Oh Mardi Gras, how I love this holiday. For those of you who took Spanish, Latin, or anything other than French in high school, Mardi Gras translated to English means "Fat Tuesday". This is a holiday to celebrate the day before Ash Wednesday. That day Catholics around the world dread to no end, seeing that Ash Wednesday is the day that they must give up an item/habit/etc. that they will miss not having/using until Easter. I'm not sure exactly the point of this religious exercise, but oh well. Since what most Catholics end up giving up are things like sugar or junk food, Fat Tuesday is a day to shove as much of what you'll be giving up down your throat before you have to give it up for--in this year's case--well over a month.
I am pretty much as opposite of religious as you can get, I grew up in a religiously neutral family, and I have decided for myself that I am agnostic. If you don't know what agnostic means: I interpret it as a religion of being unsure. There may be a god and a heaven. Maybe not. No human can possibly know. My religious motto is: "I dunno" with a casual shrug. One of the perks: not having to give anything up for Lent, but still getting to party on Mardi Gras.
I have loved Mardi Gras ever since my sixth grade French teacher explained that it's basically a day of craziness if you're in places of specific French culture. These places include--of course--France, parts of Canada, (my sister informed me that Italy practices Mardi Gras as well, but called Carnivale), and the big one: New Orleans. On my bucket list is to be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras at least once. I've seen videos in French class, I've heard all about it: it's craziness! Huge parades, everyone screaming or eating, some doing both at the same time. Purple, gold, and green are everywhere you look. Masks and beads. Women will flash a parade float if they want the classic Mardi Gras beads thrown down to them.
Most may see this holiday as a religious holiday ready to ring in yet another religious holiday. But if you look up some videos of what Mardi Gras really consists of down in New Orleans...I'm not sure there's much holy activity going on. So what it is to me is really just a time to appreciate being alive and how wonderful it is to have a time to let loose and be crazy. When I'm older I am going to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, getting a mask, and eating beignets to my heart's content.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Secrets Secrets Are No Fun Unless They Are For Everyone
I have come to realize that no matter how well I know a person, I will never know all of their secrets. Whether these secrets are minor things like an embarrassing irrational fear or something as big as the important details from someone's past. I'll never know everything about anyone's life. I'll never even know everything about my own life. I'm hard enough to figure out, figuring out a mind of which I can't control or read is much more difficult that I wish it was sometimes.
I consider myself very close with both of my parents. I talk to them about everything. The only problem is: I feel like they tell me nothing about their own pasts. Sometimes I wish they would give me the entire spiel like Ted Mosby does in the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Every once in a while they will let something about their past slip out as if the fact that my dad got his first job by turning in his resume printed on a cake is nothing. Like I wouldn't be interested in knowing where my parents met or about their previous relationships before they met each other.
In case you didn't notice from my incessant ramblings on this blog, I'm one who likes to talk. I am a pro at carrying on one sided conversations for hours if need there be. So my best friend is naturally someone who also loves to talk. She and I can literally not stop talking to each other because there are just so many things to say. So you would think that after three years of being friends and countless three hour phone conversations, we would pretty much know everything about each other. No way. I will never stop being shocked each time I learn something big I didn't know about her.
Sometimes these hidden pieces of information are hidden for a reason. Sometimes it's intentionally kept from being divulged. Sometimes--in my parents' case--these tidbits of information are just simply forgotten, or not deemed important enough to bring up into conversation. Regardless, everyone has their secrets. Never will you be able to know all of them. But I find that every time I discover a new secret about anybody I try to appreciate the fact that they chose to share this thing that was important enough to keep from the rest of the world with me. People say secrets are no fun unless they are for everyone. I think they're no fun if they're for everyone...that just means that there would be nothing more to find out about another person. And where's the fun if you already know everything?
I consider myself very close with both of my parents. I talk to them about everything. The only problem is: I feel like they tell me nothing about their own pasts. Sometimes I wish they would give me the entire spiel like Ted Mosby does in the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Every once in a while they will let something about their past slip out as if the fact that my dad got his first job by turning in his resume printed on a cake is nothing. Like I wouldn't be interested in knowing where my parents met or about their previous relationships before they met each other.
In case you didn't notice from my incessant ramblings on this blog, I'm one who likes to talk. I am a pro at carrying on one sided conversations for hours if need there be. So my best friend is naturally someone who also loves to talk. She and I can literally not stop talking to each other because there are just so many things to say. So you would think that after three years of being friends and countless three hour phone conversations, we would pretty much know everything about each other. No way. I will never stop being shocked each time I learn something big I didn't know about her.
Sometimes these hidden pieces of information are hidden for a reason. Sometimes it's intentionally kept from being divulged. Sometimes--in my parents' case--these tidbits of information are just simply forgotten, or not deemed important enough to bring up into conversation. Regardless, everyone has their secrets. Never will you be able to know all of them. But I find that every time I discover a new secret about anybody I try to appreciate the fact that they chose to share this thing that was important enough to keep from the rest of the world with me. People say secrets are no fun unless they are for everyone. I think they're no fun if they're for everyone...that just means that there would be nothing more to find out about another person. And where's the fun if you already know everything?
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Together We Can Do Anything...But Alone I Can Do It Better
One of the possibly worst inevitabilities of high school life is the feat of working with your comrades to complete a project for a grade of which all members of the group share. If a teacher gives out a new project to do, and says that groups are optional, I do all in my power to do the project by myself. It always just works out better that way. I prefer to depend on myself than to depend on others to maintain my grade point average. The worst possible situation however is when a teacher puts you into groups that are "randomly selected". I swear, that random group generator is out to get me.
I'm one of those people that if no one else takes charge within a group, I'll step up and make sure that everything gets done. Unfortunately, if I'm in a group with inefficient members, I get impatient. That's one of my worst faults...I'm impatient. Especially when it comes to school work. I was a slacker all through middle school. But then when classes actually got hard, I stepped it up, and now I can't help but want to get my school work done as soon as I possibly can. Putting it off just means that I'll be frantically doing it at the last minute.
So now as I sit on Sunday night, waiting for two out of four group members to send me their parts of the project, you can imagine that I'm getting a little antsy about the project that has to be in the hands of my teacher tomorrow morning. It's natural for most students to put off their school work all weekend until Sunday night. But seeing as I was the one who volunteered to take everyone's pieces of the project and put them together into the final product, I'm eagerly awaiting their pieces of the project, seeing as without just one of these pieces, the project is far from complete.
Teachers throughout my middle and high school career would always lecture about how imperative it was to learn how to work well in a group. Because the further you get in school, the more group projects you'll be stuck with. I've never understood why teachers force us together with a group of other students to finish a task. Do they realize that every group has the exact same people? There's the one who goes with the flow. They won't take charge, but they'll do what they're asked. There's the slacker who depends completely on the rest of the group. They will usually lead the conversation on the day it's due with "that was due today?" And then there's the person like me who cares most about their grade, so they take charge of the group and picks up the slack if need be.
I'm not trying to say that my work is better than anyone else's, not at all. I just get nervous when one group member has the capability to ruin the the grade of the entire group. Make work a little harder for the slackers of the world, don't force group projects upon your students.
I'm one of those people that if no one else takes charge within a group, I'll step up and make sure that everything gets done. Unfortunately, if I'm in a group with inefficient members, I get impatient. That's one of my worst faults...I'm impatient. Especially when it comes to school work. I was a slacker all through middle school. But then when classes actually got hard, I stepped it up, and now I can't help but want to get my school work done as soon as I possibly can. Putting it off just means that I'll be frantically doing it at the last minute.
So now as I sit on Sunday night, waiting for two out of four group members to send me their parts of the project, you can imagine that I'm getting a little antsy about the project that has to be in the hands of my teacher tomorrow morning. It's natural for most students to put off their school work all weekend until Sunday night. But seeing as I was the one who volunteered to take everyone's pieces of the project and put them together into the final product, I'm eagerly awaiting their pieces of the project, seeing as without just one of these pieces, the project is far from complete.
Teachers throughout my middle and high school career would always lecture about how imperative it was to learn how to work well in a group. Because the further you get in school, the more group projects you'll be stuck with. I've never understood why teachers force us together with a group of other students to finish a task. Do they realize that every group has the exact same people? There's the one who goes with the flow. They won't take charge, but they'll do what they're asked. There's the slacker who depends completely on the rest of the group. They will usually lead the conversation on the day it's due with "that was due today?" And then there's the person like me who cares most about their grade, so they take charge of the group and picks up the slack if need be.
I'm not trying to say that my work is better than anyone else's, not at all. I just get nervous when one group member has the capability to ruin the the grade of the entire group. Make work a little harder for the slackers of the world, don't force group projects upon your students.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Get Out The Frosting: It's Time For A Sleepover
To my devoted readers (all two of you): I apologize profusely for breaking my streak and not writing an entry yesterday. I ended up being extremely busy starting the day off with school, then hanging out with friends, eating delicious food, and the most cliche (which by the way is the best kind) girl talk, you wouldn't even believe it. We then proceeded to watch the most cliche chick flick movie--The Notebook. So basically the classic girl sleepover.
We all like to think that we stick out from the crowd. We don't do that cliche stuff that looks stupid in movies and sounds fake in books. Well I don't know about you, but pretty much every sleepover I host is a fantastic ball of exactly what a girl is supposed to do on a sleepover. This being: eat exorbitant amounts of food (hopefully involving some sort of frosting item). Check. Do each other's makeup/hair. Check. Talk about all of the stuff that is always preceded by: "nothing we say here leaves this basement". Check. And watching a super romantic chick flick. Check. Although that last item is easily replaced with a musical that is so incredibly bad...that it's actually good. (Example: From Justin To Kelly).
We like to say that we're not those stupid girls who sit together and talk about our feelings for hours at a time. We don't want to be those girls that we all see in the movies and say: "okay, that never actually happens in real life." But guess what...I'm proud to say that I look forward to an upcoming sleepover because that means that I'll spend the night with some of the people I love most in the world. Being stupid, eating a lot, and crying together when Allie and Noah couldn't be together. It's okay if it's cliche. I'm a girl, and I enjoy getting my hair and makeup done. I enjoy hearing my friends' secrets, and sharing mine with them.
To all girls out there: don't think that being a classic girl is lame or stupid because you laughed at it in a movie once. When I was little, my grandma would tell me all about how every weekend my mom would turn on the radio, close the kitchen doors, and make cookies with her best friend. These are the things that girls do. I think that a healthy dose of girl talk when combined with frosting has the power to do just about anything.
We all like to think that we stick out from the crowd. We don't do that cliche stuff that looks stupid in movies and sounds fake in books. Well I don't know about you, but pretty much every sleepover I host is a fantastic ball of exactly what a girl is supposed to do on a sleepover. This being: eat exorbitant amounts of food (hopefully involving some sort of frosting item). Check. Do each other's makeup/hair. Check. Talk about all of the stuff that is always preceded by: "nothing we say here leaves this basement". Check. And watching a super romantic chick flick. Check. Although that last item is easily replaced with a musical that is so incredibly bad...that it's actually good. (Example: From Justin To Kelly).
We like to say that we're not those stupid girls who sit together and talk about our feelings for hours at a time. We don't want to be those girls that we all see in the movies and say: "okay, that never actually happens in real life." But guess what...I'm proud to say that I look forward to an upcoming sleepover because that means that I'll spend the night with some of the people I love most in the world. Being stupid, eating a lot, and crying together when Allie and Noah couldn't be together. It's okay if it's cliche. I'm a girl, and I enjoy getting my hair and makeup done. I enjoy hearing my friends' secrets, and sharing mine with them.
To all girls out there: don't think that being a classic girl is lame or stupid because you laughed at it in a movie once. When I was little, my grandma would tell me all about how every weekend my mom would turn on the radio, close the kitchen doors, and make cookies with her best friend. These are the things that girls do. I think that a healthy dose of girl talk when combined with frosting has the power to do just about anything.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
My Past But Not My History
I have just come out of my three hour studying binge. That's the lovely thing about having two ridiculously hard tests on the same day. I was thinking I wouldn't post because it's late and I have to get up for school in less than eight hours, but I've written every day so far...I couldn't break my streak. So I'll make this quick...-ish.
I am more excited for tomorrow than I have been in a while. First off, my school's marching band (which I am a part of in case you're new to reading this blog), is putting on a sidewinder tomorrow morning. A sidewinder occurs when a school team gets either first or second place in a state tournament. When this happens, the band plays their instruments while walking through the halls of the school. Unlike most, I am a huge fan of sidewinders, so that already puts a good twist to my morning.
The bigger reason of why I'm so excited: I'm getting a visitor. My very best friend: someone I pretty much considered a sister, moved halfway across the country back in September. Since she moved, she visited for about a week in November, but since then, I haven't seen her. So you can imagine how ecstatic I am to be able to see my best friend again!
When she moved away, people kept asking me if we would still keep in contact , and I couldn't help saying "of course!". And people just seemed skeptical that we would really keep a friendship going from across the country. But that brings me to the title of my blog. When she moved away, I was forced to move on. When I needed someone to go with me to a school event, or to help me pick out a dress, I couldn't just call her up anymore. So she was forced to become a thing of my past...but definitely not my history. I was amazed how some of her other friends completely lost touch with her when she moved away.
So my advice to you, is if you have a friend move away--even if it's not your very best friend--keep in touch. It's especially important in the beginning. The friend who moved away is in a new place with no friends...they need to know that they still have the support of the people who loved them. Don't give up on a friendship...no matter what, you'll regret it.
I am more excited for tomorrow than I have been in a while. First off, my school's marching band (which I am a part of in case you're new to reading this blog), is putting on a sidewinder tomorrow morning. A sidewinder occurs when a school team gets either first or second place in a state tournament. When this happens, the band plays their instruments while walking through the halls of the school. Unlike most, I am a huge fan of sidewinders, so that already puts a good twist to my morning.
The bigger reason of why I'm so excited: I'm getting a visitor. My very best friend: someone I pretty much considered a sister, moved halfway across the country back in September. Since she moved, she visited for about a week in November, but since then, I haven't seen her. So you can imagine how ecstatic I am to be able to see my best friend again!
When she moved away, people kept asking me if we would still keep in contact , and I couldn't help saying "of course!". And people just seemed skeptical that we would really keep a friendship going from across the country. But that brings me to the title of my blog. When she moved away, I was forced to move on. When I needed someone to go with me to a school event, or to help me pick out a dress, I couldn't just call her up anymore. So she was forced to become a thing of my past...but definitely not my history. I was amazed how some of her other friends completely lost touch with her when she moved away.
So my advice to you, is if you have a friend move away--even if it's not your very best friend--keep in touch. It's especially important in the beginning. The friend who moved away is in a new place with no friends...they need to know that they still have the support of the people who loved them. Don't give up on a friendship...no matter what, you'll regret it.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
All I Want For Christmas Is...Inspiration?
The game is high school and the enemy is depression. That may sound a little skewed since high school is supposed to be the best years of our lives as the youth of the world. But every issue of our school newspaper (which comes out monthly), has a featured article about depression. Although this may sound like a little bit of overkill, it's understandable considering the steady stream of tragic suicides that have occurred within our school district. Almost all committed by jumping in front of a train. When we had three high schoolers commit suicide in one school year, apparently the school district thought it was time to do something.
An organization was started within the school that was supposed to battle depression through spirited events in which students could let loose and just have fun. In my opinion, I'm not quite sure what hiring Smash Mouth to play at a pep rally will do to stop kids with serious psychological issues stop themselves from taking their own lives...but hey, Smash Mouth was fun. Also to help high schoolers combat depression and stress, our school has begun hiring an inspirational speaker to take an hour and a half our of our school day to "inspire" us to be all we can be.
I'm just a sophomore, so I've only seen one of these inspirational speeches. But the one I saw last year...well it hasn't made me excited for sitting through another one. It was a man talking to us about how life was a mountain, and in order to get over the mountain, we need hard work and support from our friends, family, and most importantly ourselves. Then he turned the tables and said life was actually a tupperware box, and we had to separate it into compartments. I know, pretty exciting stuff. However, I've heard that the speaker this year is a guy that spoke at our school three years ago, and my sister who saw him before said he was fantastic. She said she actually left the assembly feeling good, happy, and well...inspired.
For the first time, I think I'm actually excited for an inspirational speaker...as I mentioned in my first post, I cannot successfully complete a photo shoot if I'm not inspired. So a little motivating boost couldn't hurt. Plus, I've heard that the speech includes something about crayons...and well....who doesn't love crayons?
An organization was started within the school that was supposed to battle depression through spirited events in which students could let loose and just have fun. In my opinion, I'm not quite sure what hiring Smash Mouth to play at a pep rally will do to stop kids with serious psychological issues stop themselves from taking their own lives...but hey, Smash Mouth was fun. Also to help high schoolers combat depression and stress, our school has begun hiring an inspirational speaker to take an hour and a half our of our school day to "inspire" us to be all we can be.
I'm just a sophomore, so I've only seen one of these inspirational speeches. But the one I saw last year...well it hasn't made me excited for sitting through another one. It was a man talking to us about how life was a mountain, and in order to get over the mountain, we need hard work and support from our friends, family, and most importantly ourselves. Then he turned the tables and said life was actually a tupperware box, and we had to separate it into compartments. I know, pretty exciting stuff. However, I've heard that the speaker this year is a guy that spoke at our school three years ago, and my sister who saw him before said he was fantastic. She said she actually left the assembly feeling good, happy, and well...inspired.
For the first time, I think I'm actually excited for an inspirational speaker...as I mentioned in my first post, I cannot successfully complete a photo shoot if I'm not inspired. So a little motivating boost couldn't hurt. Plus, I've heard that the speech includes something about crayons...and well....who doesn't love crayons?
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Zzzz....Wait What?
Exhaustion. This is possibly the one inescapable thing for teenagers in high school. While lack of sleep tends to be what most blame this demon on, I have found that sleeping is not the only thing that cures my drooping eyelids. Studies done by Mayo Clinic show that school age children (this including the high school age group) need ten to eleven hours of sleep every night. But if you take a survey of how many hours of sleep everyone gets a night in my high school, the average wouldn't be anywhere near ten to eleven hours. Me, I consider myself lucky if I get anywhere near eight hours of sleep on a school night.
When I trudge sleepily into my first class of the day, I hear "I am so tired" or the same sentiment from at least four different people in just the first class period. And I have to admit that I catch myself complaining of the same thing to my friends on several occasions. For the most part, I will be so exhausted I feel like I won't be able to function for the first hour and a half or so after I wake up. After that dreary period of time, I find myself waking up and feeling more capable to face the day ahead of me.
On days like I had today in which I only got around six hours of sleep the night before with a long and boring day of school, I get home and all I want to do is take a nap. But of course there's homework to do and tests to study for. So instead of catching up on some sleep or doing homework, I just spend my time doing nothing and thinking about my day. While doing this, I realize that I wasn't this exhausted all day. Sure I was tired when I first woke up, but first hour we played games the entire class, and I was wide awake. Then for the next few classes I felt myself drifting into a dream like state for a few minutes. In my sixth hour math class, my teacher said something that made the entire class erupt in laughter. I felt bright and awake for the rest of the class.
I think that I have found that sleep is not the only thing that is directly related to how tired you are. I don't know if this applies to everyone, but to me, it seems that if something fun, exciting, or slightly different happens, it flows through my like adrenaline, and it works as a boost of energy. ...then I burn through that energy again (how fast depending on how sleep deprived I am), and then I need something new to happen.
My point is that if during these last few months of school that seem to be the absolute most tiring, if teachers would take the extra minute or two to do something fun or interesting at the beginning of class, they may see a little more energy from their exhausted students. My suggestion: maybe play some music while students are filing into the classroom. Music is what I turn to when I need to change my mood or indulge my current mood. A good song has more power than one may think...but my thoughts on that are for another blog entry in the future. Maybe it's just me...but I know that when the school played "Dancing Queen" by Abba throughout the whole school, the energy in my U.S. History classroom couldn't be contained.
So to all of those teachers out there...consider it. Wake up your students so they don't feel like I do in the picture above which I titled "School Daze".
When I trudge sleepily into my first class of the day, I hear "I am so tired" or the same sentiment from at least four different people in just the first class period. And I have to admit that I catch myself complaining of the same thing to my friends on several occasions. For the most part, I will be so exhausted I feel like I won't be able to function for the first hour and a half or so after I wake up. After that dreary period of time, I find myself waking up and feeling more capable to face the day ahead of me.
On days like I had today in which I only got around six hours of sleep the night before with a long and boring day of school, I get home and all I want to do is take a nap. But of course there's homework to do and tests to study for. So instead of catching up on some sleep or doing homework, I just spend my time doing nothing and thinking about my day. While doing this, I realize that I wasn't this exhausted all day. Sure I was tired when I first woke up, but first hour we played games the entire class, and I was wide awake. Then for the next few classes I felt myself drifting into a dream like state for a few minutes. In my sixth hour math class, my teacher said something that made the entire class erupt in laughter. I felt bright and awake for the rest of the class.
I think that I have found that sleep is not the only thing that is directly related to how tired you are. I don't know if this applies to everyone, but to me, it seems that if something fun, exciting, or slightly different happens, it flows through my like adrenaline, and it works as a boost of energy. ...then I burn through that energy again (how fast depending on how sleep deprived I am), and then I need something new to happen.
My point is that if during these last few months of school that seem to be the absolute most tiring, if teachers would take the extra minute or two to do something fun or interesting at the beginning of class, they may see a little more energy from their exhausted students. My suggestion: maybe play some music while students are filing into the classroom. Music is what I turn to when I need to change my mood or indulge my current mood. A good song has more power than one may think...but my thoughts on that are for another blog entry in the future. Maybe it's just me...but I know that when the school played "Dancing Queen" by Abba throughout the whole school, the energy in my U.S. History classroom couldn't be contained.
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