Why I've disappeared off of the internet

So the two followers (hi! I love you) of my blog as well as the one person who I know has an RSS feed of the posts (hey Tony) have probably noticed that I have disappeared for about the last month. There is a really long answer to why this is but if I were to write a detailed explanation about that, well, it would no longer be a blog post, it would be a memoir.

The short (and slightly disingenuous) answer is that I have been really busy with school.

I have been out of school since Thursday due to parent-teacher conferences and it was a lovely four days of relaxation and solitude. Unfortunately, I have to return to school and all of its probably tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it. With any luck, tomorrow will be the day that my sanity completely breaks and I get sent home. (Which, you know, would technically be a negative thing, but, for me, insanity is more calming that school.)

In sincerity, this blog post does not serve a purpose, but I felt a little bad for vanishing for so long and wanted to post something. I solemnly swear to post a proper pre-NaNo post by the by the end of the week.

Until then my lovelies,
Sam

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I am loathe to admit that I have not done any serious planning for my NaNoNovel this year. All that I am going to go off of is my working title. Which is (clichéd drumroll please) . . . . . . . .


LETTERS FROM A TEENAGE INSOMNIAC

It's going to be realistic fiction I think, which is not my usual genre, so we'll see how it goes.
Only 8 days and a little under 4 hours until the craziness begins!!!!!

A very off day

What happened yesterday:

I am apparently really, really bad about noticing things in my surroundings.

When I got to school this morning, I ran into my ginger friend Hannah (I have at least five friends named Hannah so I have to refer to them by hair color or personality characteristic.) She was going to meet her parents to practice the skits we have to present in Spanish tomorrow. I started complaining (admittedly, loudly) about my crap partners and how they haven't done any work.

Later that day Kate (who I talk more about later) told me -- tweeted @me actually -- that Eli (one of the partners I have been complaining about) had heard me complaining about him.

A positive start to the day.

Later on, my guidance (aka my stalker) counselor came into our homeroom. She talked with whomever she needed to talk to or whatever and then left. My friend/bandmate Kate is in my homeroom so after checking that Henson had left to go to another homeroom I began explaining to Kate about how Henson's tiptoeing around me because I'm mentally unstable or whatever.

Somehow the conversation segued to me complaining (and generally being bitter) about how I wasn't allowed to to take AP Lit because I was still technically a junior in the eyes of the Lit Department. That pisses me off because I know that they let at least one junior (I know for sure) that they let take APLit last year. I continued on with my much thought on, prepared rant over the one person per graduating class that the school will let take any class they want.


So there I was, just ranting away. Kate and Megan, my physics partner from last year who was also there, were listening to me rant. It was a beautiful disaster.

Then from over on the far side of our homeroom: "Wow, Sam's really worked up about this." Mrs. Henson. She had never actually left our homeroom. Fantastic.

Luckily homeroom ended shortly after that so there wasn't anymore time for me to bad talk people in front on their faces.

Right after homeroom ended, though, Kate spent a good three minutes laughing at me.

I'm not looking forward to that meeting I have with Mrs. Henson tomorrow. I can't see it going well.

Mac vs PC

The Great Debate:

Who Shall Win and Who Shall Be Eaten By Dragons?

I have used both PC/Windows and Mac/Apple throughout my entire life. As I start planning for college and the need to buy a laptop, I thought I would use my greatly neglected blog to present each side of this long lasting argument in a fairly unbiased way.

Let's begin. . . 

Apple

The Story

   My school district is an Apple Distinguished Institution which is basically just a fancy way of saying that Apple sponsors us and gives us lots of its products. Every student in grades 8 through 12 is given a personal MacBook to use during the school year. Elementary schools and the seventh graders have more than enough computers to go around as well. Several departments in the high school have recently gotten several iPads and iPad 2s in the last two years.

   Having grown up in a Mac-Obsessed school district I am proficient as using Apple computers and programs.

The Pros

• More user friendly (though with all of my Windows experience 'user-friendly' isn't necessarily a requirement)
• There are some programs I really like that are Apple specific.
• Fewer viruses

The Cons

• Not Windows
• Sometime perceived as pretentious. I am in no way a pretentious person.
• I do not know all the tech secrets for Macs. I know basic troubleshooting that I have picked up but still have to bother tech support for anything more than Force Quit and Reboots.
• More expensive than many PCs
• I have had my Apple comps crash way more than my PCs

PC

The Story

   I grew up using PCs. My older brother is a Computer Programming and IT major in college and my dad's one and only hobby is Computers. I am more familiar with troubleshooting and support for PCs because I have gathered slightly-higher-than-common-knowledge troubleshooting throughout the years from my brother and father.

   Having being raised in a PC enthralled household, I am highly proficient in all things PC and Windows.

The Pros

• I feel that I know more about PCs even with all of my Apple experience.
• Less expensive
• Has the most up-to-date version of Word, PPT, Excel, etc that come with the computer when I purchase it
• Fewer crashes, easier to create back-up drives/disks (that I know of)

The Cons

• Not Apple
• More viruses
• It seems as if, moving into the future, many people are switching to Macs. This is not necessarily a con for PC necessarily but if I spend several hundred of my very small college fund on a brand new PC I want to make sure that I will not be behind technologically when I entire the career field.
• Some of my very favorite programs are not available for Windows OR there are not as advanced versions of said programs for Windows (i.e. Final Cut, Scrivener)
• One of the colleges I am seriously considering requires a MacBook Pro for all students in my prospective major

Conclusion

Despite everything that I have listed here (and other things that I have thought in my head but were too complicated to include on this blog) I still have not been able to come to a concise choice. When it comes to actually buying my laptop next year, more than a little will depend on cost and whether or not I'm accepted to the program and college that requires Apple products.

So, neither PC nor Mac wins. I feed Mark Zuckerberg to the dragons. Problem solved (until next year that is.)