Bored

Let's step away from toilets for a sec, shall we?

The weekend has gone by faster than a jack-rabbit running with jet-turbines strapped to its back, on ice, shaved, driven by an over-caffeinated fighter-pilot.
(Hopefully I won't be sued for using that)
Saturday was quite a boring day, for the most part. The climax of the entire day was my basketball game, but we'll get to that in a moment.
My brothers had basketball, first thing in the morning, so when they got back, we had to leave almost right away for a Thanksgiving Parade in Plymouth.
I must say, the first half of the parade included at least seventy guns, armed by people either dressed as pirates, or in Coast Guard uniforms. Every one of those guns was shot off, and I will add that we were only thirty feet from the action, and my ears happen to be very sensitive. My cousin, Noah, who was there with us, also had his hands over his ears, afraid of any loud noise that was made. I don't know who was in charge of that parade, but they must have had a thing for bayonets. We did get something out of it, though; every time a gun was fired off, a couple of bullet-shells were dropped from the guns, and Mike ran off, and got one for us, so that was kind of interesting. Except for the fact that Nick, my other cousin, thought it was a whistle, and tried to blow into it. My mom had to save him from inhaling gunpowder residue.
Another thing I must add about the parade; hot dogs taste very good at ten-thirty in the morning. Fast Food joints should add them to their breakfast menu.

Anyway, the rest of the day was pretty dull; grocery-shopping, Christmas shopping, walking around boring department stores..... I was about ready to lay down right in the middle of T.J. Maxx, and take a nap.
When we finally got home, I managed to get some homework done, and within two hours, we were off to the basketball game.
Which we lost.
Horrifically.
Plus, my good friend, Liam, was on the other team, so that made it worse, I guess. I wasn't too upset about it, over all, but I was really hoping to sweep the floor with Liam's jersey. I guess he did the same with mine. But, I did make the first basket for my team! Yippee for me!
Last night, we watched the movie, "Year One", starring Jack Black, and Michael Cera. It was quite humorous, I must say.

Today, thankfully, we won't be going to church. I'm sorry to those of you who really love church, and God, and all that Jesus-walked-on-water hooplah, but I don't really care for church. It's long, and boring, and my ADD doesn't really help the matter. I mean, the priest is a nice guy, and he kinda livens up the whole service with some jokes, or talk about the Patriots, or Red Sox, but, other than that it's just sitting in a big room, with a ton of old people (two of which sit in the same pew as me *wink, wink*) listening to the priest talk, on, and, on, and on, for what seems like forever, but is actually one hour. To make matters worse, we have to stand for half the service, for whatever reason. We usually stand for the songs, which drive me crazy. All I'm saying is I'm just glad they don't have these songs on iTunes (or do they?).
See, I don't hate church, I just think it's boring. I used to go to Sunday school, which was at least more entertaining than the whole service. But, this year, eighth graders were able to take confirmation classes. I have no idea what confirmation is, but apparently the confirmation class goes on a bunch of field trips to camps, and other fun places. My only other option was to stay with Sunday school for one last year, and go through a bunch of "volunteering" things, which didn't seem to exciting. Plus, the teacher kind of reminded me of my sixth-grade teacher, which wasn't the most pleasant thing ever. But, don't get me wrong, the Sunday school teacher was very, very nice.
My sixth-grade teacher wasn't (*shiver*).
The best part of church is when it ends (yeah, I know that sounded harsh, but keep reading). After the service, everyone piles into a big room called the Parish Hall, which is a big room, where the kitchen is located. Everyone goes in there, and has some snacks, supplied by random people who attend the church. There's usually cookies, or brownies, or muffins, and stuff like that, so that's usually nice. It also gives me a chance to talk with some of my friends who go to that church.
So, in conclusion, I find church to be very dull, even though it's about God, and holiness, and the Jesus-turned-water-to-wine shenanigans. All I can say is I hope God can find it in his heart to not strike me down with a bolt of lightning.
To all of you who enjoy church, I hope I didn't offend you in any way. The things I said were just personal opinions. I mean, c`mon, you gotta admit, you found church kind of tedious as a kid.
So, I hope you all had a much more interesting weekend, and I hope today ends up being a tad more interesting than yesterday.

Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.

Public Restrooms: Friends, or Foes?

While in a Borders book store, this past Wednesday, I realized something that may be somewhat important to you:

Beware public restrooms.

I believe there are many flaws in public restrooms, but I've never ventured into the depths of the Women`s room, so this may not be accurate to all restrooms. That means that this post is dedicated towards males, mostly, but women should feel free to read along, and see if any of these problems relate to the bathrooms you use when you're out shopping for shoes, or whatever.

So, let's get started, shall we?

First, let me just say that public restrooms should be avoided at all costs. But sometimes, you just gotta go, so when trying to choose the most appropriate bathroom to use, use this "guide" to help you decide which ones are better than others, thus, giving you a more comfortable experience.
Let's start off with finding the restroom itself. Some public areas are so cluttered, and large, that the only bathroom in the building is strategically hidden in some aisle that's blended in with all the other aisles, leaving you running in circles trying to find the "restrooms" sign.
Once you do find it, depending on where you are, there could be a line. The largest lines happen to appear in the women`s room. Those lines have been known to stretch all the way outside the bathroom, but, like I said, this post is steered more towards men, so no worries to you guys!
Even though the lines in the men`s rooms can get pretty long, they usually don't stretch as long as the women`s room lines do. Once it's your turn to go, you usually head for the urinal farthest away from the person ahead of you. This sometimes is a problem, because smaller bathrooms tend to have only two urinals, which are placed inches away from each other, leaving you praying to God the guy next to you isn't a creeper.
Some urinals are divided by walls, which can be useful, except for the fact that sometimes the walls are too low, allowing taller people to accidentally peek over at you.
Another thing about using urinals are the other people using them as well. These people can be categorized into a number of subjects:

• The "Stand-Behinders"; the guy in line behind you, who breathes down your neck while you're "going".
• The "Crowders"; the guy who chooses the urinal right next to yours, no matter how many other open toilets there are.
• The "Talkers"; guys who try to strike up conversation with you while you're "going".
• The "Stall-Talkers"; The guys in the stalls near you, who hear you come in, and try to strike up conversation with you.
• The "Stall-Cell-Talkers"; the guys who are using the stalls near you, who happen to get a call on their cell phones, allowing you to hear what they're saying, which can be pretty awkward.

So, once you've figured out which occupant is which, you can usually find a toilet farthest from them, but you'll still find some problems with using urinals. As the technology of today advances, so does the technology of the standard toilet. Now, instead of the normal handle-flusher we're all used to, we now have the toilets flushed for us, by a little man inside the toilet. He is commonly known for his red eye, that looks out at us while we are doing our business. Then, that little red-eyed man decides when to flush, removing the heavy burden of actually having to push a handle down. Thanks, little red-eyed man!
Another problem with urinals are the design of the toilet itself. The most common type of toilet is the one with the wall, allowing you to aim freely. This type of toilet is probably based on the way we "go" on trees.
But, then there's the urinal that stretches all the way down to the floor, right in front of our feet, forcing us to aim carefully in between our shoes.

So, now we know the problems with going "Number-1". If you thought that seemed challenging, wait until you read about going "Number-2".
When you have to pass your digested food out the "back-exit", you head for the dreaded stall. A stall is basically a coffin, with dirty floors, walls, and toilets. Most people try to go for the handicapped stall, the safest of all the stalls, but of course, everyone else has the same idea as you, so that's usually taken.
The first problem you may find with stalls is the entrance. Most stall doors open inwards, towards the toilet, forcing you to practically step into the toilet just to shut the door behind you.
Once you close the door, you go to lock it, but, of course, there's a flaw with the locks as well. Some stall doors have locks that were built so that they are just unaligned enough so that the door swings right open again, revealing you to everyone else as you "go".
Plus, some doors leave gaping cracks in between the wall, and the door itself, allowing other people to see you as you "go".
Then, there's the toilet, which is sometimes built so low to the ground, you can practically look right under the wall separating you, and the guy in the stall next to you, allowing you to almost see each other.... you know.
Once you find a good stall, you'll be given some reading material, written on the walls. This was made by some other teenagers, who write one thing about someone, or something, and eventually turns into something that relates to an online instant messenger conversation. Feel free to add to the conversation, if you wish.
The toilet design is actually much better than the urinal's, except for one thing:
The little red-eyed man.
He can also be found sometimes in these toilets, once again, removing the burden of having to flush the toilet yourself.

Okay, so you're done doing your business. Now it's time to wash your hands.
Some bathrooms have regular sinks, with the knobs to turn on cold, and hot water. But, you'll find that more, and more restrooms are equipped with sinks that also give shelter to the red-eyed man, who turns the sink on, and off for you. The only difference in this is that you can't see his eye, and he sometimes refuses to turn the sink on for you, or at the temperature you'd prefer. Other sinks have the annoying buttons that turn on cold, and hot water, but only for as long as you push the button down. This can also be a problem.

So, you're washed up. Now, let's dry our hands off.
But, wait. Where's the paper-towels?
See, once again, technology plays a big roll in drying your hands. Instead of the bulky towel-holders you see occasionally, you'll find a big, bulky monster, that blows hot air at your hands to dry them off. These aren't always reliable, because it can take up to to rounds of hot-air-blowing just to dry your hands completely.
"Just give me a freaking paper towel, please!!!"

As you can see, technology is taking it's toll on restrooms these days, which leads to many, many problems, and flaws. Hopefully, this blog post will help you avoid these "Problematic-Potty-Places", and steer you clear of bad toilets.

And little red-eyed men.
For more information, and more detailed descriptions of the things mentioned above, you can view this video.



Also, a quick side-not; my team won our basketball game today, 30-25!

Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.

An Unfortunate Update

I kind of saw this one coming.
Sure, I could have stopped it, but I guess I was too lazy to even try. But, that's going to change. Today. Right now.
Hopefully.
The thing is, I won't be posting as much as I'd like to any more, for reasons I'm too ashamed to speak of at this time. What i can say is that I'll only be able to post to this blog every weekend (Friday-Sunday), so I intend to make the most of that time, and get in as much blogging as possible, for the sake of you guys. Just wanted to let you know that ahead of time.

Anyway, my second basketball game of the season is tomorrow, at eleven AM (ugh... aren't weekends supposed to be days when you can actually sleep in?). Hopefully we'll be able to do better than last time.

Another update- which I find to be quite awkward- is that we'll be having something called a "Socks War" in school next Tuesday. It's basically something to go along with a fund-raiser type thing we're doing, in which we are supposed to donate a new package of socks to a homeless-shelter in Boston. To add some pizazz to this, the PTA, or whoever, decided we should have a "Socks War", in which we are supposed to, supposedly, throw socks at each other in the gym.
Interesting.
Plus, if my resources are correct, we'll also be having Crazy Hair Day, and Pajama Day at school on Wednesday, and Thursday. So, it's going to be quite an interesting week.

I'll try to update you guys on the game tomorrow, if possible, and I'm also working on something I think will be really neat to show you guys here on the blog. I don't want to give too much away, but, I can say that if you enjoy my writing, you'll love this little... "surprise" I'm putting together. Don't get your expectations too high, though. It's not a million dollars, or anything, just something I've been working on, that I'd like to share.

Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.

Where I've Been

I guess I have some 'splaining to do.

I know I haven't been posting in a while, but I've been kind of busy, what with school, basketball, holidays, etc. (all of which will be talked about in this post! How convenient am I?) So, allow me to bring you up-to-date.

My team lost our first basketball game of the season, 45-24. It was a bit of a toughie, considering that we had only had one practice before that, but overall, I don't think we did that bad! My teammates and I are still warming up to each other, and getting used to the plays, and strategies, so, I guess there's nothing we can do about it, except improve.
A downside to that, though, is that due to yesterday's holiday- Veterans' Day- we couldn't have practice, which means we'll be playing our second game this Saturday, with only one practice so far! I'm not sure how much that will affect our game, but I'm sure we can adjust the little mistakes we made last time.

Speaking of Veterans' Day, I've got some exciting news for you all (more like for me, and my family, but I'm sure you'll be able to feel the excitement wherever you may be). I overheard a conversation between my parents the other night (I've gotten good at eavesdropping on conversations. I get good practice whenever my mom is on the phone. Hehe :-]), and my dad was saying that he was chatting with one of his pals online, asking him if he would be considered a veteran, since he had been in the Navy.
I'm not sure what the qualifications were to be a veteran, but Dad had them. So, now, every Veterans' Day, not only can I thank the strangers that have served our country, but I can thank my dad as well! So, (though, I may be a bit late with this) thank you, Dad!

As far as school goes, Term 1 ended last Friday, and I'll be getting my report card (*gasp!*) TOMORROW!!!

Dun-dun-duuuuun!
I have a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'll, once again, be just a C away from making Honor Roll. Oh, believe me, I try to make Honor Roll... I just... kind of.... "slack-off" (I use that term lightly).

Anyway, not much else to say at this point! Hope you all are doing just swell, and I'll talk to you soon!

Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.

Pass the Rock

Well, it could have been worse....

Or could it?

The Yankees are our new World Series champions, and, them being Boston's rivals, and all, I can't say I'm pleased. If only those darned Angels hadn't beat us that one fateful day back in October, I bet we could have been the ones playing against those yanks last night... and winning.

In other (sports) news, my basketball season will officially begin this Saturday, when I have my first game. I had practice last night, but was surprised to find that I only recognized three faces; two kids from past basketball teams, and a seventh grader from my school, whom I barely know. So, I guess I'll be making some new friends this year.

When I got home, I started a game of Rock Band, on the Wii. I just had a weird craving to play some virtual drums.
I guess I chose some songs Dad remembered from way-back-when, because he picked up a pair of drumsticks, and played along on his lap. He even picked up the guitar for the game and started "playing along".
I don't think he realized he wasn't even playing.

Anyway, just thought I'd bring you up to date on that. Hope you all have a great Thursday!

Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.

Boo... and stuff

I know I'm a few hours late, but... Happy Halloween! My, was it an exciting one!
My hunt for a costume to go as finally came to an end when my mom took my brothers and me to iParty, where I browsed numerous costumes, such as:

[some pictures have been removed due to... "obscene" images. Plus, Mom told me to, so...]

                                                          

But, I ended up choosing this:

I was going to be Freddy last year, but we couldn't find a costume in adult sizes, so I thought, "what the hey?" Plus, he's my favorite horror character, and it came with a cool claw!

Heh.

Anyway, I went over to my friend, Jake's house at around four o' clock, to hang out with him, and my other friends, Tim, and Josh, before trick-or-treating. We played some video games, had some chicken nuggets, got our costumes on, and after Jake's friend Jake (yes, another Jake) came over, it was time to go begging- I mean trick-or-treating.

Don't ask why, but at every house we went to, Jake asked for a bottle of water (and we actually got one eventually!). It was a fun time, though.

I think our stash this year was about double the amount we got last year! My brothers and I usually dump all our candy into this big, orange bucket, and it usually piles up past the brim. But, this year we enced up needing two more containers to hold all the candy!

So, now we have a big, orange bucket, a little, square, plastic container, and a cake tin laying on the kitchen table, all filled to the brim with candy.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, or how your Halloween went, so leave a comment!

In other news, it's definitely starting to look like Fall outside. The leaves are falling like rain, covering almost every square inch of the lawn, and the trees are... naked.

So, I hope you had a happy Halloween, and I hope you have a happy November!

Yours in awesomeness,

~Ry.