Year in Review

From this to that and everything in between, it has been a good year. My butterfly time is still stuck, but that's nothing new. Everything has started moving. I don't necessarily know what I mean by that, but it seems to fit the jumble of description that is scrambling around in my head. I'm doing a poor job of describing it otherwise. Moving seems to suit the year. And I finished the Eternal Chapter in The Telethren. Pretty sweet.

Moving. Doesn't that look cool? The italics make it look like its definition. Okay, bed time. Breaking a carbanation abstinence with Martinelli's does weird things to you. I should have toasted with some red cream soda. *drooling* Mmmm, the stashed red cream soda...

Collage

In a fit of morbid cynisism, I have clipped lines from songs and a few narratives and arranged them into...something. I figure, if you can clip pictures from magazines and call it your own, I can clip words from other stuff and call this my own. Joy.

[Insert Title]

Running with the shadows of the night
This is war
A lost soul out of place
And I slowly go insane
Puts my back up against the wall
Homeless sleeping on a cold, dark street

Fought a losing war on a foreign shore
A lifetime of dreams can’t be wrong
Crashed and burned, I know I never learned
Life isn’t tame
On a barbed wire fence
I taste the tears

Streak of madness lies inside of me
There’s just an empty space
When hope dies
Lost the fire I built my dream on
Nothing left here to remind me
Bruised silken sky and burning flag
Like bodies in an open grave

Dreams

The ocelot paced along the branch of her tree, gazing up at the moon. Her imagination was pulling at her again, dragging her into the glory of the sky. The starlight wrapped around her, cradling her fragile dreams. The moonlight bathed her mind with a vague reality, though it made no attempt to penetrate the conjured castle of her dreams. Possibilities wafted through the halls of her fantasy, blown by the soft wind of her thoughts. She was a wolf, racing along the paths of the night forest. She was a raven, gliding high with sad tidings in tow. She was a hawk, sharply watching life below. A doe, wandering without a care. A coyote, alive in pranking, her eyes searching for an outlet for her cleverness. An otter, slipping through the waters as though one with them. She was the river, alive only in the giving of life to others. The sky, bearing the sights, sounds, smells of life through the world.

Abruptly, she returned to herself, an ocelot wound in a web of duty. Duty in which she both reveled and despaired. Duty, the foundation of her life; learning, the climbing walls; her dreams, the glittering turrets topped with brilliant banners.

Wow. That was kind of weird. I don't know where it came from.

Realizing the Misery

I apologize in advance to those who are uninformed on matters of Son of Sferesh, but as the story has been on my mind lately (I want to finish another chapter before break ends), I have been discovering intriguing things, and they're all I have to talk about right now. I would suggest ignoring this post if you do not know anything about Son of Sferesh.

I have been pondering at great length how Maric will fit in with matters in the Royal Court of Kumei (besides ticking off Elyste, of course; I know that's going to happen and certain people *ahem* are antsy for it). I have inserted a few other people to the mix. Zefran Bantare, Prince of Varesi, is now a good friend of Kalen Hentra, Prince of Kumei. Kalen now has two children by the time Maric meets up with him, both boys, instead of being newly wed. Endrea will, in the course of the narrative, be betrothed to Zefran (Zefran is the fifth son of his family, in case you're curious).

I have just realized how all these additions will impact Maric. Zefran is a curious fellow, and plagues Maric with goodnatured, yet unwelcome questions. Maric will find out about the proposed betrothal during the Harvest Festivities, around the same time that he gets chased out of Kumei for the third--count 'em, three--time. That will be disheartening enough, but he gets over Endrea in a month or so anyway, so that's all right. However, Kalen's wife is going to affect him keenly.

Maric has lost a great deal by way of capacity for human interaction. Kalen's wife, Fara, is rather attached to her husband (the arranged marriage didn't end as badly for them as it did for Cedric [who actually does have a child, now]). When Maric first heals Kalen, this is an issue, but only in the sense that he needs her to go away in order to heal Kalen properly. Later, though, the love between Kalen and Fara is going to be one of the driving forces behind Maric's misery.

When they all go off to war (there's always a war in fantasy, so don't look surprised), Fara will, of course, be seeing her husband off and wondering if it is that last time she will ever see him. By this time, Maric is no longer masquarading as a fully human person, and is watching from a decent ways away with his wings and claws and scales in full view. He can't hear anything they say, but the expressions and the motions are enough to almost make him cry. In that moment, he recognizes how much he lost in his moment of ignorance. I didn't realize how bad I had hurt him with something that happened in chapter four. He may be the same person, but he had no chance for a decent life anyway. I think I do him a favor my killing everybody off. Letting Anloi go would have been worse than having her stolen.

I feel really bad for mutating Maric now. I didn't mind so much, before.

In other news, I find basing physical descriptions of characters on real people very entertaining. Swim team members are being inserted into the plot everywhere. Though, the chlorine discoloration on their hair makes that part a little difficult. Kalen is a swimmer, as is Zefran, and Aldrus of Ungaran, and Akeran, Kalen's right hand man. I think that at least one more will fenagle himself a spot in the storyline; I feel that I have to complete the circle.

Sorry for the unintelligible post, but I had to put the thoughts somewhere, and here seemed as good as anywhere else.

12 Days of Swimming

Written and choreographed by Danny M.
Performed and sung by the OTAC Senior Swim Choir

On the first day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
A 1x200 free

On the second day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free

On the third day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
3x75, 2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free

On the fourth day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
4x25 sprint, 3x75, 2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free

On the fifth day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
5x100 IM, 4x25 sprint, 3x75, 2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free

On the sixth day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
6x50 free, 5x100 IM, 4x25 sprint, 3x75, 2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free

On the seventh day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
7x100 sprint, 5x100 IM, 4x25 sprint, 3x75, 2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free

On the eighth day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
8x25 sprint, 7x100 sprint, 5x100 IM, 4x25 sprint, 3x75, 2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free

On the ninth day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
9x50 kick, 8x25 sprint, 7x100 sprint, 5x100 IM, 4x25 sprint, 3x75, 2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free

On the tenth day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
10x25 sprint, 9x50 kick, 8x25 sprint, 7x100 sprint, 5x100 IM, 4x25 sprint, 3x75, 2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free

On the eleventh day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
11x50 IM, 10x25 sprint, 9x50 kick, 8x25 sprint, 7x100 sprint, 5x100 IM, 4x25 sprint, 3x75, 2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free

On the twelveth day of practice my swim coach gave to me:
12x25 EZ, 11x50 IM, 10x25 sprint, 9x50 kick, 8x25 sprint, 7x100 sprint, 5x100 IM, 4x25 sprint, 3x75, 2x50 drill, and a 1x200 free!

Review: The echoing on the pool deck added to the resonating and stirring effect of sick swimmers' voices. The technique of the swimming was elegant, if not synchronized (though one hears that OTAC has synchronized productions as well). This once-a-year experience is a glorious addition to any Christmas tradition.

Familia

My family is so random. I try and I try not to inherit the odd things that my mom and dad do, but there's no escaping it! I've already started to say that being "so prophetic" is a curse, really. Ickle brudder numero uno, at home, behaves like he is heaven's gift to women (he doesn't act like that in public, so no worries. It's really funny when you know he's not serious). Just tonight he said, "I attract them from all ages. What can I say? When you've got it, you've got it!" And my dad was backing him up with, "When you're hot, you're hot. You can't help it, I can't help it, we've all just got to make due with our curses. I have to keep the chicks of with a stick."

Meet Review 9

Today was wacky. I'm going through separation anxiety with my events. I swam the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle, 100 back, and 400 free relay. The first wasn't bad, though I didn't do incredibly well. The second, I haven't swam since my freshman year and I can't remember how to pace it. So, I go to the all-knowing Toddles for instruction. "Stay with the pack for the first 50, then go 80-90% for the next two, then go all out comin' home." Sound advice, if everyone wasn't in events they didn't swim. Staying with the pack didn't make sense, because "the pack" was slower than I was (I wasn't seeded with a time because I haven't swam it in so long). So I had to try to guess at my pace, then I hit the beginning of the second 50 and the coaches were gesturing wildly from the deck. This puzzled me; everyone was a bodylength or more behind me. I sped up on the third fifty, and still they were frantic, almost like it was a close race. I sped up a little more, just to please them. The last 50 was, of course, an all-out sprint. Coming into the wall, I see that I took second place by a tenth of a second. I shoot my glance down to lane five, and much to my surprise, I see another girl, the flamingo, also very out of place. Apparently she noticed me when she came off the last wall and sped up.

I cannot remember the last time I swam the 100 backstroke. I think I was 12 or something, 'cause it was a long time ago. I hate the backstroke. I can't breathe when I swim backstroke. I asked Coach why he had to pick the backstroke and his only answer was that I hadn't swam it yet. I did fairly well for my circumstances, and when I got out he laughed at me and said, "You let them win one; that was nice of you." [The team we swam against was really bad, just so you know.]

The 400 free relay was supposedly even (i.e. he put the speed on the team evenly across the three teams). I disagree, but it still gave me motivation to go fast. I went the time that I haven't touched since the Blue & Gold. Good stuff.

200 medly relay (fly) - 34
200 freestyle - 2:20.44
100 backstroke - 1:17.86
400 free relay - 1:04.64

Meet Review 8

It's a little late (clever, clever rhymage). The meet against TvHS was...interesting. Their girls are the top in state at the moment, but they don't even have enough guys team members to fill up the relay spots (meaning they have five). Also, this meet has been dubbed the Meet of the Neverending Nosebleed. During the winter my nose gets really dry, and random nosebleeds occur all too frequently for my taste. This meet was actually the first one I've had in the water, which is lucky.

A 400 into warm-up (i.e. not very long into it) my nose started bleeding horrendously. I had to stop and make it look like my nose wasn't bleeding, 'cause even though there is plenty of chlorine to kill anything that's in my blood, you're still not supposed to be in the water while bleeding (understandable). So I stood at the wall, sniffling and hyperventilating to try to keep the blood inside of me. Generally these liquid-induced nosebleeds go away in 5-10 minutes, give or take. But I didn't get to warm up any more during the half-hour interval! Luckily, I wasn't swimming the first relay, so I had that time to get blood clots going and warm up. But my nose had other ideas.

IT KEPT BLEEDING UNTIL HALFWAY THROUGH THE MEET! That means that I didn't warm up before the IM. That also means that I was bleeding during the IM, but the officials didn't stop me because if they would have stopped me, the would have had to stop everybody else as well. I added six second.

Then my nose stopped its rampage during the ten-minute break between the 50 free and the 100 fly (I didn't swim the fly in this meet; that is the first time in high school swimming that has happened). Coming up on the 500 freestyle, I was warmed up and ready. I didn't drop any time, but I matched the one I posted last Thursday. But the team feels like crap; I beat our fastest 500 freestyler by eight seconds. That wasn't supposed to happen, obviously.

The relays were dumb. I had been randomly losing circulation to my hands all meet, and right before the relays it came to a head and I couldn't really control my hands any more. It was stupid. On the 400 free relay, my legs went numb too, so I think I looked like I was flopping around rather than swimming. I didn't do so hot in either race.

200 IM - 2:39
500 free - 6:18.97
Relays - don't ask

Meet Review 7

Today we swam against MHS and some podunk school that isn't worth mentioning, as they had little influence on the outcome of the meet. MHS is the school standing between our guys' team and a state title. However, I think that our guys have forgotten that it takes effort to win things. It was only the third event and Coach was ticked at the guys. The girls were another matter. We scared the other team, which is good considering they were hoping to cream us. But there are a few little anecdotes that I should share.

MHS does not have a warm up/cool down area. This is like sentencing a swimmer to torture when they have events that are close to each other. Take the 200 IM and the 100 fly, for example. I'm not the only one that has to do that; the serval does too, now. We managed to get the places that we were supposed to in the IM, even though we both added time (we're dead, give us a break). Nevertheless, the fly came all too soon. After the IM, neither of us could actually stand up until the next race was partially over. Come the butterfly, we were so dead that we planned how to not do great in the fly. The serval was more worn out than I was, so what I said was this. "You just stay ahead of me. I'll watch the girls behind us. They are supposed to be four to five seconds behind me, so you stay ahead of me and we'll be good." All went according to plan. She added four seconds and I added two, but we got second and third like we needed to. We only have so much to give. Though, both of us had to check the opponents' positions off of every turn.

The girls had a relay DQ'd. Not happy. We could have been within, like, ten instead of within twenty.

Sadness

I got locked out of the pool today. In my swim suit, soaking wet.

It was like this, see. I had to throw up. Don't worry, I'm not sick or anything, I had just eaten a little too close to a tough workout. It happens to other folks all the time. It's the first time I've had to worry about it though. Anyway, there is this door by the lap lanes that leads to a patio sort of thing outside, right? Well, during the winter it is kind of given that you go there to spill your guts or get fresh air or whatever. So there I went (I actually managed not to throw up). However, being the inexperienced individual that I am, I forgot that I needed to keep the door open. So I was locked out of the pool. The next time that people were supposed to stop at that side of the pool was quite a ways off, but I pounded on the glass door when people came up for air. I got one kid to perk his head up and look around, but he didn't see me. I didn't really feel the cold, but my feet were turning purple. Finally one guy that was sitting out of the pool saw me bang on the door and told MV's coach that I had locked myself out. She came and saved me, much to my shame. When I tried to swim again, I discovered that all my limbs were numb. It was kind of funny, actually.

Meet Review 5 & 6 - The Trip

Down in the land of the Redmen, the pool is so chlorinated, it tastes like salt water. The fluid bites at your skin and gnaws at every bit of flesh on your body. Painful, disgusting, and a very bad thing to add to the already detestable conditions. The pool area reminds one of a run-down garage and one tends to feel rather like a sewer rat while pacing the locker rooms. Ceiling tiles somehow ended up adorning the walls and none of them are as straight as it appears they were meant to be. There is a very flawed and annoying painting on the wall. The pool is in meters, meaning it is longer than my usual distances, which are in yards. But enough about the pool, on to the racing. Again, I was thrown off.

-200 medley relay - meh, I could tell that it was longer than it was supposed to be.
-100 fly - 1:24, but it was in meters
-100 breaststroke - 1:35, which converts to a 1:28 in yards. None too shabby, considering I hate it.
-400 free relay - everything was still numb from the breast, so I don't think I did well.

That night, at the hotel in St. George, I had to listen to so much girl gossip that I thought I'd puke. And I kicked trash at Phase 10, even though I've never played before. Wahoo.

The next day, we proceeded to the other pool. Oh my, it is gorgeous. Especially when in comparison to the other one. The water is crystal clear, it doesn't burn, it is the perfect temperature for racing. It is at lower altitude. It is in a bubble, but it is a bubble far superior to those 'round here. It has eight lanes. There is a ledge a little less than five feet below the surface, allowing one to rest while in the deep end. I can't tell you how much I love this pool. Nevertheless, it was my third meet in a row. Thus, I was very, very tired. And worn to the bone.

-200 medley relay - I don't know.
-200 IM - 2:38; yikes
-100 fly - 1:19; ouch
-400 free relay - 1:10 split; can I hide my face in shame?

On the bus ride home, the leopard seal sat behind me, and he had forgotten to take his pill that morning. I have discovered that I twitch badly when I try to fall asleep in an upright position; I have bruises on my shins where I kicked the seat, and my friend thought there was something wrong with me. Then she stuch a fruit snack by my nose and I thought it was the leopard seal with the wood duck's drumsticks. It was an interesting ride home. I'm tired and I miss my mom, but I won't see her again until Friday.

Meet Report 4 -- Topsy Turvy

For the record, I have swam the 200 IM and the 100 fly in every high school meet since my freshman year (I swam three or four at the beginning of that year where Coach played with it). I have never, on a consistent basis, swam the two freestyle relays at the end. Today I swam all of my events in the second half of the meet. Wow.

-100 fly - at least something was the same. I went a 1:15; none too shabby when one is ill.
-500 free - yikes. That's a long ways when one is no longer used to pacing oneself. I'm in a sprint kind of mindframe; you don't sprint the 500. I dropped about a minute, but I haven't swam it in a very long time either. 6:18.
-200 free relay - story time! This event comes right after the 500, right? Well, me, being unused to this sort of thing, forgot that, as well as forgeting that I was in this relay at all. Eventually I had my teamates yelling at me across the pool to hurry, that the race was almost starting. I was sprinting across the deck, tugging the straps of my racing suit into place and pulling my goggles on. I was expecting them to start without me, as I didn't think that I was first. But then, I hadn't remembered that I was swimming either. Under the direction of my fellow swimmers, I jumped on the blocks and swam my guts out, barely keeping us from getting DQ'ed for delaying the meet. Afterwards, I discovered that I wasn't supposed to be first. Yeah, that was happy. :31.41
-400 free relay - I did better in this event than I have since the Blue and Gold meet. 1:05

More meet updates will quickly follow; we have one tomorrow, one Saturday, and one sometime soon next week.