last three blogs of the summer

Thursday
On Thursday I picked up my schedule for the upcoming school year.  My schedule is pretty good I am taking all the classes I expected. Apparently my teachers are pretty good.  I have my music production class every morning from 7:30 till 9.  Then on blue days I will have History of the Americas then Environmental Systems.  On gold days I will have English Honors then Calculus. I have pretty much finished my summer homework so I should be able to just enjoy the last weekend of summer.  I don't have any classes other then my music production class with any of my friends so I will have to make some new friends.   Hopefully It'll be a good year I am pretty happy with my schedule.  Esther got her schedule as well.  Her schedule is pretty as well.  She did however get the same teacher I got in eighth grade.  I hated her but hopefully Esther has a better experience.  She got one of the best teachers at Robinson for English this year however.  He is a lot fun to be around he helps out a lot with the middle school drama program.  I think Esther will have a better year then last year.
Saturday
I downloaded an app on my phone the other day.  It counts how many steps you take everyday and tells you have many calories you burn and gives you a step goal for how much weight you want to lose.  It has me working up to 10,000 steps a day.  I have been going for a few long walks each day some with Sandy some without.  I have been averaging about 6000 or 7000 steps a day so far.  If I keep walking everyday and eating healthier I am hoping to at least be close to my weight goal by my birthday.  The family went out to dinner tonight.  It was a pretty good place Dad had wanted to go to for a while.  It was pretty good.  It is an american food place with a lot of italian food as well.  Over all I would be willing to go again.  Sandy is also getting sick again.  She isn't as much as she should.  We are going to take to the vet on Monday.  The vet closes early on Saturday and isn't open on sunday's.  Hopefully she isn't that sick.  She ate dinner last night but she's been looking pretty sad and been sleeping a lot however.  She tends to get sick a lot but that happens a lot with her species.  She had been pretty healthy over all lately though.
Last blog of the year.
This is the finally blog of the summer.  I will be starting school on Tuesday.  I don't really have any plans for tomorrow.  I will probably hang out with some friends.  I also forgot to mention I am taking my road test on Thursday.  I will technically have my licence on Thursday.  However I won't be able to officially use it till the third week of October.  At least I will have it out of the way and won't have to worry about it in October.  Other then that not much has been going on.  I went to Guitar Center with my friend this morning.  He had to pick up a few things and I went with him to keep him company.  It was fun.  After we went to guitar center he brought me back home.  Then I went for a walk.  There isn't much else to talk about.  I will continue to update you guys through out the year.  I am kind of excited to be heading back to school.  I think it will be a really good year but I will let you know if it is.  Sandy still hasn't been eating that much.  We are going to take her into the vet on tuesday most likely.  Mom and Dad went out on the boat this morning.  Esther and I stayed here and slept in, in order to take advantage of the last two days of summer.

the past weekend

This weekend I went out to St Louis to visit my grand parents.  It was a lot of fun seeing them.  I hadn't been out there too see them a quite a few years.  While I was there I got to go to a few different record stores I found some really cool records.  My favorite two are a Nirvana single and the Goblin LP by Tyler The Creator.  I also got to go to a concert of a band I had wanted to see for quite a while.  The concert was really good although not many people went.  The picture I posted was of the band Widow.  They are releasing there new album this fall sometime.

Grandma also did a lot of cooking.  She is a really good cook.  I helped her make a fudge cake.  She gave me the recipe to take back home.  I made it today for my family.  It was gone before I could take a picture so I'm assuming it was good.  The cake it really easy.  When I got home from St Louis a record I had been waiting for arrived.  It is a really cool record.  It is a 12 inch record cut to look like a flower with a 7 inch playing space,  The record a split between two of my favorite bands Nai Harvest, and Playlounge.  They are both duo's from the UK.

On my last day in St. Louis we drove up the Mississippi.  The river was pretty wide where we drove but you could see the other side.  There were a lot of tug boats in  the water moving crates.  We stopped in a town called Grafton to get ice cream.  The ice cream wasn't anything special but it was still good.  Then we turned around.  They dropped me off at the air port on the way back to there house.  The flight was really easy.  It left on time and even arrived a little early.  It was a lot of fun being out of town but it was nice to sleep in my own bed again.  Sandy really missed me and mom.

On the plane ride home I finished my book for my summer assignment.  The book I read was called Brain on Fire: My Month Of Madness by Suzannah Cahalan.  The book was mostly interesting but it got boring at parts.  The book is a Memoir of the author.  When she was in her mid twenties she started to have seizures and suffer from many common symptoms of Schizophrenia but her and her family where convinced that wasn't what it was.  When she finally went into a coma for a month they figured out it was a disease where her body attacks her brain.   I am glad I am done with it but it is making me realize that summer is almost over. 

3 blogs

8/18
Yesterday I went to the concert.  I left for concert at 3.  I drove up there while mom was in the car and she drove back after the concert.  The drive was about an hour and a half but it was a really easy drive.  I got there about 4:30 and surprisingly I was the third person in line at the door.  The show was sold out.  But this venue only held about 350 people.  Since I was third in line I got right up front.  All the bands were amazing.  I got a 2 setlists from the bands.  Setlists are the list of songs they play that they tape on stage so they know what songs they are playing.  I got a setlist from the bands Ovlov and Superheaven.  I also caught the drummer of basements stick that he threw after there set.  Basement's set was amazing.  They were really good live.  Unfortunately I didn't get many good pictures because I was so close but it was a fun night.  I really like the venue and I will definitely be going back the that venue when I get the chance. I am really happy with how the night turned out.  That morning I had band practice with my band.  Practice actually went really well.
8/19

Here is a picture of the setlists and the drum stick I got from the concert on Sunday.  The setlist on left is from the band Superheaven.  They just recently changed there band name.  They used to be called Daylight but had to change there name because of copyright reasons.  They put on a pretty good set but the singer lost his voice so they did mostly instrumentals.  It was pretty good for being all instrumentals though.  The set list on the right is from the opening band called Ovlov.  They were really good.  Probably the second best set of the night after Basement.  After the show was over I bought there album from there merch table. The band members were hanging out at the table and they were pretty cool.

An Extra Blog

Today I hung out with my friends Chase and John.  They are the guys in my band.  We worked on making a custom guitar mostly for fun.  Chase had an old Fender body lying around so we are going to paint it and put new electronics in it.  Today we only had time to paint it.  The picture that I posted is just the base coat.  We painted the whole thing read and then we put the tape on and painted black over it.  Tonight John is going to paint a gloss coat over it to seal the paint and add a shine.  If everything works it'll be black with red stripes.  Tomorrow once its down being painted we are going to put the new pickup, neck, and volume knob on and it should be ready to play.

8/16 and 8/17

8/16
I didn't do anything productive today.  I woke up around 10 or so and laid in bed for a few hours and went on my phone.  After I finally got out of bed I watched some TV.  Then I took Sandy for a walk.  Esther and Mom went to one of Esther's friends performance.  Her friend gave her the wrong time however and they showed up an hour early.  The couldn't stay for the actual performance but they got to see them warm up.  I think Esther was kind of bummed that she couldn't see the actual performance but it was the thought to see her friend that counts right?  Here is a picture of the band I am seeing tomorrow.

 8/17
Today I am having band practice.  We are planning to start at noon.  I am writing my blogs early today because I will be busy most of the day.  We are planning to practice until 2:45 or so and then I am leaving for my concert at three.  The concert is in Baltimore which is an hour and a half or so from here.  But we will probably hit some traffic.  I am hoping to get there around five or so.  Doors open at six.  I am hoping to get towards the front.  I have never been to this place before but I have heard good things.  I have been looking forward to this concert for quite a while.  I probably won't be getting home till after midnight.  So that is why I am posting my blogs now.  I will be sure to write about the concert in my blog on Monday or Tuesday. I may be trying to complete my blogs early next week so I have some extra money for my trip.  Mom is leaving the same day as me except she is going to California to see her parents.  So Esther and Dad will be here alone for the long weekend.  I think it will be a fun weekend for the whole family even though we won't be together.

blogs

blog #1
I am getting really excited to see Basement on Sunday.  After I see them there is only 1 of my favorite bands of all time that I have left to see.  The last band is called American Football.  They are by far my favorite band of all time.  They released on album in 1997 and played 12 shows before breaking up.  They have recently gotten back together and are playing a few shows this fall but all the ones near me are 18 and up only.  I am hoping that they will add some more shows this winter or early next year.  I listen to there album at least once a week if not more.  When they got back together they released some old demos that were never released.  They are pretty good most of them were just early versions of already released stuff.  I am hoping now that they are back together they will release more new music and play more shows really soon.   My dad really enjoys there music as well.  He says it reminds him of old Genesis stuff.  American Football's music is very melodic.  After they broke up the members went on a did stuff in other bands but I think the American Football album is there best work.
blog #2
I don't have much else to report from around here. Yesterday I traded in my old bass amp to Guitar Center and got $300 for it.  With the money I bought a PA system for the band.  A PA system is basically a microphone amplifier.  You need one to play shows almost anywhere.  Also we will be able to have full practices now.  We are going to have practice on Sunday before I leave for my concert.  I think tomorrow will be a great day.  Since I traded in the amp and bought something else from the store I got a 10% discount and no tax on the purchases so I got to pocket $30 of my own as well.

8/14

Today I was with my friends all day.  It was a pretty good day.  We all went to get lunch around noon then we went over to my friends house and we started writing music.  The stuff we wrote was really good.  My friend that was supposed to hang out with my cancelled on me last night but promised we would hang out next week.  I am looking forward to sleeping tonight.  It has been a pretty good week overall.  Esther did more babysitting today.  She is actually making quite a bit of money.  She is liking babysitting.  I am hopefully going to have a job soon.  I really need a way to make money during the school year.  I will take a part time job to work for a few hours after school most days.  I will be getting my drivers licence in mid October and I will probably be using the Honda as my main car.  I will take dad to the train station and then take it too school.  I am really looking forward to driving.  Driving with me permit I have really liked.  I am looking forward to being able to have the freedom that driving gives me.  Other then that I don't really have much to talk about it has been pretty boring around here.

A Blog

I haven't done much this week.  I have been sleeping in.  Esther has been doing some babysitting this week.  I have a friend coming over tomorrow.  On Sunday I am going to see one of my favorite bands of all time.  They are called Basement.  I have loved them since mid 2012.  This will be my first time seeing them.  They broke up in December 2012 and just got back together earlier this year.  My favorite songs by them are  Earl Grey and Pine.  Actually I can't choose a favorite song by them all there songs are really good.  So far they have released 2 albums 2 EP's and a Demo.  They just released there second EP this summer to go along with there tour.  The other bands playing are Superheaven (I have listened to them a few times and there music is pretty good) Pity Sex (I like quite a few of there songs but I don't like all of them), the last band playing is called Ovlov (I have heard very little about this band but the one time I have listened to them they are pretty good).  I am very excited for the concert.  I also ordered some new school clothes the other day.  I am really happy with what I ordered.

8/9 and 8/10

8/9
Lately I have been very interested in classical music.  In particular 20th century classical music.  I have been reading a lot about the atonal movement.  My favorite composers are Schoenberg, Berg and Messian. I think it is very interesting.  All of these pieces have no tonal center and are instead written serially.  They do not sound like a normal classical piece.  In the early 1900's Schoenberg developed the 12 tone technique to write atonal music.  You would take the twelve tones on the piano (C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb, and B) and arrange them in a random order.  That order would have to be the order for the whole piece.  You can't go back and play a note again until you have completed the order.  You are however allowed to go back on note from the one you are currently on.  You also can play the notes in any octave and play the pattern backwards.  This type of classical music is not for everyone but I enjoy it very much.  My favorite pieces are Schoenberg's Piano Concerto, Berg's Chamber Concerto for Piano, Violin and 13 Wind Instruments, and Messian's Turangalila Symphony.
8/10
Sandy got groomed the other day.  She always looks really good after she gets a bath and gets her hair cut.  The person who grooms her always does a good job.  Sandy can't get really dirty really fast.  She loves to play in the grass outside.  I really enjoy having sandy around the house.  Its nice having someone to play with all the time.  She's a really big dog.  She weighs a good 80 pounds.  She could definitely scare away a burglar but she wouldn't hurt a fly.  I am really glad Mom choose to get Sandy from the shelter.  She is definitely part of our family.

8/8 and 8/9

8/8
Im writing about what I did today a day later then usual so I don't really remember what I did.  So I am just going to try to fill up the space.  I have still been working on drums.  I am going to be playing drums in my new band.  Drums are a lot of fun.  I don't have many plans for the next of the summer, now that my class is over.  I am going to have to start working on my summer assignments soon.  I have one for English and one for Math.  Neither assignment is very hard but they will take some time.  I want to spend more time with friends as well.  I am actually kind of excited for school to start.  My schedule should be pretty good this year.  Also here is a picture with my earrings.

8/9

Today I woke up around 8:30 to a call from my friends.  They wanted to hang out.  So I got up and got dressed and then my friends pulled up and we hung out for a while.  We headed to my friends house and they should me a song they were working on.  I really like it so far.  We still need to work on it though.  I think we are going to be writing really good music.  We are going to be taking our time however so don't expect music soon.   I am going to be writing lyrics and some drum parts.  Esther and Mom are going to see one direction on Monday.  I think it is going to be packed with crazy young girls.  I am going to 2 more concerts this summer.  I am seeing the band Basement in the seventeenth.  I am extremely excited to see them.  I never thought I would get a chance to see them because they broke up back in 2012 and just back together now.  They are one of my favorite bands of all time.  In a perfect world I would want to be playing the type of music that they play but not many people want to play it.  The rest of the bands playing are really good as well.

8/6 and 8/7

8/6
Today I woke up around 10 or so.  My friend Chase called me around 11 and wanted to hang out.  He picked me up and we hung out till two forty five when I had to be home for my piano lesson.  My piano lesson went well.  I am still working on the same song.  I still really like the song.  The song is called Drei Klavierstücke Op 11 by schoenberg, Drei Klavierstücke means three pieces in Germany.  I am still on the first piece but the pieces are very hard.  I am also working my way through all the scales.  I have gotten pretty far already.  After my lesson I lounged around the house for a little while before my friends came over around five for band practice.  Practice went pretty well.  We are almost done writing a song.  We have everything we need to record it but we want to practice it more before we record it.  I am really happy with this band.  There is another John in the band so for band purposes I am going to be going by Allan.  I don't mind going by Allan.  It is a cool name.  With my family I am still going to go by John however.  Other then that now much happened today.
8/7
Today I woke up around seven thirty (early I know).  Esther was getting ready for  camp and for some reason she woke me up this morning and I wasn't able to go back to sleep.  So I just stayed in bed for a little while.  I finally got out around 9 or so.  I watched a tv show then once everyone left (dad went to work and Mom took Esther to camp) I tried to go back to sleep.  At around eleven thirty I had to go to the doctors to get a shot.  After my shot I went to the mall.  I didn't get anything though.  I then went to a tattoo and piercing shop and got my ears pierced.  I really like how they turned out.  I will post a picture eventually but I am feeling too lazy to upload one today.  After I got my ears pierced mom and I went to pick up Esther from camp.  On our way home Esther convinced Mom to stop at Starbucks.  Esther and I both got some coffee.  I always get the same thing at Starbucks.  I get an iced Caramel Machiato.  It is just Iced Coffee with some milk and caramel.  After we went to Starbucks we headed home.  Esther's  math tutor came over and Esther had a tutoring session.  Now it's about 4:30.  I might be getting dinner with friends around 6 but other then that I don't have any plans.

final 2 blogs for the week

8/3
Today I went to the Nationals game with my family.  It was an event for Dad's company.  The game was pretty good.  The Nationals won the game 4 to nothing.  The Nationals scored a run off an error in the second inning and then scored another three runs in the eighth inning.  The Philly's lost yesterday as well.  They lost 11 to nothing yesterday though.  The Nationals have been doing a lot better this year.  Bryce Harper came back off the disabled list.  He played the last few innings of the game.  He only had one at bat and ended up striking but he shook up the pitcher and allowed the man on base to steal a few bases.
Another blog
This week Esther is going to science camp.  She is not looking forward to it at all.  She has been complaining about if for the past few weeks already. I am hoping its not as bad as she thinks it will be cause if she complains about it all week I think I will go crazy.  I am going to get my ears pierced this week.  My parents have agreed to it.  I am looking forward to getting them pierced.  I have wanted to for quite a while now.  I have finally finished my side of the deal in order to get them pierced.  I am going to be having band practice at my house this week.  It is going to be our first full band practice.  There is not much else going on this week.  I am going to a concert in a few weeks.  I am going to see one of my favorite bands of all time.  The band is called Basement.  There are a lot of other bands I like playing too.  I am really looking forward to seeing Cloakroom.  There new album is rumored to be very good.  It hasn't been announced but everyone from the label and the friends of the band have said it is one of the best album's they have ever heard.  So im assuming its going to be great.

8/1 and 8/2

8/1
Today I woke up and the house was being cleaned so I just stayed in and worked on my course work.  I finished it all by 11.  All that I had to do were some final culminating stuff.  It was all really easy.  Then at around 1:00 we left to go to Robinson to see Esther's show.  It was the same program I did when I was here age.  I really enjoyed the program and have seen the show every year since I have been in it.  This year was the 10th year of them doing the program so they had a few special parts. For the past 10 years they have always started with the same scene but this year they put it at the end.  They also had a video commemorating the program.  Overall the show was pretty good.  Esther will be able to do it for one more year.  I might be a counselor next.  It pays pretty well.  After the show my friend came to pick me up and we went and picked up our other friend and we had a writing session for our new band at my house.  I really like what we came up with.  After we were done.  I fell asleep.  It was a good day overall.  I don't have many plans for the weekend.
8/2
Today I woke up around 10 and went downstairs to find that mom and dad had went out to a movie.  I decided to mow the lawn for my dad because I needed some extra money.  There is a concert in Philly that me and my friends are planning to go to and I need to pay for my ticket.  The concert is going to be really good.  It isn't till October but it is already sold out.  Tickets went on sale today at 10 A.M,  My friend bought three tickets so all three of us could go.  After I mowed the lawn I went downstairs and practiced drums for a couple hours.  I have started teaching myself drums.  That is what I am going to play in my newest band.  I REALLY like drums.  It is by far my favorite instrument I have learned so far.  I have been spending a lot of time learning and I have been getting better at a fairly rapid rate.  I am going to continue to practice though.  My friend who is playing guitar in the band used to play drums so he just sold me his old kit for really cheap.  It is a nice kit though.  It sounds really good.  I will eventually upgrade when I have enough money but for now it is just fine for what we need.

7/31

Today I didn't do very much.  I woke and got was ready for my last lecture of the summer school class.  It ended really early.  We were done by 9:35 instead of 10.  After class I got ready for the day then my friend texted me and wanted to go out to breakfast.  We went out to breakfast and hung out all morning.  At 2:30 I headed home because I had a haircut appointment at 3.  For my haircut this time I bleached the sides again and thinned out the top.  It looks pretty much the same as it did for my last haircut.  I am going to change it up next time since it is just before school starts.  I know exactly what I want to do but it is going to be a surprise for everyone else.  I am really excited for it though.  It'll look really good.  I got home around 5 from my haircut and did nothing productive for about half an hour before starting on my course work.  It was really easy today.  We were learning about how trade and globalization affects the economy.  This was one of the units we covered in Comparative Government so I knew it already.  I think if the whole music thing doesn't work out I might go in to Comparative Politics.

7/30

I made a decision a few days ago to not be vegetarian anymore.  It has been eight years since I had last eaten meat.  The reason I decided to not be vegetarian anymore is because I think I may not have been getting enough nutrients while being vegetarian which was causing me to over eat.  I think I am going to try to eat "meat on the side".  That means that I am not going to be eat huge hunks of meat.  I am going to be eating smaller portions of meat with larger portions of vegetable, fruits and such.  That has been the biggest thing that has been going on here.  I have been finishing up my class.  My last lecture is tomorrow.  Then I have some assignments due Friday and Monday is my final.  Then I will have the rest of the summer to do whatever I want.  I am going to a few concerts in August and I am hoping to spend more time with friends in august now that I don't have to worry about course work.  I think I am going to get a pretty good grade in the class.  I have gotten pretty good grades overall minus a few bad grades.  Taking a class online is actually a pretty painless way to take a class.

7/25

Today I didn't really do anything.  I woke up for my class around 8:45 then I fell back asleep after the class was over.  I only have two more lectures before I am done with the classes.  Next week is the last week of the class.  I have my final exam a week from Monday and I have my standardized test for the class a week from Tuesday.  I am not too worried about either of the tests.  I have been doing pretty well.  I am going to be very happy when the class is over.  It isn't so bad but I enjoy being able to sleep till noon.  I am going to be home alone most of the day tomorrow.  Mom and Esther are going to be at the last swim meet of the summer season all day tomorrow and Dad is going to be in Maryland most of the day.  I am probably just going to relax tomorrow, I have been very tired all week, I don't really know why.  I am probably going to clean out the basement and make room for a drum set.  I almost have enough money to get the drum set I want.  My friend has been teaching my drums and I am starting to really like.  It is a lot of fun.  I am going to need a lot of practice though.

7/24

Things have been really boring around here.  On Tuesday I went to Warped Tour.  I left at 8:30 and arrived at the venue at around 10:00.  The line was very long.  Doors opened at 11 but I didn't get inside till 11:30 or so.  I missed about half of the first sets of the day.  There are 8 stages at Warped Tour.  Throughout the course of the day I saw 14 bands.  That is a new record for me.  The best band I saw was Volumes.  They were the second to last band I saw.  The first band I saw was Secrets.  I saw them last year at warped tour as well.  Overall it was a pretty good day.

2 blogs

7/20
Today, I woke up around ten thirty or so and got myself some breakfast.  I had a bagel and a yogurt.  After I had breakfast and got sufficiently woken up I went outside and mowed the lawn for my dad.  I am trying to get as much money as possible before warped tour on Tuesday so I can buy some of the stuff that I want.  Right now I am pretty much broke.  My dad agreed to pay me $15 for mowing the lawn and any amount of money can help.  I will be getting some money for completing my blogs this week as well.  After I mowed the lawn I came inside and relaxed in my room for a little.  I listened to some music.  After that I went downstairs and started to work on my review for my Econ class.  The review was 125 questions.  I finally finished a while later.  I got an 84% on it.  I think that is pretty good.  I will be taking the midterm tomorrow night at school.  I am not too worried about it.  So far the class has been really easy.  I am exactly half way done with the class.  I will be really relieved after it is over.  The final is on August 5th.  I don't want to take another summer class after this one.

Another blog
I don't really know what to talk about here.  I haven't been doing too much.  I have still been working on guitar.  I am starting to pretty good at it.  I enjoy playing it.  I found my dad's old acoustic guitar microphone so I have been recording some stuff.  It doesn't sound to great but it is fun to fool around with.  I am excited to learn how to work with recording programs this year in school.  The class is going to be very interesting.  The teacher likes to work with composing as well as producing.  I am looking forward to getting even better at composing.  I have been working with my piano teacher on composing as well but we are focusing more on classical composition.  It am starting to enjoy playing classical music on the piano again.  I have been doing a lot with music this summer.  They hasn't been too much else to report.  Esther bought tickets to a concert  in august for about $100 a ticket.  I think that is crazy.  My ticket to warped tour was only $40 and that is a full day festival.  Not to mention the ticket for both of the concerts I am going to in August were $10 each.

About Warped Tour

On Tuesday I am going to a music festival called Warped Tour.  I am really excited.  I went last year as well.  I am planning to arrive around 9:30 am or so.  The festival probably won't be over till around 11 or midnight.  I have a bunch of bands I want to see. The bands I am most excited for are Volumes, Better Off, Real Friends, Saves The Day, and Elder Brother.  Volumes is a metal bands from California.  I have seen them 5 times but they just released their second album so they will be playing new songs.  Better Off is a punk band from Nashville Tennessee.  I have not had a chance to see them yet because they are a fairly new band but I have heard they put on a great show.  Real Friends is a Pop-Punk band from Chicago.  I have liked them for a fairly long time but before recently they haven't had the money to go on a long tour.  Saves The Day is an Alternative band from Princeton New Jersey.  They were formed in 1994 and have been making music ever since.  I like their old stuff a lot but their new stuff isn't as good.  Elder Brother is an acoustic band.  They released their first album just earlier this year and I really enjoy it.

7/19

Today I got to sleep in because I don't have class on the weekends.  I didn't wake up till 10:30 or so.  Then I watched a TV show, then I went back to sleep and woke up again around 1.  When I finally woke up for good I went down stairs and made myself some lunch.  I lounged around most of the day before my friend Chase called me.  He wanted to hang out.  So around 4 he came and picked me up and we went over to guitar center and looked at guitar stuff.  He is going to be teaching me drums this summer.  I am starting to get the hang out it but it I am still getting comfortable on the drum set.  I am looking into buying a drum set for my own house soon.  I will probably be selling one of my bass amps.  I should get enough money to buy a drum set.  I am going to join a band on drums once I get more comfortable on it.  Yesterday Esther and Mom took Sandy to get a bath.  She really needed one.  She got all dirty while she was at the vet.  After the bath sandy was had to go to the vet.  She got an ear infection.  Sandy really hates the vet.  She kept trying to get away from the vet.

7/17

Things have been really boring around here.  I have been working on my class for most of the day.  So far this week we have learned about retirement.  I understand it all.  I have my midterm on Monday.  I have to head to a high school in the evening to take the test.  I am not really looking forward to it but it should be really easy.  In morning on Monday I'm hanging out with my friend.  We are going to go to the record store then go out to lunch.  I am looking forward to it.  I haven't seen her since school ended.  On Friday Dad and Mom are going into the city to see Charlton.  They are going to have lunch together.  I am staying here because I already had plans with my friend and I didn't want to cancel.  I don't really have any plans this weekend.  I am looking forward to sleeping in again.  I don't really get to sleep in with my class.  I have to be online at 9 am which means I have to wake up at 8:30.  I usually don't wake up until 10 or 10:30 on a normal day.  I really enjoy sleeping in.  It is going to be really hard to wake up once school starts again.  We still have another month before that happens though.

7/16

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I have been spending most of the day working on my online class.  I am taking Econ and Personal Finance.  So far I have an A- in the class.  I am almost half way done with the class.  It is four weeks long and I am almost done with the second week.  The class is mostly common sense so it is extremely boring.  Most of the work is busy work and it is really annoying.  It has been taking me 4 hours or so to complete all the homework for the day.  On Sunday I went to a concert.  I saw the band Brand New.  They are my second favorite band of all time.  The first is a tie between the bands American Football and Basement.  I will be seeing Basement in August.  I am going to a lot of concerts this summer.  On Tuesday I am going to a Music Festival all day.  This is my second year going to this festival.  It is a lot of fun.  I am going to visit Grandma and Grandpa at the end of august.  I am going be myself.  I am looking forward to seeing them.   The past few days have been pretty boring overall.  The class has been taking up most of my time.

7/7/14

Today was the first day of my online class.  I got online at at 9 am and the teacher gave an online lecture to the class for an hour.  Then i started to work on my course work that is due every day by midnight.  Then mom got home an hour later.  I decided to head down to woods hole to see the acting camp people.  I got to see Mr. Switzer and his son and catch up a little.  Then the family went to the Captain Kidd for lunch.  It was a lot different then it was when we lived here.  They made it a lot lighter and opened up the place.  The food is a lot better now.  They did however keep the house made root beer.

What I've been reading

Their will probably be a lot of down while we are on the cape so I brought 2 books to read.  Right now I am reading a book called Split Milk by Chico Buarque.  The book was originally written in Spanish but was translated into English.  The book is narrated by a hundred year old man on his death bed.  The book is his ramblings while he recounts his youth.  The book is really interesting but it is sometimes hard to follow because the narrated rambles a lot.  Overall I am enjoying the book.  The other book I brought I haven't started yet.  The book is called Firefly by Janette Jenkins.  It is about Noel Coward who is an Actor and Musician.  He has moved to Jamaica to retire.  I haven't started the book yet so I don't have an opinion on it.

Arriving on the Cape

Today we arrived on the cape.  Dad and Mom ran the Paul White road race.  While they were running Esther and I walked around North Falmouth.  We saw are old house.  It looked pretty much the same.  It was kind of weird seeing our old house.  After they finished the race, we went by the Kerr's house so that mom and dad could take a shower.  We caught up with them for a while before we went and got lunch at the Corner Cafe.  It was pretty good.  Then we went grocery shopping and got into our house.  The house is pretty nice.  We have a good view from the house.

Rhode Island

Today we drove from New Jersey to Rhode Island.  We woke up before 6 in order to get on the road by 7.  We arrived in Providence around 11.  We made great time.  When we arrived in Providence we checked in at our hotel.  Then we went to get lunch.  We had lunch in the mall.  We just ate at the food court.  I went to Newbury Comics and picked up a few new records.  I got a seven inch from the band Black Flag and a ten inch of the singles from Morrisey's new album.  They were surprisingly cheap.  I got them both for under $10 total.  Then I caught up with the family.  They were in Foot Locker because dad was considering buying new running shoes.  He ended up just buying a pair of orange converse.  I however did get a new pair of running shoes.  I like them.  I am going to use them at the frisbee game Sunday.  Then we went and saw the movie 22 Jump Street.  It was pretty funny.  It was just about as good as the first one.  Then we got dinner at a pub down the street.  The world cup game was on in there so it was pretty loud.  The food was good however.  After dinner dad and I considered heading back to the mall but it was closing up.  Tomorrow we are going to arrive in Cape Cod.

Another blog

I need to write another blog today to catch up.  I don't have too much to talk about.  My friends and I are starting a new band again.  We are going to playing metal music.  My friend is going to teach me drums so I can play it in the band.  We couldn't find a drummer and since I am the most musically capable in the band, it is my job to learn it.  I am liking it so far.  Once I learn how to play drums I will be able to be my own rock band.  I can play guitar, bass, piano, drums, and vocals.  I might try my hand at recording everything at some point.
I am looking forward to being in Massachusetts.  We are going to a cookout on Sunday with Flip.  My dad and I are going to be playing a game of pickup Ultimate Frisbee at the cookout with everyone.  Esther is going to have a sleepover with Sarah the first day.  She is very excited for it.  She has been talking about it all day.  Other then that I don't really have any plans.  I might see some old friends while I'm there.  It'll be nice to see them.

Driving day

Today we started our drive from Virginia to Massachusetts.  We left around noon.  We decided to stop in Princeton, New Jersey for the first night.  Once we got here we put our stuff in our room.  Then we headed out to downtown Princeton to explore.  I stopped by Princeton Record Exchange.  It was great!  I got a new LP and 3 new 7".  They had such great choices.  The records I got were all ones I had been looking for for a long time.  After the record store we got dinner at a sandwich shop.  It was pretty good.  Then we went to Thomas Sweet.  Dad was telling us how he went there when he was a kid.

6/30

Today Esther woke up early for swim practice.  When I got up around ten thirty or so, Esther's math tutor was here.  After her tutor was gone she left for the orthodontist to get her braces fixed.  I stayed here and took the orientation test for my online economics and personal finance class.  It was all pretty easy.  I have everything I need for the class.  The first lesson is Monday.  I am not really looking forward to it.  But I have to do it in order to graduate.  When Esther got back from the orthodontist I had to leave for my haircut.  I got it cut a little differently this time.  I really like the new haircut.  It it much shorter for summer.

6/28 and 6/29

Today I was planning to go out on the boat with Dad but I forgot to turn on my alarm, so I didn't wake up till 9 or so and dad was long gone on the boat. When I woke up no one was home.  Esther and Mom were at the swim meet.  So I watched a few tv show.  Then everyone arrived home around noon or so.  A few days ago, I decided to make some apple bread.  It turned out really well.  Everyone seems to like it.  I enjoy cooking.  I think I will continue to do more of it this summer.  At around 5:30 dad and I headed to DC to watch some Major League Ultimate Frisbee.  This is the second game that we went to.  The DC team is really good.  They lost one game in the regular season.  This game was the east coast championship.  They played the Boston team.  The game was really close.  At half time DC was trailing 12-10.  With 30 seconds left in the last quarter the game was tied 17-17.  DC ended up scoring and won the game 18-17.  They will be going to the championship.  They are playing the Vancouver Nighthawks on July 19th.  The game is in Philadelphia however so we won't be going.

Today I didn't really do anything.  I woke up around 10:30 or so and came downstairs to get some breakfast.  Then I played some games on the computer.  Then I went upstairs and listened to music.  I ended up falling asleep again and taking a nap.  I woke up again around 3 or so.  I might be going out with some friends tonight.  Then I played some guitar.  I learned some new songs and wrote a little piece of a new song.  I am getting pretty good at guitar.  I really like it.  I am considering saving up for an electric guitar with my summer earnings.

6/26

Today Esther and Mom woke up early and went to the Washington Monument.  They said it was fun.  They invited me to come but I decided to abstain.  I wanted to watch the U.S versus Germany game.  They left at ten thirty but the game didn't start till noon.  I woke up around ten or so. They were getting ready to leave to I got myself breakfast.  I had a bowl of cereal.  I almost always have the same thing for breakfast.  I either have a bowl of cereal or a bagel.  After that I went on the computer and played some games for a while.  Around 1l:45 I decided to turn on the game.  I watched the whole game.  It was a very good game.  The U.S lost 1-0 however we are still moving on because Portugal beat Ghana 2-1.  We ended up tying in points with Portugal but we had a larger goal differential in the tournament so far so we are moving on to the round of 16.  The U.S's next game is on Tuesday against Belgium.  Belgium is a very good team so it'll be interesting to see if the U.S can keep up this run. After the game was over Mom and Esther got home.  Other then that it was a relaxing day.

Pretty boring day

Yesterday we didn't do very much.  Esther woke me up around 10:30 to say that we going to go to the mall when Mom got back from Sunrise.  So I started getting ready to go to the mall.  I needed to get some new shorts.  So when Mom got back we headed to the mall.  Esther wanted to use some her gift cards from her birthday.  I also picked out two more pairs of shorts for the summer.  Then we headed home.  We just hung around home for the rest of the day.  I am planning to go to the library or Barnes and Nobles tomorrow to pick out a book or two for our drive to Massachusetts next Friday.  I don't have any books in mind but I will probably find something.  Esther, Mom and Esther's friend are going to take a tour of the Washington Monument tomorrow.  They invited me to go but I want to stay home and watch the U.S Germany World Cup Game.  I think it will be a very good game. The U.S has to draw or tie to move on.  If they lose Portugal has to beat Ghana by one point for the U.S to move on.  The World Cup has been very good this year so far.  It is going to be interesting to see how things play out.

Mom's Birthday

Today we celebrated Mom's birthday.  Her birthday was actually yesterday but we were all very busy so we decided to celebrate today.  We opened her presents.  I got her a new lamp for her room because her other one broke.  Dad got her a new charcoal grill! I am looking forward to trying out the grill.  We haven't had a grill to use for a very long time.  I have previously really enjoyed grilling.  For dinner, Mom wanted to try out this place called Artie's.  It was VERY good.  I got blue crab fritters for appetizer, smoked salmon for the appetizer and banana cream pudding for dessert.  The banana cream pudding was extremely good.  I want to go back just for the banana pudding again.

First day

Today was a pretty boring today.  I woke up around 9:30 and relaxed all morning.  I caught up on a few of the shows I've been watching.  Later, Esther wanted to go pick out some frames for her glasses.  I decided to go across the street to Best Buy to pick up some new ear buds for my phone.  I don't listen to music on my phone very much anymore though.  I have gotten a large collection of vinyl records over the past year of so and I prefer to listen to those.  After we got home, I made some ravioli for lunch.  This summer I want to do some more cooking and baking.  I would really like to learn how to make homemade pasta some time this summer.  Over all it was a pretty relaxing first day of summer.