Weekend of my Senior Year

Extended weekend, that is, as it started on Thursday, with Awards Night. I won awards for having the highest math and science awards in the senior class - made even better by learning that my sister had got both three years ago. Mandachan was up on stage several times, including receiving a band award, and three of my close friends also won scholarships.

Friday night was my very last high school band concert, and it was my best. We played three neat songs in Symphonic Band, ending with von Suppe's Light Cavalry Overture. It was by far the most difficult and demanding piece I have ever played, and it was fantastic. You can listen to it here. Then, we played 4 good songs in Jazz Band, ending with "Rock with You" - an actual rock version - in which I had a solo. Finally, everyone in marching band came out into the audience to play one final song. I dropped the octave and played the trombone part on my trumpet at purely ridiculous volume. The perfect end to four great years of band.

After the concert, we hit the road. I drove to Bridgeport, and my dad (who, it should be noted, is rather awesome) drove the rest of the way to Penn State (a 7-hour drive, on I-80, overnight) for my last ARML math competition. Not a bad drive, except for the piece of semi-truck coilspring that got caught in our undercarriage for a few miles and made us think the bumper was falling off). I was on the Connecticut B1 team, and we did great. Third place in the nation in the B division, which means we'll be getting brand-new top-of-the-line TI N-spire calculators. I was one of three on the B1 team with a 7/10 on the individual round. (8/10 qualifies you to take another test for nation ranking). For the first time, there was a CT student who took that runoff - go Kei!

Here's my cell phone shot of the Delaware River Viaduct at Delaware Water Gap. Built in 1908-10, it's the largest continuous-pour-construction concrete structure in the world at 1452 feet long and 65 tall. It was built as one of the crowning jewels of the Lackawanna Cut-off for the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, and it's in the beginning stages of being restored for NJ Transit passenger service.



After getting back on Sunday, I went straight to the final party/banquet for tennis. My last time hanging out with my team, and my coach. Buncha wackos, all of em, but a great team, and I will miss them.

Finally, I finished and printed out my senior critique - my last high school thesis paper, and analysis of an entire novel. My final title was "Console Cowboys, Razorgirls, and Artificial Intelligences, oh my: Elements of Transhumanism in William Gibson's Neuromancer". Doing it on Gibson's seminal cyberpunk work was far more enjoyable than reading a "classic" piece of literature.

So, that was my weekend. The end of band, tennis, and math team for my high school experience, and my last major paper completed. Bittersweet, but a wonderful weekend.

Two seconds that represent my day

Tennis match, second set. I lost the first set, and on my way to lose the second. I'm down 2-1 in that second set.

My opponent hits a shot: short, spinning, and to my right. On the bounce, it spins further to the right and away from me. I swing but miss the shot; as I do, my legs buckle.

My calves had been sore and cramping earlier; the opposing team's school trainer happened to be there and helped me out. But this time, it's bad. Both legs give out at the same time, and I barely manage to throw my racket away (no sense breaking my wrist while I'm at it).

I hit hard, skin my knee, then somehow skin it a second time, this time right below the kneecap. I roll over and realize I can't get up. Both calves feel like they have a knot in the middle. It's probably another thirty seconds before I totter over to the fence.

But by that point, the pain is dull enough to ignore. I play six more games, hurting every step of the way. Running on adrenaline and stubbornness, I even win two of them.

I didn't win. Team didn't win, either. But that little bit of persistence - playing despite the pain - I'm proud of that.

And don't let anyone ever tell you that tennis is a non-contact sport. Cause hitting the concrete isn't exactly much more pleasant than hitting a person.

States

Finally got time to post on the first part of the adventures of my four-day weekend.

Thursday was states. It was foggy and damp to start out with - not great tennis weather. But Yale has 22 nice courts, and it's such a greta place to play. I happened to draw an exchange student from Spain, currently at Avon High School, in the play-in round. He beat me 6-1 6-1, and it was ugly. Junior year of tennis: over.

Matt Rode met the same fate; 1 doubles lost a long play-in match 5-7 6-7. Rahul and Calvin, since they were 1 and 2 singles, didn't have to play play-in matches. 2 and 3 doubles both won good matches, so 4 of our 7 players / teams went on to the second round.

Rahul won his second-round match 6-1 6-0, and Calvin didn't have to play due to a forfeit. Both 2 and 3 doubles drew very high seeds, so they were doomed from the get-go, but they both won some games and made the matches tough.

Rahul lost a looong three-set match. Calvin started out losing, but as soon as he won a few points, his opponent went downhill and he won. I'm pretty sure he lost his next match, though, which was on Saturday.

Crazy Week

I apologize for not posting a lot lately. I've had a pretty hectic schedule, but it's all suddenly clearing up, right on schedule.

Today I finally finished my English thesis paper. (More on that later). With that out of the way, I don't have any more thesis papers until 2011, since both English and Government will be in the second semester of my senior year.

Tomorrow, I have states for tennis. Since the team won more than 8 matches (we were 13-3), all 10 of us on varsity get to go to Yale, where they have 20 nice courts, to play. As a 4 singles player, I have to win a play-in match just to enter the regular tournament; I know nothing about my opponent. If I win that match, though, my first opponent would be the #1 player from Waterford. Even though I'm doomed, it should be a lot of fun.

On Friday, I leave for the AMRL national math competition at Penn State. It's one of my favorite events of the year: three days of hanging out with some of the smartest people in Connecticut, doing math, and having fun. I unfortunately won't be able to post from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon, but with any luck I'll have a few automatic posts.

Then everything really frees up. Barely any homework, just studying a bit for finals, and lots of free time. Lots of building and flying and sciencing (science is a verb now...) and posting to follow; I hope for June to be the first month since February that I post an average of more than once per day.

Sixteenth Match

Sixteenth and final match of the season was yesterday against Griswold. We won 6-1 very quickly; only Rahul had a tough match. (Griswold has one good player and everyone else stinks). I won 6-0 6-0, to end the season with three bagel sets (6-0) in a row.

Final season statistics:

Team: 13-3, ECC Medium Divison co-champions

Me: 12-3 singles (11-3 @ 4 singles, 1-0 @ 3 singles)
0-1 doubles (0-1 @ 3 doubles)

6 bagel sets (2nd on team)

ECC individual championships are this Thursday and Friday but I likely won't be playing; even as division champs we can only bring three singles guys and I'm low man on the totem pole. States are next week at Yale.

Fifteenth Match

I know, I know, enough with the tennis posts already! This was the next-to-last match, though, so tennis posts are almost done for the next 10 months.

Today was against Lyman. They're in a smaller division than us and not terribly good, but they still put up a fight. Our #2 singles out was out sick, so I moved up to 3 singles and a freshman, Jason, played 4 singles. He's decent but not quite ready for singles, and he unfortunately lost.

I played a pretty tough kid at #3 singles. He had a fast, accurate serve and lots of sidespin on his shots. I once again found myself down 3-0 within minutes. And then I just started playing better - returning his serves, nullifying his spin, getting him frustrated. I won 5 games in a row, putting me up 5-3, and won the set 6-4. The next set, he was frustrated and did not play well; I won that set 6-0.

The team won 5-2. Team is 12-3; I am 11-3 on singles. Last match is Monday.

Fourteenth Match: We are the Champions

Fourteenth match today - last match in our division. It was against Windham, who we beat 4-3 earlier in the year.

I played a different guy than before, and this one was harder. He had a fast, accurate first serve that got in better than half the time. He quickly got up 3 games to none. I talked to my coach and he gave me a few pointers, and I came back to being down 3-2, then 4-4, then 5-5, then 6-5. Finally I pulled it to 6-6 and forced a tiebreaker, which is fairly quick and played to seven points. He won it 7-2 - all that work for nothing!

But, I came back to win the second set 6-2. I played better - I started returning his serves, hitting shots to his backhand, and forcing him to make mistakes. I then got up 5-2 in the second set.

By this time, all other matches except 2 doubles had finished; we were up 3-2. All my teammates were cheering, which was pretty awesome. The last game took almost 10 minutes - lots of monsterously long points - but I won it. 2 doubles won, too.

This was our last match in our division, and we've only lost one match in-division - our first match versus Bacon - so we tied them for ECC Medium Division Champions. First time in 10 years. How cool is that?

Thirteenth Match

Thirteenth match was yesterday against Montville. I played a different guy than I did in our previous match against them (my first singles match), and this one was easier to beat. He didn't have a hard serve nor lots of spin, though he did have some good drop shots. He was also one of the nicest opponents I've played - no swearing, racket-throwing, or obvious signs of anger, nor rude gestures like trying to hit me while giving me the balls for my serve.

I won 6-2 6-1. The team won 5-2; 1 and 2 singles won easily, 2 and 3 doubles won harder matches, and 3 singles and 1 doubles lost. The team is now 11-2; I'm 9-3 on singles.

Eleventh and Twelfth Matches

...And thus ends a very disappointing week of tennis.

Monday was Waterford, one of the best teams in the league. I played against a guy with a nasty slice (sidespin + topspin) in swirly winds. And he was a total jackass - pushing me back with fast first serves, then trying to drop second serves in before I could run up. It's illegal to serve your second until your opponent is ready, which in my case means giving me time to move in. I lost 1-6 3-6; team lost 1-6. Only Rahul won with a looooong match - 3 sets - on first singles.

Today was New London, who we beat earlier in the season. They were missing a few guys who were on a band trip, so they only had 9 guys for 10 varsity slots. Guess who wins by forfeit? Yep, me. Everyone won except for 3 singles (ironically playing the guy I beat earlier). Team is now 9-3; I'm 8-3 on doubles and 8-4 overall.

Next week is 4 easy matches. I hope to win in all of them.

Tenth Match

Match yesterday against Fitch. Another revenge match; they beat us before.

I didn't do great. I lost the first set 3-6, then got up 4-0 in the second. But I only won one of the next 8 games and I lost that set 5-7, even though a numebr of my teammates were rooting for me. I wasn't feeling too good.

But then, just after I lost, 3 doubles finished. They won. Turns out, so did Rahul and Calvin at 1 and 2 singles, and 1 doubles as well. In other words, we won.

So now I don't feel near as bad. Also, I had an incredible shot. I was at the net returning a volley, and I sent a brutally fast shot straight down the middle. Straight at him. He ducked, but not fast enough, and it nailed him above the ear. He was okay, though. And it made me feel good. I'm so mean.

Ninth Match

Match at home versus Bacon today. This was a blood match; they humiliated us in the first match of the season and we wanted revenge.

And we got it. Team won 5-2. Not only did 2 singles and 1&2 doubles win as before, but 3 doubles (where I was before) got the win and won won as well.

I personally won 6-2 6-1. The guy I was playing (like almost all I play) had a strong serve that he couldn't get in. His second serve was very weak, so I'd run up, hit it deep, and then I could stay at the net because he wasn't able to lob it over me.

Team is now 7-2 and set to challenge for the league Medium Division title. We have a real tough match against Fitch tomorrow.

Eighth Match

Yesterday, versus Killingly. The day started out rainy but dried up, and it only stopped threatening rain halfway through the match. The courts were msotly dry, but one side had some slippery slime behind the back line near the fence.

The first set was hard. Neither of us could break the others' serve; it went back and forth but he eventually broke my serve - won the game even though I was serving - and he won the first set 7-5.

I broke his serve to start the second set; my coach suggested I hit deeper shots and that certainly helped. On my serve, we had a long deuce point that went back and worth until I finally won it. After I broke his next serve, I was up 3-0, and he fell apart. He was mad because I don't play hard and fast like he wanted to; he kept getting tripped up by my slow, deep lobs and short drop shots. He yelled at me, intentionally lost a few points, hit balls back to me hard after points, etc.

Third set I won 6-2. He was extremely angry for no reason other than that he was losing. He even said some things that were rather unchristian for a guy named Christian.

He wasn't a lot of fun to play against, but a win is a win, and hopefully I'll never see him again. Team won 6-1, so we're 6-2 now. Next match is today.

Sixth and Seventh Matches

Sixth match was Wednesday against Windham. Due to the nasty weather, I hadn't played since last Friday, so I was a bit rusty. I had a tough time of it, but I won 6-4 6-2, and the rain even held off. The team won 4-3.

Seventh match was yesterday against Woodstock. Very windy - gusts of over 50 at times. I was playing against a guy with a better serve and groundstrokes than I, but he wasn't used to the wind like I was. First set I won 6-1, then the wind died down and we were back-and-forth for the second set which he won 7-5. Then, the wind picked up against and the ibuprofen finally kicked in - my left leg was hurting for unknown reasons, but is better now - just as we started a third set. I didn't know how long I could keep running on my leg, but he fell apart pretty quickly and I won the set 6-0. 6-1 5-7 6-0 makes for a very weird score.

The team won that match 6-1. Team is now 5-2; I'm 5-1 on singles and 0-1 on doubles. I've won in every match that the team has won and lost in every that the team has lost.

Fifth Match

Did not go so well. We were up against Fitch, who are in the next larger division above us, and our perennial rivals in every. single. friggin' sport.

I did not play well. Sloppy shot after sloppy shot - into the net, wide, long, repeat. I had some good shots, but I just wasn't hitting with power, and my opponent was. He also didn't quite play fair; there were several shots that double-bounced on his side - my point - that he denied, two of which cost me games. I lost the first set 3-6 but should have won; I lost the second set 0-6, and even if I had won the first set he still would have probably won the match.

The team lost 2-5; only #2 singles and #1 doubles won. Rahul at #1 singles and Matt at #3 both hung on for 3 long sets but just couldn't pull it off. The team is now at 3-2, but two of our nastiest matches are behind us (we play both Bacon and Fitch again, but those are at home and I believe we can win those) and we have 3 easy matches next week.

Fourth Match

Rocketry post coming tonight, I promise...

Our fourth match was yesterday, against St. Bernards. Since one of our three-doubles guys had to leave early, I didn't start playing until one of the matches ended. Their 1-3 singles guys were pretty good, and they won quickly. However, 3 doubles hung on and won, so just after I started we were down 1-3. 1 and 2 doubles started just after I did.

I was playing a short freshman (is that redundant) who had good shots. However, he couldn't get his serve in, and he wasn't very accurate, so I was able to keep hitting shot after shot to his backhand side until he mishit. He wasn't able to come up to the net... I am a mean old man and lobbed it over him.

And mandachan showed up. Which put a big smile on my face.

I eventually won, 6-1 6-0, but the kid was a very kind loser and complimented me. He's pretty good for a freshman - he pulled off some very powerful shots - and he'll be very good as an upperclassmen.

Just after I won, 1 and 2 doubles also finished, both winning well. In 5 minutes, we went from down 1-3 to an awesome 4-3 win. I'm now 3-0 at singles; the team is 3-1.

We have a tough match against Fitch tomorrow, though. Stay tuned.

Third Match

Lots and lots of homework, so no time for rocketry and other geeky stuff today. :(

Not much to report on the tennis front. I won today, 6-1 6-1. Team won 6-1. Team record is 2-1; I'm 2-0 on singles and 0-1 on doubles. Tough match tomorrow.

Second Match

My second varsity tennis match was today. My coach shuffled us around an bit, so I ended up playing #4 singles against a guy better than me. He had a faster serve than spun crazily to the side, faster groundstrokes than I, and should have beat me.

He started out by winning during my serve - not an auspicious start for me. Then I started some dirty tricks, mostly using the wind to curve some shots. He also couldn't get his serve in very much, so he lost a lot of points from that, and I won the next 6 games. First set: 6-1

Second set was a bit harder. He got a burst of energy after talking to his coach between sets, and in the first game he hit several shots faster than ever before. But I started returning them, and he couldn't keep hitting them, and I eventually pulled ahead. I got to 5-2, but I couldn't quite close it out - he won a game on his serve, and then we had a game lasting at least 15 minutes that neither of us could string enough points together to win, though he eventually did. I won the next game off his poor serve, though, to end it. Second set: 6-4

The team won 6-1; only #3 doubles lost in a close match that had an epic-length tiebreaker. I'm now 1-1 overall - 1-0 singles and 0-1 doubles; the team is 1-1. Next match is tomorrow.

Also: mandachan had an awesome day in softball - 4 for 4 with three singles and a double. Read all about it.

First Match

My first tennis match as a varsity player was Wednesday. (Shut up, I've been busy since then). I was playing third doubles. The format of guys tennis is 4 singles matches and 3 doubles. Up until now it was 5 singles and 2 doubles, but they changed it this year to allow and extra guy on varsity. In our case, that guy may have been me.

I played with a guy with the same first name as me. Our last names are Fidrych and Sindel, so we have become 'Fid-Sid'. We tend to work pretty well together, though we don't communicate enough. Each set in a tennis match is played until one person/pair has won 6 games. If it reaches 5-5, then 6-5, then another game is played. If it's 7-5 after, then the game is over. If it's 6-6, then a tiebreak is played, with alternating serves and it's really nasty and complicated. So, in my first varsity match, we of course got into one.

We didn't start out too well, and we suddenly found ourselves down 5 games to one. Then I managed to get a few low, spinning serves in and we fought back - to 5-5, then down 6-5, then finally we got to 6-6. By this time, one of our singles had won (two more really should have) and both of the other doubles had also won, so it was tied 3-3 and everything was on us. A tie break is to 7 point, but you must win by two. We got up 6-3 in the tiebreak; one of my smashes from the net was so hard that it went over the 12' fence on the bounce. However, from there we fell apart; they scored 5 consecutive points and won the tie break 8-6.

From there, we didn't do very well, and we lost the second set 6-3. It was disappointing, but coach didn't blame us for the loss because two of the singles lost when they should have won; we were up against two guys who played every bit as well as us and just got a little luckier. Hopefully we'll do better next time; our next match is a week from this coming monday.

Random Stuff

F is a really awesome key for rock and metal. Awesome power chords, and it puts trumpets in Bb (two flats). We're playing Metallica's Enter Sandman in Jazz Band, which is not exactly the light boring jazz standards that every other high school jazz bands play. We play Cake, and Metallica, and Edgar Winters. We rock the joint.

Irony: Wikimania 2010, Wikipedia's annual real-world event, is being held in Gdansk, Poland. The article about Gdansk was the subject of a massive and infamous edit war several years ago over whether to refer to the city by its Polish name Gdansk, or the German Danzig.

Google Wave is a new online software tool from Google, a sort of combination of email, chat, documents, and more. [Official site] It's kinds neat looking, though apparently rather complicated to learn. What I just learned today is how several bits of it are in-jokes from the TV show Firefly. First off the name 'wave' is a reference to a scene where Simon sends a 'wave' - a futuristic sort of voice or video mail - to his father in a meeting. Several error messages are Firefly (and its movie offspring Serenity) quotes, including the crash message, Wash's "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"

I have a new music stand. My old one was made of thin metal, almost seven years old, and beginning to fall apart. It could no longer hold my heaviest book, the Arban's Trumpet Method (the standard reference work for trumpet). My mom secretly bought a new stand off Amazon and placed it in the basement today for me to find. Shiny.

I've gotten more work done on the SpaceShipOne. I have the forward windows, all the lines on the wings and tails, and the identification number (N328KF) drawn on. Mostly neatly, but drawing on a slippery round rocket is much harder than it sounds. And I have to draw everything on; none of the old decals are any good.

I've got a nice set of McGraw-Hill Science and Technology encyclopedias, which I got for free when the library I work at cleaned out its reference section. It's a few years old and huge - 20 volumes, 75 pounds - but a great reference source. Inspired by A.J. Jacobs, I've set out to read the entire thing. Currently I'm up to page 28 of the first volume, having already read about A15 compounds, abaca (Manila hemp), abacuses, absorbtion of electromagnetic radiation, and Acantharea - plankton with strontium sulfate shells. It'll take me the better part of a year to read the whole encyclopedia, but it's fun so far.

Good news on the NAR and TRA's lawsuit against the BAFTE (formerly known as the ATF): Judge Reggie Walton has decided that the two rocketry organizations will be reimbursed by BAFTE for part of their legal fees, totalling several hundred thousand dollars.

Tennis started on wednesday; I've had three practices already and an extra varsity practice (I may or may not actually play varsity this year) today at noon. I'm doing pretty well, even though the cold and wind are brutal, but I am sore as heck. Things I didn't even know I could be sore - they're sore. My ribs are sore, from PLAYING TENNIS. It hurts to cough, and I've been taking ibuprofen.

That's all for now, folks. Good night.