I Found Winter

A snowstorm hit the Great Plains early this week. The main target: Kansas. Topeka, Kansas received 15 inches of snow. Because of this amount, it forced closure of many interstates and businesses.

This storm also hit New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and Oklahoma. 10 foot snow drifts were reported in Colorado. Everything in the affected area of Texas (mostly the Panhandle) was shut down. Some of Texas and Oklahoma even remained closed until late Wednesday. This is largely due to the fact that they don’t often receive snow so they don’t have sufficient (or any) great methods for snow removal. Many people were also getting in car accidents or ending up in ditches because of the lack of experience in driving in such icy and showy conditions.

At least 40 people were left stranded at an Oklahoma motel because the blowing snow had created drifts of two to three foot high on the main road. It was even reported that some people couldn’t even get out of their houses.

After some drifts of about 5 feet high were cleared, many roadways and interstates in New Mexico, Texas, and Kansas were able to re-open on Tuesday.

The storm was said to be blamed for at least six deaths. “Four people were killed when their vehicle collided with a pickup truck in part of eastern New Mexico where blizzard-like conditions are rare, and a prison guard and inmate died when a prison van crashed on an icy road in eastern Colorado.” (Boston News)

The surprising part of it is that many of these areas were enjoying 60 degree weather just 24 hours earlier. It’s shocking that the storm had come so quick, turning roads into ice and visibility down to zero.

The snowstorm had tapered off after hitting these regions as it moved towards the Great Lakes. Here in Iowa, we received some snowfall in the afternoon but nothing significant. This is because the storm had begun to die off after it showed its worst.

Although the storm had been quite fatal it was good news to hear that they were able to begin traveling again be Wednesday at the latest.

Is Iowa going to keep being avoided from these storms all winter? Or are we going to get hit in the near future? I’m real hoping that the next storm gets to us.

I do not like that storms kill and trap people. That part of winter I don’t just simply oversee but I do try to focus on the beauty of the snow. It is unfortunate when people lose their lives so I do hope everyone has safe holiday travels this winter season.

Where Did Winter Go?

One of my previous posts talked about how this winter in Iowa will be milder than our average winter. This still proves to be true.

If I can go outside wearing jeans and a hoodie and not shiver, it’s not winter. If I can get in my car and leave the house without even having to defrost or scrape the ice off of my car, it’s not winter. If we still haven’t had a snow day and December is coming to an end, IT’S NOT WINTER!!

I know people complain all the time about how much they hate winter because it’s cold and snowy. But that’s what winter is. It feels weird to feel like we’re still in fall and about to begin a new year.

The worst part of all is that it looks like we won’t be having a white Christmas. Chances are, it will not snow for Christmas and if it snow before Christmas, it will melt before the day actually arrives.

Last winter my car needed scraped off every morning, gloves and a coat (although I just double up on hoodies) were totally necessary, and there was a blizzard on Christmas Eve. I honestly would love for that to happen again. I really love snow.

This season, however, isn’t entirely strange. 2001-2004 we didn’t get snow on Christmas. We also didn’t receive snow for Christmas in 2008. So even though it happens every now and then, it’s not the holidays without winter.

Another reason that snow needs to come is because seniors don’t have to make up the snow days. I remember being a sophomore and not getting out of school until the second week of June. But this year it looks like everyone will be getting out in May. This is so unfair. I want a ton of snow days so the underclassmen have to suffer in school while the seniors get a head start on summer. That’s how it should work every year.

Successful Bully Reality Check

I had recently seen a great video. It’s about a boy named Jonah and how he has been bullied every day because he is gay. It’s a very touching and sweet video. I felt that it was very necessary to post because I feel like bullies never really get the reality check that they should.

Jonah had also showed up on GMA a few weeks ago and said all the bullies apologized and he’s been receiving a lot of support for his bravery.

Here’s the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg

Children Won't Commit Crimes if They are Taught not to

This past January a 10 year old boy in Ohio shot his mom and killed her. Not all details were put on the final printed report but extra details were reported on a television interview.

The young boy had gotten angry with his mother. He went into his room where 4 fully loaded guns were hanging on his wall on display. He took them all down and sat them on his bed. He picked up a .22 caliber rifle, walked into the living room and shot his mother in the head. He then proceeded to run to the neighbor’s house.

The neighbor called 911 to report the incident and the boy can be heard in the background yelling “I shot my mom. I killed her”. When the police went to investigate they found the mother face down on the living room floor and she was pronounced dead. They then took her 10 year old son into custody.

The boy was held at a juvenile delinquent center while the case was viewed. His lawyer believes that the boy is not guilty. The defense attorney plans to win the case.

Personally, I don’t think it is entirely the boy’s fault. It is probably 15% his fault and about 85% the parent’s fault.

First of all, putting four fully loaded guns in a child’s room that are easily reachable is incredibly stupid. You are just asking for trouble. It is one thing to have guns in a child’s room, which I do not think is a very good idea either, but to have them fully loaded?! What, is he getting early training for the Mafia?!

Secondly, if this child was raised correctly, he would not have killed his mother. The parenting needs to seriously be critiqued. Growing up, I was always told to never be rude or mean or hit adults. And if I ever was to my parents I would be in trouble. Like soap in the mouth, no television, stay in your room trouble. My parents always taught me that violence is never okay and it is never the answer. They also did not let me watch bad violence on television. It was just something I never grew up with.

But obviously, the child did grow up around violence. Either he was abused, his mother was abused, he got to watch violence, or he saw his mom being violent. Any of these or more could have been a factor. And if any of those were a factor then I could definitely see why he thought violence was okay. If he thought that violence was the solution to his problem, then his parents did not raise him correctly.

Now does this mean that he should be tried as an adult, or as a child?

Some say that he should be tried as an adult. He committed an adult crime: murder. He obviously knew he shot her and knew what a gun could do. He is mentally unstable and should be charged as an adult so that he can stay longer in prison.

However I think that he should be tried as a child. He is only 10 years old after all. Yes, murder is an adult crime but it also comes back to how he was raised. Is it his fault he was taught violence was okay? No, not at all. His mind is just beginning to develop and so any information he can take in will be kept. That is not his fault at all.

What I really think he needs is a therapist. He needs someone he can talk to about not only what he did, but the environment he grew up in. By doing this they can learn why he did what he did. They can also diagnose him with any number of mental illnesses and treat him for it.

He does not need to be punished. What he needs is to be treated. He is evidently mixed up about his morals and he just needs some help to get him on the right track. I really do not think jail time will help him in any way. If anything, he will just become a bad person.

I believe he does not need jail time, he needs a therapist. He is just a young kid and needs more direction than his parents had given him.

Your Health can Best be Supported by Swimming

Many people think that running is the best physical activity you can do to get in shape. However, this isn’t entirely true; swimming does more to get an individual in shape. Unlike running, it doesn’t cause as much stress on the knees and ankles. It’s really easy on the joints and it often recommended by doctors when an athlete is injured.

 Plus, swimming works every single muscle in your body. The only thing swimming doesn’t help develop is bone density. Otherwise, it benefits you in all other areas.

Swimming helps to develop general strength, cardiovascular fitness, and endurance. It is often used for cross-training. Swimming before a land workout will help you gradually get your heart rate up and stimulate muscle activity. If you decide to swim after your land workout, this can help you cool down, move blood through your muscles (helping you recover), and calm you down. It helps breathing because it will increase blood circulation because of the pressure of depths.

Swimming actually burns calories at a rate of about 3 calories a mile per pound of bodyweight. If you weigh 150 lbs. and it takes you 30 minutes to swim one mile (1,760 yards or 1,609 meters), then you will be using about 900 calories in one hour. It helps you develop muscles you wouldn’t normally use and can help your primary active muscles by making supporting muscles stronger. There’s even a lower risk of injuries in swimming when compared to other sports.

By swimming, you can boost your immune system. Most competitive pools have a water temperature that is below the human body temperature. Once the body starts adapting to these temperatures you could receive a solid resistance to colds and flus.

Not only does swimming help with physical aspects, but it also helps with psychological areas too. If you swim slowly through the water you can develop a rhythm and it’s almost a meditation method. Many people feel refreshed after a swimming workout. It’s also been proven that swimmers develop life skills such as sportsmanship, time-management, self-discipline, goal-setting, and an increased sense of self-worth from their participation in swimming. Swimmers seem to do better in school, in general terms, than non-swimmers as a group.

Overall, swimming is a physically and mentally healthy sport to take a part in. By continuously swimming you’ll tone your body and mind to places you couldn’t get them before.

Irena Sendler or Al Gore?

I learned something recently that kind of bothered me so this will go under the category of annoyances.

A Polish woman, Irena Sendler, who lived from 1910 to 2008 experienced life during the Holocaust. She worked in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist. Irena had found herself dedicated to smuggling Jewish children out of the ghetto. For infants she would hide them at the bottom of her toolbox and for children she would put in a burlap sack in the back of her truck.

She even trained her dog to bark when Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers wanted nothing to do with the dog so the barking covered up the infant and children’s noises. During this time she managed to save 2500 children. She kept all the children’s names in a glass jar buried in her backyard underneath a tree. After the war, she did her best to locate the parents to give the children back to. Many of the parents were killed however so she helped those children be put in a safe foster home or adopted by loving families. The parents that had survived were able to re-unite with their children.

Unfortunately, Irena was eventually caught. Her punishment included having both of her legs and arms broken and was beaten severely by the Nazi soldiers.

In 2007 Irena was a nominee to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected for it. Al Gore had won the prize for a slide show on Global Warming.

Now I’m all for Al Gore’s movement to become a greener country and pay attention to our CO2 emissions but I really believe that Irena deserved that prize over him. It’s people like that in this world that we need more of. It’s people like that who should always be rewarded for their selfless acts.

Musicians are More Intelligent

I think many people would agree that music is an important part of life. People that learn to play an instrument or sing can express their feelings in an artistic way. They can let their creativity grow and have an outlet for themselves. Not only do musicians experience this, but they often are more intelligent than non-musicians.

It has been proven through brain scans that musicians have significantly more grey matter in several brain regions. Grey matter is made up of neuronal cell bodies. The grey matter includes regions of the brain involved in muscle control, sensory perception such as seeing and hearing, memory, emotions, and speech.

However this doesn’t necessarily work the other way around. Just because you are born with more grey matter doesn’t mean you’re going to become a musician. But studies have shown that as someone learns an instrument the grey matter in their brain grows.

Now does this mean that those brain growths will affect intelligence? In the study of 9 to 11-year olds, (Schlaug et al 2005), musicians performed better on several tests than their non-musical peers. They scored significantly higher on tests of vocabulary and finger tapping. They also presented a strong, but statistically non-significant, trend towards better spatial and math skills. Other studies also show very significant differences of the intelligence of musicians vs. non-musicians.

In two studies, Schellenberg 2006 and Patel and Iverson 2007, it was proven that musicians performed significantly better on certain tests. These tests include: spatial-temporal skills, math ability, reading skills, vocabulary, verbal memory, pneumonic awareness, working memory, perceptual organization, and processing speed.

Another study, Hanna-Pladdy and Mackay 2011, had shown that the more years a person had spent playing an instrument, the better he performed on tests of word recall, visual (nonverbal) memory, and cognitive flexibility.

Many of these same studies had shown that music lessons might enhance intelligence because they train kids to focus attention for long periods of time, decode a complex symbolic system (musical notation), translate the code into precise motor patterns, recognize patterns of sound across time, learn rules of pattern formation, memorize long passages of music, understand ratios and fractions, and improvise within a set of musical rules.

This definitely can make the argument that music is important in children’s lives. If a child can become more intelligent by taking music lessons, it would be a wise decision to enroll them in music classes.

Groped in Good Nature or Attacked in a Well Thought-out Plan?

Airport security has gotten a lot of media exposure since the World Trade Center terrorist attack. But recently there’s been even more people upset because of the enhanced invasion of privacy.

In 2009 on Christmas day, a Nigerian attempted to set of explosives that had been sewn into his underwear. Since this incident the need for airport security has been accelerated. Advanced Imaging Technology (or AIT) has been introduced to many airports in the United States. These scanners have the ability to see through a passenger’s clothing.

 However, if people refuse to go through these scanners then they have to go through an enhanced pat-down. A U.S Congressional Service Report said the pat-downs now "involve the use of the fingers and palm to search for concealed items and more detailed tactile inspection of areas higher on the thigh, in the groin area, and under women's breasts. The procedures routinely involve touching of breasts, buttocks, and genitals."

Many people across the nation have been upset by these new security measures. I stand up for the new security though. Yeah it may invade your privacy but is that really such a big deal compared to what would happen if they didn’t do these procedures?

Even though the full body scanners seem like the way to go without having to be touched, there has been research that these scanners can cause cancer. Obama’s top science advisor, John Holden stated, “There is good reason to believe that these scanners will increase the risk of cancer to children and other vulnerable populations. We are unanimous in believing that the potential health consequences need to be rigorously studied before these scanners are adopted. Modifications that reduce radiation exposure need to be explored as soon as possible.” These machines could possibly cause cancer, prompt sperm cell mutations, and harm fetuses.

David Brenner is the head of Columbia University's Center for Radiological Research and he had this to say about the new scanners, “There really is no other technology around where we're planning to X-ray such an enormous number of individuals. It's really unprecedented in the radiation world."

So personally, I would rather not have the risk for cancer. I don’t want to have to be x-rayed if some scientists aren’t saying it’s entirely safe yet. So yes, I would rather take a pat-down. Sure. It’s going to be awkward and not exactly what I’d like to have done to me but that is the only other alternative to the scanner. Plus, the security officials aren’t doing this so they can touch you and are perverts; they’re doing it so they know every passenger will not pose a threat to the flight.

I would rather have my privacy invaded than be on a plane with a terrorist or a life-threatening plan being unfolded. It’s scary enough to be on a plane in general because everyone hypes up the idea that plane crashes happen so often (even though car crashes happen even more frequently). So if the security guards can take out one less worry to board the plane, I’ll deal. I don’t have anything to hide and I know it’s only their job.

Homosexual Adoption

It’s been argued that homosexuals should not be adopting children. Many people believe that children should only be adopted into heterosexual families. This idea is argued upon a few reasons.

Many people believe that if a child is brought up into a homosexual household then they are significantly more likely to be gay themselves. I find this to be completely false. Like anything relating to being gay, you can’t choose it. That means whether the parents are straight or gay, the children that are meant to be gay will be. They don’t choose it because they see how their parents are. If that was the case there would’ve never been any homosexual on earth because the parents were always heterosexual. This idea is so stupid. There is also apparently ‘research’ to prove that idea. The ‘research’ fails to come to actual evidence of the claim.

Another idea is that it is an unnatural upbringing to be brought up by homosexual parents. The support to that is proposing the idea that nature and animals show only a mother and father. But we are humans therefore we have larger brains. We are more sophisticated and intelligent than animals. This means that we can open our mind to seeing that having homosexual parents is okay.

Those against homosexual adoption also claim that that a girl brought up by two men will fail to be feminine and a boy brought up by two men will fail to be masculine. I believe this statement is also wrong. Generally in most homosexual relationships there is a ‘girl’ and a ‘guy’. With men, one or the other is likely to be more feminine and with women, one or the other is likely to be more masculine. This shows that even though both parents are of the same gender, they can teach their kids as if they are any other straight parent. Plus, there is usually at least one close male (or female) of the lesbian (or gay) couple’s family. They can take advice or have that person come and help out every now and then.

I believe that a child raised by homosexual parents is just as okay as being raised by heterosexual parents. Gays are some of the most loving people to come across and would do a much better job than the heterosexual parents that are horrible parents.

After all, a child in adoption home just wants to come home to a loving family. That’s exactly what they would receive if a homosexual couple wanted to adopt that child.

Hate Crimes Are Simply Cowardly Actions

In April, a gay UNC student was attacked in the form of a hate crime. Quinn Matney was the victim of this crime.

He had been having trouble sleeping so he went for a walk around campus at about 3 am. He ran into an acquaintance on a bridge by a residence hall. Two men were sitting on a bench nearby. One man got up and approached Quinn saying “Here’s a taste of hell you f***ing fag” and burned him with an unidentified object on his wrist. Quinn tried pulling away but the man didn’t let go until he received a hard punch in the face. Quinn then quickly walked away from the two men who had appeared to be drunk.

He headed to the emergency room but left after hours of waiting. He said he received treatment at Campus Health Services the following day. This burn was diagnosed as 3^rd and 4^th degree burns. Quinn now no longer has feeling in his thumb and only limited mobility in his index finger. Doctors told Matney that he will need to visit the burn unit and go through two weeks of occupational therapy for his injury, and that he might need surgery.

University officials did not comment on the situation until a week later when a post on Alert Carolina occurred. The co-chairman of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Straight Alliance said, “A very blatant hate crime against a GLBT individual occurred on this campus, and we only heard about it by word of mouth”.

UNC planned to report the incident as a hate crime to the federal government after finally addressing the subject.

The man who had burned Quinn appeared to be a white 19-year-old, standing 5 feet 10 inches, with a large build and short brown hair. He believes this man might have overheard previous conversations with his friends about his sexual orientation. The man will be sought on charges of aggravated assault.

My views on this issue tie in with one of my previous posts about bullying. Being mean to anyone (and especially when it physically or mentally harms them) is so pathetic and cowardly. If you have to hurt someone then you obviously want to be a part of their life. If you don’t like someone then don’t bother them. There’s just no use.

It bothers me so much that people think it’s necessary to physically harm someone because they are happy living their life. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but it should never be forced upon anyone. I really hope that someday we can have this world full of tolerant and open-minded people.

Going along with this story: How many haters does it take to change a light bulb? None, haters are afraid of change even if it will make the world a brighter place.

Warm Winter In Iowa

Recently the Weather Channel forecasted for a milder winter than years before. The northern states will be colder than their average and the southern states will be warmer than their average. This is because the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has been dominant over the past few years. However, this year the NAO does not appear to occur this winter.

--North Atlantic Oscillation: A climatic phenomenon in the North Atlantic Ocean of fluctuations in the difference of atmospheric pressures at sea level.

Because it will be warmer than last year’s winter in the Midwest, there will be less need for high heating. Generally you would think that you’d save money then. But, because the quantity demanded for heating will decrease then the price for heating will increase. Energy companies plan to raise their prices on heating during this warmer winter.

Even though you may not be saving much money on heating, you could be on winter apparel. Because of this warm November there have been increasing markdowns on outer wear for winter.

I am glad that it is becoming warmer for the winter. It’s still nice enough to be outside and gloves aren’t necessary yet. Also, I’ve only had to scrape off my car maybe 4 times this year? There really hasn’t been much frost so I don’t have the need to get up early and scrape it off my car.

On the other hand, I really love snow. We have only had one day this fall/winter season when it snowed. Last year in November it had snowed or rained ice about 7 different days of the month. This year we’ve mostly had rain if any precipitation came our way. The one day this month we had “snow” was actually mostly flurries turning into slush.

I’m really hoping that December and January bring a decent amount of snow to Iowa. Now that my high school senior year has arrived, I don’t have to make up the snow days. I’m going to be really upset if we don’t have any this winter.

I don’t just love snow because I get out of school though. It’s just pretty when it’s snowing and accumulation and white blankets cover the streets. And it better snow for Christmas like it did last year. It’s not Christmas without snow.

Music Adds More

Have you ever noticed how much music adds to a movie? I was watching a really suspenseful movie recently and there was a part where the camera was just observing the scenery. This would have just seemed peaceful if no music was in the background. However, there was creepy music playing along with the shot and it made the movie just that much more suspenseful.

Music is such an important part in almost every movie. Even when there was ‘silent’ films there was still funny piano music playing to keep the audience entertained. Great acting in a movie is very helpful but it can’t be a great movie without great music as well.

The movie Insidious is a great example. It’s a horror film and the acting in it is great. Not only that but the storyline is unlike any horror film and kept you intrigued and scared. But if it wasn’t for the music it wouldn’t have been so top of the line for me. At the very beginning of the movie when the title comes up a bunch of violins keep hitting this ear piercing, bone-chilling note making it scary from the start. One of the songs in the movie itself was a song by Tiny Tim (and if you’ve ever heard him, you’d know why it’s in a scary movie) and it just added a whole other level of creepy to the movie.

Without music, movies would not be near as entertaining as they are with them.

Animals Deserve Better

I was at the gas station earlier today and while I was waiting for my car to be full I read a sticker on the gas pump. It said something like too much inhalation of gasoline fumes will cause cancer because we tested it on lab animals. REALLY?!?! Is that really a test that needs to happen? Common sense says that inhaling gas fumes is dangerous to your health so why would we put innocent animals to the test of that? Are these scientists doing these labs really that stupid? And who is stupid enough to sit there and inhale gas anyway?

Animals shouldn’t be tested on stupid things like that. It is easily understood that anything to do with gas or gas in the air will affect your health. You don’t need to test that on animals to figure that out.

There are more tests that are completely unnecessary as well. These include testing shampoo in eyes of animals to see if it irritates or animals getting their fur shaven off and get applied a thick amount of a substance to test for toxicity.

For tests like these we should be using human cells, organs, and artificial skin programmed to act like human skin. It’s a much better idea than putting poor helpless animals to their death. Even if animals survive the tests, they are usually euthanized afterwards. Even dogs and cats are specifically bred for tests.

These tests are unnecessary and cruel. We live in such a technologically advanced society now that we should be able to find other means to test products than putting innocent lives at risk.

Discrimination Over Happiness?

In the same realm as the debate over homosexuality legal rights, transgender is also very much debated. Being transsexual means you were born one gender but had surgery to be the other gender.

The people who feel the need for this surgery feel as though they were born wrong. In their heart and in their minds they believe they were meant to be the other sex.

Arguments against transgender rights include that you’re born the way you are. I do agree with this statement. I believe God made everyone how they were supposed to be. HOWEVER, I am not transgendered so I have no idea how they feel. I think they are totally right for doing what makes them feel like themselves. I wouldn’t know how it feels so I don’t judge when I hear or see people that say they believe they are in the wrong body. It’s actually kind of interesting to watch the TV show documentaries on their lifestyle because it’s so different from my own. But just because it’s different and I don’t entirely understand it doesn’t mean I am against it.

Apparently somewhere in Canada they are teaching kids in classrooms to be tolerant of homosexuals and transsexuals. I think this is an awesome idea. It’s great for kids to know that it’s okay to be who you want to and it’s okay to love anyone you want. Although, there are some people against that being taught.

The people against those teachings say that it will poison our kids into thinking that they should be gay or that they should be the other gender. They think it will only confuse kids because their mind is still developing and learning. This is so utterly and entirely false!

Just like homosexuals, you can’t choose to be transsexual. I’ve watched about 4 different documentaries on transgender people and learned about them. After learning new things about their lifestyle it makes me more understanding, aware and accepting. It does not make me want to be transsexual because I already know who I am and what I want.

This still doesn’t go against the argument though because little kids don’t know yet who they are or what they want to be. But their mind is just grasping for new information up until a certain point. This point is where we start basing opinions on only what we know and if new information is presented that goes against our own ideas, we reject it. It simply gets ignored and that’s what causes people to become ignorant.

If we teach kids at a young age that these things are okay, they will know that before they start basing their own opinions. And if they learn it while their mind is still developing ‘wrong’ and ‘right’ then chances our they won’t have many opinions against people anyways because they learned to be accepting at a young age. If they learn these things are okay then they will carry that through their whole life and grow up as an open minded individual.

Basically, I am for transgendered rights. It is their life, their money, and their future. If they are doing what makes them happy and doing what makes them love themselves, then they are totally on the right path to have a successful life.

The people that probably take that information the hardest are the parents of a child who want to change their gender. They had that child as one gender, this beautiful baby they spent their time treating as a certain sex to find out that they’re going to alter their lifestyle completely. I bet that’s one of the toughest things for a parent to overcome. But if they truly love the child they will want them to be happy no matter what that entails.

Plus, for many transsexuals it is a matter of life and death. If they can’t become who they feel they are destined to be, they become depressed and suicidal. If they have to be stuck in a body that they don’t feel they belong to, they are going to feel like they belong in life.

A really touching quote I heard from a documentary was “Would you rather have a happy daughter or a dead son?”

I’m supportive of transsexuals because as long as they are making themselves happy, then I am happy for them.  They’ve had enough of a struggle to deal with inside their own mind so I don’t think anyone should give them any harder of a time.

Dislike: Rude Customers

Here’s one huge annoyance that just drives me insane:

RUDE CUSTOMERS!

I’ve worked at a café and now I am working at Sears and let me tell you this: people are mean. I really don’t understand why people have to be so rude. They act like the person either making their food, or ringing them up at the cash register is so stupid. They talk to you in such a condescending way.

I understand if you’re having a bad day or whatever. But that doesn’t give you the excuse to ruin my day. It really hurts when people are rude to me at work because it just feels like such a personal attack. I honestly don’t understand what the need is to be so angry at whoever is providing you the service that you came for. I just try to do my job the best that I can and when I get people yelling at me it’s so upsetting.

So for those of you that are rude to people when you go into restaurants or store, please think before you act. Your actions mean a lot more than you think they might.

On the flip side, the people that come into my work and are extremely nice, make me very happy to be working there.

Weather Phenomena

I’ve found some really interesting weather phenomenon and decided to research and share the ones I liked most.

Belt of Venus:

This phenomenon occurs shortly after sunset or shortly before sunrise. A pinkish glow extends about 10 degrees to 20 degrees above the horizon. The glow is usually separated by a dark layer known as Earth’s shadow. The pinkish color occurs because the backscattering of reddening light from either the rising or setting sun.

Noctilucent Clouds:

These clouds refract light at dusk and illuminate the sky with no seeming light source. Made up of ice crystals, noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere. They can usually be seen in the summer months at latitude 50 degrees north and 70 degrees south of the equator. No evidence has been observed of such clouds before 1885 so they are considered a recent phenomenon. They form only under very restrictive conditions and are used as a guide to an atmospheric change. These clouds are commonly increasing in brightness and extent and therefore are theorized with a connection to climate change.

Mammatus Clouds:

Usually extending from cumulonimbus clouds, these clouds indicate a severe thunderstorm or even a tornadic storm.  The clouds are usually composed of ice but can also be a mixture of ice and water or just made entirely of water. Mammatus clouds can also form under altocumulus, altostratus, stratocumulus, cirrus, or even volcanic ash clouds.

Fire Whirl:

This phenomenon is rarely captured on tape. Fire whirls, also known as fire devil or fire tornado, obtain a vertical vorticity, or a tornado-like rotating column of air. Most fire whirls are triggered from wildfires. They form from a warm updraft and convergence from the wildfire. They can be anywhere from 10-50 meters tall, only a few meters wide, and only last a few minutes. However, some can exceed these numbers. Fire whirls can also uproot trees.

Non-Aqueous Rain

A common folklore states that a Spanish Catholic missionary visited Honduras between 1856 and 1864 and when he encountered so many poor people he prayed for 3 days and 3 nights asking for a miracle to help the poor people by providing food. Now fish have rained between the months of May and July for over a century. There have also been biblical stories of non-aqueous rain. Often only fish are reported to rain, most likely do to a thunderstorm or tornado sucking up the fish and then dropping them on local land. Although there have also been reports of raining blackbirds, spiders, large clumps of tangled worms and even an unidentified animal in pieces. What makes this even more incredible? Many of these were reported before airplanes were ever invented.

Fire Rainbow:

A fire rainbow is an extremely rare phenomenon. It occurs when the sun is high enough to allow light to pass through high-altitude cirrus clouds with a high content of ice crystals.

Fogbows:

Much like a rainbow, fogbows are created with the diffraction of light through water droplets. The difference between the two is that the water droplets in fogbows are much smaller than the water droplets in rainbows.

Triple Sunrise Illusion:

A triple sunrise illusion is hard to see when face to face under sunlight. It’s easier to see when captured on camera. This occurs from standard reflections or atmospheric lensing.

Morning Glory Clouds:

These clouds are low-lying (at about 100-200 meters high) and are very rare. They can only be predicted in one particular place on earth but can actually occur anywhere in various places. These clouds are accompanied by sudden wind storms and a sharp pressure jump at the surface.

Lenticular Clouds:

These clouds can often take form of a UFO but also often look like a stack of lens shapes, a single large lens shape, or even just an unusually long cloud. These are formed through air moisture that condenses from an updraft. This then is interrupted by a mountain, or any other large formation, and has come back down. After the air moisture condenses and evaporates and forms a cloud leaving the lens shape.

Kevin Helmholtz Cloud Formations:

This cloud formation is very unusual and seems very surreal. Unfortunately they are rarely observed because they hold this shape for very long and rarely ever show up. These clouds are formed because of shearing winds at cloud level.

Massive Iceberg Expected to Break Off

I’m running out of ideas to talk about so I’m going to add another topic to the list of things I blog about. This new topic will be about weather and environment.

I came across an interesting article earlier that was talking about Antarctica. It said that NASA found a huge crack in Antarctica that could break off an iceberg large enough to cover New York City. This iceberg can potentially break off within the new few months.

The rift is said to be about 820 feet at its widest and 260 feet as an average width. The crack is about 18 miles long and its width grows about 2 meters every day. Not only is it its length and width shocking but it was also measured between 165 and 195 feet deep. The glacier that could break off is expected to be about 340 square miles. The general time frame for it to break off: the ending of this year or early next.

The NASA researchers do say, however, that an iceberg breaking off is a natural occurring process. They said that Pine Island breaks off an iceberg about every 10 years and the last one was in 2001.

It’s not so much that the iceberg separating is the important idea, but rather that the glacier producing the iceberg is thinning; although the area that is thinning also appears to be growing. This thinning could lead to the disappearance of this glacier within 100 years.

The effects of this glacier melting would be a possible trigger to the entire collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet which would make global sea levels rise anywhere from 3 to 5 feet.

To see the actual report of this occurrence and the pictures and videos included, visit the link below.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/antarctica-about-to-calve-giant-iceberg-111104.html

Halloween Music

In spirit of Halloween coming up, I looked up a few of the most popular Halloween songs and some facts about them.

1.       “The Monster Mash” by Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett

-          Released in 1962

-          The sound effects in the song were all created in the studio

-          One of the only 3 records to hit the Billboard Hot 100 three times

-          Elvis Presley constantly thought it was the most ridiculous song he’s ever heard

2.       “Nightmare on my Street” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

-          Producers of the film Nightmare on Elm Street sued for copyright infringement

-          Released in 1988

-          Reached #15 on the Hot 100

-          Released on vinyl and cassette tape

3.       “Thriller” by Michael Jackson

-          Released in 1982

-          Accompanied by one of the most famous music videos ever

-          Nominated for 6 VMA awards and won 3 in 1984

-          Reached #4 on the Hot 100 in 1984

I find it interesting that most of the popular Halloween songs were created decades ago. This generation should start creating Halloween songs because it isn’t Halloween without creepy music.

Swimming Jargon

I often find myself talking about swimming and using jargon around people that aren’t swimmers. So for anyone that’s ever been confused by a swimmer, here are a few things we talk about and what they mean:

3 beat kick: For every stroke you make (in freestyle) you should have three kicks. The beat in your head should be ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three...etc. Each number gets a kick and to accent that ONE you pull with one arm and enter the water with the other.

Catch: This refers to any stroke. Your catch is the action of pulling the water in your stroke.

Drag: Anything that slows you down is considered drag. This can include hair, jewelry, loose or baggy suits, and sometimes even body fat. Anything that makes you less aerodynamic is considered drag.

Hypoxic: This relates to breathing. If the set says “hypo 3” (hypo being short for hypoxic) then you are going to breathe every third stroke that you take.

Paddles: These are training aids strapped onto a swimmer’s hand. It’s usually bigger than their hand so that way it can improve catch and give a feel of a better catch.

Pull: You don’t kick, you only pull. Basically, all you’re using is your arms.

Pull buoy: A flotation device put in between the legs to keep the legs from sinking while pulling.

Recovery: The period when a swimmer’s arm moves out of the water during the stroke.

Streamline: A body position that reduces drag. A correct streamline means you have your arms straight above your head with one hand over the other. You squeeze your ears with your arms as well. Streamline is used off the blocks and out of the turns.

Time trial: A test of how fast you can go. Time trails are usually done the second or third week of the swimming season to get a picture of where everyone is at.

Turnover rate: How fast your stroke is.

Side note: When I say stroke, I mean what your arms are doing while you’re swimming.

Swimmers are usually pretty good about being able to explain what they’re talking about, but if you don’t want to ask I hope that this was helpful.

Talented YouTube artists

I’m on YouTube almost as much as I’m on Facebook so I find really interesting artists every now and then. Here’s a few that I’ve found talented enough to subscribe to:

KurtHugoSchneider: I’m pretty sure the main guy’s name is Sam Tsui but he often has a lot of featured artists on his channel. He basically puts interesting spins on modern songs and he has a really great voice and can reach high notes that a lot of guys can’t. The artists that he features are aspiring artists and he always manages to find really talented people. It’s worth listening to.

TylerWardMusic: Tyler Ward is a very attractive guy that not only does covers on modern songs but also writes his own music. He posts videos of him in the studio as well as actual music videos. Like Sam Tsui, he sometimes brings on talented artists trying to become more recognizable. Tyler does cover songs from anywhere to rap to rock to country.

Something I find interesting about his videos is that sometimes he has his brother rap with him. He brother is very talented at rapping and I think it’s awesome that they’re close enough to work on music with each other. Not only does Tyler have his brother help him out, but he even has his mom do a few things as well. Here’s a link to a video of their cover of Eminem’s ‘No Love’:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TylerWardMusic#p/u/63/NK4h_ixdR5E

I think it’s so cool that they’re just a musical family.

MeganandLiz: These two girls (Megan and Liz) are best friends and have very strong voices. I started watching them when they were only doing covers of modern songs, which were very good. They change the harmonies just a little in most of their covers but it makes them sound just as good.

Within this year they have started writing and recording their own songs. They also have been featuring better known artists and bands in their videos. They’ve become so much more recognizable that now they are making their own music videos of their composed songs that get over a million views to them. I haven’t listened to them recently, but they are extremely talented and sweet and deserve to become what they aspire to be.

zeldaxlove64: This girl’s name is Christina Grimmie and she has a more unique sound to her voice. Like Megan and Liz, I also started watching Christina when she was only doing cover songs. She can hit both high and lower notes and has something special in her voice and is very talented at playing the piano. She’s very down-to-earth and just a very sweet girl.

Christina happens to be very close friends with Selena Gomez and Selena asked her to be an opening act for her most recent tour. Christina of course accepted and has since then been posting videos of her own music which are also very good. She seems to be a great person with a great attitude and she will go very far.

gootmusic: This is definitely one of my favorite things to watch on YouTube. Alex Goot can play 10 or more different instruments and he can play them well. In each of his videos, he shows himself playing each instrument he used for the song in a music video kind of way. He does covers for songs and has a very good voice. He is extremely gifted and I really hope he will go far.

Here's a sample of his music in Bruno Mars' "Lazy Song":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwHPN5HYXAM

Like many of the other artists I mentioned, Alex also brings on featured artists that are talented. I’m not for sure if he makes his own music or not because I’ve only seen him perform covers but I wouldn’t be surprised if song-writing is another one of his talents.

Basically, those are a few channels to check out because all of those artists are very talented. While you’re on YouTube another channel to check out would be JennaMarbles. She’s not a musician but she’s incredibly funny and a very entertaining person to watch.

Randomness

Do people really not understand the whole concept of turn your brights off when you’re within 100 feet of another car? Anytime I’m out at night people just don’t get it. I am blinded as I’m driving straight towards them. Not a smart idea on their part. It’s not as bad in the city but out in Palo it’s the worst. It’s extremely annoying.

On a side note of driving in Palo, it makes me sad how many dead animals I drove past when I was out there this past weekend. It makes me sad seeing road kill.

Which also reminds me: there is a suicidal bunny that tries to jump in front of my car every morning on my way to school. Sorry bunny, I'm not going to hit you. You're just too cute.

Parents Can Prevent Obesity

There is much dispute on whether obesity is a disease or not. Those who do believe it is a disease often say that it is because it is hereditary and will decrease life expectancy. Other people say it’s not a disease because people make their own choices on what and how much they eat and it can be prevented.

My view on this is pretty cut and dry. I do not believe that it is a disease. I do understand the fact that if weight problems run in an individual’s family, more likely than not, the individual will also suffer from weight problems. This however does not mean that they gained 200 pounds or more purely by genes. That’s just not true. I do agree that obesity does decrease life expectancy but that does not mean that it is a disease. Drinking and smoking also decrease life expectancy but they aren’t considered diseases.

I think obesity can be entirely prevented. It all comes down to your lifestyle. In order to be healthy and fit you have to both exercise and eat right. You cannot exercise and expect that you can eat junk food. That will actually make you gain weight, but at a slower rate than if you hadn’t have been exercising. Really it comes down to eating healthy first.

That being said, there is a big problem about it with Americans these days. Many Americans have become lazy and only buy the pre-packaged food that is a cause to obesity. Parents buy fried foods not only from fast food restaurants but also grocery stores. It is because of the parents that are either too busy or too lazy to make a healthy meal and have the family sit together that the children of this generation think it is okay to eat unhealthy. It is because of parents that let their kids sit around and play video games instead of encouraging them to get involved in a school or club sport. It is the parents of that need to be educated on how to feed their children and keep them healthy.

Kids don’t know what is healthy if you don’t tell them. There are plenty of very great tasting foods that also are very nutritious. My parents introduced me to just about every food and vegetable out there which means I am not very picky at all. I will literally eat just about anything I’m given. And because they introduced me to healthy and beneficial vegetables I am in love with vegetables. Not literally but I eat them all the time. Green veggies make your hair shinier, provide clearer skin, and help digestion. That is why parents need to introduce their kids to just about every food at a young age. This way, they won’t be picky when they’re older and have more options than just fried and unhealthy foods. Even if the parents don’t like a certain food, it doesn’t mean their kids won’t.

Kids also don’t know how fun exercising can be unless you show them. My entire life I grew up with sports. Pre-school through 5^th grade I played softball because my parents signed me up for it. Then because I had so much fun I did it in 6^th grade as well on a more competitive team. They also signed me up for YMCA basketball where I met friends that I still talk to today. I had so much fun as a child playing softball, basketball, flag football, tennis, and swimming. If parents don’t show their kids how fun it is to get involved or bring up the opportunity, then they will believe staying home is more fun. It’s not okay to let kids just sit around and watch TV all day. When I was younger I was outside almost every day just running around and having fun. Every kid should be able to experience that childhood because it’s a lot more fun to look back on that the entire season of Scooby Doo you watched all year.

Bottom line: I think parents need to feed their children well and introduce them to fun exercise activities. It’s not fair for a child to grow up all of their life and feel inferior to all of the kids who weigh less than that child. If we can get parents to start treating their kids right (along the lines of diet and exercise) then Americans can start understanding the way to stay healthy.

Side note on the same topic: I think it’s horrible that we have levels of obesity. I can understand why other countries don’t like America. We have 500+ pound people here while kids in other countries barely survive the day. I really hope Americans can come together and encourage those who are obese to exercise and eat right.

To end this, I just want to let you know I have nothing against obese people. I just think that they made mistakes to get to where they are. I do not look down upon them or see them inferior to me. I just see them as unable to find a light to encourage them to change their ways. And I think each of them just needs a motivator and a friend to get themselves on a healthier track.

Taper Time

Tapering is a term used in swimming that basically means you’re ending your season soon and your workouts consist of less and less yards and more rest in between sets. The tapering I have experienced the past four years begins two weeks before my last meet.

In the first week, morning practices are cut out. The coach does this so we don’t have to wake up so early and are able to catch back up on our rest. Next, our two and a half hour practices in the afternoon start becoming shorter to about 1 and a half hours by the end of the first week. In the entire first week, we work on a lot of drills and techniques to really perfect our strokes.

The second and final week is centered on rest. Our practices go from an hour and a half long to somewhere between a half hour and an hour. During our sets, the coach puts in plenty of resting spots for us so that we are able to catch our breath and give as much effort on each yard as the first one. During this second week we work a lot on short sprints and smooth swimming. Also in the second week, the coach tells us to stay off of our feet as much as possible to make sure we are giving our bodies the maximum rest we can.

By the time the last meet comes around, we are well rested, stronger, and more prepared than ever. Generally the very last meet of any swimmer’s season is where they accomplish their best times.

I don’t know if tapering is used in college swimming but it is used in high school swimming. The duration of tapering depends upon the coaches’ preferences.

Love Em' Or Hate Em' Artists

I know there are a lot of music artists that get ignored because of a multitude of excuses but the most common ones to me I find hard to ignore.

1.       Taylor Swift: A lot of people dislike her because “she can’t sing”. I actually just went to her concert in Des Moines this past summer and I am a singer so I do know what is a wrong note but I literally could not hear any wrong note come from her voice. She really can sing, it’s not just on her CD’s. When she first came into the music scene I do remember one concert on TV I saw that was less than great. But you should also consider how nerve-wrecking it would be to be her and just starting out her career.

She has catchy songs and also really lyrically creative songs. My favorites are “Innocent” and “Haunted” from her album Speak Now. “Innocent” has really solid and deep lyrics that if you really listen to them and try and connect you’ll probably find them creative as well. My favorite parts are the pre-choruses like “Wasn’t it easier in your lunchbox days? Always a bigger bed to crawl into. Wasn’t it beautiful when you believed in everything? And everybody believed in you.” Then also, “Wasn’t it easier in your firefly-catching days? When everything out of reach, someone bigger brought down to you. Wasn’t it beautiful running wild til’ you fell asleep; before the monsters caught up to you?”  In “Haunted” I find the violin an awesome addition to a partial modern rock song. It adds a fresh new power.

2.       Nick Jonas: I’ve heard so many reasons why The Jonas Brothers are “gay” and “stupid” and have also been called more inappropriate words than that. But Nick from the Jonas Brothers is incredibly talented. He’s the youngest of the brothers and he plays drums, guitar, sings, and writes his own lyrics. Not only that, but he has such an interesting sound.

I’ve only listened to his first CD he came out on his own which included the song “Who I Am”. Many of his other songs though are even more creative. His lyrics are really deep and his sound is so unique to what is normally heard. My two favorites are “Rose Garden” and “State of Emergency”. “Rose Garden” is a great representation of how good of a writer he is. His lyrics start out with “She was brought into this world, out of a beautiful mistake. When her mom was just a girl; and her daddy didn’t stay. She was working at age 9, down at the flower shop in town. Working hard just to survive because life was throwing her around” And the song goes on to tell such a sweetly sad story about this girl who experiences this life. It’s incredible the way he describes it. “State of Emergency” is one of my favorites because it really shows how different his sound is. I’m not really sure which category to place it in. Plus, he has a unique voice and a wide range in his vocals.

3.       Framing Hanley: The song they are most famous for is the rock version of Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop”. Some people like it and others don’t but overall, they’re pegged as an’ emo’ or scream group. Their album titled The Moment doesn’t do them entire justice if you’re not too into a heavier rock than modern rock. But one of their more recent albums titled A Promise to Burn really shows their true talents.

Not only did they keep a good rock and guitar feel from their earlier CDs but they toned a few down and enhanced their lyrics. I love “Weight of the World” and “The Burn”. “Weight of the World” talks about how he wants to help this certain person out because they deserve better than what they’re being treated and it’s just so sweet the way he comes across. “The Burn” is all about how he was so excited to be in a band and was “all smiles when I signed on that dotted line” but now he’s losing a lot more than he thought he would and doesn’t really know who he is. The lyrics I like best in that song are “I took the bullet and I never thought twice. I’m always the coolest when there’s money in their eyes.” Or “They took all my dreams, and all of my things. My family counted on me and I can’t let them down. I can’t let them down.” It just puts a new perspective on a life that everyone thinks they want to live and about how it’s really not as awesome as it seems.

There’s a lot more artists I could talk about but those are the ones that came to mind first.

So yes I am a big Taylor Swift and Framing Hanley fan. I don’t listen to Nick Jonas quite as often but I do really love his music.