Kevin Le

Love

2010-01-22T00:03:00.001-08:00

Sing

2009-12-19T00:15:00.000-08:00

hrm

2009-11-29T11:13:00.000-08:00

I've forgotten to blog
. . . and now I don't know where to start.

"Love Like a Sunset" composed and performed by Phoenix

Nearer My God To Thee

2009-08-27T21:44:00.001-07:00

Beautiful.

-Kevin

Telescopes

2009-08-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

Hello, Darkness, my old friend
You are invisible
I explore this universe
I've come in search of you again

Here be Dragons
You are everywhere
For thousands of years
We've come in search of you again

This gravitation cannot be broken
We desire knowledge
You are the great ocean of truth
That lay undiscovered before me

Unknown, uncharted territory
You are everything
Since the beginning of mankind
We have come to find you

This gravitation cannot be broken
We desire knowledge
You are the great ocean of truth
That lay undiscovered before me

-Kevin

We Are The World

2009-07-20T11:08:00.001-07:00

I finished Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries on Sunday while I was at work! I am very proud of myself, but I have to continue reading A Tale of Two Cities now. It hasn't gotten to the interesting parts, yet! I need to start studying for SATs again, too.

Yesterday, I watched the choir dvd and jammed at George's house with George, Jordan, and Ruth. As a result, I recorded a performance that we did of Falling Slowly from the movie Once. I must say, it is quite awesome! I finally found my keyboard that was lost inside Jordan's house, haha.

Music is so fun and rewarding! I wish I could do it forever- but I'm so much better at science. I don't mind, though. Nam showed me a French band called Phoenix that just started to get big in the United States! Interestingly, they sing in English and are very good.

I went to a Red Cross event where we planted trees! It was very fun! Strongwood is the best tree :)

84 Degrees

2009-07-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

It's a nice and sunny day outside! Why am I still inside my house staring at a boring computer screen?

Well, my dad bought a house in Costa Mesa the other day to lease out to prospective renters. My cousins and I had to de-weed that entire front lawn and make it look nice with fake grass and everything, haha. I got lost driving back because I had to take my cousins home! I wasn't allowed to drive the freeway with them in the car, so I took the local route. I took a wrong turn and I think I ended up near Newport Beach. . . whoops!

I've been very fatigued for the following couple of days! Manual labor takes a lot of my energy. So lately, I haven't done much except sit around. I'm also waiting to see if I made it into the Red Cross LDC! They're supposed to mail a letter to me. I went to the beach with my family, which was pretty fun too.

There's this book I'm reading called
It's quite interesting! Did you know that we are all made out of exploding stars (supernovas)? Fascinating! It's nonfiction, but I'm almost done with the book.

Another summer day. . .

2009-07-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

Today, I tricked George into eating JnJ's with Pham and I. The price for a double cheesburger shot up to six dollars! Last year it was about $4.50, but George and Pham told me that it used to be two bucks back when they were in middle school. I think I'll just stick to Carl's Jr. and their very convenient coupons. Later, I owned chapter 2 of AP Physics with Jay and then played some old school Dungeons and Dragons at Mitch's house. Intense!
I got a job working for Excelsius Academy the other day thanks to Kevin Tran. I need to raise a lot of money for the choir trips next year. . . which I shouldn't be wasting money on expensive burgers.
When I'm bored, I usually start practicing the various musical instruments I have in my room. I'm not very good yet, but maybe I'll be able to play a few songs by the end of the summer if I keep practicing! I've also been getting back into playing Super Smash Bros. Melee! I used to play quite a bit with Huy back in Freshman and Sophomore year (we also dominated back then). Street Fighter was really hard for me to learn because I was so used to the Melee controls, but I sort of have the hang of it.

I like to drive people around! Sometimes I think it's a nuisance and I feel really lazy when people ask me for rides. When I overcome my selfishness and laziness and let them in the car, it's actually quite an enjoyable experience. The thing is, I'm not allowed to drive people yet, so I've actually never driven anybody in my life. . .

I put the choir video making fun of Mr. Tison online:

It's surprisingly very high quality.

A letter from CollegeBoard and a package from Canon!

2009-07-09T16:36:00.000-07:00

I could have done better, but these are satisfactory. I'm probably going to retake chemistry in college anyway, haha.

My Canon VIXIA HV20 Camcorder has arrived! It used to be 1000 bucks but I got it pretty cheap for only 400 bucks at CircuitCity before it was sold out- Lucky me! It records in high definition, so I hope my computer can handle it.

There was something wrong with the viewer the first time I tried it out, so I took it to the Canon Technical Center in Irvine (yeah, I can drive on the freeway now!). When I gave it to them, the viewer was perfectly normal. . . -_-

AMERICA

2009-07-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

This summer has been semi-productive so far. It's been three weeks since the last day of school. The first thing I did was buy calculus, physics, and SAT preparation books, but I haven't really gotten started with them yet. I watched a bunch of movies that I've always wanted to watch but didn't have the time to when school was in session!: Donnie Darko, Slumdog Millionaire, The Godfather, Valkyrie, Tron, Casshern, How I Met Your Mother. I also watched Up for Amanda's birthday (haha) and Transformers at Metro Point. Hopefully I can do a Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings marathon before the summer is over! I also want to watch Pulp Fiction (Dang, I should've gone!),

Anyway, I was hired to work at Exelcius Academy to be a teacher's assistant. It probably won't take up too much of my time, considering that I'm bored for most of the day. I also purchased a Canon VIXIA HV20 Camcorder the other day for a very low price thanks to a bankrupt Circuit City. It didn't work when I got it, so I have to take it to Irvine to get it fixed. So after that's taken care of, I can hopefully start making short films with my cousins! These are my cousins (not the black kid):

My grades weren't too hot second semester. I got B's in Pre-Calculus Hns., AP English 3, Spanish, and AP U.S. History. I went to talk to Mr. Uribe about my AP U.S. History grade, though. I'm actually going to get an A! So that leaves me with the same 3 B's I got in the first semester of this year. I still want to talk to Ms. LaFramboise, but I'm not sure if it will do me any good. I've been thinking a lot about college lately. I'm considering going out of state, but my parents don't really want me to leave California.

What else did I do this summer? Uhh. . . I'm applying for the Red Cross Leadership Development Camp. That sounds fun! I should probably finish the application, though. I've been listening to lots and lots of oldies music from like the 1960s and 1970s. Michael Jackson is LEGEN- wait for it!

-DARY! Legendary! Billy Joel, The Beatles, Queen, Stevie Wonder. . . all that good stuff! Staying on the topic of music, Muse is releasing their new album called The Resistance in September!

I miss choir.

So I have about two months left of my summer. I think I'm going to schedule the rest of my summer so I actually get stuff done! Happy Independence Day!

Summer

2009-06-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

AWE-SOME

Weekend

2009-03-28T01:34:00.000-07:00

These guys are awesome!

I have so many assignments that I really won't be doing anything fun this weekend hahaha. Jeff's birthday party is tomorrow, though!

-Kevin

2009-03-26T18:30:00.001-07:00

Mr. Yarnton told us that blogs were bad :O and that I should talk to real people about my feelings instead of putting it online for the world to see. Now I wonder why I even have a blog, haha.

So our band finished learning Supermassive Black Hole and Perfect Situation. We just gotta tweak a few things here and there. Feeling Good is almost ready!!!

Hrmmm I have a lot to do this weekend: spanish project, chemistry study, labs, math study, apush reading, preparing for golden state and tour. . . blaahhh busy busy! I won't get to study over spring break with everyone!

-Kevin

Next Year

2009-03-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Hey I picked my classes for next year! I'm still deciding on whether or not to apply for ASB. It might be too much for me to handle. . .:

Troubadours
Concert Choir
AP Calculus
AP Physics
AP Government/ AP Economics
AP English 4
Tennis

-Kevin

2009-03-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

This second semester isn't that bad, actually! It gets tiring once in a while, but I'm sure I can handle it. I have an A in Pre-calc right now. I'm not doing too badly in Chemistry, English, or History. They're probably in the B range that I can boost. Spanish is giving me a little trouble, though. When the AP tests roll around, I might be screwed. I'm shooting for one B this semester: Spanish.

I've renewed my interest in tennis! I played a really fun game today against an LQ guy. I just need to practice on the weekends from time to time. . . I bought a bass guitar the other day, too! Funnnnn

Yea, I got a haircut. I miss my long hair :(

-Kevin

BLUHHH

2009-03-01T23:57:00.000-08:00

I want to go back to FRANCE!!!!

this wasn't in france, but w/e

-Kevin

2009-02-27T22:48:00.000-08:00

I'm not gonna lie, this school year is pretty hectic. I'm almost at the point where I don't care anymore- about school, grades, people, my friends, what people think about me. It's all too overwhelming for me at the moment. Yeah, I'm almost at that point where I'm about to collapse under the pressure. I can feel it looming overhead. I become tense over chemistry, spanish, english, mathematics, music. . .sometimes I feel like giving up. I'm about to explode. Huy, Jeff, George- where do you get your energy? Just by typing out your names, I might have gained some motivation to continue. I won't lose. To be honest, I'm probably not going to give up. I've got a bunch of friends who won't lose, either. They'll help me out. I'll help you out!

I feel all alone, sometimes. For some reason, I feel like I've gotten farther away from people this year. Maybe it's just because we don't feel like hanging out anymore. We're all too busy with schoolwork and homework and going to other places. I miss you guys. Tennis isn't fun anymore. Choir isn't fun anymore! How?! I don't know!!! I miss the company of my best friends and my best friend and that friend I am always excited to get a text or call from. I don't think I even have one of those anymore. Where's all the excitement this year? And I'm tired of all you phonies!

I've started to pick up guitar and bass and learning more about music overall. I want it to rip me away from my predominately academic life. I wish I could just make music with people. I wish I had time to do that. I want to be good enough to be in a decent band. But people are reluctant to start it with me- to make music with me. Or maybe it's because I'm too slow. Maybe you guys are waiting for me. . .Just wait!

-Kevin

p.s. Tonight I hung out with jeff timmy george nina caroline hoa and celia! It was funnnnnnnnnn

2009-02-10T23:42:00.000-08:00

I don't know what I'm feeling.
I think I feel like poo, but I might be indifferent. Maybe I'm just bluh.

I wish I was better. People tell me I'm pretty good. But I need to be better. I should be better.
I am so unsatisfied with what I'm doing - with what I am.

How do you fix it?

-Kevin

Ain't That Good News

2009-01-26T22:19:00.000-08:00

Troubadours went to Catalina Island last weekend! It was actually really fun! Everyone's doing an awesome job of being a Troubadour and making music! Yeah, I'm definitely proud of almost all of the Troubadours right now! I'm actually excited for competitions this year! Chyeah! I didn't really sing that well during the retreat, though :/. I was just really tired every time we tried to sing. I kept hitting the wrong notes everywhere! Blah.

-Kevin

Mammoth

2009-01-05T00:08:00.001-08:00

asdkfjalsdkfa

Clean

2008-12-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I'm blogging about my clean room! Woohoo!

Christmas

2008-12-25T23:47:00.000-08:00

dfadfasdf

Cold

2008-12-20T13:05:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas time!

Friday was pretty eventful! We didn't have to go to Troubadours that morning, so I went straight to first period. Vyvian picked me up so that I wouldn't be late. During choir, Dan, Matt, and a bunch of other alumni came back with Super Smash Bros. for the N64 hahaha. We played it on a giant projection screen! Oh! And Troubadours did a secret santa exchange :) That was fun! Alex Garvin got me a 25 dollar gift card and a water bottle - because I always take his water when we're singing. Funny :P I didn't really get anybody anything for Christmas this year. . . yet (YEAH, DICK! YOUSEFF YOU FAGGOT!). I hope Ruth likes her present, though!

Math test was horrible.

And then I went caroling with NHS with Brandon and others (even though I'm not in it). Haha, caroling is so funnyyyyy. I kept trying to sing choir-style songs! I never get to sing melody so it was really difficult. Afterwards, Brandon drove me to Mitchell's house for a Christmas party! I didn't get to dress up all nicely like George and Pham, but it was alright. Amanda and a bunch of other people went, too! It was really awesome.

And then I ended the day with Heroes :P I hope the rest of my vacation is just as awesome.

-Kevin

Rain

2008-12-17T17:12:00.000-08:00

I like the rain. I like it when everyone is wearing warm clothes but it's still really cold outside. It's nice when everyone huddles together under and umbrella or when everyone's giving each other hugs! I don't even care if guys are doing it. Sometimes, I'm too scared to give people hugs. :/ I don't know. I'm a weirdo. Anyway, maybe that's why I like Christmas time. Everyone's just really warm yet it's really really cold, like today. It was at most sixty degrees today! I hope it rains again tomorrow. Everyone has something in common - being cold!

Wow I'm weird.

The Christmas Concert was pretty good! We sang most of our songs very well, and my quartet song was alright! I destroyed my voice singing Hallelujah at the end, though. Blaahh it hurts. I need some tea. Ahh I didn't really know any alumni :(. I said hi to Timaeus Steven and Angie but that was all. It was kind of weird. Choir is really tiring, but it's over now! The spring will be intense.

My grades are slipping! Argh I want to get an A in Spanish! My math grade probably won't become an A anytime soon. I can't stop falling asleep! Maybe if I finished my homework sooner. I don't think I'll ever get an A in English. . . I'm starting to slack off in History. I'm really tired of school now.

GADFAGAJDFKASDFADSKFAMGHAKLJWFMDMDKFADF My mind is so muddled up AGSFGSDFADSFADF

-Kevin

Failure

2008-12-07T23:17:00.001-08:00

Why is everything so frustrating?!
I can't even write in my blog!

ARGHHH frustration!

life fails.

-Kevin

Thanksgiving #2

2008-11-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

thanksgiving |ˌθa ng ksˈgivi ng |
noun
1 the expression of gratitude, esp. to God : he offered prayers in thanksgiving for his safe arrival | he described the service as a thanksgiving.
2 ( Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day) (in North America) an annual national holiday marked by religious observances and a traditional meal including turkey. The holiday commemorates a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621, and is held in the U.S. on the fourth Thursday in November.

I like Thanksgiving. It reminds me to appreciate the things I have and the people who help me out. Sometimes, I know that I'm not as gratuitous as I should be. Especially to my parents. I need to be more thankful. Everyone needs to be more thankful.

Blah, I can't go camping outside :( It might rain!

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Kevin

Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T22:41:00.000-08:00

This break from school is amazing, haha. I really should be working on homework and stuff, but I gotta have some fun once in a while! It's Tuesday night and I still have a little bit of things planned; hopefully, I still have time for homework and studying. On Friday I skipped out on a CIF Football game because I was really tired. That was about the time where I started to get into StarCraft again, hahaha. George, Alan, Brandon, Pham, AnhVu, and Alex are all playing now. That reminds me, we haven't planned any DnD meetings. Oh my goodness, I'm a nerd :P. I watched Star Wars for like seven hours on Monday with Jeff, Mackel, and Alan. Neeerddynesss!!!

On Saturday, Vista View Middle School had a mini-reunion :D I got to see some old friends and I made some new friends. Football is pretty fun to play! That night, some of the AP English kids went to see Old Town, a play in Santa Ana (crazy random happenstance!! we saw Hoa, Celia, Joe, and Caroline there!). Let's seee. . . on Sunday I didn't really do anything except waste time, :(.

I played tennis this morning after like 3 or 4 months. I didn't do too great. I was doing just as bad as I was doing 3 months ago :/. I can't hit a backhand blahhh so stuuupid. How am I gonna make JV? Huy played too, but I can still hold my own against him. I also watched Paper Chase with a bunch of Chem people today! That movie was pretty funny and weird! I wish I was as studious as Hart! His study group was awesome.

I just came back from a Korean Club potluck at KT's house :D. It was pretty fun! There was food and mafia and rockband! (thanks timmy!). I like Rockband; it's a good way to get people to have fun! Ruth learned how to play guitar and Vyvian learned how to play drums :D And MAFIA was a good laugh! Thanks KT for hosting the partaay!

Dude, sometimes when I talk, I feel like people don't understand me. It makes everything so awkward :/ Blaahhh. Awkwardnesss stinkksss!

SOO the rest of the week better be good! I can't waste anymore time! Wednesday, I probably gotta do some homework. I totally forgot that we had an APUSH assignment until Ruth reminded me today! There's math and english and chem, too. Thursday is Thanksgiving, so I'll be hanging out with family. Hopefully it doesn't rain that night. If it does, I won't be able to camp outside Circuit City with Jeff and Timmy for Black Friday :O. Friday morning I think I'll be going shopping with Ruth and Katie (haha and Jeff?). Saturday and Sunday - I think I'll do homework. No time to waste!

I hope I hope this week doesn't end so badly!

-Kevin

P.S. LANY, DON'T WORRY. Everything's gonna be alright. Everything is always alright :) Just don't worry so much, alright?

P.P.S. (or is it P.S.S?) The Greatest Man That Ever Lived - The Weezer! Awesome song!

Fiyah!

2008-11-16T14:43:00.001-08:00

(mine > ruth's)

I didn't have a ride home from Saturday's AP Chemistry lab, so I took a nap on the grass. When I woke up, I saw the smoke :O.

At home, I risked my LIFE to take a picture of something horrible!

-Kevin

BARACK AND ROLL (thanks George)

2008-11-08T21:35:00.001-08:00

:(

2008-11-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

People don't realize how much fun choir is. When I made it into Troubadours last year, it was definitely the best thing that could happen to me in high school. It opens so many doors and lets you experience so many things. But it doesn't look like it'll happen this year if we keep up what we're doing. We weren't allowed to go to a choir festival at Biola University because we stink at singing. What the heck?! Are you kidding me. Seriously? I didn't do my apush project last night! Ugghhh.

Cory told me that there's this one guy who didn't really want to join Troubadours in the first place. Mr. Tison made him. There's another guy who can't stay on pitch even if he wanted to. Some people are so nervous that they can't sing as loud or as well as we want them too. A few of them are so scared that they beat themselves up over going flat or singing wrong notes. Some people think they're singing everything correctly when they actually don't know what they're doing. I think Mr. Tison did make some mistakes in putting some people in Troubadours this year. We've had a bajillion sectionals this year already. But why aren't we doing any better? A lot of people just don't realize how much work has to be put into this group. I don't blame them. The point didn't get across to them.

But come on now, I want to get 1st place this year. I want to be better than last year. I want to be better than two years ago. I want the basses to OWN. There are no seniors in the bass section. Even in concert choir (except nic loukides. i think he should be in troubadours, actually). But it's really frustrating. I don't think we're being efficient section leaders. I have to try harder to get the basses to work harder, to develop that talent that will bring us to victory. Yeah, I have a lot of stuff to work on, too. My rhythm is horrible and I think I'm like always under pitch. :/ I feel like I haven't been working as hard as I should've been. If I worked as hard as Huy or Andrew, I think I'd be pretty good, haha. And I need to find a way to encourage somebody without hurting their feelings or making them hate singing or making them hate me for that matter. Well, I know that I'm not a section leader (Jordan and Huy are), but I feel like I'm obligated to do something. Blah, I don't know. We have until Christmas to do something good.

On a brigher note, Edison's choir sucks :D

BUT WE LOST THE BELL AGAIN GASDFAEFFTHOSEREFSAFSDFLKSFJSLKDF
that was the most bullshit call ever

my voice is crappy now so I can't even sing WTF

-Kevin

Friday!

2008-10-17T20:53:00.001-07:00

Wow. It's finally Friday. This week was so freaking hectic, along with all the other weeks of school that we've had. So the other day I took my driving test, but I didn't pass! I received a critical error ): blah whatever I'll take it later again. But I was really disappointed after I took it. I wasn't even nervous or anything and I got owned blahh.

Today I got a copy of Sounds of the Seasons, our Christmas concert from last year! Brings back some memories and it's getting me in the Christmas mood all of a sudden. I really want to do well in choir this year, now. Choir is such a great stress reliever.

Labs! For chemistry, we stayed after school and did a bunch of labs! This time, they were actually pretty fun! We got to see some beakers explode, 12 molar hydrochloric acid and concentrated ammonia make some nitrogen chloride (which I breathed in)and 2-propanol flying in the air and magnesium being lit on fire in the dark. . . whooo! And we still finished with an hour thirty minutes to spare (which we used to eat food and do some extra trials). Ahh chemistry isn't so bad sometimes. :)
My grades are climbing up very slowly. I still have about a quarter to get them up to As. Blah:

troubs A
spanish B 87?% <- WTH! I'm stupid!
ap chem B 83% ish? <- BLAH I'm STUPID
choir A lol
apush A 95% haha
english SHE WONT TELL US but I probably have a C ):
precalc hon B- 80% yayy I got a B on my test so now I have a B- B)

Yeaahh I got my test back in precalc and I'm kinda happy but kinda not happy about it. 85%? Hrmm It's alright I guess but I could do a lot better than that. About English, I'm gonna have to work a lot harder to get that grade back up. I kinda want to hang out, but I have so much to do blahh. I miss hanging out with some people :/

Well, I just hope all goes well. Next week is AHA HOOPS FOR HEART! NEXT WEEK IS OUR FIRST CHOIR CONCERT! This weekend is gonna be crazyyyy preparing for all this.

-Kevin

p.s. oo the jakes are goood
yayy for HUY :D

Choir!

2008-10-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

Sick

2008-09-30T11:28:00.001-07:00

It's 11:30 am on a Tuesday. What am doing at home? I'm sick. ): Actually, I've felt this way since the beginning of the school year, but I have so much to catch up on that I decided to take a day off. I don't know why, but I've had allergies since the beginning of summer and they won't go away! Grr. I finished my spanish homework. I plan on catching up on all of the english that I missed, study for math, study for history, and work on a little bit of music.

Finish Spanish homework
takes notes on 1/2 of apush ch 9
chem hw last nights and todays, make notes
go to school, serve detention, voice lessons, get accidental asian book
read ch 8-14 tsl, mark book
read crucible, copy notes
do all of bookwork, copy notes
read accidental asian
math homework, study ch3.1-3.3
music

Some bad news: I got a 72 on my math test, so I think I have a C in that class blahh. I haven't bought my homecoming ticket, yet. I need to serve my detention before I can buy my homecoming ticket. My english grade is really bad. I have to start on accidental asian, too. House of Reps votes no to bailout, causing stock market plunge ): everyone loses money! I have a B in spanish. -_-

Good news!?: I'm probably going to maintain an A in apush. I can probably get my B in Spanish to an A sooon. Choir is fun! Homecoming is this weekend! partaaaayyy. Oh btw, I'm tutoring people in chemistry!

troubs: A
spanish: B (gonna be an A!)
chem: B probably but I can get it to an A
choir: A
apush: A
eng: C craap I have to try really hard on this
math: C craaaap

-Kevin

Nocturnal

2008-09-25T02:05:00.000-07:00

Holy cow, why am I staying up super late every night? This is horrible. I don't even have time to blog about my choir retreat! Ughhh so much homework!

-Kevin

This stinks

2008-09-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

School is already starting off badly, and I know it's mostly my fault. I brought all this upon myself, so I can't really blame anyone. My eyes hurt a lot nowadays. I have so many classes and stuff going on that it's hard to focus on something. Like, right now, I'm writing in my blog instead of studying for school. I'm sort of optimistic for this year, but it's a long and winding road. I quit Academic Decathlon with Brandon, and I'm joining Science Olympiad instead. It sounds stupid. I quit a time-consuming club to join another time-consuming club. I make a lot of reckless mistakes like that (but maybe it was not a mistake). Mr. Orme made us make a weekly schedule for this junior year. It's for time management, but it's really difficult trying to follow it. I always get really preoccupied with other things so I'd just lay on my bed and think about stuff that just makes me sad and happy at the same time. I hardly understand math anymore; my sister's algebra I book could teach me a thing or two about word problems. English is probably going to be one of my hardest classes, too. I have so many friends in the class, but I really stink at literature. History is really easy, surprisingly. George told me how to get an A in that class, and it seems to be working extraordinarily well so far. Spanish es muy facil tambien. Choir is fun haha. We're singing this song called Jabberwocky from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. That's basically what I worked on today. I haven't really done homework. I miss my iPod and the songs I had in it. My phone is pretty useless, now. I don't use it for anything anymore. . . and I miss last year, summer, and I kind of wish I could go back in time.

This is like my most emotional post, but I'm pretty emotional right now.

-Kevin

p.s. I like Don McLean

It's over

2008-09-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

but don't worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right!

-Kevin

2008-09-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

im scared of talking about my feelings on the internet

Procrastinate

2008-08-31T17:50:00.000-07:00

Lamentably, I've already begun to procrastinate my considerably small amount of homework this weekend. I say it is considerably small because, compared to last year, there isn't enough to make me stay up late. I have to break this habit before it gets too bad. I still have tomorrow to finish!

-Kevin

School

2008-08-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't written anything that much, but that's because I am not very adept in writing. Every time I start to write, I stop completely and don't continue. It's pretty annoying, but I wish I would write better. I can't even read as fast as I would like to. This just proves that I don't read enough novels, so I think I'm going to actually read the AP English books they give me this year. Speaking about English, we took a test the first two days; how wonderful!

0 troubadours tison
1 spanish 3 mooney
2 ap chemistry orme
3 concert choir tison
4 ap united states history uribe
5 ap english 3 la framboise
6 pre calculus honors tadokoro
7 tennis/academic decathlon

I am content with most of my classes this year. Troubadours is fun, as always. Concert Choir is waaaaay better than last year, because I get to lead my bass/baritone section with Huy and Jordan! I am so grateful for choir altogether because now I can sing (yeah, I didn't know how to sing before), meet a bunch of new people I otherwise would not talk to (RUTH, Mitchell!, Yousseff, Andrew, Jordan, Lany, etc. . .), and I get to travel everywhere! Spanish 3 is alright. I don't really know anybody in that class except Khang and Kevin Nguyen, but I don't get to sit next to them. At least this gives me a chance to become smart in Spanish hahaha. My second period APchem class is pretty neat. Mr. Orme isn't as bad as everyone was saying. He's a pretty good teacher, but I know it'll be difficult for me to maintain and A and stuff blahhhh. I have lots of cool people in that class like Amanda, George, Connie, Alan, and Jay. I have APUSH for fourth period, and that's an alright class so far. Uribe likes to talk about his adventures in everyoneintheworldland. English is the party class, since everyone (jeff + ackel is all it takes to = everyone anyway) is in there almost, but we already had like an essay and a test to write. I fell asleep doing the test today. Sixth period is precalculus honors with Tadokoro and she doesn't seem that scary. VYVIAN just MAKES IT SOUND SO SCARY. AHH. It actually isn't that bad hahaha (so far ): oh no!). And I will occasionally play tennis for seventh period this year. Ahahaha I have no classes with Hoa -_____- . Oh and I don't have any classes with Ruth and Huy either -__-. Except choir, but that doesn't really count, does it?

My sister! is a freshman this year! Although she isn't in the high classes, I'm sure she'll take the right course and get good grades and be super smart and troubadour-status by senior year :)

Junior year sounds ALRIGHT! Except that the second day of school already sucks. I have homework, and I'll only be getting more and more as the year progresses. I actually have to sing everything right in choir now since all the experienced seniors are gone, and I still have Academic Decathlon stuff to work on. I'm on board for American Heart Association, too. . .

But if I commit to everything and stop messing around playing Advance Wars like I did all summer, then I'll be fine. As long as I play some DnD every other Friday. . .

-Kevin

Countdown

2008-08-05T10:12:00.001-07:00

I can't believe school is going to start soon. There's only one week left until registration. Summer went by way too fast for me. I've barely studied anything other than SATs. So for the next three weeks I'm going to overload myself with chemistry and U.S. history homework. Lamentably, I still have some fun events to attend. My family is going to Las Vegas for the next three days, and the Olympics are starting this Friday! Projekt Revolution is on the 10th and American Heart Association's summer car wash is on the 16th. I barely got to hang out with some of my friends this summer, but school is coming up so I guess I'll get to see them then.

So I'll keep this blog shorter than the others because people keep complaining! D:<

-Kevin

Dungeons and Dragons

2008-07-26T00:13:00.000-07:00

I went to George's house today! Dungeons and Dragons is seriously the best game ever. We played with Mitch Char, Alex Chiang, and Pham. :P I think I like it better than Final Fantasy because it's not bound by pre-made storyline. Alex is an excellent game master! It sounds nerdy but I don't care haha. I'm an Elf Druid :)

Today we owned a couple of windegos and cobalds while trying to save a young boy's life in order to get reward money but we got jipped and now we have to go save a burning town by defeating something in the hills :O

-Kevin

Summer

2008-07-24T22:58:00.001-07:00

I just cleaned up my room! I found a prodigious amount of old stuff and even more junk that I don't even need. I'm going to donate all my books to the library, because I'll probably never look at them again. I purchased some of my school supplies, too. So I think I'm on my way to a good start for my hectic junior year! My father is ambivalent about trading me his iPhone for my phone and iPod, but I'm pretty sure he'll give in.

Summer has been pretty alright so far. There's a bunch of things I've already done. I beat Rockband on hard with Jeff, Timmy, Ackel, Alan. We made some burgers inside a swimming pool. I saw Coldplay. I watched The Dark Knight at midnight! The movie was seriously one of the greatest I have ever seen. I want to experience it in IMAX! Hoa and I have been going out for six months! Unfortunately, I have not studied as much as I should have, yet. Hopefully, I'll get in gear within the next few days. I received a 2 on my AP European History exam. That's really crappy.

I want to write more, but I'm super tired from cleaning, blah.

-Kevin

France

2008-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm back from France! The tour was amazing. We traveled across France from Marseilles to Paris, singing in the some of the most beautiful and prestigious cathedrals. Here is a chronicle of my adventures. It's mainly for myself, so you don't have to read it. Just know that I had tons of fun.

The plane ride to France was not fun. I barely got any sleep and I looked like a mess but that's what happens to everyone on an eleven hour flight. I sat by myself in two seats for most of the flight because people began to switch seats. We landed in Paris and took another flight to Marseilles, took a quick tour, and stopped at a little restaurant on the streets for dinner. Our first dinner was pretty big. I learned that French people usually ate in three course meals every dinner. Unfortunately, the food wasn't that amazing. We stayed at a youth hostel in Aix en Provence that night, where I roomed with Mitch, Paul, and Alan. Interestingly, there was a blackout in the hostel. The Troubadours got settled in finally after the lights came back on. I took a nice cold shower for about thirty minutes, which made me feel super refreshed. It was around one by the time I started to sleep.

We woke up the next morning and ate a bland breakfast at the youth hostel and then took a tour of Chateau d'If! That's the place made famous by the Count of Monte Cristo! I got to go inside his room and crawl through the little hole into the Abbe Faria's room. I decided not to take a bunch of pictures because everyone else was taking pictures. Ruth probably has a memory card or two filled up with pictures from France. We took a boat back to the city and I think we had free time after that to eat lunch and walk the streets of Marseilles. We rehearsed and sang our first concert in the Cathedral St. Sauveur. I don't remember if we did well or not in this concert. We might have been mediocre. But after that, we came back to our hostel and had a dance party on an abandoned tennis court next to the hostel. It was dark but there were some lights and I brought out my iPod speakers so we could play some music. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long and we ended up just staying in our rooms. We talked about choir drama for a little bit and then went to sleep.These days feel incredibly long. We woke up in the morning and took a bus to a small village called Gap, where we got to meet our home stays! I think we only went to Gap because Mr. Tison was obsessed with the Tour de France, and he happened to be in Gap when it happened. Well, first, we visited a very old castle built in the 12th century. It's crazy how all there's all this stuff in the rest of the world. I feel like I'm missing out in America. Gap is beautiful. These next few days were definitely some of the most fun I've had on this trip. So basically, the Troubadours were split up in pairs and lived with real French people! Mitch and I were lucky. We were probably living in a upper-middle class family. Nicole Reynaud didn't speak any English, but her son, Quinton did. He was about thirty years old. The first night, we ate a dinner with their entire family. I don't know how they were related because there were two little girls and maybe an aunt and an uncle and a dad and a mom but I don't remember. Nicole was our mom, though. She definitely is one of the best cooks I have ever seen. She cooked for us some lamb and potatoes and cream, rattatouille, and mushrooms. I actually don't remember exactly what they were but oh my goodness it was amazing. They also served us some wine and champagne! Mitch had about seven glasses and got drunk. Or maybe he just got really buzzed. I only had two glasses, though. We went to our rooms and accidentally fell asleep. By the time we woke up, it was around midnight. We stayed up until around three doing random stuff like playing cards and practicing music. It was kind of difficult to stay up, but we eventually fell asleep.

Mitch and I woke up late the next day. We arrived in the town center about thirty minutes late, but nobody really noticed. There was a small tour of the town but nothing really interesting. Actually, I don't really remember what we did after that. Oh yeah, we had a picnic at a gigantic park/forest next to a chateau. We celebrated Tiffany's 18th birthday there! Happy birthday Tiffany you are so cool! After eating, we walked around and got incredible views of things you just can't find where we live. The drama kind of got to some of us, but it was fun I guess. We walked back and played soccer with a bunch of French kids. We outnumbered them twelve to six but we totally got owned. At the end of the day we had a dinner and a rehearsal and a performance in a small church in Gap, but that was about it. We had a horrible performance, by the way. I totally sucked on my solo. Mr. Tison flooded us with criticism but I seriously was too tired to really care until the next day. I'm listening to a recording of us right now, actually, and we really really really really suck. Our home stay families drove us back home through the mountains and the small French roads. I felt really tired and disappointed but whatever. Nicole gave us some leftovers from yesterday and it still tasted wonderful. We tried to communicate with broken French because Quinton had to leave. She washed all of our clothes for us and then Mitch and I killed some mosquitoes and fell asleep. By this time, our camcorder was totally out of batteries, so blogging became very difficult. That night we complained about stuff and how choir could be better. Or maybe we did that the night before. I don't remember. It doesn't really matter.

The next day, we were supposed to take a tour of a chateau in Gap, but Mitch and I arrived late again. We roamed the outside of the chateau, taking every road possible to try to get inside. It was kind of fun, walking around with a giant bag for lunch that I couldn't carry around without Mitch. It seriously felt like I was in Lord of the Rings. When we climbed to the top of the hill, we could see the chateau to our left and a view of the mountains. Anyway, when we got nearer to the chateau, we heard them singing Salve Regina without us! When we got to the gate, it was bolted and locked up. We tried to open it and hurt ourselves. Mitch and I gave up and sat there until the choir director for Gap's chamber choir saw us. He let us in, but the tour had already ended. We had lunch around there and then we went back to Gap, where we were given free time to roam the city and shop. France is really really hot. I don't think I've ever been cold in France except in the bus where they blasted the AC. I think I wasted about 75 US dollars on water and drinks alone in France, too. I've shared the same bottle of water with probably every person in Troubadours, too. And there was a lot of drama on this trip. Bryce got kicked out of the day's concert for I don't know why, but I think I cried inside. Not because he was the only other baritone but because I hate it when things like that happen. Fortunately, it was one of the best performances we would have on this trip. All of our home stays came to watch us and even the soccer kids from yesterday attended. I wish we had a recording of that concert instead of the one that I'm listening to right now, because it's not very good.

We left our home stays the next morning. It was such a great experience for me overall. We left Gap and headed to the second largest city in France: Lyon. We ate lunch in the middle of nowhere and then arrived at Lyon, where we had a boring tour. We checked into the youth hostel later that night and partied! We played card games like mafia, egyptian, and camps/pepsi. I don't think I got much sleep that night. We do so many things on this trip that it's hard for me to miss home. It's kind of tiring to see the same people over and over again, though. We see them so much that they begin to become annoying. Of course, that's not their fault. It's my fault for being so judgemental, unfortunately. On the other hand, I've made some friends on this trip!

I decided to sleep in and skip breakfast the next day. Tiffany woke us (Paul, Alan, Mitch, me) up about thirty minutes before the bus left! We basically had the whole morning and afternoon to ourselves. We roamed the streets of Lyon, buying souvenirs. I bought a cool watch for myself. I dropped the watch and the glass shattered and it totally got owned. I was allowed to exchange it for a new one but it totally freaked me out. Unforunately, it's still cheap and it doesn't really work! I'm going to have to go get it fixed a watchmaker or something. I freaked out when I thought I got pickpocketed, too. The day got better after that. We met these two street performers named Pierre and Sylvain playing a guitar and a hang drum, respectively. They were about our ages, but it was the hang drum that caught our attention. I've never even seen an instrument like that before. We harmonized with their songs and then invited them to go watch our rehearsal later in the afternoon. We have recordings, which should be up soon. The day ended with a concert at the Cathedral St. Jean in Lyon. It was a relatively weak concert, but these cathedrals are amazing to sing in. Actually, it wasn't a good place to sing. The fact that we're singing in such a beautiful place is amazing.

The next morning, we took a bullet train from Lyon to Paris. It took us about two hours to get there, travelling at over 100 kmph. We took a bus tour after that, but I took a nap on the bus during that time. Paris is overwhelming. It has so many things! The Notre-Dame, Madeleine, the Obelisk, the Arc de Triumph, the Lourve, etc. I ate McDonalds for lunch, haha. And then we took a bus to the Palace of Versailles! I was so proud of myself for knowing so much about the place thanks to AP European History. We made our way to the hotel after that and had dinner and stuff.

I slept in again just to get in some extra sleep and skipped breakfast. Mitch, Bryce, Angie, and I went to the Lourve! I recognized a bunch of paintings that I learned in school. We were supposed to go to the Arc de Triumph, but we ran out of time. We met up with the rest of the group at the Obelisk in the middle of the Champs de Elysees, rehearsed, and sang in La Madeleine. It was a beautiful cathedral. We did alright and they asked us to come back next year! We ate dinner somewhere, but I forgot where. And then we came back to the hotel and went to sleep like usual.

The last day of the entire trip was probably the best day of the entire trip. We sang in Notre Dame for about thirty minutes with a bunch of tourists coming in and out. It was pretty annoying and nobody was really watching us sing. We had about three or four hours to roam the area around the Notre Dame, buying gifts and souvenirs. I didn't buy many souvenirs this trip, but I spent so much money somehow. I don't know where it all went! We sang our final performance in the oldest church in Paris: St. Severin. It was probably the best concert we've sung on the trip. I felt such a personal connection to the music during this concert that I even teared up on The Road Home and Salve Regina. That was the seniors' last time they would sing as a Troubadour. :( For the rest of the night, Mr. Tison took us to eat on a five-star restaurant on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, overlooking Paris. That was when he announced the men's quartet for next year, and I'm happy to say that I am in it! Tenor 1 is Youssef, lead/tenor 2 is Andrew, baritone is Cory, and I'm the bass. I'm so glad! There's a girl's quartet for next year, too. Kellyn, Kelsey, Jackie, and RUTH KIM :D are the members! Okay, after the dinner, we took a boat on the river and experienced Paris in the night!

I love France. The culmination to my first year in Troubadours could not have been any better.

Mitch and I decided to blog the whole trip and we'll be editing the video tomorrow or something. Hopefully, it will turn out to be entertaining. So now I'm back home. I got a 4.48 GPA for the 2nd semester! The only B I got was from English, which I had anticipated. I constantly have to do chores and stuff, though! I feel bad, too, because I broke my camera that I never even used, and I lost my retainers which cost about $300. I feel so bad for wasting my parents money, especially after my trip to France. I'm so sad. Yay summer.

Blogspot

2008-06-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

So, I made a blogspot! I thought I should get one because I have a really bad memory. When I'm old and stuff, I'll have something to look back at, now! Today is the first day of summer, and yesterday was the last day of school! Ahh I hate school sometimes. . . but I don't think people like me would appreciate summer without school. All that stress and hard work really paid off, and now I'm so glad and relieved that summer is here. I'm going to play guitar and piano, play Ragnarok, watch Coldplay in LA, hang out, study some SATs, ride my bike everywhere, watch a bunch of movies, drive, and most importantly, sing in France! Being in Troubadours really made my sophomore year. I really make a lot of great friends in choir. We got to sing and dance and travel! I wouldn't give up being in that group even for tennis. But tennis is really fun, too, I guess. I was better last year. Being in JV wasn't really that great for me. The best thing was skipping about 20 days of spanish (and sleeping in the rest of the days) and still getting an A. That reminds me, I don't even know if I have an A in tennis, because I didn't show up for the last three weeks of practice. . . scary! My grades were pretty good overall. It was really scary for me during finals. I studied my ass off for chem and trig and pulled off a 91% in both classes. I only have 1 B (in english), and I hope to keep it up next year. This whole year was pretty crazy. It was really weird in the beginning. The end of the year was really something, though. Next year is going to be a lot of fun. I have so many good friends this year compared to last year. But when I think about next year I think about homework and late-night study sessions by myself. It's going to be quite difficult, blah. My sister is going to be in high school next year as a freshman. She's going to be really amazed. I hope you girls will take her under your wing and train her to be a sophisticated like you girls are :). I'm going to get to know my sister some more this year. I'm going to get to know all of you this summer, too! IF we hang out, so call me up!