I got my make-up test score for algebra today. 86.

The score I got on the original? 86.

My score didn't change. At all. But I can live with a B+.

Ever look at someone and wonder, "Hmm, is that guy smart or stupid?" Well, here's how you can tell.

1. If he buys into the Zeitgeist movie, he is an idiot. Seriously, this bullshit is so utterly disproven in almost every aspect that the only people who believe it are paranoid Ron Paul supporters, 9/11 “truthers” and 12-year-old atheists. If a person above the age of 14 actually believes this movie to be true, not only is he an idiot; he’s hopeless. Odds are you have seen this guy preaching his idiocy on forums, about either how Ron Paul should be pres and is still in the race (even though he isn’t), how Jesus didn’t exist based on made-up facts told by people who believe aliens from Atlantis built the pyramids to control our minds with religion, or Loose Change dumbasses who honestly believe that the fact that ten people may have heard an explosion somehow disproves the 300,000,000 people who saw a plane hit the goddamn World Trade Center.

2. If he smokes tobacco cigarettes, he is an idiot. Think about it: in this day and age, we are more aware now than ever the completely harmful effects of cigarettes. They cause cancer, not just in the person smoking them but also in people around them who have to breathe in their shit. They have over 51 carcinogens  (that are known to cause cancer) among their ingredients (did I mention urea, a main ingredient in urine [as in piss] is another ingredient?). We are aware of these effects since kindergarten through television, the Internet and just plain common sense. After all, what does it take to go "gee, breathing in smoke can't be that good for your lungs"? So why would someone smoke? Either "to try it out" and then he got addicted and never quit (idiot) or peer pressure (idiot). Tobacco has virtually NO health benefits whatsoever that are not found in fucking fruit. Tobacco smoking is an asinine habit that does not belong in a schooled society whatsoever.

3. If he mixes up the usages of the words "your" and "you're," he is an idiot. I shouldn't even have to explain this, but since common sense is so rare these days, I will. Now, I understand that some rules of grammar are difficult to remember. But what is difficult about memorizing this oh-so-basic technique: "You're" has the "re" of "you are," therefore "you're" means "you are." Simple, yes? That's how I learned it. But some people just can't seem to get this first-grade rule through their heads to save their lives. These are typically the same people we see on the Internet who go "your gay" at anyone they happen to disagree with. Note that I'm not talking about the simple typo here; that happens to everyone and mistakes are human. But when you do it more than three times in a single document, that is nothing short of pathetic. In short: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x38/Dragonteen1/grammar.gif

4. If he uses the word "gay," “retard” or “emo” as an insult, he is an idiot. “Gay” Is nothing to be insulted about at all. Its original meaning (or at least, one of them) is “happy.” The word “gay” shows up several times in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings (so does the word “faggot” when referring to a type of firewood); I don’t think he was thinking ”lol, pointy ears= fruit!” OH, you mean sexuality. Well, see, not everyone you call “gay” is actually attracted to the same sex, dumbass. This insult is so grammatically absurd that its use as an insult should be kept to fundy parodies. There’s also the “immature” factor that is ever-present in one who uses these kinds of insults. The word “retarded” is in all actuality a medical term to describe someone with an IQ below 60 (in other words, 90% of the YouTube community). Finally, “emo” is a music style. When referring to “emo,” a person usually thinks of a crying guy with funky hair cutting his wrists. That’s not emo; that’s called “clinical depression,” and is hardly a matter to insult.  If a person wears a lock of hair over his eye, then that is not emo, either, as it is called in the Common Tongue a “hairstyle.” Emo is a music style that typically involves weepy guys with funky hair singing about cutting themselves (another name for it is “grunge”), and is actually a pretty damn good genre.

5. If he uses a dictionary to determine whether or not something is a cult, he is an idiot. Normally you see this technique being used by some insecure atheist who thinks all religions are cults, but occasionally you’ll run across the Merriam-Webster fetishist who believes the dictionary defines everything to a “T”. A cult is a sociopsychological (yes, it is a word) term to describe a group of people who typically meet these conditions:

·  People are put in physically or emotionally distressing situations;

·  Their problems are reduced to one simple explanation, which is repeatedly emphasized;

·  They receive unconditional love, acceptance, and attention from a charismatic leader;

·  They get a new identity based on the group;

·  They are subject to entrapment (isolation from friends, relatives, and the mainstream culture) and their access to information is severely controlled. (Psychology 101, Carole Wade et al., 2005)

One way to spot a cult is by using Steven Hassan’s B.I.T.E. Method:

1.      Behavior Control

2.      Information Control

3.      Thought Control

4.      Emotional Control

Can religion meet these qualifications? Of course, but not all of them, as the insecure atheist would like you to believe. Scientology meets these qualifications. Buddhism does not. For someone to ignore these qualifications in favor of a dictionary definition that they use to apply to anyone who believes differently than them requires idiocy of a whole new level.

6.  If he quotes random philosophers to prove his point, and quotes them wrongly, he is an idiot. Voltaire once said, “A witty saying proves nothing,” but that’s wrong. A witty saying, when applied correctly, proves the person saying it to be a pseudo-intellectual dumbass. Now, it’s perfectly fine to quote your favorite philosophers/politicians/whatever to clarify your point, but be damn sure you’re doing it right.

7. If he supports Ron Paul, he is an idiot. Now, I’m not talking about the guy who goes “gee, I wish Ron Paul was still in”; I’m talking about the guy who goes “THE GOVERNMENT IS EVIL AND LYING TO US VOTE RON PAUL HE’S STILL IN THE RACE *insert link to Ron Paul spam here* ELECT A REAL POLITICIAN NOT A CORRUPT NAZI VOTE RON PAUL!!!!” The reason why this person is an idiot, other than the apparent inability to turn off the caps lock, is the fact that Ron Paul is NOT in the race any longer. He’s out. He’s gone. He’s not going to win. Get over it.

8. If he does anything at all like this, he is an idiot. It doesn’t even need explaining.

9. If he thinks the word “Christmas” is offensive, he is an idiot. This is the ultra-politically correct crybaby who’s offended at the very mention of religion, or anything else he deems offensive, anywhere. Nevermind that all seven days of the week, all twelve months of the year, seven out of eight planets in the Solar System, most of their moons and several body parts are all named after pagan deities or other religious figures. He typically overlooks these details in favor of the word “Christ” cursing people with mean sprites. Not until I see one of these people begin to move for the renaming of the aforementioned will I stop belittling them for this idiocy, and start belittling them for the new one.

10. If he thinks he is an authority on who is and who is not an idiot, he is an idiot. People are allowed to make a list of what makes someone an idiot in their minds, but really, all that determines whether or not someone is an idiot is simple logic and their apparent lack of it. No Internet list of qualifications can do that half as well.

I think I might be gay.

http://resources.bplondon.org/images/antiinspiration/irony.jpg

In other, more interesting news, I actually got a B on my first algebra test (two more questions and it would have been an A. Go figure.). Now, this is no big deal to most people, but for me, it's like jumping after years with broken legs. If that makes any sense, which it probably doesn't.

 The bad news is, that's not good enough. So, being the OCD idiot that I am, I took a make-up test. I'll find out what I got on Monday.

So the bullcrap with my stepdad has escalated to a whole new level. . . .GameSpot users who knew me there will know what I'm talking about, but for the newbies, here's a summary:

Thirteen years ago my mother remarried to a fat, dumb, selfish, drug-stealing, smoking, drinking, lazy redneck who lived in a car and had no education to speak of whatsoever. Why did she do it? God only knows. Jump ahead thirteen years to today, and we have a fat, dumb, selfish, drug-stealing, smoking, drinking, lazy redneck who lives in a house and has a tiny bit of education to speak of. The man considers himself to be number one in the lives of everyone around him, especially his family, who he seems to think would be on the street were it not for him (*ahem* if in an experiment the the Dependent Variable changes while the Independent Variable changes, the IV must be the cause of the change in the DV, if you catch my drift), and if you don't abide by his laws then to Hell with you.

Now, when I was eight, my little half-brother was born. A few years ago, my mother had a bad accident while dancing and her leg was screwed up for life (the doctors said it was exactly like the injuries football players get). This combined with neck injuries from her previous marriage (to an abusive physicist with--surprise!--drug problems) has led her to declare disability.

Now, unlike before, she doesn't and cannot work. She regrets her marriage to the Fatass but knows that, since he makes the money we need to eat, she can't leave him because if that happens then bye-bye paycheck. I can't support a family, and even if I could, I also have school, which most people in my family would rather die than see their little baby drop out.

Among Dumbass's many antics are: Stealing Xanax (prescription anti-anxiety medicine) from my mother, on many, many occasions, and being caught many, many times; stealing more Xanax from my uncle, on Easter, while he was in a custody battle (more on this later); getting fake prescriptions for Xanax and other happy pills from fake doctors behind everyone's backs; sneaking cigarettes while he was supposed to be quitting (while on INCREDIBLY expensive medicine); and going up to six months without a job during one of his several hiatuses.

Now that you have a basic idea of what new circle of Hell I've been wandering for the past thirteen years, let's talk about the recent stuff.

Now, as I mentioned before, my uncle went through a custody battle with his ex-fiance' over their then-newborn son. Picture my step-dad in female form with a bit more of a wild streak and you'll have my uncle's ex-fiance'. Thank God I'm adopted. Anyway, this battle went on for a long time, through the Department of Children and Families (which is run by fucking feminists) and at one point my mother even got attacked by the woman and her mother (two weeks after high-level spinal surgery), with absolutely nothing being done about it by the police or the DCF (a DCF agent actually witnessed it and did nothing; that's how corrupted the system is, folks).

Now, about a year later, the custody battle is still going on. My mother and uncle have hired a Private Investigator to keep an eye on the bitch for any slip-ups, and she's had a few, but of course, the government thinks men are evil and MUST be at fault whenever a custody battle ensues, so nothing could be done.

Now, my mother and this private investigator have to talk to eachother a lot, because she's the only one who knows what she's doing (my uncle's a mess).

The PI is a man.

My step-dad doesn't like that.

So now he's ranting and bitching about how he's trying to cheat with her, and blah blah blah, and here's an interesting quote of his: "I wrote the book on this: first it's a few calls, then visits, then you're off having an affair."

You wrote the book, huh?

Tonight, there was a semi-emergency and I had to go with my mother to the PI's office. The PI was asleep. Mom woke him up by shouting into his window outside of a police building surrounded by cameras. That's how weird we are.

When we got home, she and I talked about how Fatass is no husband to her, but really more of a roommate or a paycheck.

And guess who was eavesdropping?

So he and her are fighting now, and he's blaming everything on her, occasionally bringing me up (oh, and he's also threatened to kick me out if I don't pay rent for my bedroom in "his" house--nevermind he didn't pay for the house, or the property it's on. Thankfully he grew out of that phase).

I swear, I kinda wish my mother would cheat on this bastard with the PI.

So I get an e-mail from a friend of mine, right? And she wants to know what classes I'm taking so she can be in the same classes, okay? So I go to FCCJ's website to check my schedule, and what do I find?

"You are not registered for classes this term."

The problem? I've been registered for about a month. I already have my textbooks.

So after pissing my pants, I called their support center. Turns out, my pre-paid college fund wasn't paid; somebody somewhere forgot to pay it. So my classes were auto-dropped.

So I went to the website and re-registered. The problem? Two of my classes were filled and no longer registering students. I did manage to get one back (the math), but the English and the Life Skills ( a class I wasn't required to take, but still) were gone. I quickly found a new English teacher (who doesn't appear to be as good as the first one I had in mind), but the Life Skills classes are full all over the state of Florida (except for some electronics company I've never heard of.).

So I kept the textbook, which cost about a hundred dollars, and decided to change to a General Psychology class. Then I made triple-damn-sure that the college fund was paid. They won't kick me out again.

Then I e-mailed my friend back with my new schedule.

Now I need to buy a new English textbook and a new Psychology textbook.


Class doesn't start for two weeks and already this shit is turning out to be a load of stress.

I'm finally registered for classes at FCCJ. I have to take a remedial class in elementary algebra, but my reading comprehension was so good on the placement test that I'm exempt from that class. I'm hoping to get a job on campus. Classes begin August 25. I have to admit, as someone who was homeschooled since third grade, I'm nervous. As far as anyone around me knows, I'm majoring in psychology, which is true enough, but I'm not so sure I want to stick with it. . . .I want to know more first, and I don't get much time to change my mind if I want to. I looked up my soon-to-be-teachers, and one seems a little. . . .ditzy (the math teacher; likes to go off about tennis during class, which actually sounds much more fun than math), one seems lax (English comp teacher; gives a free A for perfect attendance on the final exam), and one seems strict (Student Life Skills teacher; likes to throw out the homework like candy), but they all got great reviews on ratemyproffesor.com.

I'm Dracargen. . . . . . .