Just a few things I feel I need to remind myself every day, in no particular order. 1. Smile, even if you feel like breaking. It’ll help you feel better, I promise. 2. Even if it feels like the end of the world now, it really isn’t. Smile, laugh, and brush it off. 3. Seriously, everybody makes mistakes. Let it go. 4. Sometimes, it’s okay to bend the rules, if there’s a really good reason behind it. 5. It’s definitely okay to pull all-nighters every once in a while. You don’t always have to be on a strict schedule. 6. Live like you’re young, and dance like nobody is watching. This is cliche, but it’s always better to have more fun than it is to worry about how others may perceive your actions. 7. If it’s meant to be, it will be. 8. Don’t stress so much, you’ll only wear…
Can We Talk About Music Education?
Music education programs are failing in schools, performing arts programs are being cut, all because schools are no longer choosing to fund these. Can we talk about this for just a minute? The reasoning behind these cuts are obscure, and the ones that are clear make any music educator or musician cringe. Schools have become a place where a grade is more important than the value of the education given, and arts don’t fit into the mold of standardized testing. “Music education is pointless” some might say. “What does this do for my child?” parents are asking. Music creates individuality and gives the freedom of expression. Without these, the world is dull at best. Without expression, without music, think about how boring your life would be. No more dancing around as you clean your house, or jamming to your favorite song in the car. Just silence. Maybe talk radio. Maybe…
Church
I’m not religious. I don’t believe in a God. But I certainly respect people who do. I live my life respecting every person and their beliefs. Going to church with dad and Sandra has really taught me a lot though. I still don’t believe in a God, but I’ve been taught to be more open minded. Because as much as I respect people’s beliefs, I didn’t really accept them as what I considered ‘believable’ and now I do. Now I see that they are just living their lives as I am trying to do as well, with their own set of beliefs. So thank you dad, Sandra, and Pastor Sean for opening my mind.
The Runner
Chapter 1 It was a bright sunny day the day Alice Winshaw’s mother took her own life. Nobody could have known. Nobody saw it coming. She was a happy woman, who always had a bright smile to light up her face. So when her fourteen year old daughter found her mother hanging from her ceiling fan by a rope, the devastation sent a shock-wave throughout the whole community. Hundreds of people from the close-knit community of Bath, New York came to her funeral. Alice’s step-brothers flew in from Houston where they’d lived with their father, and Alice’s step-father, before he had died of cancer. The whole affair was a huge thing. But nobody stopped to ask Alice how she was handling it. A month later, Alice was lying in her new room in Houston reading a book about the paranormal and wondering when her oldest step-brother Brody was going to…
MMORPG’s: Why The Addiction?
If you’ve ever played any MMORPG, or Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, then you have experienced the addiction factor that usually comes with it. Whether it’s a large addiction, like canceling plans and not leaving your house just to finish those few quests that will level your disproportioned cartoon character, or a smaller addiction, like thinking it about every time you are away from your computer, it can affect and unbalance your life in horrible ways. Video games can be categorized as one of the main causes of sleep loss and deprivation in teenagers and young adults. The sleep deprivation then affects the quality of work you can do and the amount of time you can focus. Playing these addicting games such as World of Warcraft, Rift, Guild Wars, and many others, affects your entire day. So why are they so addicting? When playing any game like that, I…
Lavinia Fisher: Fact or Legend?
A serial killer can be defined as “a person who murders three or more people in a period of thirty days with a ‘cooling off’ period between each murder and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification.” (http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Serial_killer.html) Serial killers are generally thought of as some deranged and psychotic man, but many female serial killers have gone down in history too. One of the most well known, and America’s FIRST female serial killer, was Lavinia Fisher. Lavinia Fisher’s youth records have been lost, but historians and researchers believe she was born in 1792. She married John Fisher and the two lived in Charleston, South Carolina managing their hotel the Six Mile Wayfarer House. The legend of Lavinia Fisher, no matter where it is found, is told as follows: Lavinia and her husband housed visitors to Charleston. Eventually, men began to disappear from Charleston, leaving the citizens and…
Horror
I was thinking I may try my hand in the horror genre of stories. I think I’m going to start out with short stories and move on from there. Thoughts? Responses?
Graduation Yo
17 days and counting. 17 days until I am out of that awesomely horrid place called high school! I honestly cannot wait! I get to walk across the stage, accept my diploma, and have the achievement of being able to say “hey, I graduated high school!” I can’t believe how soon it has come. It feels like just yesterday I was taking my first step into my school, biting my lip with timid fear and wishing that I was really invisible. I’ve grown with my class, been through good and bad with them, and matured into the leader and outspoken person that I am today. I cannot believe how much high school has changed me and helped me. Although it’s not a place I would return to most likely, I am so grateful to all of my teachers and classmates. I am so proud that I get to walk across…
Insomnia? Or Teenagerdom?
It’s an age old condition-insomnia. Insomnia is defined as the chronic inability to fall asleep or remain asleep for an adequate length of time. While many teenagers claim that they have insomnia and can’t sleep, the real question is: is it insomnia or is it just being a teenager? The majority of teenagers are not well known for time management. I’m not an exception to this. I look down at the clock and think “12:30 am? Wow, I’m not tired at all, where did the time go?!” and while this may serve me decently the night of, the next morning when I can’t drag myself out of my bed, I tend to wish it had gone differently. And yet, I always seem to continue to do that same thing every night. So there’s that question. Am I not feeling tired because of a sleep disorder, or am I not tired…
My Closet Obsession????
Okay, I guess I’ll come to terms with it. I just have to accept it now, with a deep breath. That’s right, I’ve caught it…ONE DIRECTION INFECTION!!! Unfortunately, I seem to have become just as obsessed with the Pop culture boy band as every single pre-pubescent girl across the world. It started with lifting weights to the catchy lyrics “You’re insecure, don’t know what for” and has morphed into the brain food for fanfictions and daydreams galore. How could this have happened to me?! Me, the crazy alt-girl with artificial holes in her face and the scary black line of makeup around her eyes! I just don’t understand it! Is it the catchy beat? Maybe the sappy lyrics? Possibly the fun personalities of the five boys? At least, the personalities they show on interviews and whatnot. Honestly, their lyrics have no depth or meaning. They’re cliche love songs, like “If…