I played Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C Sharp Minor (one of the two famous C sharp minor piano pieces/this is the one that starts with 3 chords not 2).
backstory
At the competition, I was nervous as usual. However, enjoying the piece really helped me to be somewhat calm, and I managed to get through a lot of it without my nerves affecting me too much. Although, during the middle section that goes super fast, I missed a few notes and stumbled once or twice. They put it on my evaluation sheet to "relax" a bit in that part lol. idk I can do it well at home or without pressure but I guess just more practice mighta helped. I ended up getting first though so

Woke up early the next day and went to the SCU High School Math Contest (or is it Competition). Once again, I solved more than I had expected, but as usual, I missed some random stuff. (I think I traditionally miss the first problem) There was a problem about simplifying this disgusting fraction with a series of radicals in other fractions and whatnot that completely threw me off. Later I heard a bunch of people talking about how it ended up simplifying super easily but I guess I never got there. That's probably my only regret from the contest, considering I solved a bunch.
I went directly from my math teacher's house (we all went there and back together) to Stanford for SPLASH. I wasn't expecting too much this year; I wasn't even going the whole time since I had the SCU thing. I got there in time to get some lunch and then went to my classes. I purposely got a bunch of lecture-style classes so as not to be too devoted to anything. (does that even make sense) Maybe it was my low expectations (for fun, not quality), but I definitely got more than I expected. My classes were pretty cool, with cool facts and decent teachers. It sucks to get a teacher who can't teach or has a thick accent (no offense but them Asians at Stanford), but all the teachers this year were good. During the lottery I sought out a class from the legendary David Carreon, and I got one (for my last class on Saturday). Not counting the annoying middle-schoolers who were probably not middle-schoolers, the whole 2 hour class was fantastic.
-
The next day I decided to skip church and went to Stanford just in time to squeeze in a class before lunch. It was
actually pretty good; a great public speaker talking about business etiquette. I acutally just recently realized the title of the class was "How to talk your way into a job interview" and not something about the actual interview. The slides were somewhat disorganized and not very helpful, but the guy's presentation skills and actual speech organization was great. It was in the 200 building, which meant I had to walk into the front of the classroom derp. I had actually already learned a lot of the stuff from a Public Speaking class I had taken before but I still learned stuff like "the waiter has a right to pick up what he left" (Properly trained/high-profile waiters will serve you food on the left and will take it away on the right)
Lunch the second day was more interesting, meeting up with some friends and acquaintances (dangit notepad doesn't have autocorrect and I feel like I misspelled that).Some of them were these three brothers who I used to see a lot but they left our orchestra this year. The oldest one is two years younger than me but he's almost as tall as me now. It was actually really dumb how I got my pizza a bit early and then waited, leaning on a big column near the lunch tables, while my friends got their food on the other side of the building on other tables and waited just around the corner. Eventually they decided to go without me and stumbled upon me lol. Tressidor (is that how you spell it) hasn't changed much since I first went to SPLASH 3ish years ago. I think the Panda Express (if it was even that back then) was being remodeled for some time, and the yogurt side was being remodeled once too, but everything's been pretty much the same. I'm glad I got to get yogurt this time and relive the memories; I'm hoping to do that again this Spring. Totally honest, I actually wasn't really looking forward to seeing some of the "friends" I saw, but it ended up being pretty chill actually. Even though a good half or 2/3 of the group were actually acquaintances and one person I had never met before, I wasn't my usual shy self. idk I've sorta noticed it before, but around this specific family and whoever else, I talk a lot more. Anyway, we got our yogurt and headed back to classes.

I don't remember anything significant happening this SPLASH. Overall, it was another great SPLASH that I reflected on with a smile. I was sad to leave but I'm looking forward to my last one this Spring. Besides the people I met up with, I saw several people I sort-of know. E told me that apparently K and A from our orchestra were there but I didn't see them. On my record of SPLASH's, this one was a good one but I don't think it was the best. I still remember ones where a lot more of my friends went, and those were really hype. We're all older now, so I guess we don't have as much time. btw there were actually more high-schoolers and even seniors than I had thought would be there. Spring 2016 will be my last SPLASH so I hope it'll be awesome.

After a few years, all concerts are finally back on Monday nights. (-normal ones; we have a few other special ones this year that are on random days) Fooling around before the concert was pretty fun, as usual. At this concert we found out that our friend B could also do the hip shake/thrust thing, and he and my brother did it in sync which was actually somewhat fascinating but stupidly funny. So I decided to learn it too and now I'm pretty good at it.

From Nov 25-29 we were at Mount Hermon for a Family Camp. We had thought a lot of people

weren't going this time, but it ended up being the most fun I've had since AWANA camp in June. I had wanted to blog about
it and now I can't remember a lot of what I had wanted to write about. sigh* A few random memories in no particular order-

Math Club had like 3 consecutive meetings, and they were all really hype. On team stuff (and we're the B team) we guessed
super clutch and I calc bashed to find a Pythagorean triple with 11 as the shortest side. (If you're interested as to what it is ask in comments or shout)

At our monthly Journey meeting, E and R showed us these cool slingshot helicopter toys. It's basically one of those things that you slingshot into the air, and then they float down in some cool way. The ones that E and R had were pretty legit, with flashing lights, spinning blades, and made out of some decent material that probably won't break super easily. E could launch them extremely high into the air, and eventually some of us came close.

December 7th marked the beginning of finals week at Foothill and De Anza (community colleges). My English class was having the final meeting today. Technically we didn't really have a final; we did have an essay that was due on Sunday night and the only thing we had in-class was a cover letter where we wrote our thoughts and comments on the class.
Most of the class was a potluck where we ate donuts, gummy bears, and other unhealthy stuff at like 8:30 in the morning. B was really nice and made a "Summer breakfast cassarole" (oops is that how you spell cassarole) that was amazing.
I accidentally got too many gummy bears that took a while to finish (why are they so hard? - I guess it kinda helps
prevent them from sticking too much to your teeth) When the teacher said that everyone could leave, pretty much everyone started leaving. S and C and I stayed behind to finish our food and talk a bit more, and we ended up helping the teacher to clean up. (B and A were also there) Afterwards we slowly walked to the parking lot and talked about random stuff and then said our goodbyes. I just realized I probably won't see C that much anymore either.
I'm pretty sure I got an A, if not an A-. I'm actually not sure when grades are coming out, probably by the end of this week. [*written earlier*] I got above 90 for all my essays, and at least 95ish for quizzes and other random assignments.
Darn so I really liked this class; I'm not actually too sure why. I only really talked to a few people in the class (besides mandatory discussions), but I felt like I knew everyone rather well. A lot of the class is taking 1B next
quarter, and most of them are taking it with the same teacher. S and C probably are too, so it's a bummer I can't take it with them. (Physics and Math and [maybe]History and English would be dreadful) Or maybe it's just the way I get emotionally attached to everything, including classes aparently.

Wednesday was the History final, or rather, when the final was due. It was a take-home final, a 4 page essay on the causes and effects of the War of 1898. Also due was another 4 page essay, a critical analysis of Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. We had 3 midterms throughout the quarter that were each 20% of our grade. The final essay was another 20% while the critical book analysis was the final 20%. I got 98, 89, 89 on the 3 midterms (actually found out the last score when I turned in my essays). I procrastinated so much for the essays.The final was announced around a month (probably less) before the end of the quarter. I started researching the weekend before it was due. This essay was actually pretty interesting; before, I didn't even know what the War of 1898 was. (look it up; it's a somewhat subtle way of naming a war that is usually known by another biased name) I finished the essay the night before.
The book analysis was announced at least 2 months in advance, but I ended up writing that one on the day it was due. To be honest, I didn't actually finish the book. However, I did read enough of it (almost 2/3) to know a good portion of what I needed for the book analysis. I used Cliffsnotes, Sparknotes, and Shmoop to help with the essay.
I will probably never know what I got for each essay, but when grades come out I can calculate the average. (or at least estimate, because a letter grade won't tell me exact percentage)
Wow. I got a lot out of this class, including many fascinating insights on the past as well as the present, for example the current Presedential race. Probably my one big takeaway would be the only required book. Uncle Tom's Cabin is probably on my top 5 list of books I would recommend for reading. It's extremely long (lol I still haven't finished it; hoping to over Christmas break) and somewhat hard to read because of the accuracy of accents, but it's definitely worth it. (There's a reason it was the 2nd bestselling book in the 19th century [behind the Bible, another book I'd recommend])
So. . . probably another A or A-, depends on how good my essays were.
The professor for this class was fantastic. He tends to go off-topic and spew his opinion on a lot of stuff, but overall, he's probably one of my favorite teachers ever.*There's a lot of stuff about him, but I think it's his sincerity in teaching. You can tell he cares about what he talks about, and he has firm beliefs. His political viewpoints were somewhat similar to mine so maybe that was part of it XP.
I wish I could take another one of his classes, but that's probably not gonna happen.Next quarter is most likely my last, and he's not teaching any U.S. History classes that match my schedule.

This was the December Mathleague (which apparently duck28 doesn't know about), and it was located at Amador Valley HS like 2 years ago. (Last year it was at Valley Christian) I'm not sure why, but this certain Mathleague is always hosted by high-schoolers from Amador, and I don't think farmertim actually goes to this one.
I had really good memories of this Mathleague from two years ago, although only a few of us went. (I believe it was at this Mathleague that I learned to play Liars (or is it Liar's) Poker.
Anyway, so I was already expecting for this contest to be super fun, even though briantix wasn't gonna be there (which kinda diminishes all my expectations for everything this year), but a bunch of people from my math club were going, due to a huge influx of freshmen this year.
Most of us went together, but the trip there (45 minutes I think it was) ended up being pretty quiet. Maybe because it was early in the morning (like 7:15 on a Saturday morning sheesh) or maybe because the different rows in the van were doing different things. (I heard they were playing Texas Hold'em 2 rows in front) B and I ended up writing on the window in the steam (or fog or w/e condensation) and I was bummed that I couldn't remember any of those cool proofs for 1=2.
We got to Amador Valley a bit after 8 (if I remember correctly), and I was surprised to actually remember some of the surrounding neighborhood from 2 years ago. It took us a bit longer to find the venue than it should have. When we walked into the same building hall as last time, the first thing I noticed was how the tables were set up differently, for noticeably fewer participants. It was still quite early and not everyone had arrived yet, but it turned out there weren't that many people this time.

We waited probably at least half an hour for the competition to start. We spend a lot of it on my phone actually. I showed everyone some games I had on my phone (simple but hard games from people who make 2 Cars) and we ended up having a lot of fun with it.

On how well I did on the actual test, for now I can just say that I did extremely well on Target (6/8) and not as well on Sprint. But that's ok cuz I traditionally fail Sprint.

Relay & Team: Relay was interesting. I was able to solve every problem that I got (except one, but sorta cuz the number I received from a teammate didn't make for a reasonable problem). Unfortunately, our team got a grand total of zero because we switched order repeatedly but never got a round where everyone could do their respective problem lol.
We did a lot better on team, even though I contributed basically nothing. There was a Bible story problem (ok I called it that, but all it had was Queen Esther preparing a banquet) that I said we just had to solve correctly, and I proceeded to solve it incorrectly. (Good thing my friend checked it and we went with his answer) All the other simple questions were pretty much taken, so the only other thing I did was calc-bash a problem regarding prime factorizations. So regarding this factorization problem (darn forgot it and don't have the test with me right now), one of the guys on our team has a pretty OP calculator (I think it's one of those new T-Nspires (darn that's not how you spell it derp)) that can do factorizations, so yea . . . XD

At Math Club meetings, we traditionally guess something right on pratice tests, but sadly that didn't happen at Amador
Also, there's a sophomore on our team who always gains some significant insight and makes a ton of progress on a really hard problem that no one else can do but for some reason never fully solves it lol

There were absolutely no seniors there (college apps? idk) and I got 2nd for my grade LOL. (yea caps LOL) The difference between 2nd and 1st was like 30something points though.

The only other thing of note about this competition is probably how bad the administration was this year. As I said
before, this contest at Amador is run by high-schoolers from that school. Two years ago, the 3 or so guys running it did an excellent job, but this year was a different story. . . OK so none of them could project any sound at all, so
controlling and organizing a bunch of high/middle schoolers wasn't happening too well. But whatever, everything ended up

running and we finished all the tests before lunch so yay.
-oh yea that reminds me; J brought a biga$$ sandwich for lunch, apparently to share with everyone. Everyone was supposed to bring their own lunch, and since everyone had, (except for one guy who bought the optional pizza there) J was left with an entire Safeway sandwich all to himself. A few people ended up getting a few slices from him, but at the end of lunchtime we faced a pretty decent-sized chunk of sandwich (at least 8 inches) on the table. I think he ended up wrapping it up and bringing it home lol.

The ride home was much more eventful. S and J were playing Texas Hold'em again, but this time in the back row, while B and I sat in the front. I more or less helped B solve a riddle from K, which took up the entire car ride and prompted me to find another riddle for our car trip to BMT. (darn SMT isn't happening but idk if we're going to the A* replacement)

Remember how I said I was already expecting Amador to be super fun? Well it actually exceeded my expectations and surpassed my hype. This was perfect, since it was probably one of the last Mathleagues I'll ever go to. (idk if we're going to another one; we probably are though)

Today was an interesting day. The title could have been "Concert and Dinner," but it isn't. So our swim team had its end-of-the-year potluck on this Sunday (cuz the hall was booked the rest of the weekend). Unfortunately, our orchestra's Valley Medical Concert was also at the same time. Neither was mandatory and I couldn't go to both. The choice was extremely hard for me, since orchestra and swim team are literally my top two favourite activities right now, but I ended up choosing the swim team potluck. I can't say I regret the decision, but for some time I actually questioned my decision.
I feel like this is a rather deep topic I could talk about so I'll hold my thoughts for now. (It's a struggle that's not only fresh in my brain but somewhat ever-present)
Anyway, the potluck was chill and fun but, to be totally honest, it didn't live up to my expectations. A ton of people were supposed to be going, but very few people actually showed up. -__- We had to message some of our friends to actually get some people there.
That's kinda all I have to say right now about the potluck. Oh besides the fact that swim team actually ended the week after lol.

That night we went to another potluck for one of our youth group-ish groups. (which is kinda weird cuz we're not really even a part of it anymore) Everything was pretty fun, but most of the "friends" there are really people that I just know fairly-to-really well but don't actually talk to (except maybe 2 or 3). I got to talk to one of my close friends there about college apps and junior college (we both attend community colleges). He was supposed to be doing homework lol but I had a pretty lengthy conversation with him about college stuffz, and we only stopped when some people called us over to claim the last presents in the white elephant thing (which we had chosen not to partake in). So I got these ridiculously sweet caramel chocolate confection things (they're like cookies, but covered in so much sticky stuff that they might as well be candy). Someone got a selfie stick and someone else got some nice earbuds (or were they headphones I already forgot) but I didn't really care.
We said we were gonna get together with some people over the holidays but that hasn't happened yet and probably won't. ugh

This was the last orchestra rehearsal for the year, for our Christmas concert that was to be the following day. Pretty much a normal rehearsal, but not really. . . B (not the same B from Mathleague lol) (this is what he insisted*) had found a hoverboard outside a Denny's recently, and he brought it to the rehearsal that night. -Now there's a bunch of 'wth' stuff in this story, like that he "found" a hoverboard outside a "Denny's," and he just picked it up and brought it home. If B had told me this like 4 years ago, I would probably be super suspicious, but he's grown up a lot and I trust him now lol.
He also claimed he had never ridden it before. . . which is weird cuz he rode it like a pro right when he got on. He said it was "just like a Ripstik" but when I tried it I had to disagree.
Well our extra long break that rehearsal (~30 minutes dayum) ended up in a bunch of guys running around behind B on his new hoverboard, with some of the people chasing occasionally taking turns. No one else could ride it like B so I guess B is just naturally talented at hoverboards (and rhythm games but that's a different story).

I think you can probably look these up (no internet right now-writing this on Notepad), but our orchestra plays in this annual concert series in downtown San Jose called Season of Hope. If you're ever near San Jose around Christmas, pretty much all of December until Christmas, there's free concerts every night (I think) at St. Joseph's Basilica (something like that) in downtown San Jose. It's right across the street from Christmas in the Park.
We always play on a Tuesday night, and apparently we're one of a few youth orchestras invited to play here every year.
Last year it was raining like the dickens, and that's all I remember from last year. I don't even remember if I blogged about it.
I don't remember anything super interesting happening, just watching someone studying for math finals and finding tap water vs holy water and J scaring J from the camoflauged bathroom.
We played a really cool orchestra arrangement of Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24. (which I wrote about in a college app essay I never submitted)

Nothing too special today, just another normal Math Club meeting. Except I presented a problem in which I solved for the distance between a point and a line -I'm not sure if I've ever posted this kind of problem on my blog before, but it's one of those random processes that I can always do. Darn I almost finished the problem but I messed a random part up and B pointed out the mistake a while later.
I honestly can't recall the formula (distance from point to line) right now even lol. I just remember the whole process from having done it several times in my pre-calculus class. (or was it geometry) It seems like it should have been from geo, but I'm pretty sure I learned it in pre-calc for some reason.

Friday was the last day of swim team. Right now (12/31) I actually can't remember exactly what happened, besides free time and trying out arm-speed at the end. idk why but we take a long break until Jan 18. darn that's like 2 weeks after school starts.

Apparently we visited our old church on this day, but to me, it seems like just a couple days ago while swim team feels like months ago. The visit was pretty fun, seeing old friends and (as usual) watching funny YouTube videos. We also reminisced back to the good ole days when we played Slender all the time. I'm secretly hoping we get to do that at least one more time before I go to college. (even though it's been years)
My mom said afterwards that W is taller than his sister now but I still can't picture that in my head. Now that I think about it, maybe it's because I never saw W standing lol.

The 23rd of December is my AoPS birthday, and I missed it. blegh.
I turned 4 on AoPS on this day (now 8 days ago). I'm considering starting a countdown timer thingy to 5 years on AoPS but we'll see. This is my last AoPS birthday before college though. I'm hoping to have enough motivation to post something special on my 5th AoPS birthday, but we'll see what I do during Christmas break back from college next year.

Christmas Eve was pretty hype. Some friends from old church came over, and we all went to our current church for a Christmas Eve service. I went a bit early just in case I was running sound (which I may or may not blog about in much detail later) but found out that all I had to do was dim the lights when the service began. aye. .
Afterward, we rented Ant-Man from a Redbox and went home for a massive dinner, mainly consisting of ham and potatoes (not together lol) and some of that good sparkling cider and other flavors. We were gonna watch the movie right after dinner, but ended up playing Agar.io (1st is easy now lol) and watching more funny YouTube videos. Then we found out there was no sound coming from the TV, but a few shakes and kicks apparently fixed it lol.
Every time I watch a movie, I feel like writing a review on my blog but I don't think I've successfully done that yet. And Ant-Man isn't super new anymore so yea. . . sorry if you wanted to know about it.
lol I recognized Evangeline Lily from the very beginning, but couldn't connect the face with the name until the credits oops.
I just realized this is weird; for the past two years, my brother, a friend, and I had gone to the movies to watch the Hobbit movies that came out around Christmas. This year there was no Hobbit movie, but Ant-Man and the hobbit movies all have Evangeline Lily so hm. . .
I guess next Christmas I'll have to find some other movie that has Evangeline Lily.
btw we all agreed that the best part of the movie was when the ant became big

Do you guys wanna know what presents I got? I guess I could write about that more but the only thing really fascinating is I got a hoverboard.
I had expressed my interest in this device a few weeks before after trying B's. It was pretty much the only thing I had wanted for Christmas, and I guess I can be extremely satisfied with what I got.
My youngest brother and I went to the basketball courts at the nearby high school and practiced on the hoverboard and shot some hoops.

For dinner, we went to a potluck of some of our parents' friends from old church. They have two sons that are both graduated from college, and who are now working at Google and Facebook, respectively. lol