info @ the P.Pole 06.12.06

okay, so it's the end of the school year (well, last week for me anyway). here's a quick list before i get cracking on my few things to do before... soon.

5 thoughts on the year:

• i learned a lot this year, especially about my likes and dislikes. i think i've added more to both lists in this year than i have in any other year in the past.
• grade 10 was surprisingly easy, and the insane line-up i had (with my 4 IB main academic staple courses in one semester and then the "less demanding courses" of grade 10 in the second) didn't turn out that bad. i think my pure academic semester -- with english (fun and easy times with Ms. Abrakasa), french (skipping Ms. Jhurry's class with volleyball games), science (which was quite light and fun with Mr. Zupo), and math (with Ms. Yeganegi, again, which i enjoyed since she is a pretty good teacher) -- was a lot more interesting and thus, easier, than this semester, where i have stuff like civics (which was lame because the teach, Ms. Akram, was afraid of controversy). careers (which was hilarious because Ms. McAdams let Shivon, Pradeep, and i get away with hell), economics (which was pretty interesting throughout with the wise-cracking cynic called Mr. Messere), french (skipping more of Ms. Jhurry's classes with badminton), and trash like history (you know the deal).
• i think Shivon, Kishon, and i are pretty good friends, given that we've stayed buddies since last year's first semester, period one, day one class of geography (with the insane and kooky Mr. Coram). we don't really have many classes together (i had one with Shivon, and two with Kishon, and that's for the entre year's 8 courses), but we still hang out and whatnot. Kishon's a real joker who's always up for some random shouting in class, and Shivon is the loud-and-foul-mouthed raving lunatic type that you'd love to have as a friend because really, he just makes good company. i believe we all need a Shivon in our lives.
• this year i actually got involved with school stuff, which is surprising as i had more "church stuff" to do this year than i had last year. i really don't know why i didn't do anything last year. maybe it was the minor-niner syndrome. that, or i was just too lazy. either way, this year i've done lots more. things i did include: junior boys volleyball, varsity co-ed badminton, and... well, i'll hopefully make it onto the yearbook committee for next year. okay, so i didn't do like, a million things, but it is a step up from last year's goose egg. and besides, i've got other stuff to attend to.
• other stuff such as the aforementioned "church stuff". though my personal opinion about church stuff has changed a bit (for the better, i believe), it has been quite a lot of fun and hard work. by God's grace, the Easter Drama was pulled off in an alright manner, along with the Christmas play/skit. there has been a lot that's been going on and that will be going on throughout the summer, but i'm a little bit apprehensive about getting involved in everything at once. i'm not saying "serving" isn't important -- believe me, i am totally for it. i'm just saying that sometimes we Christians go about it all wrong, and i'm just getting more aware of that. sometimes, with the way i work with others, you'd think i was just cheap (actually, free) labour and not a Christ-follower who is working in and for God's kingdom. so unless i'm sure i'm doing something because 1) God has called me specifically to that and 2) my motivation is to bring God glory, i'll be turning "serving" stuff down. maybe i'm just getting less naive.
• i think all in all, this year's been pretty good. actually, no, this year's been great! sure, there are some fun times and some unfun times, but "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him [however feebly], who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) so yeah, with a promise like that, how can anything, whether "bad" or "good", be truly bad? or just good, for that matter? life is great. it's just a matter of seeing past the present. that's not to say i've got a lot to complain about, mind you. i'm young. i'm pumped. i've got a great summer ahead of me. i've got so much, and above all, i've got a God and Savior who i has called me out of the dark. called me to what? well, He's called me to the same thing He's called everyone of His children to. to paraphrase John Piper, [wo]man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him. that's a single term. we glorify God by enjoying His company and fellowship and lordship and leadership and friendship. we enjoy God by glorying in and about Him, marvelling at His being and personality and everything about Him that makes Him infinitely good. i think many times i fail to do this, to bring Him glory by the way i speak, think, act, and live. then again, i am only human, and God has been faithful and compassionate throughout, as He has been since forever, and will be for eternity. it's all part of living and learning. i think God's ready to turn over a new page in my life's book. oh, my brain salivates at what may lie ahead for us all in the near (and distant) future! delicious!

yeah, that last little part came off pretty optimistic to me when i read over it again, and that's very fitting of how i'm feeling right now, at 5:00 PM on June 12, 2006, in front of my desktop, about to do my pile of work. did i say this was going to be short? sorry, i didn't mean for it to be so long. then again, it's not long when you compare it to say, a book. okay, digressing now. that's it, my final info session for the school year of 2005-2006. merry Christmas, and to all a good night.

note: this is completely unrelated (well, pretty much), but click on the title for a screen capture of my current "theme". i'm using Windowblinds for my pretty OS X (in red). that is Winamp open, skinned with my own Larkamp skin (which is an altered version of Jovic's DeepSun skin). at the bottom right, you'll find the handy RK Launcher that i use instead of any icons (as you'll see they're missing from my desktop). the icons for the launcher are characters and objects from the Azuzephre series, tinted by me. the background is one constructed by me from creatures by Andrew Bell from the Creatures In My Mind. as you can clearly see, i've got my Firefox open, and browsing the coolest blog in the world (i can obviously say so because i have read every single blog in the world).