.

but it's alright now. i've learned my lesson well. you see you, can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself.

Mrs. Maelstrom

Mrs. Maelstrom

Thanks:)

Find the niblets of your life that are awesome and magnify them so they push the icky stuff out of the way. Do crazy shit because now is the time to do crazy shit. Shave your head. Skip school (not every day, but hey, if you're getting good grades -take a day off and tell the world to shove it). Whatever the next thing is that someone asks you - say YES. Say YES as often as possible. Quit your job if it sucks. Get a job at a weird, interesting place just so you can say you worked there once.

Kick life's ass.

I've been taking your advice, and I must say, kicking life's ass has been quite fun:)

....

I'm happy I visited this blog after ages to see words of support and love from people I barely know. It's encouraging to know that there are people in this world who care enough to help some whiny teenager who posts depressing blog posts. And it's funny how someone you've never even met, can honestly save your life with their own story or wisdom, or even by telling you to live a little bit and not to let life pass you by. I admire people like this, who care enough to help someone they've never met. And some day when I'm done with high school I want to help the people who are dealing with the same things I am now, because no one knows how painful it is unless you've actually experienced it.

I am looking forward to a Friday night of epic non stop parties in my bustling city that never sleeps hometown. Hah. Yeah right. It's just going to be my typical Friday night. Home alone, with my pals Ben and Jerry and the never ending drama of the poisonously addicting TV show Degrassi. My best friend is working, my other best friend will be with her perfect for her boyfriend. And I barely even talk to the third best friend. Can you consider someone a best friend if you see them in person about once a week? I'm not sure but for some reason I think that goes against the grain of the best friend handbook.

School sucked today. I failed my AP Calc test, and yet again completely defied the stereotype that all Indians are smart. Hah, that's a joke. I struggle to get A's in high school, I wonder how hard pre med is going to kick my ass in college. Yeah, I totally look forward to that cut throat competition and never ending studying. I hate public speaking. Teachers who make us do that are seriously out to get people like me. I try to breathe and act calm and collected when I'm up there in front of the class, but I end up just hating the sound of my voice and what comes out of my mouth, no matter what I say. It sounds stupid and different than what I nervously rehearsed in my head a million times before, and I end up running back to my desk wanting to be in anyone's skin but mine. Public speaking is terrible, cruel and unusual punishment. I would rather walk on a board of nails for a mile than ever ever ever speak in front of my class.

What is wrong with the music of this day and age? There is a serious problem when Far East Movement writes a song about "getting slizzard". It's great that they can so tastefully describe their experiences of getting totally and disgustingly inebriated, but where did those beautiful lyrics go that the Beatles wrote. I mean even when they were talking about walruses, or shoe shine, or toe jam it was epic. I want Here Comes the Sun lyrics. I want You've really Got a Hold on Me. I want songs where people talk about being hopelessly in love, and I want the music that makes me believe in something. Going to the club to dance, dance, dance, dance; and wearing all my favorite brands brands brands brands, doesn't inspire or move me, it just makes me want to change the station. Don't get me wrong, I love music but some of this stuff is just absolutely appalling.

There are approximately 319028312389827308723 things about myself that I've never ever ever told anyone before, and every day it eats away at me.

I want to walk down the hallways of my high school screaming at the top of my lungs and throw things at everyone; the teachers, the students, the principal. I want someone for once to realize that smiles are fakes and laughs are forced and that pain is the only real thing, the only thing that makes me feel somewhat alive.

I've always complained about complainers. How awfully hypocritical of me, evidence of this: oh just the last 500 words I've posted on here.

I want to sleep, and drift away forever and never come out of that sleep until I'm done with high school. I want college so bad. I'm dying for a new start, a new city, and new people. If I have to spend one more day in this mundane life, boring town, and disgusting high school, I will scream..

Bring on the screaming...

Blah

I wish my life was a Katy Perry music video. I mean, how could you possibly go wrong in a land filled with candy, or dancing on the beach half naked with one FINE man?

I haven't blogged in forever. I was sick of starting blog posts by saying that, so I decided to start off with Katy Perry. God, I want to be her. She's beautiful. Or Lady Gaga. Damn, that woman has got some serious talent, and she rocks the raw meat look;)

All-State auditions tommorow, scary scary. I wish I would've tried out last year so I could prepare myself for the anxiety and overwhelming nerves I will face tommorow. But I guess that's why they call it nerves, you can't really prepare for that feeling!

As trite (Oooo oo hello AP Lang word) as it sounds, I find myself mentally repeating the phrase "you don't know what you've got till it's gone". It's almost unfathomable to believe that my best friend is gone. Well not really gone, but she might as well be. Trust me a thirty minute road trip might as well be like flying to China in a state like Iowa. God, I miss her. Way too much. And I'm also extremely envious of her because she has left the "hell on earth" that I like to call High School. I think Good Charlotte says it best, my high school feels more to me like a jail cell, a penitentiary. I am so completely sick of the cliques, and the drama and the fact that I have three friends. I think it's the hardest thing in the world to trust people as it is, but its damn near impossible to trust people in high school. You never know when someone will stab you in the back. I'm so tired of the mundane routine every single day, and I seriously think this place is killing my spirit. It's killing my zest for life, and I want to break free so bad. Seriously, if I had to choose between cleaning toilets at Wendys or high school, I would pick the former hands down, no questions asked. I am sick of the immature people who realize that their disgusting and cruel actions really hurt people. Yes, I know I'm complaining, but something needs to change about high school. The so called "popular" beautiful girls that I constantly feel inferior around and the jocks have peaked now sure. But what are they going to be doing in 5 or ten years from now? Yep, absolutely nothing. I know that somewhere in the back of the mind. But sickeningly, I would give up everything, my intelligence and probably my dignity even, to spend one day in the life of someone on dance team, or a cheerleader. To see what it feels like to have all eyes on me, to be blonde and beautiful and skinny. That's the life I want. And I'm not sure if this is a phase but I would give everything for that life. I mean it, absolutely everything..

So cheers to another night sitting at home alone blogging, eating a whole tub of Ben & Jerrys, gaining another ten pounds, and feeling like I am an insignificant dot in this huge world..

A Letter To My Biff

*For blogging purposes, I have removed the names:) enjoy!

Dear ____, fellow trick, stripper chic member, stove creeper, chilis 22 year old flirter, lover, partner in crime, best frand

There will probably be lots of spelling and grammar issues in this paper. Just kidding, I’m not _______. It’s meeee, _________. Yep, spelled exactly like that. Haha. So I’ve guess I made a tradition (well I’m not sure if a tradition counts if I’ve only done it once) out of writing you letters on your birthdays. I remember last year I wrote you a letter in the IMC before school started. Haha. But I’m actually at home now. YAY, with a new car! Double YAY! Well it’s not really new I guess, but atleast I have SOMETHING to drive. Finally. But I definitely will miss our car rides. They were the best. Somehow we managed to cram the deepest conversations ranging from our favorite subject: BOYSJ all the way to families to school to college to futures into like 5 minute car rides from school to our houses. I have no idea how we do all that and manage to rock out to Miley Cyrus (our favorite person ever no matter what other people sayJ) in that little time. Just some more proof that you really are my best friend! You make me laugh till I cry or piddle (aka: pee a little) and I love you so so much for it. And on the other hand, you can listen to me go on and on for hours about people I don’t like and also the people I do like, very much;), and you don’t complain a single time. And I know it must be hard to listen to me talk so much, but you’re probably one of the best listeners ever and I know I can always turn to you for unbiased and truly good advice, and 99.9% of the time I follow your advice, and usually when I don’t it blows up in my face. Ehem ehem. You know what I’m talking about. Haha. But I guess the point of this is to tell you that I’m madly, insanely, unconditionally, irrevocably (yes, I stole this from Twilight) in love with you. You’re the definition of perfection. From your head to your toes you are the most beautiful person ever. Inside and out! Not many people can be like you, and I admire you for all the outstanding things you always seem to manage to do. From your crazy good grades (even though you’re the most ditzy person ever outside of school) to your amazing personality, I love everything about you. So live it up girly! You only turn 17 once. And I’m just happy that I’m only a year younger than you now. Cause when everyone else has their birthdays I feel like I’m always two years younger than them and it kinda sucks ya know? Hahahaha. Ok well, it’s approximately 4:46 and I have no idea where my phone is, but I’m going to text you and ask you where you areeeee. Okay. Anyways. I hope you have a fabulous day tommorow. You deserveee it love. And I know I probably mentioned this like four times in this letter already but I love you butttttttttttttloads.

Xoxo<3<3<3>

My Weekend

This weekend was probably one of the best weekends I’ve had in a while, and not it wasn’t only because we had a three-day weekend (although that probably added to it a little). Friday was graduation and choir had to sing at it, so we did that, and then after Graduation, me and a couple of friends went to IHOP and had a dinner that lasted for three hours. It was crazy. We ended up becoming best friends with the waiter we had and ended up talking to two of the servers there for hours. It was really fun, because we made new friends, and our waiter wasn’t exactly ugly;) haha. It was just a really fun night, because I usually don’t hang out with that group of people and it made me realize how much I missed them, and how excited I am to get to spend more time with them next year. On Saturday, my friend and I went grad party hopping and that was really fun. We then went to Wal Mart and got a bunch of supplies for this project we had to work on. We spent the whole day working on it and it was actually really fun. We found Blo Pens and ended up drawing all over each other. We then went to Hy-Vee (with the blo pen ink still all over us mind you) and we bought Double Fudge Brownie Ice Cream and devoured it. On Sunday, I pretty much spent the whole day watching One Tree Hill, my new obsession and then I saw Sex and the City 2 with my mom and brother, probably the most awkward part of this whole weekend. Haha. But the movie was good, it was funny and entertaining. I just would’ve picked some different people to go see it with. Haha. And today is Monday (no school yay!) And of course, I’m procrastinating and doing all my homework right now. What a good end to the weekend!

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas was a tragic movie about the Holocaust told through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy. Bruno is the son of a Nazi officer Ralf. Ralf and his family move from Berlin to the countryside after Ralf is promoted to commander of one of the worst concentration camps of the holocaust: Auschwitz. Since the story is told from Bruno’s perspective, it takes a childlike view perspective on the Holocaust. Bruno does not exactly understand the serious political situation that was occurring during this era, because he is so young.
Bruno is not happy at this new home, because he is confined to the grounds of his family’s home. He seeks companionship and adventure, but is not allowed to leave. However, Bruno eventually cannot take the boredom and his curiosity takes over. He leaves the house through a window of an outhouse and finds the concentration camp, which he naively believes is a farm. He ends up meeting a boy there, who is the same age as him named Shmuel. Bruno ends up befriending the boy, and visiting the concentration camp frequently to deliver him food and to talk to him through the barbed wire. Bruno is eventually taught that the “farm” is really a concentration camp and that Shmuel and his family were in the concentration camp because they were Jewish. Bruno eventually begins to realize the serious situation that Jewish people in the country were facing.
Bruno and his sister Gretel have a tutor named Herr, who is constantly feeding them propaganda, and anti-Semitic stereotypes while teaching them history. His sister Gretel is greatly influenced by these stereotypes and begins to support the Nazis, however Bruno knows better. He has met Shmuel and his family and know that they are innocent people. However, during this era, and in this country, so many of the people were discriminatory towards Jews. It was horrifying seeing how cruel and heartless the Nazi soldiers and commanders were when they beat and abused innocent Jewish people, especially children.

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas Continued

Eventually, at the end of the movie Bruno enters the camp in order to help Shmuel find his father, he puts on the “striped pajamas” and digs a hole in order to enter the camp. However, in their search for Shmuel’s father they get intermixed with a group of people who are going to the gas chambers. These people are told to remove their clothes for a “shower”. They enter and then the poisonous gas is placed into the chamber, and people are shown begging to be freed. They are pounding on the doors struggling to live, but they are no match for such a deadly gas. This is probably one of the most intense scenes in the movie. Bruno and Shmuel, who were accidentally placed inside the gas chamber, also die. Meanwhile, Elsa (Bruno’s mother) and Ralf are terrified that their son is missing and realize that he has entered the concentration camp. They run there to save him but it is too late.
Although the ending of this movie was very sad, it just showed me that these killings and concentration camps were completely unfair. As seen in the movie, Bruno, who was not even a Jew was killed. The obsession with a perfect race, and following Hitler, blinded these people so severely that they were willing to kill eight year old children. Although Bruno’s death was tragic, and he did not deserve it, I do believe this was a “slap in the face” for Bruno’s father and his family. They finally knew what it felt like to loose a loved one to something so tragic. They knew what the Jewish people were going through. And I hope that this made them realize how wrong and horrible what they were doing truly was.

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band that was created in Liverpool in 1960 and has become one of the most successful, popular, and influential musical groups of all time. The group consists of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Star. The Beatles began their musical career with "Skiffle" and 1950s rock and roll. But the group later worked in many genres ranging from folk rock to psychedelic pop. They also incorporated classical and cultural events into their music. The nature of their enormous popularity, which first emerged as the "Beatlemania" fad, transformed as their songwriting grew in sophistication. The group came to embody the progressive ideals, and counterculture revolution of the 1960s. The Beatles achieved UK mainstream success in late 1962 with their first single, Love Me Do. In the wake of the moderate success of "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me" their first album reached number two in the UK singles chart after its January 1963 release. Ten songs were recorded for Please Please Me accompanied on the album by the four tracks already released on the two singles. The band's third single, "From Me To You", came out in April and was also a chart-topping hit. It began an almost unbroken run of seventeen British number one singles for the band. On its release in August, the band's fourth single, "She Loves You", achieved the fastest sales of any record in the United Kingdom. up to that time, selling three-quarters of a million copies in under four weeks. It became their first single to sell a million copies, and was the biggest selling record in the United Kingdom until 1978.. With The Beatles, their second album, was released in late November ahead of the impending single "I Want To Hold Your Hand" with the song excluded in order to maximize the single's sales. With The Beatles became the second album in UK chart history to sell a million copies, a figure previously reached only by the 1958 South Pacific soundtrack.

One Tree Hill

The reason I watch this show is above:)

This show is my new obsession and craze. I can't seem to get enough of it, and I've watched the whole first season (yep, that's 23 episodes) in two days. This addiction began one day after school when I randomly decided to watch the show on TV. It was an episode from the middle of the fourth or fifth season, so I did not really understand much about the characters, but I was hooked. The drama, and intensity of the show just pierces you, even if you are a first time viewer. I immediately knew that I had to watch every episode of the show to figure out who these people were. The story line is great and all the actors are exceptional. Basically it is a story about a group of friends who live in Tree Hill, North Carolina. Lucas and Nathan Scott are the main characters, and are half brothers, as they share the same dad. Dan Scott, their dad, abandoned Lucas and his mother when she was pregnant with him, and is therefore one of the villains of the show and is constantly ruining people's lives. Lucas and Nathan hate each other at first, because they are both very competitive because they're on the same varsity basketball team, and because they never really had the chance to get to know each other. However, they eventually grow to become good friends and brothers. Peyton, Brooke, and Haley are the main actresses in this show, and they are great as well. Peyton is a brooding artist who must constantly cope with her mother's death. Brooke is the outgoing, popular, and eccentric cheerleader, and Haley is the genius, "tutor girl", who manages to snag one of the most well attractive guys at Tree Hill High School, Nathan Scott. I probably wouldn't be so in love with this show if it wasn't for the relationship between Nathan and Haley. It's safe to say I'm a huge "Naley" fan, and love every scene that they're in together. They end up getting married in high school, and somehow managing to make it work (well, at least so far I'm on the second season). I'm excited to continue watching the show and to see how they grow as characters and to see what new twists and turns the story line will take.

Frances Kellor

Frances Alice Kellor was an American sociologist who was born on October 20, 1873 in Columbus, Ohio. She graduated from the Cornell Law School in 1897 and studied at the University of Chicago and the New York Summer School of Philantropy. Frances Kellor was involved in social settlement and other social reform movements of the 20th century. She made efforts to improve migrating conditions for Black immigrants (especially women) from the South to the North, and European immigrants. She Organized the National League for the Protection of Colored Women, which educated African American women who had moved to the North and helped them find jobs and houses. She was a member of the New York State Immigration Commission. Kellor investigated the poor living and working conditions of immigrants and made the state bureau aware of this. The Bureau then initiated worker safety and educational services.Kellor was also an advocate for immigrants. They were treated horribly when they first arrived to the United States, and Kellor was responsible for greatly improving their living conditions.

Animal Farm

The story begins with, Old Major, a prize-winning boar who gathers the animals of the Manor Farm for a meeting in the barn. He tells them about a dream he had, in which humans did not opress or mistreat the animals on the Manor Farm. He tells the animals, that this dream is the ideal utopia, and leads them to accomplish this dream, and he also teaches them a song called the Beasts, in which he describes his dream.The animals are enthusiastic about Old Major's dream and are excited to begin to accomplish it. But he dies three nights after the meeting and three younger pig; Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer use Old Major's principles to come up with a plan called Animalism. Late one night, the animals manage to defeat the farmer Mr. Jones in a battle, running him off the land. They rename the property Animal Farm and dedicate themselves to achieving Major's dream. The cart-horse Boxer devotes himself completely to Old Major's dream, and has a motto of, "I will work harder."
At first, Animal Farm flourishes. Snowball works at teaching the animals to read, and Napoleon takes a group of young puppies to educate them in the principles of Animalism. When Mr. Jones reappears to take back his farm, the animals defeat him again, in what comes to be known as the Battle of the Cowshed, and take the farmer's abandoned gun as a token of their victory. As time passes, however, Napoleon and Snowball increasingly argue over the future of the farm, and they begin to struggle with each other for power and influence among the other animals. Snowball concocts a scheme to build an electricity-generating windmill, but Napoleon solidly opposes the plan. At the meeting to vote on whether to take up the project, Snowball gives a very good speech, but Napoleon attacks snowball, and takes over the farm.
Napoleon now quickly changes his mind about the windmill, and the animals, especially Boxer, devote their efforts to completing it. One day, after a storm, the animals find the windmill toppled. The human farmers in the area declare smugly that the animals made the walls too thin, but Napoleon claims that Snowball returned to the farm to sabotage the windmill. He stages a great purge, during which various animals who have allegedly participated in Snowball's great conspiracy—meaning any animal who opposes Napoleon's uncontested leadership—meet instant death at the teeth of the attack dogs. With his leadership unquestioned Napoleon begins expanding his powers, rewriting history to make Snowball a bad guy. Napoleon also begins to act more and more like a human by sleeping in a bed, drinking alcohol, and engaging in trade with neighboring farmers. The original principles of animalism did not permit that, but Napoleon did these things anyways.
Then, Mr. Frederick, a neighboring farmer, cheats Napoleon in the purchase of some timber and then attacks the farm and dynamites the windmill, which had been rebuilt at great expense. After the demolition of the windmill, a pitched battle ensues, during which Boxer receives major wounds. The animals rout the farmers, but Boxer's injuries weaken him. When he later falls while working on the windmill, he senses that his time has nearly come. One day, Boxer is nowhere to be found. According to Squealer, Boxer has died in peace after having been taken to the hospital, praising the Rebellion with his last breath. In actuality, Napoleon has sold his most loyal and long-suffering worker to a glue maker in order to get money for whisky.
Years pass on Animal Farm, and the pigs become more and more like human being; walking upright and wearing clothes. Eventually, the seven principles of Animalism and inscribed on the side of the barn, become reduced to a single principle reading “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Napoleon entertains a human farmer named Mr. Pilkington at a dinner and declares his intent to ally himself with the human farmers against the laboring classes of both the human and animal communities. He also changes the name of Animal Farm back to the Manor Farm, claiming that this title is the “correct” one. At the end of the book, they are looking through the window of the animal farm, the pigs look more like humans than pigs.
This book was very interesting and the way George Orwell compared the animals to an actual significant event in history was compelling. It helped me to understand the historical event better and this made it more interesting. This book showed that the animals slowly evolved into humans, forgetting completely about Old Major's original dream, and allowing the struggle for power and authority to get in the way of a more prosperous society. The book also demonstrated the fact that socialism fails, and that complete power corrupts all. This is portrayed in many examples through out history, from dictatorships to socialism to the Russian tsars.

SAT Part II

So yesterday, when I went in to take the actual test I will admit I was a bit nervous. I mean your whole future is inside that intimidating booklet of SAT questions. Your whole future waits for you at the desk you choose to sit in. Do I sit in the row with smart people? Will their smart energy waves be sent back to me? These questions sound absolutely ridiculous right about now, but yesterday that was honestly what was going through my head. That seemingly simple little test holds so much power. It decides your fate. What college you will attend, and what you do with your life. These are things that no one can take lightly. In fact, that seemed to hit me for the first time when I saw an 11 year old taking the SAT in a classroom filled with 16 and 17 year olds. My first reaction was “wow, poor kid, his parents probably pushed him into this and make him feel a ton of pressure to do good”. And although this is partly true, I feel like you need to have some sort of self-motivation to go through with something like this. So I’m sure that eleven-year-old kid, just like me, wants to find success, but wants an easy way to do this. However, success is rarely beneficial if you found it easily. So back to the test, I finally chose a seat, and sat down with ten number two pencils (yes ten, one for each section haha) and began to take the test that would seal my destiny. And I can’t tell you how I did. I never really know. I felt decent about it. Of course, there were those questions that left me stumped, and there were those that I answered instantly, but if you asked me to guess what I’d got I’d tell you I have no idea. It could be a 200, it could be a 2200. Who knows? But after the test was over, two things were running through my mind.
1.)GET ME OUT OF THIS PLACE!
2.) That actually wasn’t that bad for being a five hour test. And as much as I hate admitting my parents were actually right; if that SAT prep course helped me with anything, it got me in the mental zone and focus for taking a five hour test.

SAT Part I

I took the SAT on Saturday morning, and this will sound crazy, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected. By no means am I saying I managed to get a perfect score, or even a good score for that matter. All I’m saying is that this five-hour test turned out to sound more treacherous than it actually was. And I think part of that was the fact that I had taken this horrible SAT prep course at the Kaplan Center. It was every Saturday and Sunday, so I pretty much dreaded. Just think, waking up early every single day of your weekend, driving to Iowa City, and learning. We do enough of that Monday-Friday, and we definitely don’t need anymore of that on the weekends. I was furious with my parents when I found out that they had signed me up for it. They invested a lot of time and money into this course, and me being the magnificently lazy person that I tend to be, did not take the course seriously whatsoever. We would take practice tests of Saturdays that would start at 10:30 and end at 2:30 and they were horrible. I would give up halfway through the test and end up with horrible scores. However, on the last practice test, I went in with the mindset that I would not give up and that I would be focused on the test the whole time, and I did significantly better

The Cold War

In the years immediately after World War II, America had begun to reconstruct itself after many years of difficulties. For the first time since the 1920s, America had finally begun to regain its prosperity. Our country had just finished World War II victorious. Our troops were back home, the unemployment rates were down, and the economy was steadily improving. Circumstances seemed to be great, however, as the Cold War began, American people began to live in fear and uncertainty. In fact, there was a name for this specific time period: The Second Red Scare. Some of the greatest fears of Americans during this time were atomic weapons, communism, and threats from the Soviet Union.
As apparent in document B, this obsession with preventing communism in America had become something Americans were willing to sacrifice everything for. After World War II the era of McCarthyism became very popular. As stated in Document A, we were also fearful of what investigators would do to Americans. In fact, thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and were thouroughly investigated by the government. As also stated in Document B, due to this obsession and fear of communism, many people suffered loss of employment, destruction of their careers, and even imprisonment. McCarthyism was a widespread social and cultural phenomenon that affected all Americans and was the source of a great deal of debate and conflict in the United States. McCarthyism accurately represented the terror and fear Americans had of communism entering the country.
Document D speaks about the Public Law 627, that President Eisenhower enacted. Also known as The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 it was enacted on June 29, 1956, when President Eisenhower passed it.This law used $25 billion for the construction of 41,000 miles of Interstate Highways over a 20-year period, it was the largest public works project in American history to that point. This act directly related to our fears of the Cold War. Eisenhower stated that his purpose for passing this law was for national defense. In the event of an invasion by another country, our military would require good roads to be able to quickly transport troops around the country. He also insisted that one out of every twenty miles of road be laid straight so that it could be used as an airstrip in a state of emergency. Following completion of the highways the cross country journey that took the convoy two months in 1919 was cut down to two weeks.
Another thing that Americans feared during this era was the Soviet Union. According to document E, one of our greatest fears was an atomic bombing from the Soviet Union. In fact, this document speaks about the disadvantages that we face with the coming of the new missile age. And it asks a very controversial question: should we wait for the Soviet Union to bomb us, or should we do it first? The Soviet weapons program began in 1943 during World War II, under Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov. This program required reports collected by members about the Manhattan Project in the United States It was very successful because of the sympathies of many for the wartime Soviet Union fighting Nazi Germany. This fear that we had of Soviet Spies and atomic weapons leads us to Document F. A picture that depicts our governments only concern at the time; missile programs. By the early 1960s The Air Force's BOMARC air defense missile had seven squadrons along the nation's eastern and northern borders. We also wanted to establish a nationwide missile defense system, but after 15 years of controversy, the program was canceled in 1972 as a result of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty signed with the Soviet Union. Document H also discusses our obsession with defense spending. It greatly increased during the years of the cold war. In fact from 1949 to 1951 it went up by almost 20%. According Document G, important things like education had taken a backseat to our country’s defense and war against communism and the Soviet Union.
American’s fears at this time seemed to destroy their prosperity and excellent economy after World War II. Rather than distribute government spending equally, they placed all of their emphasis on our nation’s defense, in fear that the Soviet Union would attack. Americans constantly lived in fear of the Soviet Union. Whether it was their threats for a potential nuclear war, threat to spread communism, or Sputnik, their orbiting Satellite, this was an era in which we allowed the Soviet Union to control our actions.

Harry Potter Mania

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was such a good movie. I watched it on Friday night, and it made me fall in love with the series all over again. There was a time when I was completely obsessed. Like I would read the books constantly and watch the movies 10 times in a row, and watch interviews with Harry, Ron, and Hermione online. And although that obsession has ceased, I still am absolutely amazed by what this series of books has created. J.K. Rowling is a genius. It seems like a pretty simple concept, create a world of magic full of witches and wizards. Why didn’t I think of that first? I could be rolling around in millions of dollars right now? However, with her quirky imagination, and knack for detail in writing Rowling has created one of the best children and teen book series to ever hit the shelves. In fact, I know people who are so obsessed with the book series; they actually believe Hogwarts is real. And I must tell you, that I was/am one of those people. And those people who are living in denial usually tell themselves that they didn’t receive the letter because they are muggles (humans). But they do truly believe that there is a world of magic, and witchcraft that we have not yet seen, but that it does really exist.

Attend The Tale of Sweeney Todd!

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd! This musical is driving me absolutely insane. I first saw the movie last year after listening to our show choir sing one of their songs and immediately fell in love with it. It is so powerful and intense, and just downright creepy, but definitely in a good way. However, this last month has been seemingly endless, filled with rehearsals, and running certain songs thousands of times, until they are flawless. Although we are told it will pay off, we haven’t yet fully been able to reap in the rewards. However, we got our first taste of success today. In order to understand the full impact of this success, I must explain this week to you.

Monday: Rehearsal from 3-10 pm
Tuesday: Rehearsal from 3-10 pm
Wednesday: Three Shows. 6:30 am-5:00 pm
Thursday: Show 5-10
Friday: Show 5-10. Cast Part 10-12
Saturday: Show at 2 and 5.

Yes, I am drowning in Sweeney Todd rehearsals. Don’t get me wrong I love singing and performing, however, this is getting a bit ridiculous. The frustration and tension are apparent at rehearsals as well. There are so many misunderstandings and miscommunications, that it is almost impossible not to be stressed out.

Now, although I am complaining immensely, there is a point to talking about how crazy this week has been. It made me sit down and truly think about why I put myself through this. I could easily have not have tried out for the musical, and had a calm stress free week. But that was not the case. What was my motivation for putting myself through this hell? Well, it’s simple (and a bit cheesy) I love to perform. That feeling we get on stage when something goes right is just a magnificent one. That feeling when someone applauds you on a job well done is unforgettable. Sweeney Todd is a tremendous musical. It is extremely difficult for a professional Broadway Cast to implement, let alone a group of high schoolers. But it is ridiculous the amount of talent we have in this show. I am shocked at how outstanding our leads are. They work their butts off and the results have shown. I am so proud of how far we have come, and I know that the next couple of shows are going to be fabulous!

The Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl was a term that described the era during which an immense cloud of dust seemed to absorb cities. They began in 1934 in Montana and Wyoming, and the dust traveled eastward, and eventually spread to Iowa and Wisconsin. The dust was inescapable and eventually became a part of daily life for people who were considered to live in the “Dust Bowl”. The Dust Bowl was a dark time for American History. The cause of this large amount of dust was the droughts that had been occurring in the high planes. In order to survive the extreme weather conditions, the prairie grasses had to develop deep roots. However, farmers wanted to exploit and uncover the rich soil beneath the grasses and Dust Storms were an affect of this.
Along with the dust storms, came the Great Depression, and the combination of these two events shattered the dreams of many Americans to travel to lands of opportunity in the west. The rains had failed them, and their crops were destroyed. The wind eroded their land, and they were not able to make money through agriculture anymore. In fact, John Steinbeck wrote one of the most influential novels about the Dust Bowl and life during the Great Depression. In his book, he used the story of a fictional character to portray the real things that people faced during this era. He spoke about California and how it used to be an “agrarian dream of economic sufficiency and independence.” However, “the dream turned into a nightmare.” The people who migrate there quickly realize that this once was a land of agricultural opportunity and success, but because of the Dust Bowl, it is now dry and barren land, that will be impossible to farm.
There is some controversy about Steinbeck’s story however. Many people believed that since he based the novel on a fictional character that the historical details were not accurate. However, this was not the case. Steinbeck performed extensive historical research in order to truly understand this time period and the struggles that real people faced during this era. This has been proven by research performed by social scientists and government officials. For example, Dorothea Lange and her husband Paul Taylor followed the migrant trail from Oklahoma through Texas and across the desert to the migrant camps in California. Lange was a photographer hired to document rural life. She and Taylor eventually published a book that displayed the struggles and horrors that people faced during this time, and used shocking pictures as evidence that this was actually what occurred during that time.
The Dustbowl of the 1930s lasted a decade, and it was an era of obstacles and struggles for Americans. With the arrival of the stock market crash, matters were already difficult, but with the added environmental issues caused by the Dust Bowl, agriculture and farmers suffered as well, making matters worse for the American economy.

Cloning

Cloning is the biological process of creating populations of genetically identical individuals through asexual reproduction. Cloning has the ability to produce more individuals of a certain organism, and to aid in the process of stem research that could potentially save many humans. In recent years, the controversy over cloning has been very prominent in society. I believe that cloning should be allowed because it is beneficial to research on certain pathogens, can create new healthy organs that could be transplanted to save someone’s life, and can aid infertile couples.
Cloning is a very complex process in which the DNA of a creating organism, or cell is cloned in order to produce an identical copy of that organism with the exact same DNA. Scientists successfully cloned the infamous sheep, “Dolly” in 1996. Dolly was the first mammal that was cloned from an adult somatic cell using the process of nuclear transfer. Nuclear transfer occurs when the DNA from an oocyte (unfertilized egg), us injected into the nucleus, which contains the DNA to be cloned. If the transfer is successful, the newly constructed cell will divide normally, replicating the new DNA while remaining in a pluripotent state. The cloned cells are then placed in the uterus of a female mammal, and an identical organism is formed. Although this process seems like it would generally work, the chances of succes are very rare, and is indeed one of the reasons cloning is frowned upon. The low efficiency of this technique has caused most scientists to abandon it. However, when you think of the millions of couples in this world who want a child and cannot have one, this process is their only hope. They would be willing to take a chance on this process that rarely works, just so that their dreams of having a child could potentially come true. Most couples are so desperate to have a child that they are willing to try anything. What is the harm in trying? Although this is a very long and complicated process, the feeling that a couple gets when they know they are going to have a child definitely makes everything worth it.
Nuclear Transfer cloning is also used in Stem Cell Reasearch. Stem cells can now be grown and transformed into specialized cells with desired characteristics of other organs, tissue, and muscles through a cell culture. Highly plastic adult stem cells from a variety of sources, including umbilical cord blood and bone marrow, can be used in medical therapies. Embryonic cell lines and autologous embryonic stem cells produced by therapeutic cloning have also been proposed as promising candidates for future therapies. However, the controversy that has developed is that embryonic stem cell technology will not always work for reproductive cloning and can fundamentally devalue human life. However, if this research continues to be pursued by scientists, its impact could be tremendously advantageous. For example, a patient who needs a heart transplant, but who cannot find a matching donor, could use a heart created through nuclear transfer cloning. Although many are skeptical about the process, I believe with more research, cloning could potentially benefit many people.

College

I’m taking the SAT on May 1st, and quite frankly, I’m utterly terrified. I’ve been taking this SAT Test Prep Class in Iowa City, and although I feel like it has helped me immensely, it still doesn’t relieve the pressure that I will face in the next year. As the time for college applications and all that good stuff approach, I realize that I have absolutely no clue as to where I want to go. I know that I want to do Pre Med, but I’m not sure where or what requirements I must meet in order to get into the school of my choice. A lot of my friends are getting into these amazing colleges (for example, Harvard, Yale, RIT, and MIT) and this scares me. I know that they’re a year older, and are supposed to have this kinda stuff figured out already, but now that I think about it, senior year isn’t really that far away. And this time next year, I will know where I will be living and spending the next four years (possibly 8-12 for Medical School) of my life. And that’s another thing; not knowing what the future holds or where I’m going to be living in a year and half. Not having the answers just sucks. And this obsession that everyone has with college searches is getting to me. I went on a college visit a couple weeks ago to Washington University and it was such a beautiful campus. The academics are great as well as the extracurricular activities there and I could definitely see myself fitting in perfectly there. It’s an exceptional school and I would be thrilled to get acceptance there. But a lot of people have been telling me about how selective it is, and that scares me too. I don’t feel like I’m doing or have been doing enough to get into a school like that. I think I need to make a complete life style change in this next year and a half. A change that includes studying a lot harder, getting more involved in extracurricular activities as well as in the community, and researching colleges and where I want to go and what I need to do to get into them.


Washington University