Windgardium Leviosa

"It's not leviosaaaaa, it's leviosa."

I will admit it. I LOVE Harry Potter. I think it is one of the most original, the most fun set of movies ever created.

They have Harry, who is the classic hero. He is the guy who never really finds love, but he is the one that you can always turn to if you need a friend. He is brave and is the "take charge" guy of the movies.

Next, you have Hermione. Hermione is the nerd. Well, not really. She's more of the smart popular girl. She is one that you can count on, but she is also susceptible to fall in love. In the movies, you see the development of her and Ron's relationship. It is clear that they are in love, but both of them are too afraid to admit it. I am currently watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (part of the Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family) and it is at the part of the Yule Ball and Ron was too late in asking Hermione. You can tell it was just killing him inside to know that she had a date with another man when he could have easily asked her the day before.

Ron is next. He's the shy boy. He's very timid and kind of the jealous type. I see him as the robin in the Batman and Robin series. It's not like he is incapable of playing the lead role, it's just that Harry is there to outshine him. I truly believe this is why Ron is as jealous as he is, because he really could be the main man.

Then you have Neville Longbottom. Oh Neville. He's the comic relief within the movies. He comes in every once and a while to put that sort of awkward, goofy touch.

You also have Moaning Mertle. She finds her way into EVERY movie. She is there as the "clue giver" and helps in resolving some sort of problem in the movies. For example, she was the girl that was murdered by the Basilisk in number 2.

Finally, you have Dumbledore. He is the guy that everyone can go to if they have a problem. He is not judgmental, he doesn't care who you are. He is very trusting. He even trusts Snape, who used to be/still kind of is a death eater. He believes in Harry even in the toughest of times. He takes Harry with him in number 6 to find the Horcruxes. He trusts that Harry will not allow him to be weak in his time of need.

All in all, I love the Harry Potter saga. It is a great read and they are all great movies as well.

Will you love Harry Potter?

Swear Words, Schmear Words

What's the big deal anyway? People say things like F***, $#!t, D***, and @$$ (could also mean donkey) in everyday language. You hear it in the hallway, you may even use it yourself. But why do people (mainly adults) get angry when teens use them?

I have developed a few reasons. First, respect. Some people find that they are very disrespectful and think they are just rude in general. What makes me question this is, people aren't necessarily used in a derogatory way. Most people just use them for emphasis.

The second reason is from an overall "wholesome" outlook on life. Some people think that when you swear you are dumbing down society. They think of swear words as if they are outlaws and if you use them you should be greatly punished. What I don't like about this is that that is their personal choice. It may be what you believe, but not what others believe. I think of it kind of like the whole forcing religion stuff. People get greatly offended when people try to force their religion on others, kind of the same idea. Am I right?

You see, I will admit that I swear. But only around my friends and MAYBE some adults that I feel completely comfortable with. However, I DO NOT swear around my parents. I feel as if it goes along with the respect thing. I wouldn't want them to swear at me, so why would I swear at them?

The one thing I truly don't get, is when students react to teachers swearing. Just this past week, one of my teachers said, "I was such a lazy ass in high school," and everybody started laughing. That must make the teacher feel incredibly uncomfortable and I feel bad for them. I don't comprehend what makes it so funny that the teacher swore. He's human too.

One final addition, I was watching a television show and they talked about how swearing helps you withstand pain. Why, you might ask? Because when you swear, you somehow add to your pain tolerance. The swearing releases something that makes you experience the pain less.

So, what is the big deal? Why do people (mainly adults) make such a big deal?

Will you swear?

Spring Break is HERE!

The problem is, mine is already done. Spring break is supposed to be filled with the enjoyment of sleeping in, the carefree-ness of no homework, the overall week of free time. However, none of this will be taking place in my spring break.

To start off the week, I had tech work for Sweeney Todd. This began in the morning, so that ruled out sleeping in, and then that afternoon, I spent my time doing a take home test that was assigned. Yep, a test over spring break. Then there's today. I woke up early and went to church. Sure, church is important and I hadn't gone in a while so that's fine, but it would've been nice to have my morning open. Then blogging fills the afternoon (that probably could have been prevented, but oh well).

Tomorrow, I start the day of with play practice. Yes, you read that right. Play practice. And not JUST practicing, we also have to have our lines memorized. This wouldn't be such a problem if we had found out BEFORE last week. The play practice only lasts 9-12, but there is also a potential for us to practice from 1-4 as well. And after that, I would need to come home and do laundry and write a research paper for my AP Lang class. Tuesday, we have the same schedule for play practice. I suppose I MAY be able to do something that night, but who knows, I'll probably have to finish my research paper.
This leads to Wednesday. We have a concert choir/show choir/jazz choir practice for 4-5 hours. Then that night I will be packing to go to Chicago the next day. You're probably thinking, "Oh that's fun! Chicago!" But no, we are going for a show choir/concert choir competition. This will be a lot of fun, but it just doesn't have the ring of a vacation. We won't have very much down time so there won't be a lot of relaxing. We'll be concerned about the show and what not. We don't get back from that until Sunday, and that afternoon will be filled with doing AP U.S. History homework.

So as you can see, my spring break has essentially ended. My apologies for ranting, but I felt as if I needed to get that off my chest. I've been pretty irritable lately, and the stuff above is basically why.

Will you enjoy your spring break?

Things aren't always as they seem...

Everyone knows movie/play "The Wizard of Oz" and that all its characters have representation for things throughout the progressive era. But what I just found out was that in the famous kid's television show "Spongebob Squarepants" there are representations as well. Apparently, each character represents one of the 7 deadly sins.
First off, Patrick represents Sloth. Well, duh. Anyone could realize that. Patrick is extremely lazy and never wants to do any work.

Sandy represents Pride. Her love and respect for Texas is how they show that. She is constantly reminiscing about how great Texas was and what not.

Mr. Krabs symbolizes Greed. He is constantly trying to make money and cannot seem to function when he loses money.

Squidward represents Wrath. Squidward NEVER gives Spongebob a break. Everything is Spongebob's fault, he is constantly accusing him of doing wrong.

Gary is supposed to symbolize Gluttony. This was harder to figure out for me, but I can think of two instances where this was shown. One was when he left Spongebob for Patrick, but the reason ends up being because Patrick had a cookie in his back pocket. The other time I can think of is during an episode when Spongebob gives him his food and he ends up eating A LOT of it.

Plankton represents Envy. This is quite obvious. He is constantly searching for the Krabby Patty secret recipe. He is extremely envious of Spongebob and all his success at the Krusty Krab.

And finally, Spongebob symbolizes Lust. This I cannot figure out. The only thing I can think of is his constant need of people. He can't do anything alone and is always searching for someone to be with.

After learning about all this, decided to check if this all made sense and yep, here is someone else suggesting it's true as well. I find this a little bit weird. It just goes to show that not everything is as it seems. But this one just threw me for a loop. They have kids out there watching stuff about the seven deadly sins...crazy. I find it phenomenal that someone could develop a kids show based off something that is not even kid related.

I don't really have a question to conclude this post, but I feel like this entire post should leave you with something to think about.

It's about time!

\Let's face it, people say winning isn't everything, and while that may be true, winning is certainly something. My show choir this year has had a less than impressive track record. It is definitely not a bad thing to place 3rd in a competition, heck, for a lot of groups, making finals is considered an accomplishment. However, the show choir I am a part of strives to do their very best, and a lot of people consider our 'very best' as winning. This in turn creates a big let down to members in the group. This isn't the way it should be, but it is. Our director always lets us know that he doesn't care about what place we get, and he probably stresses that more than he needs too, but the point of it all is that we shouldn't think we are a bad group simply because our track record doesn't show it.

One factor in our low rankings would be the competitions we go to. The competitions we enter are the ones that have some of the top groups in the state/country in attendance. The reason we attend these competitions is because we like to broaden our viewpoint of the show choirs that are out there, and we also don't like to let ourselves off easy. There are some other show choirs out there that don't necessarily only care about the track records, but it plays a pretty significant role in where they choose to go. There is one particular school I can think of that did pretty well this year and that was mainly because they went to competitions that had maybe one other school that I've heard of and the rest being small town high schools that had never even crossed my mind as having a show choir.

So this weekend, it was about time. We finally got our first win of the season. Unfortunately, this win will be the only win we get. That's not pessimism because our next competition has undefeated groups from across the nation and one of them has already kicked our butt this year.

What I am trying to get at with this post is that though we may not have the track record to show how hard we have worked, we can still remain strong because we all know in our hearts that we are as deserving through our hard work as all the other groups out there. I would like to thank my show choir for understanding that though we may not win all the time, or though our rank may make people think we are the "end to a dynasty," that were are still awesome and we have proved that we can still have fun and do a show that entertains the audience. So thank you all.

Will you be able to find the silver lining?

New Term, New Blog, New Life

The Spring trimester has just begun, and I anticipate it to be a lengthy one. Everybody always talks about how school goes by so fast, and once you're done, you look back thinking that it took no time at all. Well, that's only when you look back on things. As you live them, they seem to be drawn out and become monotonous. For me, I have the exact same schedule for all three trimesters. I wake my butt up every morning around 6 a.m. and go through the same morning routine. Then I head to school at about 6:42 (random, I know) and hope for a good parking spot. Then, I go to every class, 0-7th, just the same as I always have. This term will be no different (except for the chance that my 6th hour choir class will be canceled every so often).

What will be different, however, will be my blog. I have decided to forgo the font color changing thing. It became extremely difficult to come up with something and have to use that word several times throughout one post. One topic can have many subtopics, so why focus on one?

What also will be changing is my work ethic within my blog. What does this entail, you might ask? I will be trying to post my blogs during the middle of the week. Not waiting until the last minute. I understand that everybody says they will do that and nobody actually does, but with the addition of my new computer, which is the brown one that can be seen here, I hope do achieve this goal.

As for the so-called, "New Life," I hope to change a lot of my life-style choices. For example, I hope to stop eating as much fast food, run during my "6th period free days," and overall just create a healthier lifestyle. Any of you that read this, it would be great if you could help me in achieving these goals. Don't let me slack off, encourage me to make healthier choices.

All in all, I hope to make this next trimester a good one and keep myself on task and focused.

Will you make this trimester a good one?