Slacking in school, as per usual

[sorcyress]

Uhm. Yeah. Happy belated mothers day to fishgreenlittle, who I haven't been talking to long enough to remember she's a mommy!

Anywho. Senioritis has hit me pretty badly, but most of my classes don't actually have any work to do anyways. We're reading a story in German class that is progressing at about a snails pace --mainly because a lot of the kids in my german class are morons.

I've got a whole bunch of shtuff to do. I'm thinking of starting up with a set of 43 folders, mostly because it's a cool idea. 43 folders is basically a set up for getting stuff done, you get 12 hanging folders (one for each month) and put 31 manilla folders (one for each day) in the first one. Then, as each day goes by, you put the manilla folder into the next months folder. Toss stuff that needs to get done on that day into that days folder, as well as other shtuff --if you have tickets to a play on the 21st, you dump them in that days folder ferinstance.

It's also slightly boggling to realize that my little orange indexcard book, which I love above all others (well, a lot of other notebooks at least) is essentially just an extrememly high class HPDA. I should post piccies.

Uhm. Yeah. If you're Tho, you probably went all bouncy-squee at those last two paragraphs. If you're anyone else, you probably just ignored it. That's about the right thing to do.

Otherstuff...Oh! I gave blood on Saturday, and unlike my last bloodgiving expiriment, where I fainted a lot at the end and took forever to recover, this one went by really fabulously. I pretty much just skipped the entire "gonna be fainting now oh hi floor" part and went straight into "Yay, the world is awesome WHEEE!" part. So that was pretty good.

And of course, I got green tape, because that is the awesomest colour. Yay me!

Mum's back from her cruising around the south pacific. I'm sure better accounts of that will show up in her journal shortly.

Only nine days left in school, and two of them don't even have any class. I'm somewhat psyched about this.

I am decidedly un-psyched about graduation though, mostly because of the stupid ass-requierments they have for walking across the stage as a girl.

I have to wear a skirt.
I can't wear sneakers.
I have to wear white or other light pastel colour.

I
Am
going
To
STAB
Something.

Ew. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew. This is especially a problem as I don't own a white skirt or dress (And REALLY don't intend to) and I don't own white shoes, nor do I ESPECIALLY intend not to wear white shoes that aren't sneakers.

(I also apparently have to wear hose, but I dismissed that without even thinking, since I will skip walking the stage entierly before I put on hose. Or shave my legs. If they don't like it, they can suck my big fat nonexistent dick. It costs a WHOLE lot more then a diploma to make me wear pantyhose.)

Soyeah. I'm thinking I'm going to be hitting up the local thrift store a bunch, nevermind that I'm broke out of my mind (I owe mom HOW much?), looking desperately for something I can wear. I may also see if the tears matched with "I'm broke!" works on our sponsers for getting me out of the shoe problem.

(And may I note that my mother does not own any of this shit either, and it's rediculous to try and find something that I'll just hand down to Aly since she's half a foot taller then me.)

Again, I'm pissed. If I didn't care about walking across stage, this wouldn't be a problem. But I really do. So I have to find this white nonsense.

And a very large part of me wants to wear the shitty white, then pull off my robe and roll in the grass the second I'm free. Mmmmm,green. Green is a nice colour.

Yeah, bell's gonna ring soon, so I better go. I'll rant more later.

~Sorcy
MOOP!

PS: If you desperately want a proper graduation announcement from me, and suspect you are not on my list, drop a comment to that extent.

Comments

[thirdbase.livejournal.com]

dude - that sucks!
that being said, it is one of those rites of passage that parents and grandparents like to see and it is important to conform for their sakes. (that being said, we had white and maroon robes, and my friend took off hi maroon robe as they called his name, revealing a black graduation robe. The principal shook his hand, held out the diploma for the picture and then took the diploma back and my friend had to go get it the next day.)

I probably have clothes I can lend you (better if you do not roll in the grass after you are done tho), and if your senior male administrator (superintendant, principal, etc) is wearing pantyhose, then I think you should too. Apart from that....

I think you should ask about a light colored, professional pantsuit. Also accessbile from thriftstores. I think white jeans would interfere with what they are going for, in a solomon, professional atmosphere, but I would like to hear a public school system insist on skirts, if the student were to present a professional pantsuit. Even cellists wear pants.

If your robes are long enough, you could always show up already dressed... with shorts on underneath!!
:)
(note: you should have a skirt in the car in case someone howls)

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't really think that it's the pants/skirt thing --I may be allowed to wear nice pants, I can't remember.

But they have to be white.

Which sucks a million donkey balls.

~Sor

[artemisfowl2nd.livejournal.com]

That's absolutely ridiculous. Even band didn't make us wear dresses. I'm fairly certain that if I'd shown up to Prom in a tux no one would have batted an eye.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

They don't care about prom in the slightest, solong as you're formal.

But MAN do they care about graduation. It sucks.

~Sor

[vampfaery.livejournal.com]

I don't think you have to wear a skirt. But it has to be white. So like white capris and they won't be able to tell. You should check on that because I don't think they can make you wear a skirt if you are willing ot wear white pants.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Well, regardless of what I can wear, I don't own anything white or pastel. I own some light khahki jeans, but see note about "jeans".

And I DEFINENTLY don't own any white shoes. Gahpseoigtheriuygbhn!!

~Sor

[vampfaery.livejournal.com]

Oh and if you have to wear a dress I have the most fun poofy white dress. Perfect for spinning if you want to borrow.

[jarne.livejournal.com]

I wonder... will pictures of me in (yellow) pantyhose (and fishnets) be a high enough price to get you to wear some pantyhose of your own?

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

I've got 'em. (At least, I have one. Are there more? *lechgrin*)

I don't mind fishnets or tights. Hose was invented by the devil as just one more way to torture women.

~Sor

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

So wear tights.

Just pick a light tan color or white...

[scooterbird.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's a perfect intro to the Real World that supposedly exists beyond high school. You're doing something that's not for you, in an exercise that benefits appearance over utility. And it's boring as all hell, and the teachers will take every single opportunity to exert control over you to the last, as witness the principal taking away the diploma from thirdbase's post.

How it's approached is up to you. Generally less paperwork and grief and OMFG drama if you just be a good little robot, grab the paper, and get out; however, there are few better times for guerilla self-expression, even if it does result in a backlash of imposed conformity by the tools of the Conspiracy to extend your term in hell. YMMV.

[thirdbase.livejournal.com]

I had to scrap the marble gag at the last minute. I was going to give everyone in the class a marble to hand to the principal as we received our diplomas. That would have left him trying to juggle 167 marbles in the school gym.

I don't remember why I scrapped it.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

I...Uhm...

That is really
really
really
REALLY tempting.

Unfortunately, I don't think that there's any way I could manage to do it. :(

~Sor

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

I don't care about the boring, I can handle that one (I am a WELL practised daydreamer). I don't even care about the having to be all dolled up for something I really don't give a shit about, and that I think ought to be a casual affair anyways.

I just object to having to get all dolled up in WHITE. *gahhates*

~Sor

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

Go nekkid under the robe and pray it doesn't rain?

The girls at NYU college do graduation in a park with a water-spraying fountain. The trend with them is to wear bikinis and jump in the fountain after graduating.

oh dear, what to wear?

[(Anonymous)]

I note the "rules" do not say you cannot wear pastel colorS ( <--- plural!! )

[smirk]

Re: oh dear, what to wear?

[(Anonymous)]

ColoUrS.

Re: oh dear, what to wear?

[(Anonymous)]

yes, indeed. sorri.

just not tie-dyed... i had guessed a few folks would leap to that thought.

think instead of a pastel rainbow. starting with fabric hair ties or a scarf.
and ending with socks (or perhaps dyed canvas dock shoes?).

:-}

Z:^)

[shuttergal.livejournal.com]

I myself would be searching the thrift stores for the absolutely most over the top awful white skirt/dress I could find. Or wearing white shorts under my robe. Can't believe this lameness still plagues us - it was lame 20 years ago when my friend kate was dead set against it... Her very good friend punkwalrus wrote about it
http://punkwalrus.livejournal.com/595375.html#cutid1

It is down a little ways, but it'll let you see the lameness that was my highschool.

Re: sir not appearing in this yearbook

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Heh. This is also not a bad idea (Jannyblue suggested getting something and then tye-dyeing it.) I'll see what the local thrift store has to offer before getting really indignent.

And yeah. White blows, colourwise. It washes people out, it stains like there's no tomorrow, and it is so incredibly boring.

But then again, I want my wedding dress to be crimson, soooo...

~Sor

sir not appearing in this yearbook

[shadowcaptain.livejournal.com]

hate to side with the grown-ups, here, but some battles just aren't worth fighting.

[or maybe that's just my had-to-wear-a-tie-every-single-day-in-high-school side talking.]

the goal is the diploma. grin and bear it, get across the stage, get the paper, get through the ceremony intact, get on to boston. you're probably going to want to hang around and get some pictures taken with your friends afterwards, and you can't do that if you've been kicked off the premises. nor do you want to be the one who has to say "can we take a picture or two without everyone else holding up their diplomas? because i didn't actually get mine today."

remember, this is an official ceremony on private property. they're not stifling your right to free expression, because you don't actually have that right in these circumstances. they can say that everyone has to wear a kilt and fishnet stockings and carry a haddock if they want to. (which would actually make for a stunningly cool senior portrait, in my opinion). in the end, it's their party. you've earned a spot on the guest list, but it's a privilege, not a right, and they're completely justified in revoking it if you show contempt for the rules.

on the other hand: doesn't mean you have to like it.

but, seriously. ten years from now, twenty, thirty, it's so not going to matter. there may even come a day when you're glad to be in as many different family photo albums as you are -- specifically because they wanted a picture of their niece/godson/granddaughter with you in your nice outfit -- instead of balking at taking a picture of the troublemaker in the duct tape and construction paper who was trying to make some kind of "statement."

most importantly: at some point in your nascent young adulthood, you're eventually going to have to appear before a judge. or go on a job interview. or need a bank loan. or talk your way through a grant application. or in some other way be placed in an unfair situation where someone with power, someone old-fashioned, someone with traditional expectations and values, will be the one making a decision that will affect your future, and at least part of that decision will be based on how you present yourself. in that circumstance, so-called church clothes -- a conservative outfit, in white or other light pastel colors, comprised entirely of girl clothes (most likely including both a skirt and, yes, pantyhose) -- will be worth more to you than you can possibly imagine. no, it's not fair. yes, it sucks. but it's the way the game will continue to be rigged for some time to come, and sometimes you have to ride the dragon instead of trying to slay it.

my $.02: see about getting a graduation gift parlayed into a gift card a few days before the ceremony rather than after. and make sure the dress is something you can twirl in. :)

Re: sir not appearing in this yearbook

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Well, first off, it's a fake diploma, and we don't even get our real one backstage, like normal. This year, we get our diploma's by coming back to the school the next day. Which sucks.

Second off, ninty percent of my annoyence isn't at the fact that I have to dress like a girl. I like skirts well enough, and, while dressing up is the only time that I feel my age (ie, awkward and seventeen as opposed to awkward and twenty-something), I don't mind doing it when I must.

But I hate white clothes. It's an outdoor reception at Merriweather --if it's rained recently, there's going to be mud everywhere. If it's been dry, there's going to be dust. My prim and pristine white clothes aren't going to stay that way for very long.

When I need to dress like an adult, I will, for any of those situations you listed and more. But I will dress like an adult in practical (ie, dark) colours, and more importantly, the colour will be my choice. Forcing us to wear white is awful --yes, they're the ones in charge, but it's just a really shitty colour for clothes.

Especially since the boys get to wear bright frigging purple. This is not the first time that I have wondered if Nathen made the right choice.

~Sor

Oh, and Postscript:

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and I kinda don't own anything white, or hose, or WHITE FRIGGING GIRLS SHOES (*stabdieaug*) and I'm kinda sorta broke. Like, fifty dollars in debt to my mother broke.

Soyeah.

I'm gonna walk, and I'm not going to get kicked out. I'm not totally stupid. But I really really really hate it. It's sexist, and it just plain sucks!

~Sor

and if you're really good, audrey hepburn will meet you in the afterlife and give you a haircut.

[shadowcaptain.livejournal.com]

here's the thing about the "cinderella" archetype, and the fairy godparent trope in particular: deeply coiled inside the dna of our species is a secret craving to be the one who shows up out of nowhere with a pretty dress and some nice shoes for the (deserving, modest, and worthy) girl who doesn't have them and can't procure them herself, just when she needs them the most. you can't fight it. show the most bitter, twisted, abused, misogynist, PTSD, anti-happy ending person on earth that scene in always when holly hunter gets her present, sees the dress and the shoes, and looks up at richard dreyfuss with perfect love in her eyes and squeals "GIRL clothes!" and i guarantee their eyes will at least mist, if not go all niagara on you.

if you're willing to trade, for instance, two xbox games worth of prezzie for a day at de mall (or one game for a trip to the thrift shop) in the name of $GIRLY, and you make sure your parents are cognizant of the fact that you don't just want this to happen but are genuinely willing to give up something you'd much rather have, then the question, if it gets poised to them, by friend, relative, or fairy, of "what should i get katters for graduation?" has a quick answer ("take her shopping. soon. in fact, how's tonight?") ready to deploy. might seem like a hassle to ask of them, but remember: we're talking dna here.

then there's that whole "posting your shoe and dress size on teh intarwebs" thing, in case a fairy samaritan out there can loan you some garb for an afternoon. but that might be tempting fate, seeing how you know ABSOLUTELY NOBODY who does costuming, or goes to formal events, or has several closets worth of period garb covering several decades of fashion. much less several somebodies.

of course, you could also always offer services in trade, if you didn't want to leverage the graduation prezzie karma. but then, you'd need to know a costumer who'd be willing to trade an evening of babysitting for letting you raid her costume closet, and maybe a turn or two on her sewing machine. or something.

as a fallback position, i love the tie-dye idea. but i can also promise the next four years will provide at least one opportunity (if not several) to deploy a white skirt/dress, should you manage to achieve one. good luck with it.

Re: and if you're really good, audrey hepburn will meet you in the afterlife and give you a haircut.

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

you know ABSOLUTELY NOBODY who does costuming, or goes to formal events, or has several closets worth of period garb covering several decades of fashion.

Did you forget your <sarcasm></sarcasm> tags?

I found some over here in the corner... ;-)

Re: oh dear, what to wear?

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

Unless you are wearing white robes, come dressed in whatever you want with your grad robe over it. What are they going to do? Lift it up and check?

Actually, depending on the school's strictness, they might...

Bright and/or dark colors WILL show under a white robe, and that does look bad. For my HS graduation (where I HAD to wear a white robe... grrrr) I just wore the shortest most inappropriate little barely-covering-my-butt "babydoll" dress that I owned. (Of course, I actually like wearing tights, stockings, pantyhose or whatever you call them so that didn't bother me at all.)

This was partially because I knew wearing it to school would have gotten me sent home to change into something "more appropriate" on any other day. It was also the only outfit I owned that was light enough to not show through the uber-cheap almost see-through robes the school forced us to shell out $40 for...

For college, I wore ripped jeans and my favorite purple shirt under my grad robes out of spite because they screwed me out of being able to give a speech. (Yes, I'm still bitter about that) I was wearing a black robe anyway, so they couldn't tell. I practically RAN across the stage. Couldn't get out of there fast enough... But one picture, you can see the jeans and sneakers under the robe...

I feel it is an accurate reflection of how I felt about my college by the time I graduated.

But enough about me.

In life, sometimes you'll have to suck it up and deal with dressing "like a girl". They want you to dress like a "respectable" adult, and it's their dog-and-pony show, so you have to. I agree with the suggestion of a light-colored "professional" pants-suit. Just get a pair of knee-high hose, and pretend they're REALLY thin socks. It's not a skirt, but also not disrespectful of the "adult" atmosphere they're trying to convey the way a white leather micro-miniskirt would be... ;-)

If all else fails, go get a swishy white dress you can dye another color later. (Cotton takes dye best.) And wear a pair of light-colored hose with white or tan fishnets over them. Fishnets make everything better. *nods*

It's just one day, and you can change into something "normal" as soon as the ceremony's over and you have the diploma in-hand.

Re: oh dear, what to wear?

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

If all else fails, go get a swishy white dress you can dye another color later.

That is far and away the best suggestion I've seen thus far. And unfortunately, I also belong to a school which forces the girls to wear hella-light, short, thin white graduation robes that cost a stupid amount of money. And, judgeing by the fact that my "little" sister is so much taller then me, we won't even be able to hand them down.

This doubly sucks because the boys get to wear *purple*. Bright. Frigging. Purple. Totally awesome colour.

And I'm stuck in translucent white. Further support for the theory that our principal's a perv. :p

~Sor

PostScript: I do totally like tights, I just can't stand hosery. I just think that, amoung other things, it looks bad. But, because when I clothes-shop I go for practical first, fun second, I don't own any white tights. Because white sucks for clothing.

Re: oh dear, what to wear?

[harena.livejournal.com]

my vote is for tie-dye!! (big surprise there.)

i also strongly recommend doing the Carrie Thing. (i know i know, that was the prom & not graduation, but all the same people will be there!)(and i do realize the minor detail to that idea is suddenly finding oneself with telekinetic powers, but still!)

. o O (no tenny shoes.. what were those people thinking??

Re: oh dear, what to wear?

[inparentheses.livejournal.com]

My school makes you unzip (your robe). They're freaking Nazis.

Re: oh dear, what to wear?

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

*jawdrops!* You are *kidding* me! That's horrid!

~Sor

Re: oh dear, what to wear?

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

If I went to your school I SO would have worn a flesh-colored unitard that made me look nekkid.

The I would have gone around flashing people.

Man I wish I'd had this self-esteem when I was 17...

[inparentheses.livejournal.com]

My school makes us wear skirts too =/
I'm seriously considering not going though.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

It's not the skirt I mind so much as the WHITE! Worst clothing colour every, seriously!

~Sor

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

I know exactly ONE person who looks good in white.

She's a shaman who lives in the Florida Keys, and my former roommate's daughter.

It is the only color she wears.

She told me she uses a LOT of bleach. *nods*

[quadrophenic86.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest tie-dying, but Janny is made of more awesome than I can concieve and got here first. So yeah, tie-dye that motha' until it can't move!

[quadrophenic86.livejournal.com]

The above post is made possible by blood loss (through donation) and chcolate.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Oooo, yay! We're blood loss buddies --I fed the vampires on Saturday and was all WHEEEEE!

~Sor

[thorog.livejournal.com]

*bouncy-squee!*

My little Sor's getting all organised! :D

*ahem*

Yeah, 43 folders is a cool way to organise stuff. I haven't tried it yet (my filing cabinet just has a "to do" folder then storage stuff), but it seems cool.

I always find high school "graduation" in the US funny, because over here we basically skive off once we've done our exams (although there is a leaver's dinner and stuff). Since we have school uniforms anyway, we just wear them to prizegiving. Yeah, ours was kind of hard to hijack, although I believe one guy ended up shaking the presenter's hand for half a minute (basically, when they announced his name, he walked on stage as usual, and shook the guy's hand as soon as he got there, while they were still reading out awards, and when the guy tried to remove his hand he simply turned his grin and grip up a notch). Everyone up there's said good stuff, so I won't bother. Except yay for giving blood!

[leiacat.livejournal.com]

My school colors were Green and Gold. Which meant that the guys got Green, and the girls got Fugliest Yellow Ever. Now, I don't wear yellow. Not ever, and most definitely not such that my family was going to get photographic evidence of me in a color that I look like a jaundiced corpse in. Therefore, I spent my graduation at a picnic about 15 miles away. I was told I didn't miss much, and at least one person reported getting in trouble for snoring too loudly. No regrets, and my mother got her jollies in a perfectly respectable black when I graduated from college. (Actually, I cheated there too, and went to the department graduation only, which was much later in the day and much shorter.)

That said, I was a transfer in my senior year, therefore I basically didn't have any friends that I wanted to share the experience with. I suspect that may have made much of a difference in my grand enjoyment of omission.

Do they not make you wear silly robes that pretty much cover up what's under them anyway? If so, does the aforementioned respectable skirt have to be longer than the robes just so they know you're not naked under there?

What shoe size are you? If you're by chance 7.5, maybe I might be able to lend you a choice of white shoes that can variously pass for girly and/or respectable.

I actually voluntarily wear hose when I wear pumps, because otherwise they stick to my foot most obnoxiously, and annoy me far more than the hose ever do. (On the other hand, no power in the verse is yet to convince me to shave my legs. Just no.)

[ms-hecubus.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, white skirt/dress and white shoes is a common requirement for female high school graduates. I had to do it way back in the dark ages (oh, and I had to have a white collar on my dress/shirt too). When do you graduate and what size shoe do you wear? I might still have a pair of white shoes hanging around.

[roze-hart.livejournal.com]

Super yay on the blood giving!!! I have become a regular at the Columbia Donor Center -- every 2-3 weeks. What? How come so often? I am a platelet donor--I get to use the cool Apheresis machines in the back. The process takes 2+ hours, including answering the screening questions (for the zillionth time), getting hooked into the machine, the process itself, and finally the cookies and soda (yum). The process is very interesting:

You recline in one of the donor bed-chairs. The attendant checks both arms for the juiciest vein. Hmmm...that one on the right looks very juicy ("yes, that's my main donor vein, ma'am"). So, in goes the first needle and tube--in the other arm. Then goes the second needle and tube into my right arm. The blood flows from the right arm, into the Apheresis machine, back out and into the left arm. The best part is watching the blood make its trip from my right arm to the left arm. You lay there, totally still for about an hour and a half or more, watching a dvd of your choice (they provide the players and selection of dvds). I watch Pirates of the Caribbean every time I donate -- I use it to time how long I have been donating and guesstimate how much longer to go, plus I really like that movie. Then it's off to the best part--cookies and soda with nobody saying, "Oh, those aren't good for you; don't eat so many of them. Do you know how bad Coke is for you?" "Leave me alone, I just gave blood!" Time for heroic fanfare and a loud "Huzzah!"

Yay for giving blood.

I know our pal Mica has taken up giving every other month on the 9th (CD was born on March 9th) in Caitlin's memory. I do platelets in Caitlin's memory.

Perhaps we can visit the Vampires together dome time. Don't vorry leetle girl; Apheresis doesn't hurt and it doesn't leave you as woozy as donating whole blood -- it just takes longer.

Yay!

@>----- "Flex"

[garnet-rattler.livejournal.com]

100% cotton dress / skirt that can be re-made and/or dyed into something cool afterwards is probably your best bet. OTOH, it occurs to me that ALL white might be within the letter of the rules, allowing you to go in geisha makeup, covering only the parts that they Require to be white ... ;-) If nothing else, it would seriously tick them off to have to ~cheat to complain, although they might jerk you around for just that reason.

My HS was all boys, so we had to go in tuxes, just like a wedding. It was not too bad as I don't mind dressing up occasionally, but I'm with you on the white; the only whites I have inevitably die quickly or devolve to 'only lounging around the house' clothes.

[boredmder.livejournal.com]

Maybe you as well will find someone...important to you to give your rose to. Heh, i still remember the look on your face at my graduation... When is it? We also got our actual diplomas after the walk, I believe we got like blank papers or something.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Not that I expect you to see this comment (six years later) but I still have that flower, crumbling and fragile and protected.

Just so you know.

~Sor

[boredmder.livejournal.com]

I see all, love.

I call your flower, and raise you a note you gave me sometime in my senior year.