Go Team!
I love volleyball. I play with a league instead of at school, for various reasons- main reason being my classes every day after school- and today we had a tournament-ish-thing against teams from another site. We only played three games (we had one by), because there's only three thirteen-fourteen teams, and we lost our first game by two points- we probably would have won if we hadn't run out of time. The second game we won by a
lot; that was against a different team. Then we had a by.
The third game was against the same team as the first game, and the thing about that team was that they had a habit of hitting the ball right back over. Our team is pretty focused on getting in three hits before getting the ball over, so we're used to having at least a few seconds to regroup. But this time we won, and it was really awesome because I served first, and then from then on whenever I served that ushered in the era of a streak of points. We won that game thirty-twenty-four (although I'm not entirely certain why we played to thirty.)
After that, the second team wanted to play against us again. At that point, we were way upbeat, having won the last two games. And so, of course, we beat them again. It was kind of funny, actually- every time I served to this one girl, she tried to hit it, hit it
way out of bounds, and screeched "Holy crap!" Every time.
After something like three hours of playing- we didn't even stop during the one game when we had a by; instead we practiced- the entire team went to a nearby coffeehouse and we were there for ages. I didn't get back until about one.
The Wonders of Backsetting
It's kind of funny. I've played volleyball since sixth grade, and the one thing I think I'm really truly good at is setting- especially, oddly enough, backsetting. It's always come easy to me. (Unlike serving. It was eighth grade before I could get it over the net and in bounds fairly regularly.)
Nowadays, I don't play on a school team like I did in middle school, mainly because it would be every day after school and would interfere with acting classes. So instead I play in a different league, two days a week. I'd rather it were more like four days a week, but hey, I'm not in charge of the league, it's not going to happen.
Anyhow, today at practice we started off working on backsetting. It's the weirdest thing to me when I'm watching someone do something that comes easy to me and do it well, but really have to work at it. Same feeling as when I can do something, but I have to really struggle to do it well, and then someone else does it as if it were nothing more extraordinary than breathing. Except backwards, of course.
And I had that feeling today. It doesn't happen often- my strengths are, basically, reading quickly and comprehending what I'm reading, writing quickly and well, and not cracking under cross-examination in Mock Trial. Not very impressive, really.
Still, it was quite an odd feeling to be paired for the rest of practice with the best player on the team- generally I'm paired with the youngest player, who happens to be about a foot and a half shorter than me.
It tends to make even something so simple as hitting a ball back and forth fairly more complicated than it ought to be.
Of course, the other guy? He's about a foot shorter than me.
I Could Certainly Use a Release
Well, tonight my family sans me was at the YMCA for my little brother's karate lessons, so I had the house all to myself. So, in an astounding breach of my typical behaviour, I decided to watch some TV. While I was watching TV, a commercial came on. (Shocking, I know.) But this was... the best commercial I've ever seen. It's that commercial for the Gap skinny black pants, with Audrey Hepburn dancing, set to Back in Black- AC/DC. Absolutely brilliant.
I haven't actually ever seen an Audrey Hepburn movie, although in seventh grade I did a biography project about her, but now I really really want to see that movie. I think it's called
Funny Face, but I'm not sure. I remember a mention of it in the book I read about her, but that was two years ago, so chances are I'm misremembering.
The point is, though, that my favorite AC/DC song + a dance sequence I'm sure I've read about performed by an actress who is one of the most idolized practically ever = absolute perfection, or at least as close to it as commercials are going to get.
Edward Young Would Be Disappointed
I did absolutely nothing today. And, considering I have approximately two hours worth of homework due tomorrow, that's absolutely depressing. I'm not even entirely sure how I managed to waste the
entire day (day being the key word there), especially considering I woke up around seven and it is now around seven. So I spent twelve hours doing nothing. I finished a book I was rereading, I guess, and I ate lunch, but neither of those achievements is significantly significant.
The only remotely notable part of my day was about twenty minutes when I was on the phone with my best friend. And then my dad commented that since she lives four doors down, wouldn't it be easier for me to go down and talk to her in person?
The answer, of course, is no. For one thing, it was about ten o'clock, and I wasn't particularly interested in leaving the house. For another, she was doing her homework while we talked (she's so not a procrastinator, unlike me). And, most importantly, if I was actually there, we'd feel obliged to actually do something, rather than talk about nothing.
Meanwhile, my mom went to work, my dad took my little brother out to the movies, and now all three are at the gym.
And I still haven't done my homework.
Odd Exhaustion
God, I'm tired. With little reason, might I add, despite waking up far earlier than I meant to. Last night, I went to bed at half past eleven, because, like today, I was exhausted. And, strangely enough, I woke up at six-thirty, alarm clock not included. Which, of course, is absolutely insane. I'm (almost- twelve days!) fourteen years old... I'm supposed to need my sleep. I'm not supposed to wake up after seven hours and not be able to get back to sleep.
So instead I read
A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby- excellent book, by the way- until my alarm went off at the time I meant to wake up. That is to say, eight o'clock. I had to be somewhere at one, so I figured waking up at eight would do nicely.
Unfortunately, my subconscious found it necessary to be up and about five and a half hours before I needed to be (in order to be ready in time.)
At one, my day improved a little- I had a Mock Trial meeting, in which, predictably, we got very little done but had an absurd amount of fun.
Meetings of any sort, unsupervised by teachers, tend to do that.
