Grads, do not go where the path may lead...

Who would have thought that sitting on a small makeshift stage in a hot gym with a lot of rowdy kids and their parents would be fun? Not me, but it certainly turned out that way. That was my grade 9 grad. Being the "Mistress of Ceremony" (I mean, that title in itself is just awesome :P) was surprisingly entertaining.

I'm relieved to say that the event turned out well, and with Sameena Sherman playing guitar (watch her become an incredible indie star... I'll have called it), and Maren and Alex with their valedictorian speech, you could say it went perfectly.

After the formal ceremony we all headed out and took photos and chatted with family. That was certainly chaotic, but I had a good time taking photos with Ms. Short and all those 7C kids. Everyone trickled in to the small gym for the dance, where I mostly just took photos of friends (I'm not really in to the junior high dance styles).

Towards the end there were all those awkward hugs (people I didn't really know giving me quite dramatic embraces) and the tears of friends and acquaintances. I'm not one to cry at these sorts of events, and that didn't really change last night. Although, I did feel dispirited when I saw the sweetest (and easily our school's most serious) couple dancing to the last song played. They're going to different high schools, and it hit me as to how big a deal this will be. I realize I'll soon grow accustomed to my new school, but of course I'll still miss my good friends whom I will no longer see on a daily basis. Sheilagh is off to her local high school, and of course Lyle has another year at Mck. But I still have two months to spend with them before the next school year.

Around 11 pm Maren, Sheilagh, Vi and I walked down to Whyte ave for the afterparty, meeting Gill at the restaurant... there was a lot of pizza and warm chocolate brownies involved... That was some hardcore unhealthy food. But it kept us full and awake until 3 am, so I suppose it's all okay.

Finally, at one in the morning, Maren's dad gave us a ride to Gill's house where we had an classic sleepover. Lots of random jokes and funny stories were shared... in a lot of ways it was the "perfect" end to junior high, just laughing with some of my oldest friends. It's like something out of one of those horrible all American teen novels... oh dear.

But enough of being sappy and scared that my life will spiral in to the depths of a Judy Blume book, I need sleep!

Laugh, dammit!

Ah, exams. Wonderful, aren't they? The perfect balance of sheer stress and utter boredom as summer settles in.

But in amongst all the exams and tutorials and studying one cannot forget what truly matters in life. We cannot forget to keep on watching Indecision 2008... or as it is more lovingly known, Clusterf*#K to the White House.

So please, do us all (and yourself) a favour and go and watch some of The Daily Show. You'll be a better person afterward.

And how can you not love that face?

Utter and excessive sappiness that I'm surprised I feel

Well, tomorrow's the last actually full day of school at Mck. I'm so glad to be getting out of there, especially as it's losing a lot (not all, but most) of the good teachers. You know, the great teachers that connect with their students and inspire them. Ones like Mr. Carter (who left last year), Ms. Andrews, Mr. Mitchell and Ms. Sorenson. Ms. Mitchell and Ms. Short will still be there... the new kids coming into grade seven next year will be the luckiest kids in the world if they get Shorty. Ah, 7C... that was a fun class. 8B, too. And 9B.

I always feel trapped in my school, but those teachers made it bearable when it was at it's worst. They taught the type of class that you would look forward to, the type that always left their door open after school.

Gill, Sheilagh, remember Carter's room? I know you do. The time we hung Shelly out that window with the help of Mr. C? The metre stick he was given for his 12th birthday? Or his 'Office Space' stapler?

Or French with Mr. Mitchell? All those stupid hand signs that everyone still remembers... And his ballpoint pen wars with Matty. And those ridiculous plays that were so much fun. And how you could talk to him about anything, he had respect for all his students.

And of course: "A tisket, a tasket, the lost and found basket." Crissy's room was a blast. Peer Support retreat with them always made me laugh.

I talk about those teachers like they died. They didn't, of course, they're just moving on with their lives. Starting families, getting new jobs to provide better for the ones they already have. I don't think they realized how much of an impact they've had on me, and they'll continue on to affect kids like me. I hope those kids realize how lucky they are.

I really disliked that school, but I prefer to remember all those insane moments with all those hilarious teachers instead.

I love civil disobedience

I got an old copy of Adbusters from the library the other day... I grew up with them lying around the house, but I'd never really picked one up and read it thoroughly. So that's what I did. My favorite part?
A sticker some on posted on a pump in a San Francisco gas station that read:

Stop your engine.

No smoking.

Return nozzle to pump when finished fueling.

Pre-pay after dark.

Thank you for financing global terror.

Classic.

My love of hate for my school grows

This is a picture of boredom at a Thursday's "pep rally". It was hardly what one would expect from its name. It was, in fact, the anti-pep rally. Everyone just sat, bored out of their minds, while the jocks went up and "talked" about how they won some championship no one really cares about. I say "talked" because it consisted of:

"We powned."

"Yeah!"

"We won."

"Yeah!"

Glorious.

The year end dance was 80s theme, which one would think would be fun. Apart from getting to wear my 'Astros' sweatshirt, It wasn't. I should have seen it coming when the DJ said "we'll play some 80s and then move into some popcorny stuff." The 80s consisted of Thriller, the rest was Avril Lavigne crap. I could only stand about 2 minutes before I actually thought I was going to throw up. I felt physically nauseous. Luckily Lyle felt the same, so we snuck out of the dance. He and his friends had already gone once, the second time I tagged along. So I spent my last dance at that school outside playing catch and witnessing the accidental denting of the DJ's van. Best dance ever.

Yesterday was a much better day than Thursday (day of the pep rally, dance, etc). Although it was plus 30-something, I had a great time afterschool hanging out on the hill. We held off going home as long as we could, but finally we had no choice.

I got home for supper and then headed off for the airport to pick up Tracey (my sister who lives in Alaska)! We were happy to see her, and all went smoothly until we missed a certain turn-off on the way back. We ended up in Twin Brooks (Vi's suburb), and were late. But it didn't really matter because:

a) It just goes into our ever-expanding file of lost-while-driving/"interesting"-experiences-to-do-with-the-airport file, and

b) I got this shot while driving on Anthony Henday