ideas here: 2015 blogger Comic Strip

The Chronicles of Jr High: The Marine, Gym Class, and some Randomness

So as the week progresses, the teachers each want a bit more and add a bit more to the curriculum, as expected.
Each teacher adds a little bit of homework/studying. So, with six real periods, and each teacher adds a bit, you end up with a lot of homework, or notebooks (Depending on the teacher.)

In Gym Class, we thought that Tuesdays were play days, and Thursdays were wrong, or at least thats what we were told. We were wrong. On Tuesday, we had the wonderful "Beep Test." This not only illustrates how out of shape some people are, it also accents the poor acoustics in the gym PA system. Some lady comes on and says, ready set, BEEP!!!!. Then it plays music to pass the time. This music gets annoying after the sixteenth time. That's Surviving Jr High Gym in a nutshell.

Back on the second or third day of school, a good friend of mine wore a T-shirt titled "The Communist Party". It had soviets in party hats and lampshades on their heads, the true meaning of a bad pun. So, Our Marine World Cultures teacher said, "I battled those [People] for thirty years, and it pains me to see shirts like that." He was just joking, but to those reading this he probably sounded serious. Now on the eleventh day of school, he wore the same shirt in honor of "Bad Pun Wednesday." In eight period, Our Marine said this: "I battled those [people] for thirty years, so whats with the shirt, seriously?" He got a laugh out of that one. A funny marine, who knew, well now you know.

The Chronicles of Jr High: The Marine, Gym Class, and some Randomness

The Chronicles of Jr High: The Marine, Gym Class, and some Randomness

Having a Marine as a World Cultures teachers has perks, and downfalls. I was staring at him and he stared at me for about a minute. although I am about two inches taller than he, I got that "I'm a teacher, be Afraid" look and the "I'm a marine, don't mess with me" look at the same time and it hit me: why is it so warm in here? oh, I'm wearing a hoodie.

Also having a gym teacher as a Health teacher gives a rare sense of humor and A LOT of sports tactics and stories. For once, a teacher has interesting stories to break the ice as opposed to bingo and writing assignments, its a switch.

I went to my bus stop this morning, and there I find a kid in a bunny costume. I kid you not, a bunny costume. so later in class, I said "someone at my bus stop was wearing a bunny costume..." immediately I got this: oh, I saw that guy in the library...

The Chronicles of Jr High: The Marine, Gym Class, and some Randomness

As of now we welcome you to a new segment, The Chronicles of Jr High: The Marine, Gym Class, and some Randomness. Today's excerpt is this:

The Chronicles of Jr High: The Marine, Gym Class, and some Randomness

"Normally a teacher is scary enough breathing down your back, but imagine this: a teacher who is a retired marine breathing down your back. If you've ever watched 'Mail Call' on the history channel, you know that marines can be a bit loud and menacing. A good friend of mine asked the teacher this: 'what are you: a navy person, airforce' I later pointed out to her that "Semper Fi" (always faithfull in Latin) was the Motto of the marines."
If you need a calendar of events for MATH class, (don't ask me why, but I use it for planner vs. assignmnents), Ms Trometta has a website, a google site (Im a google account person), and it is this: http://sites.google.com/site/mstrombettasmathpage/home
and she uses a calendar, which I will post as "School Events as opposed to the holiday calendar. I use the Calendar for Holidays, contact me or a staffer to assign a holiday,