Homework's chokehold

I love to continue to tell you guys my wonderous adventures in Ohio for the Invitational. Mainly because I want to record it before I forget any small things. But alas, I can't. I got so much homework. Just take a look-

Due Monday:
1 to 1 1/2 page essay on the French Revolution for Global Eras
Progress update on my Inquiry project for Environmental Science
State tax worksheet for Personal Finance

Due Tuesday:
5-7 minute Informative speech for Communications
Textbook questions for Environmental Science

Due eventually:
Bible competition scholarship essasy

It's not as much the quantity of the assignments, but rather the quality of the content of the assignments that's making it so big. It's hard because I most of these I hadn't gotten started on. Especially the Inquiry project. The inquiry project is like researching for a research paper, but it is more open ended. You start out with a broad question you have to answer, but you also have to do it with little, subcatergory broad questions. Then you have to communicate your answer in a creative way. I'm not too creative, and this assignment just can't catch my attention. So of course, I have only a bare minimum done. The speech will be easier. I'm going to do it on Evangelizing to children through the Wordless Book. I've already heard it taught so many times I think I can easily parrot it. Then there's the questions in the Science textbook, which is a lot, and I haven't started. But I didn't brink home my science book, so that's no help. I really need to get started. Perhaps I should be doing homework instead of blogging.

But I really rather talk about quizzing. I'm getting quizzing homesick. I want to see everyone again and be back in the quizzing atmosphere. Just yesterday, I watched a video of myself quiz. But luckily next Sunday, our Secret Sponser Shing-ding-thing happens, in which I find out my secret sponser, so I'll see everyone again. I hope it won't be the last time until I next see them at quizzing next year.

In other news, another invitation has been added to the burn pile. This one is the senior breakfast on April 27. I look forward to sleeping in on Friday. Another invitational bites the dust. And it adds substance to the banquet invitation dust. And perhaps I am enjoying burning things a bit too much. Is it a guy thing?

A Science Experiement in correct Scientific Method

Two things happened in chapel today. One I won't say, but you'll be able to guess what it is as I go along. The second one was our speaker today mentioned briefly about Science Fair. OK, maybe it was a brief sentance about burning science fair boards (which will become very ironic soon), but it got me thinking back to the days I did Science Fair, and how hard it was to follow all the steps in the Scientific Method. I also thought about I really haven't done a science experiement in a long time. So I thought about a fun science experiment I can do. This is what I came up with.

Title: The effect of fire on Jr./Sr. Banquet Invitation.

Problem: (Problem? Jr./Sr. Banquet is the problem.) How long will will the Jr./Sr. Banquet Invitation last when on fire?

Purpose: To show my approval rating of banquet, which is zero, and possibly dropping into the negatives. Also, to prepare the Banquet Invitation for where it will go (and where Banquet will go), a place of consistant fire, where "the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched" (Mark 9:48).

Hypothesis: If the flame touches the Banquet Invitation, then it will go up in fire and billows of smoke (and blood, lol, Acts 2), and eventually turn into ash. And I will find satisfaction in it doing so.

Materials: 1. Jr./Sr. Banquet Invitation. 2. Lighter. 3. Bowl to catch ashes. 4. Fire safe gloves (I chose the Ove Glove, but any fireplace Gloves will work). 5. Tweezers (if you are really a whusie around fire.). 6. Camera to record progress



Procedure:
1. Gather Materials.
2. To enjoy this more, disrespect the Banquet Invitation. You can do so by (do few, some, or all. It doesn't matter. And you're not limited to these suggestions either): A) Sneezing into it. B) Coughing into it. C) Urinating on it. D) Bury it. E) Use it to wipe off your shoes. F) Mock it. G) Insult it. H) Spit on it. I.) Flog it. J) Kill it. (F to J is a list of 5 from Luke 18. Quizzers would know.) K)Roll it into a ball and kick it around.



I chose D to H. Urinating on it would have been fun, but I wanted to keep it, and the smell would not allowed me to do so. Also, I previously buried it in mud as well.

3. Put the disgraced Banquet Invitation in the bowl.
4. Light the lighter. (FLAME ON!)
5.With the lighter, light the Banquet Invitation on fire.
6.Sit back, watch, enjoy
7. If burnt pieces are too big, set big pieces on fire again! Repeat step 6.
8.Record results.
9.Mix it in with dirt to give it its final disrespects.
10. Seal in little baggie to perserve for all time the memories

Results:

Here it is starting off good....


Now we're talking! Isn't it a thing of beauty? It's so beautiful, man! It made a lovely orange flame. Also, when the translucent stuff caught on fire, it made a popping noise, kind of sounding like the popping of popcorn. It also burned the fastest, and burned right through in one shot.

The pieces were too big the first time I lit the Invitation, so I lit it again! Watch the big pieces turn to gray and shrivel up.




It was burned, color changed, shriveled up, broken down, until it finally got to this-

Now that's better! A nice fine collection of small, fine invitation pieces, or should I say banquet Invitation dust? Ashes is a more proper term, even the big chunks were still ashes.

Conclusion:
My hypothesis was correct. That Banquet Invitation lit up like ant feelers under a magnify glass. And yes, I did enjoy watch it burn, another correct point in my hypothesis. I still have some questions like, "So how many students spent how many hours of their spring break to make this invitation?" and "What's the big deal about an event that happens twice in your lifetime just to not care about for the rest of your life?" Any errors that could have happened was that I didn't disrespect it enough or that I didn't rip it up in the beginning. There was also wind that put out the flame easily and scattered the ashes. Another possible error would have been to keep the invitation, and sell it to some desperate underclassman for a mighty price. I'm not sure that would get pass the faculty and upperclassmen. If I were to repeat the experiment, I would use some some kind of fluid that would ignite easily. Like lighter fluid, alcohol, gasoline, kerosine, or anything else ending in -ine. Also I would do more of the disgraces to it, but not be so worried about keeping it. So I would rip it, shred it, bury it, urinate on it, dig it up, throw it in the toilet, urinate on it again, and flush it. And that list of 5 from Luke 18 would be fun too.

Final thoughts:
So I burned a Banquet Invitation. It's not like I burned an American Flag or a draft card, which I am against both as well. And I did it last year, too, buring the Banquet Invitation made by my own class. The same process. I almost wish I documented it as well. If I had to help with this year's banquet, I wouldn't do that either. And finally, not going, of course. If you are so intrigued my science experiement, you can drop by locker 336 to check out the product of the experiment. It will be on display all next week, Monday to Friday, along with its older sibling from last year.

Flashback to Sunday, March 25: ACC Tournament 2007

Oh, quizzing, how I miss thou! I miss the sound of the buzzers going off. I miss the hardcore studying. I especially miss every one of my quizzer friends. It's upsetting because truth is hitting me. The few quizzers older than me are done quizzing and I'll never see them again. Quizzers not on my team I won't see again until 2008 quizzing. The quizzers on my quiz team I will see at least one more time, and I'm hoping 2 more times after that. That's a total of 3 times in a matter of 9 months until 2008. That's depressing. So what to do? All I have is the memories of the past. So I'll live on them. Let's start with the stories of the stuff you didn't hear: the tournaments. Let's go back to the ACC Tournament.

~~~~~***FLASHBACK***~~~~~

It was on Sunday, March 25. I was beginning to get over a fever. It had been anywhere between 100.1 to 103.7. Later I would find out this is broncitus. I had a sore throat so bad that it hurt every time I swallowed. It was easier to swallow liquids than solids, so I was on a liquids only diet. The previous night I had an extra practice. I broke my liquids only diet by having Mrs. Deitrick's lasagna. We weren't all there. Mike had to work, and so did Tim. At least Tim came over for questions around 11 PM. I wasn't there for that. I decided to sleep at home for my health and the health of the other quizzers. I quizzed late, later than I would perfer, but a quiz out is a quiz out.

We had 9 AM practice as well. Our team was together for the first time since Thursday. We looked awesome together with our new shirts. They were cerulean T-shirts. On the front it said "Spring City 2007" and on the back it had the verse we chose that best represented the team. It was Luke 19:40, "If they keep quiet, then the stones will CRY OUT." My quizzing buddy for the day was Stitch. We fit as much practice matches in as possible during that hour. After the worship songs in church, the church prayed for the quiz team and then we were off to Lancaster Bible College.

Spring City was in Group F, a group with 7 teams. We had 6 matches that day. They were against (in order of occurance): Strasburg 1, Maple Grove 1, Petra 7, Neffsville 1, E-Town 3, Bowmansville 2. The first 5 matches we got team bonus. The first 4 we scored in the triple digits. The E-Town 3 match we won with 90 points and 80 points against Bowmansville 2. I can't remember too many specifics, but I'll go over what highlights I do remember. Against E-Town 3 we only scored 90 points, but we had control of the match. We got to about question 12 and the only way for them to win was with help from us by losing points because of errors, which we had a lot. So we specifically told our quizzers not to buzz in unless they 100% knew the rest of the question and the whole answer. It's something that i don't think I'll ever say to quizzers again. The match against Bowmansville 2 was an impressive performance. Last time we won against them the score was 135 to 40. They were still a below average team. For them to hold us to 80 points was pretty impressive. The most exciting match was against Maple Grove 1. At the end of question 14 the score was tied. Question 15 started out "What did the blind man shout..." and Chelsea buzzed in. It was a good buzz, but Chelsea couldn't think it up in the 30 seconds. The bonus went to Maple Grove 1. "What did the blind man shout all the more?" It was one of those reverse situation questions that Mrs. Deitrick always asked that I didn't like. The Maple Grove quizzer didn't recognize this. She guessed "Praises to God?" All the quizzers on Spring City who knew it let out this huge sigh of relief. She was also wrong. We went to 3 extra questions. Spring City came out of the overtime victorious.

So Spring City finished 1st place in Group F, 6-0. This was enough to get us to the playoffs. The other team going to the playoffs was 2nd place E-Town 3 with a 5-1 record, the only loss being against us. We were satisfied with our performance. We took pictures of the Group. We then went to the playoff bracket to find out our opponent. It was Weaverland 1. We had a picnic lunch in the gym. Bryan and Tim were more occupied in basketball rather than eating. They did eat eventually.

We got back in the Good Shepherd Chapel by 6:15. The quizzing movie was first. It had an interesting mix of 2 songs. I was in it twice, once in a picture freeze frame and a short clip with me wearing my crown on the fun night. Then the announced the top 60 quizzers list. Both Tim and I made it. With my 530 points, I finished in 16th place. It was good to see Tim get back in the top 60 quizzers. Andrew Weiler once again was a perfect quizzer. That means he quizzed out 35 season matches in a row. Amazing. Another quizzer that finished perfect was Renee Weaver from Akron. I'm guessing she's somehow related to Lisa Weaver, a perfect quizzer for 2 consecutive years as well. Someday, that'll be me. All I want is one year perfect.

Now the playoffs were to begin. Round 1 against Weaverland 1. I don't remember it too well. All I remember was trailing Weaverland 1. I remember by the end of question 13, Weaverland was winning 80 to 50 and all that could get us the win was team bonus. All the starters were still up. Tim sacrificed his seat willingly to let Chelsea get in. I pulled my buzzer away because all that mattered was either Christine or Chelsea getting in for team bonus. We tried and failed. Weaverland 1 won 90 to 45. We lost points to errors as well. We were devastated, Tim the worst. Mike later told Brandon that I took it fairly well. I would have taken it worst if I realized like the rest of the team that we quizzed against Weaverland 1 before and one. Yup, week 3 of the season we won 90 to 65. We had the power to win and we didn't. It's like Tim said. If only we could lose one in the group in order to win that first round playoff match, we would have done it. But it doesn't work that way. Don't be sorry for me, I already won this tournament. Feel sorry for Tim, his second year in a row he made the playoffs but not even to the semifinal matches. Poor Tim.

I stayed until the end as usual. I saw Slate Hill 1 quiz against Petra 1 again as the season final rematch. Once again, Slate Hill 1 was victorious. Petra 1 had their second loss of the year, against the same team. Having a feeling that Slate Hill 1 had a possibility of going all the way, I watched them for the rest of the playoffs. The next they quizzed against was Strasburg 1, and they took that victory. In their semifinal match, Slate Hill 1 quizzed against E-Town 3, a team we beat in our group. They had beat Paradise 4 and Byerland 1 to get to where they were, but they couldn't get pass Slate Hill 1. Slate Hill 1 took the match, winning 110 to 55. I quickly went to the sanctuary to see if I could catch the tail end of Rockville vs. Petra 5. At the end of question 15, Rockville and Petra 5 had tied it up. They were given 3 extra question. After 18 questions, Rockville won 100 to 85. Before the final match of the tournament, Fred handed out the awards for 3rd place. They went to Petra 5 and E-Town 3. Yes, E-Town finished 3rd place for the 2nd consecutive year. Then the final match was ready. It was a repat season semifinal match: Slate Hill 1 vs. Rockville. It was just last week Slate Hill 1 beat Rockville with a score 110 to 65. I was sure things would turn out the same way. This match was closer. It came down to the last question. Slate Hill had the lead 65 to 55. On the last question, the Rockville quizzer buzzed in and quizzed out. Rockville won against Slate Hill 1, 70 to 65. Slate Hill 1 finished 2nd place, and Rockville was the champions of the 2007 ACC Tournament. Congratulations to Rockville on a sucessful tournament championship! I was very impressed on how Rockville did not give up just because they saw they lost against this team, but put their heart into it to come over it and win!

~~~~*** END FLASHBACK***~~~~~

Looking back, I am still upset we lost to a team that we beat before, but besides that, we did pretty good. We swept through our group like it was nothing. For the 3rd time in 4 years, we brought Spring City out of the round robin and into the playoffs. I overcame my sickness, and didn't perform too bad. God took my weakness, and made it His strength. And while doing all of this, we had a fun time. That matters too. Now, I wish they would just post that final standings so we can see where our lower quizzers finished.

Transition Day

It's Trasition Day! Yeah, you know, Transition Day. It's the day when the previous year of quizzing comes to an end and when the new quizzing season begins all smashed in one. It also prevents mixing the two materials together. So the day demands rest. I got 8 hours of sleep today. It may seem short, but when 8 hours is thet same amount of sleep you got in 2 days, you do enjoy it. This is also the day I do not actually do quizzing. It is quizzing free. Unless you want to count the meditation part. Transition Day allows the time to be neo-platonist. We reflect on the past and look forward to the future.

Just some brief thoughts I was thinking. I recalled what this team meant to be together as we were. The Deitricks got the call from the Lord God, the strongest Dave has gotten. That meant that God was going to do something great through them. Mike came back because of baseball. Choosing to repeat his senior year so he could play baseball another year also meant that Mike could yet quiz again. Christine has a birthday on January, during the quiz season, so she was able to quiz despite being 21 for most of the year. Tim was rejected by at least 3 teams and was at the point of giving up on quizzing. He decided to try lastly Spring City and it worked out. Bryan could have quizzed last year, but he refused. He didn't refuse this year. The point is that from last year's Transition Day you could not have guessed this would have been the team it was. Any one of these quizzers could have not been on the team, but they were. That's why we performed the way we did, something else that could have not been predicted.

Thinking about our performance, I am a little disappointed. Not in the sense that we did horrible, because we didn't. We were good. It's almost like wondering if we could have done better, but not in the regretting sense. This was a good team. We got far. Even if we had the same team, could we do it again? Could we get as far as we did this year? It's almost like we're playing an RPG game to me. I want to reset it to the last good saved place and try again, reset if I failed again, and keep reseting until we got it right and moved. How much I want to go back and say "1000 bushels of wheat!" just to keep a perfect score and raise the team's average. And there is also the sense in being "disappointed" because we were good, but not good enough to get in the top 2 teams for any of the championships. It does sometimes make me doubt that we'll ever have a team that can go all the way. If this Spring City couldn't do it, who can? But as my teammate Mike told me on the way home (I can't believe I'm about to quote Mike's words of wisdom!), "You can't have any regrets." So I have none. 99 points/match average, 1st place for 2 weeks, and being 6 matches undefeated in our ACC Tournament group are firsts, firsts I am proud of. I am so proud that we did what we did without stacking or any insane practice methods, like daily practices or assigning everyone to memorize. I am also glad we did so well because we were positive and encouraging, instead of negative and threatening. We were exhorting, not extorting. Not only does it set a standard for performance, but also for attitude.

Looking at the future, it's up in the air again. Christine is definitely too old to quiz. I don't know if I'll ever see her again. Both Mike and I are college bound. We could only quiz if we stay in the reigon. And once again, the Deitricks have to decide if they are willing for another year. These 3 quizzers would be a pivital loss to the team. Major shoes would have to be filled. I got upset at the thought of not possibly being on Spring City. When I left Ark, I was angry at everyone and not seeing them again was fine with me. But I have loved every day with Spring City. I like everyone who has even been on a Spring City team with me. I want to quiz on this team. I feel like I am being torn apart from them against my will. I don't want to leave. I wish that somehow this team will get back together. Da boiz Mike, Tim, and I would be awesome again. Chelsea could definitely have the power to be the new "money in the bank" and get us that team bonus. If we can get back together, expect again 135 point matches. As for any others, Tim has already began recruiting.

Even though the year is over and we've had another Transtition Day, I will not forget the material. That's what putting it to heart is. After many years have past since these past few months, I will be able to recall what I learned from reading this part of God's Word and still be showing it in my life. It is wrong to forget it. If you do, you have quizzed in vain. I will always remember what my Lord Jesus is teaching me. And I'm not just saying I won't forget the material because our coaches are thinking about having a mock match to show what quizzing is for the Spring City congregation. The team has already made a pact not to study for this match.

For those of you who couldn't go to the tournaments and news hasn't gotten around, you guys are clueless to what happened. That's for both the ACC Tournament and the Ohio tournament. Yeah, I owe you guys 2 stories on what happened. I will post them eventually, and as 2 separate posts because they are 2 separate stories. So just stay tuned and you'll hear about them!

LAST Quizzing Question of the post:
Where did Peter stay for some time with a tanner named Simon?