Life in a really big nutshell.

Today went really fast, so far. I finished my Directed Studies application and submitted it. If you read it, thank you. If not, well then you suck.
I watched the Cubs bludgeon the Boston Red Sox (a dream matchup, by the way. It is, in fact, every baseball fan's favorite matchup, since about 1918.) I'm very pleased by the score- 14-6 should be enough for just about anyone. And if David Ortiz hadn't been playing, it would have been 14-3. That 9th inning homerun was just a little show of defiance off of a second string bullpen guy. As long as the bats show up tomorrow and Sunday like they did today, I'll be happy.
I got up pretty late today. I'm going to blame my nightmares. I woke up sometime in the middle of last night. I had dreamed that my grandfather died, and I hadn't even gone to visit him. The dream shook me a lot. It got worse and worse until I thought that it might actually be a dream, and I forced myself awake.
The weather has been pretty oppressive today. The heat hasn't been so bad, but the humidity is killer. Hopefully the rain will drive the humidity and the temperature down before the big party tomorrow without making the grass too soggy.
I should be writing my speech. I still have no idea what I can say. I don't really know what I have to say to a room full of eight graders. I'm not old enough to really impart a whole lot of wisdom, not that they would be inclined to listen anyway. Nor am I funny to go up there and tell jokes while having a nice cliched message. Nor am I one of them, who could get up and tell stories and generally reminisce about the experience. So nostalgia is out. What does that leave?
I'm not sure either. But if you had an idea for me, I'd love to have it. Send it to me.
Yesterday was nice, but not to my feet. I went to Andres' house with Andrew and met a bunch of people there. Mostly I worked on the Tribune's crossword puzzle. With very little help from anyone else, I managed to do more than half of it, which is the best I think I've ever done with a crossword. It makes me wish I got a paper every day so I could fail at finishing the crosswords. Anyway, all the walking I did in new shoes left me with blisters. Two on one little toe, one on the other. Ug. So I ended up walking around Lincoln Square barefoot (just like after Prom), and got calluses which are bothering me while walking barefoot today. It seems I just cannot win. On the plus side, though, I have not put shoes on all day. That is a victory.
Yesterday, I may have said goodbye to two people for good, or for a really long time. Mari and Sophie are both going to camp over the summer, and then leaving soon after they get home. Mari is also going to go to Israel for a long time, so I doubt that I will see her for a very long time. It is concievable to me that I may never see them again. It is a rather depressing thought to me, thinking that it may be a year or more until I see them again.
Today, I have been thinking about what I'll be reading all summer. For one thing, I feel like I might die before George R. R. Martin releases his next book (July 26, practically a lifetime from now). But once that does come out, I'll be reading that. I will also get my hands on a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I am looking forward to. In preparation for that, perhaps I will re-read the last one. I also have Ian's copy of A Mote in God's Eye , which looks rather Asimovian. It was reccomended to me, though I don't recall by whom.
Then there is some more serious reading I should do. For example, The Rape of the Nile by Brian Fagan, and some of Brian Greene's physics stuff. I should perhaps also brush up on my French and German, as well as what little Middle Egyptian I ever knew. Michael has also threatened to try and teach me Greek. I think that would be fun, and I'm all for it.
I also want to play some bridge! I have my first bridge game since April scheduled for Monday. I hope Todd does not have a meeting. I might just go anyway. I need to get back into the swing of things. And Andrew, you should look over that green book I gave you. I think it will help you some. I also have a more advanced book of conventions that Todd gave me. Those require partnership agreements, though, and so are harder to do on one's own. I think I might want to finish that book on defense that I started after the tournament disasters. Ah. How fondly I remember them.
On an not entirely unrelated note, sometime this summer I will gather a group together for an all day (perhaps also all night) History of the World fest. Perhaps we will also rent History of the World, Part I. But I will play that game before I leave for school in August.
Ok, I think I'm done.