Blood drive on Halloween??!!

Today, October 31, our school had a blood drive. Ah the irony, on Halloween, a holiday of vampires and gore, the school's service committee decided to have a blood drive. lol. I thought it would have been funny if they blood takers would have dressed up in vampire costumes and said, "We have come to take your blood" in a thick Transylvania accent. lol. I didn't volunteer to give blood for two reasons. First, I may have reached the proper age of 17, but I weight 110 pounds, the lowest you can weigh to give blood. Didn't want to risk it. Second, nasty fear of needles. I had gotten rid of it after all those allergy shots, but then I met Deanna, and it all came back...

And now for something completely different....

One of the many bonuses of being in school senate is I got nominated to be part of the National Young Leaders Conference (NYLC for shot). The NYLC is a confrence when high schoolers get to go to Washington, D.C. for a week to observe Congress in action, get speakers from Congress, and participate in a Model Congress, a model Presidential Cabinet and a model Supreme Court case. Well, my nomination was sent in and accepted. I will be participating in the NYLC. As of tomorrow, November 1st, I will be leaving for Washington, D.C. and I will return Sunday, November 6. I'm sort of ready. I'm ready in the sense that I am packed. I am not ready in the sense that I do not know what are my Senators and Representatives' views, I'm not well informed on the issues and I'm clueless on what Congress is doing. On top of that, my teachers threw on a ton of homework. Seriously, my locker is empty cuz I took everything. So, in short, I will be kept busy. So I'm gonna be away from the computer in a while. Feel free to leave comments (like that's gonna happen) while I'm away, but I just won't reply instantly. Talk to ya l8r, like November 6.

(Unofficial) Countdown to quizzing 2006:
2 months, 2 weeks, 5 days

Rant on Social Quizzers

We're on the subject of quizzing, I feel a well needed overdue rant coming along, let's combine the two. Today I will rant about SOCIAL QUIZZERS.

Social Quizzers is a term I made up. A social quizzer is a quizzer who just goes to quizzing just for fun and to socialize with friends. Social quizzers are not serious quizzers; they slack off, and don't care how bad they do (and because of so they often do poorly). They treat quizzing as another youth group event, like duct taping someone to the wall or doing "Draw Your Swords" (seeing who can find the Bible verse the fastest). Social quizzers just go to quizzing to eat, drink, talk to friends, goof off, do nothing, find a boyfriend/girlfriend, etc.

If you can't tell, I do not like social quizzers. I do not support anyone becoming a social quizzer. They get in the way of serious quizzers and hold them back. This is why most serious quizzers are in support of stacked teams. Stacked teams THEORETICALLY (notice how I stress this, there are exceptions) are consisted of serious quizzers who do well, not social quizzers who are slow to study.

I have something to say to Social Quizzers. Take quizzing seriously, or don't quiz. There are many quizzers in quizzing who are extremely serious and competitive. They do not like to be losing or held back because they have a careless quizzer on their hands. Quizzing is competitive, not just another another game. If you want somewhere to socialize with others, eat & drink, be goofy & do nothing, or play games just for fun, join a youth group not a quiz team. Quizzing is not another youth group game or event. However, if you are looking for something to put your bible knowledge to t)he challenge, to prove how much you know of the Bible, and to get your talents realized, then quizzing is the thing for you.

Now, I don't want to give the wrong idea of serious quizzers. Serious quizzers are not always serious. They can have fun as well. But serious quizzers know that quizzing is not the place for that. I would advise all quizzers to remember Ecclesiastes 3. There is a time and season for everything. There is a time to be serious and a time to be funny. Quizzing is a time to be serious.

3 months until quizzing 2006!!!!

(Unofficial) Countdown to quizzing 2006:
3 months.

I officially miss quizzing. It's not like I ever did not miss it, I always miss it during the offseason. Now I really miss it a lot. It's been 7 months, 2 days since the last quiz match. I miss the adrenaline rush I feel when I begin a quiz match (or is that just the Mountain Dew?). I miss the feel of my sweaty hands tightening the grip around the buzzer. I miss the flow of mass amounts of information in my head within thirty seconds. I miss having a good challenge of my biblical knowledge with those who are as smart as me. I miss being around fellow quizzers, especially Spring City.

I miss those of Spring City, or at least what's left of Spring City quiz team. They're all over the place. We are getting a serious roster change. Brandon is at Penn State and Aubrey is at Liberty. Bah, using college as a reason not to quiz, pathetic. Christine chose to retire from quizzing last year. I asked Josh if he was returning during the Secret Sponser thing in April and he replied no. I heard Julie is not quizzing next year either. So you only have 2 original quizzers from Spring City. (Or maybe I should say 1 1/2 since Mike is the only quizzer from Spring City and I'm not and only have quizzed with them for one year. Well, only 2 quizzers left from 2005 Spring City.) Even though we lost, we have a valuable pick-up for next year. Tim and Becky Moss have chosen to quiz for Spring City. That is soooo awesome. Tim was on the Top 50 Quizzers List, just like Brandon, so you could see almost see Tim as an equal replacement. Becky is good because she is a second-year quizzer with some first year experience. She'd be the one to help contribute to team bonus. Becky, Tim, Mike, and I would be a tough starting lineup to beat. They are a good accquirement. Hehe, everytime I think of this, I get a funny picture in my head. I picture this like the a sports draft (like the football draft). Fred, the commissioner, stands up in front of a microphone and says into it, "Spring City chooses...TIM & BECKY MOSS!" This is followed by cheers and applause. Tim and Becky walk up on stage a get like a jersey or something like that with coach Dave with their name on it. LOL. That would be so great. On top of that, I've been talking to Tyler Willman and he says he wants to quiz for Spring City. That would a fifth quizzer. I'm not sure if Spring City Fellowship as anyone new of age or the Deitricks have anyone in mind.

While excited about the upcoming quiz year, I am also getting nervous. I am only on verse 5 of a 55-verse chapter of Luke. I am falling behind. Stupid school isn't helping my cause. I need to finish that chapter by the end of year 2005. I’ve started buzzing drills and memorizing passages. I haven’t began listening to the text on CD, and won’t begin that until December. Hey, this is what the off-season is all about, studying up and preparing for the next year. I think all quizzers should do this. Quizzers not studying during the off-season would be like Terrell Owens not going to training camp. It's so wrong. Tim, I still like that idea of having a practice before January.