Ok, first, a bit of background. In school, I'm part of this class called Pit Ensemble. In essence, it's an opportunity for me to slack off and play piano, xylophones, vibraphones, assorted percussion instruments (bongos are serious fun), or, in some cases, steel drums. A rival Catholic high school called Santa Margarita started a steel drum band a few years back, so we had to have one also. Because of this, I have played the steel drums a little bit since the school year started. Now, fast forward to present day. It's currently Thanksgiving Break (an excuse for us Americans to be gluttonous and pretend we're thankful for everything), during which I have an entire week off of school. During this time, I convinced my teacher to lend me a pair of steel drums. So, I've been practicing on-and-off during the week on my fantastic, amazing, incredible, jealousy-from-Sahana-inducing steel drums! Well, it's late at night and I got bored, so I decided to teach myself the wretched melody from Soulja Boy. Let this be clear first: I loathe that song. When I hear the cursed tune, I instinctively reach for my ears, not to cover them from the torrential onslaught of noise, but to gouge my eardrums out so they may never again have to endure the Aushwitz level suffering that is induced by the...*sigh*...Soulja Boy. Anyway, here is the video. And in case you are wondering which piano video I am referencing in the Soulja Boy video, look at my other videos, there is a nice clip of me playing the piano solo from "In My Life" by The Beatles. Anyway, without further ado, here is me playing (with terrible light and poor audio quality) Soulja Boy on steel drums. Enjoy!
Seriously, I think I may have a problem. I have tons of homework to do, yet here I am, writing up a post on blogger. Maybe it's because I feel bad because Sahana's been spamming the site lately, I don't know. What I DO know is that I do not feel like doing homework. Hell, I actually have no clue what I even intend to write about, I just knew I needed to write something, and here I am. This is very stream-of-consiousness-ey. I feel like Virginia Woolf.
Well, I have been succeeding in school as of late. In the same week, I got an A on my APUSH exam, a 9/9 on the Free Response Question that we took the day after that exam, an A on my AP Chemistry Exam--the list goes on. I feel like such a good student, yet I know that it will have to come to an end eventually. But, in the meantime, I'm flying. Perhaps I should go do work in order to maintain this ecstatic feeling. When I'm done with this post. Let's see...I need something substantive to talk about. If I just ramble the whole time I'll end up deleting the post, and wasting more time.
Oh, I know. Here is my official (updates will come when I think of additions) list of things I must do before I die.
-Play Butterflies and Hurricanes with a full band in front of an audience.
-Travel the world. And I mean all over the world. At least 75% of all countries.
-Visit Sahana. Maybe we'll go to a bar.
-Be in some sort of touring rock band.
-Deliver a speech to over 1,000 people.
-Make some sort of positive influence on the world.
-Invent and subsequently patent something.
There, was that such a bad blog post? Shakey start, but I would say I saved it. And it does have a cool Emily Brontë-esque feel to it. But less feminist. And more cheuvenistic. And much, much more awesome.
Oh, and Sahana--
You're welcome. :)
And you listening to Queens of the Stone Age, Steely Dan, Franz Ferdinand, and Snow Patrol is amazing. Seriously. Fantastic tastes.
Well, the election is finally over. Two years of ponderings, debates, scandals, arguments, speculation, and mindless drivel has finally ceased, so I figure I'll take one more look at the results and give my personal opinion on them.
We'll start with Barack Obama. He seems to be quite the lightning rod these days...I've never heard anyone express an indifferent opinion towards the guy. He's either the second coming of Jesus Christ, who will free America of all of its burdens, escort in a new era of prosperity and wealth, and bring CHANGE! (who woulda thunk it), or he's the Anti-Christ, a demon who was sent here to turn us into socialist weaklings who get terrorized every week, have abortion kiosks in malls, and allow men to marry inanimate objects. It's simply amazing how people can have such differing opinions on the exact same guy, with the exact same issues, and the exact same information. Anyhoo, while I personally would have voted for John McCain, I do wish Obama all the luck in the world. He's gonna need it.
Sarah Palin. Gah, why did McCain have to pick Palin. Yes, she did excite the base for awhile. Then, it kinda kicked in that she's a hockey mom with no foreign policy experience. And she's so. Damn. FOLKSY. Seriously, is it necessary to wink at the camera every five minutes? We know you're a mother who's incapable of naming her children names that will not scar them for the rest of their lives, but take this seriously. We know you're folksy. Show us that you can do, you know, political stuff. I think it might be rather important, no?
John McCain. Ahh, John the Maverick. Creating political turmoil for everyone but himself everywhere he goes. He doesn't conform to one party, he gets things done. I kinda like John (despite the fact that I think his constant reminder that he's a maverick is a bit weak--you're in Washington D.C., not the Old West. You're just a politician.), and I'd say I agree with him on a lot of issues. However, he kinda was the fall guy this year. After eight years of Bush, the conservatives didn't stand a chance. I think he ran a great campaign, he had a lot of dignity, and I've got a lot of respect for him.
I'm not even going to touch Joe Biden, because no one really knows about him. I will, however, leave you with a quote that he said during the Primaries. "The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training". I hope that Obama keeps that in mind when he picks his Cabinet.
Well here I am. Another Sunday night. Another load of homework to do. It's times like these that I ask myself, "Why the hell did you do this? You weren't that busy this weekend. You could have knocked out half of this already." But no. Of course not. I must yet again torture myself in the name of homework and procrastination. How much longer can I keep this up? Am I going to be like this when I'm older? Is this something I just grow out of? Gah, I'm much too speculative. And yet, these questions nag me. Sure, I could be like most people and just take my procrastination in stride, taking things day-by-day and living for the moment but no, I must persist in my constant worrying. And to top that off, I need to be reading, not writing blog posts. Oh well.
And on top of that, which college am I going to go to? I'm not even going to get into that. I'm worrying too much, I need to relax. And do AP Chem. Gah, I just realized I have AP Chem.
Yeah, this is starting to feel all rambly and stream-of-conscious-ey, so I'm thinking I should just stop. Yes, that's probably the best idea. Ok, I'll blog post sometime when I'm less introspective. Bye all of you Indian people...
Oh, and what's with the lack of comments? The only comments I've received are from Sahana correcting typos. Thanks for the hearty welcome. Psh.
I am an officially licensed driver as of today. While it is extremely exciting (combine that with the fact that I now have my new laptop and you have one fantastic week), it got me thinking as to what it means to have a license. While the implications may not seem like much, I'm beginning to see that I'm not going to be hanging around home any more. It's a bit of a wake up call--while still under the complete jurisdiction of my parents, I will be out of the house soon. I'm becoming more independent, taking on more irresponsibility, and preparing myself for the ominous "real world" you always hear stuffy adults talking about.
And am I ready?
HELL NO.
I still feel like a kid. Yes, I have reaped the benefits that have inevitably come with age, and while I have grown much more intelligent and accumulated an impressive vocabulary, I by no means feel like an adult at heart. I'm not ready to hold down a steady job, or pick a career for that matter (sorry Sahana, I'm still not sure about the whole Cardiologist thing). I see an impasse approaching, but do not know what to do but avert my eyes and shield my face. Where do I want to college. What in the hell am I going to do with my life? I've got unbridled potential but no direction. As of late I've been leaning towards doctor of some sort, but sometimes I think maybe a lawyer would be cool. And then there's the rebellious side of me that wants me to just travel the world and fuck it all. He is in constant battle with the diligent, responsible part of me, who wants me to go to college and get a career. While I think when I get out of college I'm going to travel, I don't want to get tied down to some career I don't like. So much in this life you see people doing boring jobs, and being stuck there because they have a family to support. I want to avoid this, but I don't know what to do. Gah.
What to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to doooooo?
I'm confuzzled.
Oh, and P.S.--Something really annoying is happening. My PreCalculus teacher always likes to make up words that sound like other words (for example, he'll say slob instead of solve, or cluckulate instead of calculate), and it's rather infectious. Combine that with the fact that I have Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd stuck in my head, and I keep getting the line "to be a slimple....kind of man" stuck in my head. Damn Mr. Bakhos.
Before I begin, I just would like to say that I am jealous of the story-telling ability of Sahana. I am not nearly that poetic or eloquent. Anyways...
It's about midnight here in Southern California, and my little brother is just getting around to doing his science project. He needs to find out a way to make an object more four meters without pushing it off...he's using a small tank of CO2. Now, it is extremely hypocritical for me to be telling him to do his homework, as I myself am still working on AP US History. The difference between us, though, is that I am a reasonably responsible student, while he is a slacker. I have mostly good grades, all of which the result of self-motivation, while he is always at the risk of being sent off to boarding school. No joke. If his grades fall below a B- average, he is sent to boarding school. Because of this, I (due to some form of pity for my brother) helped him search for a vehicle to be propelled by the CO2, and have motivated him through the night. Whatever, he'll probably end up in boarding school anyway.
Oh, and in other news, I found an AMAZING website for classical sheet music. www.imslp.org has a ridiculous array of sheet music for all kinds of instruments, and as they're all public domain, they're all free. Hooray!
Just a quick post on how I'm getting my new laptop. I'm VERY excited...it should be here in about two days. I doubt anyone cares, but I thought I would inform all six of you anyway. Cheerio!
-Stropko
Ahh, I walked outside the other night to accompany my brother on a drive, when lo and behold, it was cold. Not just cold, frigid. This was the first day in recent memory that I have been able to say that it has been truly cold. and I am exuberant. The cold weather brings back fond memories of Christmases passed when life wasn't so complicated. It's soothing, cooling, and it makes you feel so amazingly comfortable and cozy once you hurry out of the car, throw off your shoes, and dive under a blanket. Ahh, the winter.
And there's more. With winter (at least in Southern California) brings rain. While this may not be true for some, I absolutely adore the rain. It makes me feel like the whole world is cleansed, at least for a little while. Its drops fall on my skin and I feel at peace. Perhaps it's just me, but whenever this time of year rolls around, I'm overjoyed that at last the heat has passed, and it's time for another cup of hot chocolate and a warm blanket. I'm already wondering what this Christmas will bring. Ahh, the memories.
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening,
A beautiful sight,
we're happy tonight,
Walking in a Winter Wonderland.
Gone away is the Bluebird,
Here to stay is a new bird.
He sings a love song,
as we go along,
Walking in a Winter Wonderland.
My name is Nick Stropko. Or Stropko. Or Jesus-lovin'-white-boy, depending on who you talk to. I'm 16, and I live in the famed Orange County, California. I'm a bit of an odd one (one of the prerequisites to writing on this blog, of course), as I like a combination of playing/writing songs on my piano, writing lyrics that I can never write a satisfactory piano part for, messing around on my computy box, and generally geeking out. Oh, and listening to music is also a huge part of my life. I don't want to get too much into who I am, as I feel it would be better to let my personality develop over the course of my blogging career (would be considered a career?...oh well), so just be expecting some posts fairly frequently from me in the future. Be expecting updates soon!
-Stropko