Mondays...

Since my high school took the idea that Latin is a dead language literally and killed the program, I have been taking IB Latin at 7:00 a.m. over glorified Skype from a teacher at another school. Of course technology will always have some shortcomings. The long-distance learning thing has stopped working 4 times. This means we go to school ridiculously early, only to find that we won't be able to have a real class. Seriously, why can't we keep our technology working? The Romans were the most technically advanced civilization for thousands of years. They built roads that still work today, they had aqueducts that provided water for entire cities, they built loads impressive ampitheaters like the Coliseum, they invented the freaking arch and concrete for goodness' sake! Surely as Latinists we should be able to equal their standards at least in the technology department. It's a little on the pathetic side that we can't keep a handle on our technology quite as well as the Romans could.

Our glorified Skype the Romans would be ashamed of

The lab is alive with the sound of music... Or it would be if my biology experiment had worked. We went out to the creek near our school and collected water samples to do experiments that involved messing around with bacteria. Of course my logical train of thought started with, "If singing is supposed to make plants grow, what about bacteria?" It makes perfect sense, so I walked into the lab today armed with my CD of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" to subject my bacteria to and observe population growth. First off, there were very few microscopes to go around (Public education is a real bummer), and I had to wait over an hour to get a base count of how much bacteria I had. It was all for nothing. I had NO bacteria whatsoever in my samples. At first I thought I had something, but it turned out to be some gunk on the microscope lens. At least it simplifies writing my lab report.

Science!

I had another complete and total fail during lunch. Today I had a thermos of hamburger meat and cheese mixed together. Like a total clutz, I accidentally spilled some on the table. Now, I have a friend religiously averse to anything that involves vomit. Even the word disturbs her. So she asked me to clean it up, because it resembled puke to her. I cleaned it up with a paper towel. Meaning only to tease her, I tossed the balled up paper towel at her, aiming over her head so it wouldn't hit her. The short story is I have terrible aim. It landed in the top of her shirt. Whoops.

My I-don't-know-how-many-greats grandfather

Then came history. This is only a minor fail, but I just find it incredibly ironic. The teacher asked who lead the Virginian opposition to the Stamp Act. Naturally, I thought the answer would be Thomas Jefferson, because he's a pretty good example of a revolutionary Virginian statesman. The answer was Patrick Henry. This is only ironic because I'm descended from Patrick Henry. You know, the guy who said, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" Somehow, deep down, I feel I didn't fulfill some familial obligation, like when you neglect to thank a distant relative for some nice but completely unnecessary birthday present you'll never ever use. But history was improved by the fact that we discussed British taxes on tea. Because, by some happy accident, I had decided to wear my teapot ring today. Always look on the bright side of life!

My revolutionary ring

Today was also Federalism today in the AP Government classes. I'm not in AP Gov, I got a 5 on the exam, thank you very much. But sophomores in AP Gov are assigned to bring in cakes for a grade when discussing federalism, because the classic models of federalism are cake-themed. This is one very good reason for being friends with sophomores (besides the fact that they're super chill in general). After school, they were walking down the halls with their cake projects. As a good friend and supportive upperclassman, I eased them of their burdens by begging off a couple of bites of their delicious projects. I am always willing to help my underclassmen friends like that. 

You know, just your usual Monday stuff.