First, the not bad things about today.

Macleans Idol

Yeah, our school is going to hold its own idol competition. And I'm in it. I still can't decide what song to sing, if you have any suggestions or ideas feel free to tell me. There are plenty of ways to reach me.

(On a related(?) note, me and a few others caught our house leader singing that song that goes "Ain't no mountain high enough" - the name escapes me but it was quite funny. And also, she read my essay and didn't get angry! Yay! ^_^)

Now, the not so good thing. Ie the Problem of the Day (tm).

Anyone who knows me for about a day knows how unorganized I am. Recently as a way to combat this state of confusion and "help me, I don't know what class I have next!", I've written things on my left arm since if I wrote reminders to myself on pieces of paper, I'd lose the pieces of paper anyway. I like to call my left arm my personal walking notepad - I don't even have to reach into my pocket, all I have to do is look at my left arm.

Well today, Miss Hall (music teacher, I think she used to live in South Auckland which could be a reason why she has mean streaks on certain days) came up to me and the conversation went something like this:

MH - "What's that on your arm?!"
me - "Oh, it's my walking notepad. I used to write notes on pieces of paper but I'd lose those pieces of paper."
MH - "Get rid of it."
me - "...are you serious?"
MH - "YES. You know that school rule about graffiti? That includes drawing on your hand. Go and wash it off now."
me - "...okay."

I then proceeded to go to the nearest toilet (in this case the Art Block toilets, which are the cleanest in the school anyway) and washed it all off, using in the process about half the soap in that tank of liquid soap and a whole lot of water since vivid doesn't come off easily. So, the effects of this punishment:

- 5 minutes of not having music
- Approximately 7 people's worth of soap wasted
- Me having to copy out all my notes all over again
- The psychological scar I will have for the rest of my life
- Some kid in Afghanistan died

I knew better than to argue with her when she's on a mean streak. I mean, it actually wasn't that hard to wash it off (it just took a lot of soap, thats all). But now in the safety and comfort of my own home I'm going to see just where she gets off at controlling what I write on myself. I mean, it's my body and all right? First, she said there were "drawings on my hand". Are drawings comparable to notes? Let's look at a dictionary definition.

drawing n. 1 art of representing by line with a pencil etc. 2 picture etc. made thus.

I agree that I did make an image using a vivid. But are notes to myself considered art?

art n. 1 a human creative skill or its application. b work showing this.

Creative? Hmm. I don't think I was spurred by some flash of artistic inspiration to write things like "do the washing" on my arm. (Though some strange person probably WOULD call it art)

creative adj. 1 inventive, imaginative

Definitely not inventive. Definitely not imaginative. THEREFORE the writing on my arm was not creative, not allowing it to be art and therefore not a drawing! Ahah! But what about graffiti? Is that restricted to just drawing? Hmm.

graffiti n.pl. (sing. graffito) writing or drawing scribble, scratched, or sprayed on a surface.

It's not drawing but it most definitely is writing. Guilty on that account. So I did "graffiti" on my hand. The school policy on graffiti is, uh...let me look through my homework diary to find some points I think look relevant.

Keep your diary, including the cover neat and tidy. No graffiti.
(Last time I checked, my arm was not a diary.)

the definition of acceptable behaviour is clearly understood and where students show consideration for others.
(I was considerate! I didn't wave my arm in people's faces! I didn't yell out "LOOK AT MY ARM, YOU FUCKERS!")

That's all I saw that looked relevant. No rule concerning me writing on my own arm. But wait! What's this clause here that looks important?

Students are under the school's authority from the time they leave home until they return home.

So by going to school I signed away pretty much all my rights (there goes your speech on human rights, Miss Warner!) and allowing the school to decide what's good for me and what isn't. And a part of the school doesn't think I should be writing on my hand and therefore justfully punished me for it. Wow! I can get punished for writing on myself. I bet that's a bizzare thing to happen in schools. Or is it? You know, schools kind of remind me of a prison. A few things they have in common:

- A uniform.
- A drug counselor.
- A counselor, in general.
- Regulated activites.
- The authority has full control over you.

At least in prisons they feed you.

So by going to school, I basically let someone yell at me for writing on my arm, go figure. I'll probably do it again just to see if I can get an essay from it. This is intefering with human rights! THIS IS A HUGE OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE AND ALL THAT IS GOOD AND PURE AND SO FORTH! I have a dream - that white people and black people and even Asian people can write on their own arms and not be faced with punishment and discrimination (har har you arm writer you). But then again, what can I do? I'm an anomily in the "well run" system. I am a bug. The Macleans Matrix says I must be made to cease and desist in a way much like America. I'm just a student being oppressed.

Oh well. That's life for you. Dinner time.