Hooplah.Org A Story of Graceful Stumbles

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Finally uploaded! Prom 2001. (00:57:31:17)

I've got pictures! yay! They're a little fuzzy, unfortunately, but if I really get the itch I can probably find someone with a scanner and get clearer pictures. I've got a bunch of them, too. 39 good ones, I think. Seems like a lot... But if you really cared, you'd look at them all. The more I think about prom and what not, the more I realize what a good time I had. Hopefully the above file will play, since it would help to listen to it to really understand the pictures. I couldn't crop the file size down, so I only hope you have a fast connection.

Prom - in the parking lot; waiting, basically. (7 pictures)

prom_parkinglot-lindsay&carl(05192001).jpg. This is a picture of Lindsay and Carl. This was the first picture I had ever gotten of them together, which I thought was cool to get. They're so cute together. Aww.

prom_parkinglot-lindsay(05192001).jpg. Lindsay had such a cute dress, with this pretty little train like fabric that she could lift out... Like she is in this picture. Even though you cannot see it very clearly in the digital version, she has such a snotty look on her face, as if saying, "why, yes, I am a hottie." Hehe. And Carl is just standing around, giggling to himself. Oh, and look behind him; that's my truck!

prom_parkinglot-me1(05192001).jpg. Since I had not gotten a picture of myself yet, I decided I would hold the camera out and snap a few. I have such an ugly look on my face in this, but... As of now, this is one of the very few of me that I have of my hair and makeup, even though you can barley make it out.

prom_parkinglot-me2(05192001).jpg. I took another one of myself... The only reason why I did was because Carl said I didn't really smile for the first picture until after it was taken. So, I took one of myself grinning like a fool just to do it right.

prom_parkinglot-me3(05192001).jpg. Stephen had the camera at this point, and snapped this one of me just walking around. You still can't really see just how hot I looked in that dress. The timing always seemed to be off. In the background, the purple truck (although he would argue that it's blue) is Carl's.

prom_parkinglot-me4(05192001).jpg. I was playing around in this picture. Something about showing some leg (obviously). It was funny at the time, and of course Stephen took advantage of his possession of the camera.

prom_parkinglot-stephen(05192001).jpg. Stephen, looking as awkward as ever. I'm not sure exactly what he was doing or saying in this, but I caught him in the middle of something.

Prom - Actually inside the field house. (5 pictures)

prom_inside-bobbyandmika(05192001).jpg. Bobby and Mika went to prom together, and they both looked so hot I had to snap a picture of them. It's sort of good for Bobby that the focus is out on these digital versions, because there was something really weird going on with his mouth... But oh well. Mika turned out good, and the girls are all that matter. They hung out with us for basically the whole evening.

prom_inside-lindsay&carl(05192001).jpg. Another picture of Lindsay and Carl - this time it was soon after we had entered the gym, and sitting at the table we had claimed as ours.

prom_inside-sandy(05192001).jpg. Sandy! She had these pretty jewels in her hair, and had some pretty press-on jewels on her chest. Sandy was a hottie, too. Another cool thing about this picture, is you can sort of see how the ceiling was done... Rather neat.

prom_inside-stephen&james1(05192001).jpg. This would make a good contrast picture. This is Stephen and James. James, being the person who was all over me and hugging me and smelling me, right in front of his girlfriend. James also being the same person who became almost a third person in Stephen and his ex girlfriend, Jennifer's, relationship.

prom_inside-stephen&james2(05192001).jpg. This would be picture of B of Stephen and James posing for the camera. And yes, Stephen's face is basically smashed against James'.

After Prom Party - The basket ball game. (4 pictures.)

afterpromparty_backetball-bobby(05202001).jpg. At the After Prom Party, there were many physical games, and this is a picture of the one that was like a better version of one on one basketball. I forgot who Bobby was playing against, but this is him slamming the winning dunk.

afterpromparty_backetball-me1(05202001).jpg. This is me trying my luck at the game. I was playing against Lindsay, which made it so easy for me, because she's so tiny. Carl had wanted to go against her, but he would have murdered her. I was closer to her weight, so she would go against me. I messed her up, too, poor girl. I was really trying at the game, even though I would have won no matter what.

afterpromparty_backetball-me2(05202001).jpg. I was frantically trying to get the second, and last, basketball out of the net pouch, and Lindsay is trying to deal with Carl messing with her (bottom right). I think he was pulling on the string attached to both of us.

afterpromparty_backetball-mika(05202001).jpg. This is sort of hard to make out, but when Mika was playing the game, I snapped a picture at just the right moment when she went flying back, and landed right on her butt after the flash.

After Prom Party - Riding the mechanical bull. (10 pictures.)

afterpromparty_bull-carl(05202001).jpg. The bull ride seemed to be the most popular ride, by far. We all rode it multiple times, but this was the only picture I got of Carl on it. It doesn't come out that clear in this picture, but the look on his face looks SO DAMN HAPPY, like he could burst.

afterpromparty_bull-lindsay2(05202001).jpg. After we had been there for a little while, me and Lindsay decided we would both try to go on the bull ride. She went first, I believe. I was approaching her while she was on the ride when this was taken.

afterpromparty_bull-lindsay1(05202001).jpg. Lindsay was just about gone when this picture was taken. I'm surprised she didn't fall off then, but from the next picture, it doesn't look as though they could have happened in a fluid motion (and my camera needed to be charged up every time I took a picture with flash, so there was at least 5 seconds in between pictures.) That's Carl on the far right, obviously getting a kick out of watching her flail around.

afterpromparty_bull-lindsay3(05202001).jpg. And here is Lindsay being bucked off. She thought it was cool how I caught her in the middle of falling

afterpromparty_bull-lindsay4(05202001).jpg. On a different try, and from a different view, Lindsay is riding the bull again. I don't think she stayed on very long this time, though.

afterpromparty_bull-me1(05202001).jpg. Finally, me on the bull. I had my feet on the horns to try to keep myself positioned - like some sort of peddle action. Carl had the camera I think, and was snapping pictures like mad. He took a lot of pictures, but didn't know that my flash needs to be loaded every time for a flash picture, so they're very dark pictures, with shadow outlines. Wish they would have turned out. But oh well. I think the longest I stayed on was 27 seconds, which is pretty good.

afterpromparty_bull-me2(05202001).jpg. On the bull again. I'm pretty sure I was talking, or something, as my mouth is in a very not natural position. Damn, I am so unphotogenic.

afterpromparty_bull-mika1(05202001).jpg. Even though the guy controlling the bull was bucking all of us around like crazy, Mika always seemed to look perfect on it. Can't really tell, though, since her back was to me in this one.

afterpromparty_bull-mika2(05202001).jpg. Here we go, this is what I was talking about. She made it look so easy

afterpromparty_bull-stephen(05202001).jpg. This was very mean of me. I took this picture right after Stephen got on the bull. I screamed out his name, snapped this picture, and the next instant he had fallen off. It was too funny.

After Prom Party - Playing cards (1 picture)

afterpromparty_cards-carl&stephen&james(05202001).jpg. When we got to the After Prom Party, the blackjack table was right in the main room. James was already playing, and Stephen and Carl went over to join him soon after. I'm not sure how long they stayed there, but me, Lindsay, and Sandy eventually left to go walking around.

After Prom Party - The cash bin. (4 pictures)

afterpromparty_cashbin-carl(05202001).jpg. The cash bin was the only other way you could win the kick ass prizes that they had. This was how I won my camera. In this picture, Carl was trying his luck. He grabbed a lot of shit, but since we waited until the end of the evening, there were a lot of prizes like sunglasses and key chains. But doesn't the money look so cool? I love how it looks. It looked so frantic and a mess when it was in motion, but the way the money flows in designs like that is almost too pretty. Or maybe that's just me.

afterpromparty_cashbin-lindsay(05202001).jpg. This is Lindsay trying her luck. I think she said she may have grabbed 4 blank fake bills, and then grabbed a real dollar. You can't make her out that well - she's sort of the shadow on the left.

afterpromparty_cashbin-me(05202001).jpg. This was the time when I won my new camera. In this picture. I think it had just started, and I wasn't used to the paper flying up like that. Or, I was just freaking out like a little girl. Whichever.

afterpromparty_cashbin-stephen(05202001).jpg. In this picture, with the way things are stilled, it's almost as if he's looking straight down at that obvious pile of money that's almost resting in the same area that his hands are. I can't remember if he won anything from this. He probably did, because he went home with a lot of shit.

After Prom Party - The DJ's room. (3 pictures)

afterpromparty_djroom-emily&james&stephen(05202001).jpg. In the cafeteria of the elementary school was where the DJ had set up. This was where they were serving food, drinks, the place for picking up won prizes, and the site where they held all the scheduled events. This is James and Emily, shaking their groove thing. Stephen is to the right. Notice anything about Stephen? He's not wearing pants!

afterpromparty_djroom-lindsay&carl(05202001).jpg. This was near the end of the night, when we were all tired as hell, and were just waiting until 4:45 to come around so they would start giving out the prizes. Lindsay was having a snack, while I guess Carl was still trying to get over the full out or more he spent playing the juggernaut name. He refused to smile for the picture, although, Lindsay said he looked as if he was sort of smirking.

afterpromparty_djroom-stephen&david(05202001).jpg. Stephen and this guy David were doing a really cool dance... It really was... And when I decided I wanted to take a picture of it. I got my camera, waited for the flash to charge, finally brought the camera up to take the picture, and caught them as they broke apart. David was coming right at me, and Stephen, in true form, was about to take a dive to the floor. I think this picture captures just how clumsy he is. Especially if you compare him to the way David recovered from the dance.

After Prom Party - The juggernaut game. (2 pictures)

afterpromparty_juggernaut-carl1(05202001).jpg. This was the game that Carl spent hours playing. Carl is the one with his back to the camera. Neither Lindsay or me played, because they had helmets which would have messed up our hair. And plus, I'll bet the helmets were funky, since guys were wearing them and sweating while they were playing.

afterpromparty_juggernaut-carl2(05202001).jpg. In this picture, I was calling Carl's name, trying to get him to turn around and look at me. He didn't, though. He seemed to be too focused in the game.

After Prom Party - "Relaxing." (2 pictures)

afterpromparty_relaxing-mika(05202001).jpg. A little bit after me and Lindsay played the basketball game, Mika got the idea to just plain lay on it for a little while. So, both me and Lindsay climbed up there and I snapped a picture of mika.

afterpromparty_relaxing-lindsay(05202001).jpg. Of course I had to get a picture of Lindsay flopped on the basketball court. That thing was really comfortable to lay on. Shame that shortly after words they made us get down because two other people wanted to play.

After Prom Party - The slot machines. (1 picture)

afterpromparty_slots-lindsay(05202001).jpg. These were the famous slot machines. I had heard a lot about them from Lindsay when we had been doing makeup stuff earlier on in the day. In this picture, Lindsay was playing the one that didn't like to let people win. To her right are the two that were broken. I'm not sure if they were broken at that time, but they were by the end of the night.

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I am really hyped up. In one day, I came up with the idea of going to Myrtle Beach for two nights on the way back from FL and made the reservations. I brought the idea up to Lindsay and she said she would love to do it. Sandy said she wanted to, too. The problem? Carl would prefer just to ride through Myrtle Beach, maybe spend a few hours, and then go to South of the Border to stay the night. As far as I know, he's the only one who wants to do that... I don't know. I'm trying hard to respect his opinion on the subject, and Lindsay really is... But it would certainly be a lot easier to show sympathy if there was any logic behind it. As it is, Carl will probably only be able to bring $200 to contribute to group funds, which me, Sandy, and Lindsay can afford $400. If it's money Carl was worried about, he shouldn't, because if there was ANY price break, it would go to me, Sandy, and Lindsay, since we're already putting in twice as much as him. He's giving Lindsay a big head ache about it, which is making me feel guilty about it. But, I've already made the reservations, and he had until the 3rd to officially change his mind. I hope he doesn't. I'd really love to stop there.

The guy I talked to on the phone was a real flirt and a joakster. Made me nervous for my making my first reservation.

I didn't get my pictures today. I got the film back from my new camera, but since I requested to have my other pictures scanned online, they're taking an extra day. I'll pick them up after work, and hopefully post them then, too.

This afternoon I watched the movie "Little Nicky" with Stephen. I thought it was a funny movie, but Stephen seemed to think it was more disturbing. Oh well. That's his problem.

Tomorrow, I'm driving Lindsay to school, since Carl is skipping. I would skip, but I want to be there to pick up my yearbook (which I hope they're not doing alphabetically... That would mean I can't pick up my yearbook until Tuesday) and finish my test up in Algebra. Once I've done that, then I'll skip. I have to work, which is really blah... But oh well. I hope Lindsay and Carl work out the fight over the vacation thing by tomorrow. It bothers me to hear Lindsay pause the way she does... She is usually so upbeat, and happy. It doesn't suit her, and it makes me uneasy. Especially since it's my fault.

Blah... I think I may have typed my energy away. I hope. Or, at least, my eyes have gotten extremely heavy.

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I've been trying to crop that voice thing I made... I only saved it in RealAudio format, since a .wav file would have been 540MBs. So, now I've had to hunt down some softwear that will let me edit RealAudio files. Such a whore.

Alan IMed me. In his normal, way too formal and not so interesting style:

LeturnoAl:: an album i think you would enjoy: Ani DiFranco, Revelling and Reckoning. some of the lyrics: http://www.righteousbabe.com/news/rev_rec2.html .
CHRlSY: Which lyrics exactly?
LeturnoAl:: all of Ani's lyrics are awesome.
CHRlSY:: I suppose.

So boring. I thought he was actually trying to say something by doing that. He was just trying to seem interesting in some way.

I put my film in today to get developed, so I should have bunches of pictures tomorrow afternoon. Kick ass, eh? I don't think I have any pictures of me at prom... I know I took a shot of myself in the parking lot before prom. Maybe two. But I was just being stupid.

Yearbooks will be given out Friday and Monday. It took freaking forever for them to get here... This time last year, we had had the books for at least two weeks. Really sucks. But oh well - I got a glimpse of what the books look like, because some of the people who are in yearbook are in my 4th period class. (And I think it's so unfair that they get their books first. They didn't pay any extra to get their books early. I mean, shit, they already know what the yearbooks look like. But that's alright. I'm going to be doing yearbook in college, so, it's all good.)

I have senioritis so, so bad. I only came for 4th period today.. But that was mainly because I had a sub in both 2nd and 3rd. I didn't want to do a practice exam in Algebra, and I've completed all the work for 3rd period. No real reason to go to that class for the rest of the year, actually.

I got paid today. $189.44. Less than I was hoping... And it seems that no matter how hard I try, the balance in my check book always seems to return to the $600's or less. I don't have any planned expenses for the next two weeks, so hopefully everything I put into the bank will stay in the bank. I need it for the trip to Florida. Only a little more than 2 weeks... Damn, that's not long enough.

Uhm... I don't know what else to really write about. I've been trying to send out graduation invitations, but my parents (or, my father) don't seem to grasp the urgency of sending them out now... I mean, what if people actually do want to come, and not just send money? They won't have time to request time off from work, or anything. Lindsay was already getting responses from the letters, while I have not even sent them. That's horrible.

Want to know how stupid my father is? When I was making out the invitations, you're supposed to address the inner envelopes by the name you would usually call the family member. When my mother told me to put "Uncle Frankie and Aunt Norma," my father started trying to correct me by saying I should not refer to my aunt Norma with the word "aunt" because she wasn't blood related, and was only associated through marriage. When I told him that he was wrong, he started screaming, "Who in the world calls them that?" I tried to respond with "Everyone", but he only followed with an annoyed "Who?" We did that 4 or 5 times, until I started rambling off everyone I knew. My father is such an idiot... and in such damned denial about it. It's things like that that make him just sickening. It's things like that that make him so distant from his own family. And it's things like that that put me in the situation that I am in now - not even knowing my own family. Mother fucking asshole, I hate him.

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** I couldn't upload all of the RealAudio clip that I wanted. Damn mother fucking connection. Wasted basically 12 hours trying to UL it. As Brian suggested, I'm going to crop it up into 10 minute clips at a time. He also added that no one would want to listen to me talk for an hour, anyway. Blah. Eat me raw, yes they would. **

If the above file doesn't load, be patient. I'm in the process of uploading it, since it's 40 some MB. Might take until tomorrow.

Things I forgot to mention in the above clip:

- I knew Lindsay and Carl had gone to Fredericksburg on Senior Skip Day (Friday) because I had gone to CVS to pick up some film for the prom after going to the Library for some hair style books. When I was at the light, I saw Carl's truck enter the lake from the other direction. I had also talked to a girl named Amanda in the parking lot, who works at CVS, and she told me I got the wrong speed film. I exchanged it the next day after getting my hair done.

- Carl took a couple of pictures of me and Lindsay with his digital camera while we were doing our makeup thing. I'm going to try to get those pictures from him.

- When me and Stephen Saw Lindsay and Carl leaving Fredericksburg after they had gone to dinner, the time was really 5:30ish. They did not go straight to the school, either; they went home and got after prom clothes.

- Carl was proud enough of his cuff links (spelling?) to show me and Stephen. One had a "C" on it, and the other had an "H" on it, for his initials. Heh. Real cute.

- At the prom, a bunch of other people were apart of our little dancing circle. Near the end, I spent some time dancing with Jennifer A, and Dustie W. Jennifer convinced me to try to "dance down low", as she put it. You just sort of say "go", and start dancing lower and lower to the ground. At one point, Michelle B., who I had talked to earlier and had complained about how she had to get a new bra because her breasts grew again, came into our little dancing circle and started dancing. Then, of course, she came towards me and brought me into the center of the circle, and I tried my best to dance semi dirty with her. I think I looked horrible, though, because I couldn't seem to be able to dance down low with the dress on. But oh well.

- At one point, Stephen was dancing with a girl named Emily. He said something to her; who knows maybe he even asked her to flip him. They were dancing back to back, and Emily picked Stephen up, and basically had him almost vertically across her back while she was bending over. Then, of course, his feet started to raise, and he did a full flip over her, and would have landed on his head if Bobby had not half caught him. Pretty funny.

- At one point, we all needed something to drink and eat. They had a nice little table filled with lots of fruits, and a shit load of cheese. For the drinks, they had a fountain set up - there was a bowl, and it had a structure coming out of the top. At the top, there were about 4 or 5 areas where the drink was pouring out, creating a nice stream of green liquid. That was how you filled your glass - by putting it under the stream. I am pretty sure I saw them adding Cool Aid and Ginger Aile. It made for a very unique taste. When we were leaving the table, I went to grab a grape, and the girl behind the counter snapped at me that there were these little picks that you were supposed to pick up the food with. Wouldn't have done any good, anyway, because the grape was attached to the vein.

- At one point, at the after prom party, there was a best legs competition. Stephen was going to enter, and even took of his pants so you could see his legs. (he had some sort of shorts on underneath.) But they didn't let guys enter, which I thought was dumb. Guys have better looking legs than girls do.

- FYI, all of the little scheduled events happened in the cafeteria. They had a stage in there, and it's also where all the food and the bar were.

- Two of the slot machines were broken, and one of the two that worked didn't like to let anyone win. They had a black jack table, which is where Stephen, Carl, and James went straight to once we got there. I don't think any of the girls I was hanging with played.

- By the end of the night, just before they closed that money pit thing, they had changed the rules around some. People could now stay in for 30 seconds, every piece of play money had a prize on it, and they had $5 bills in there. But the prizes on the backs of the play money sucked by the, so it was alright.

- I looked this up today, but my camera has a value of $45-$50. When I turned in the prize play money, the lady said "whoa." Damn right.

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I hate the way I write. That's probably due to the fact that I'm not even really interested in the things that I do write. I wish I could be writing something else. The life I wish I had. My thoughts have been so jumbled, and my writing shows it... I can't keep consistent thought.

Had another dream about Alan last night. It was a very weird dream... Me and him were together as a couple in this dream. It was based on a lot of weird things. Like a video game where there was flying, and apparently I hurt or killed someone or something with... A giant strawberry tray? Don't know. Getting in trouble for hurting that person was probably from me worrying about getting written up at work for talking about butts. Oh well. A couple of hours ago, I was thinking about the date as I was writing down things in my checkbook... And possibly I have been dreaming about Alan because of what tomorrow is. May 7th. 3 years ago. I remember just wanting him... At the time, I barley knew him, but I wanted to possess him. Not that I ever could; just some of those feelings that can't really be explained in one word, because it doesn't exist. It was the same feeling I had about Carl. Emotions would come later. So I just told him I loved him. Asked if I could be his girlfriend. And he accepted, simple as that. I like thinking he felt it, too. Just one of those things... trying to make something that ended so horrible mean something more than pain.