OK, I admit I haven’t updated the blog in a while. I’ve just been having so much (read: too much) fun the past few weeks that I’ve been down here in South Florida again. Aside from working on the weekdays and making some good money over at Host.net, I’ve put together quite a few group get-togethers and enjoyed some fencing on the side. On the other side of the metaphorical coin, though, my dad’s sister hasn’t been doing too well recently, so I’m hoping for my aunt to recover quickly and healthfully. This weekend is my last one down here before I head off to college again; next semester will be interesting in that all my classes are definitively Computer Science courses instead of some gen-ed stuff, and by the end of the semester I’ll have enough coursework for a Comp. Sci. minor! Hooray! So take this post as a “sorry I haven’t updated in a while”, a “Happy every holiday I forgot to post about”, and a “no more posts until back up at college” designation. Unless, of course, something really exciting happens before next Tuesday. 
So last Sunday I fenced back home again for the first time in a while at South Florida’s Sabre Outreach Network’s December “Vidosa Memorial Cup” Fencing Tournament. You know, the SFSONDVMCFT. 
I don’t want to not be humble, but just from the way I fenced I can definitely tell I’ve improved my game since I’ve left high school fencing. I’m now a lot faster in both movements and reaction, plus I know more advanced moves and how to really “play the game”–especially when dueling electric. My favorite highlight of the day? I beat this fencer I’ve never fenced before in my life 5-2! He’s a C-rated fencer (classifications range from E to A, with A being the highest and U being unranked) and I’ve not even gotten a rating yet. YEAH! I was SO happy when that bout ended; I couldn’t believe it.
Regarding the rest of my performance, I was really just ok–I didn’t even place in individuals because I lost my first DE (to a fencer who has also improved much since I’ve left) and my team didn’t even make it past pools during the team events. Oh well. I still had a TON of fun and basically got to fence for 8 hours straight, leaving me very, very happy.
I get to fence again this afternoon at my old high school’s final fencing practice of their trimester–after this, though, I can’t fence again until I’m back up at UCF and my normal fencing schedule resumes. Unless I can find another fencing club here in Boca…
Yup–I’m happy to report that as of last Friday, my first semester of college has been over and finished! Hooray for completing (and surviving) the first few months of what will undoubtedly be a fun and exciting ride for the next however many years. I felt good about most of my finals, and the great news is that I got my final grades for almost all of my classes and I finished the semester off pretty well. Hooray again!
You can congratulate me via comments if you want to.
With the exception of the rough start yesterday to my first week of college finals, the two exams I’ve taken so far both seemed to go rather well to me. Calc moreso than speech, but, honestly, speech is mainly the grades I’ve already gotten on my actual presentations, so even if I don’t do so well on the final test itself my other stellar grades will balance it all out. Now I’ve got two tests left: physics tomorrow and C programming Friday, which is really going to be a joke of a test. Stupidest thing is that it’s at 7am–yes, seven o’clock in the morning. Bah. Oh well. At least that night I’ll be going to see a funny play with Lauren. And then I go back home Saturday in preparation for my fencing tournament Sunday! Can’t wait!
Watching: Scrubs, season 3, “My Journey”
So, I’m writing this blog post at about…6:06 in the morning the DAY OF FINALS. Why am I awake? Not because I was pulling an all-nighter studying, but because someone pulled the FIRE ALARM at this time. Yes, the FIRE ALARM. So the entire building has to shuffle out in the freezing weather–many of us in pajamas–at this time in the morning, forced to wake from our pre-finals reverie and become insanely stressed out. Now I have to get back to sleep–not a problem, I can do that easily enough–but I’ve just lost a good 30 minutes, I’m cold, I just stood outside with nothing but a phone, my wallet, and a baseball cap for half an hour, and I’m annoyed.
Gah.
It’s been a while–maybe I’ll change this note board thing to bi-weekly, or even monthly? It’d save me some time! Anyhoo, someone commented on last post and wanted an update, so I’ve provided one. Enjoy!
If Doritos + Obama = Love, what does Desu / Love = ?
I thought I’d post up some images from some of my latest escapades around campus, including the long-awaited “election night heist ‘08″. These are all hosted on ImageShack, so if you like them, please use the thumbnail code instead of linking directly to them. Hopefully, that’ll save on my disk space, too. Without further adieu, ENJOY!
First up is a pic from fencing a few weeks back. Apparently, three-on-three fencing isn’t a good idea:
This didn't go so well...
Next, an awesome guitar I found a few weeks back over at Church Street Station here in Orlando when my parents came up for the weekend. I know Ricky’s gonna like this one!
Livin' like you wanna
OK, so I forgot to rotate this one. Oh well. Turn your head sideways 
This is my election night heist, BTW–made away with about 20 bags of Doritos-brand election chips, as well as a hat and a small button in the center:
You're such a blockhead...
LAST NIGHT! I walk into Knightro’s to grab some dinner, and who do I see but four a cappella carollers dressed up in 18th-century garb singing Christmas songs. Sorry I couldn’t get a video, but a picture’s worth a thousand words, right?
They won't leave until they get their figgy pudding
Finally, an awesome picture of my friend &%$#* on the 5th of November. What could be more appropriate on Guy Fawkes’ Day?
"Who" is but a function of "what"
That’s all for now! Enjoy all of this! Take it in–and get more next week!
*Edit: Name obscured due to his wish of anonymity. He is legion?
I changed the theme of the site! Brand spankin’ new! Shiny, too! Kinda green, fits in with fall and Thanksgiving, no? Eh, I think so. And that’s what matters! Next post is full of awesome!
To clear up some space, I’ve removed all the images previously on the site, but kept the placeholders in each of the posts. If you really desperately need to see the pics, let me know and I’ll send whichever one you need to you–I’ve still got backups! But now you can look forward to fresh, awesome content!
Yeah, Obama won! I’m quite happy. I’m a bit more distraught at the passing of amendment 2 here in Florida–there’s simply no point for intolerance like that.
New update tomorrow detailing my election night heist ‘08!
