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.

Swimming Shenanigans

Throughout my swim season we do a lot of fun things together as a team or individually. Here’s some that I can think of off the top of my head:

Chair Relays: You throw two or three chairs (depending on how many relays you want) down to the bottom of the pool and center them at the very bottom in the middle of the lane. When the race starts, the first person dives down and sits. Once the coach gives the second person the okay (which is given upon when the person ahead of them sits down and stops moving) they dive down, tag that person, and then sit themselves down. This continues until everyone in the relay has had a chance to go. It’s really fun and scary at the same time.

Donut Relays: We usually do this on a Saturday practice. The entire team gets split in two so there are two relays. The first person dives in, swims down, gets out, eat a donut as fast as they can, swims back, and then the next one goes. The goal is to try and get your whole relay finished before the other relay does.

Winter Palace (Water Polo): I’m not really sure why water polo is also referred to as winter palace but it is. Basically we play water polo in the deep end with the goals on either side. It’s usually caps VS no caps. We play this only if the coach lets us after our workout.

Rope: This happens to people who taper (which will be a different post I will talk about). A belt is put on a person who is tapering and they get ready to dive off the block. A rope is connected to the belt and when they dive off the coach pulls the rope and fast and hard as he can and it shaves about 4 seconds off that person’s normal time. It’s so fun to swim that fast.

Team Parties: Our team is very close and we really act as a family to each other. We have about 4 or 5 scheduled swim parties a season where the swimmer and their family comes and brings food as well and we all eat and hang out. The swimmers also hold impromptu parties the nights we don’t have scheduled ones.

Senior Night: Every season on senior night about 6-8 girls get together and sing the Star Spangled Banner equipped with movements. The varsity also makes up a dance to a song and performs it after diving and they all jump in the pool after it’s finished.

Scavenger Hunt: One Saturday practice a season the entire team gets together and the seniors and juniors drive about 3 to 4 people (their group) around the city looking for things to take pictures of on the scavenger hunt list. Afterwards, we all meet up and eat at Perkins.

I had a really good one in mind earlier but I totally forgot it… Shoot. I’ll try and think of what it was though.

But even though we do work really hard we make sure to find some fun every now and then during practices.

Marriage Shouldn't be Defined on Gender; It Should be Defined on Love

Same sex marriages have become more and more of a popular social issue. Recently, New York just passed the law allowing same-sex marriages in that state. (Personally I figured New York would have done that a lot sooner.) But as same sex marriages gain more popularity, the more people against it will raise their voice.

One of the most insanely stupid arguments against it (in my opinion) is that kids will be confused on gender roles. Umm...no they won’t. Even as a gay couple, you can teach your kids that a man and a woman pro-create. Kids wouldn’t be confused on who they should marry because after all, they’ll be attracted to whoever the feel attraction towards; not who they see together in a society. Kids will grow up knowing what is acceptable and unacceptable or common and uncommon in society by 1) their parents (gay or straight) will teach them and 2) they will grow up and learn things on their own.

Another argument suggests that gay marriage will weaken the institution of marriage. Well I know divorce is legal…but doesn’t that weaken the institution of marriage? At least with gay marriage, the couple loves each other. How could love (what marriage is all about) weaken marriage?! But people who get married and decide to get a divorce, which entirely weakens marriage due to the fact that it’s obviously showing marriage doesn’t mean forever to that couple, is totally legal. How is that fair?

I’m not saying people who divorce are bad people, because they aren’t. They just shouldn’t have gotten married in the first place because they should’ve known they didn’t want to be together forever like a marriage should be.

Some people are against it because they believe gays are unable to form lasting relationships. Well this is also true in a straight society. But as we all age, we find who it is that we love and hold onto them. People against gay rights in general also say that because (prominently through homosexual males) that the spread of STI’s and AIDS is increased. But this is where legalizing gay marriage would help. If a homosexual couple was allowed to get married then they would only be with one person, not spreading any diseases to anyone else; thus, making the STI and AIDS rate go down.

Gay marriage doesn’t hurt society or anyone in particular. If two people are in love (whether they are of opposite sex or the same sex) and firmly believe that they will feel this way forever and plan to be each other’s best friends for the rest of their lives, why can’t they make it official?

I know they are plenty of straight married couples who love knowing that they are married to their best friend and showing of their ring when they get engaged. Gay couples should be able to do the same.

Marriage shouldn’t be denied to those who are in love. It’s just completely unfair. Everyone deserves to love and be loved in return. With that, they also deserve to be officially known as a married couple.

By the way, I found a quote the other day talking about homophobia that really had a great message. It went something like this “Homosexuality is found in over 450 species. Homophobia is only found in one. Which one seems unnatural now?”

It's Annoying When Your Lack of Productivity is Forced Upon Other People

Recently there has been a lot of talk about cyber-bullying. The people who participate in cyber-bullying annoy me to an unbelievable extent.

You do realize that you’re being extremely cowardly? Like, legitimately. You so obviously do not have the guts to go up to someone and state your opinion. Instead, you go online, anonymously or not, and say it. That totally means you’re a coward. You’re also not cool, probably don’t have many loyal friends, and undoubtedly have a low self-esteem.

Yes, we all have opinions on other people. But I don’t sit there and type them out in such vulgar language or such hurtful language. The fact is I don’t even talk about it. Do you know why? Because voicing rude opinions has zero importance. Nobody cares!

We’re in high school, kids. That means we are still working so desperately hard to find ourselves. So for the online bullies trying to bash someone else, you’re doing so much damage to those who don’t have the level of confidence for self-esteem to handle that. (Not saying that those victims are weak in any way. After all, we are still working on finding ourselves and growing up)

People that bully others are really annoying. They evidently have such an entirely boring life that they have to put themselves in everyone else’s life. If you don’t like that person so much that you want to write mean things about them, then that means you apparently like them enough to try and make them notice you. The people I don’t like hardly ever cross my mind. Why? Because if I don’t like them then why would I waste my time thinking about them?...

But seriously, bullies are pathetic and annoying. Grow up children. You are acting as though you’re still in elementary. We’re about to head off to college and you’re sitting there being immature and dramatic. If you continue that lifestyle, you’re going to get nowhere in the real world. Everyone will leave your rude comments and actions behind them and move on to bigger and better things. And you’ll be sitting there on the computer thinking you’re just so funny and tough.

REALITY CHECK TO BULLIES: You’re wasting your time.

Do something with your life that will make you proud. If you can’t do it for yourself, then do it for your ill grandmother; do it for your father overseas; do it to set a good example for your siblings; do it for your hard-working mother; do it for your future.

That's When Dentists Scream and Lose Their Patience/Patients?

Whenever I’m in a good mood or want to be in a good mood I find myself listening to a lot of Owl City. They’re best known for “Fireflies” and “Vanilla Twilight”.

But I found a cute one from that same album the previous two songs were from (Ocean Eyes) called “Dental Care”.  The lyrics are as follows:

I brush my teeth and look in the mirror
And laugh out loud as I'm beaming from ear to ear
I'd rather pick flowers instead of fights
And rather than flaunt my style
I'd flash you a smile of clean pearly whites

I've been to the dentist a thousand times
So I know the drill, I smooth my hair
Sit back in the chair
But somehow I still get the chills

"Have a seat", he says pleasantly
As he shakes my hand and practically laughs at me
"Open up nice and wide", he says peering in
And with a smirk he says, "Don't have a fit
This'll just pinch a bit", as he tries not to grin

When hygienists leave on long vacations
That's when dentists scream
And lose their patience

Talking only brings the toothaches on
Because I say the stupidest things
So if my result goes south
I'll swallow my pride with an Aspirin
And shut my mouth

Golf and alcohol don't mix
And that's why I don't drink and drive
Because good grief, I'd knock out my teeth
And have to kiss my smile goodbye

I've been to the dentist a thousand times
So I know the drill, I smooth my hair
Sit back in the chair
But somehow I still get the chills

I love how a lot of these lyrics have double meanings.

Example #1: When hygienists leave on long vacations
That's when dentists scream
And lose their patience

Now, you can take that exactly as it’s written and be like, oh okay. But when I was listening to the song a while ago and not paying attention to how it was written, you could potentially have a difference in patience (as in patients). So if the dentist is screaming, it’s obvious he’s losing his patience. But also if he was screaming, he’d definitely lose some patients.

Example #2: Golf and alcohol don't mix
And that's why I don't drink and drive
Because good grief, I'd knock out my teeth
And have to kiss my smile goodbye

Again, this could be taken exactly as is saying that golf and alcohol would be a bad combination because his drive from his golf club might knock out his teeth. But if you take out the golf idea completely and pay attention to only the last three lines of that section, you could get the sense he is either against drinking and driving (who isn’t though?) or trying to send a message that it’s a bad idea to drink and drive.

There could be other examples in that song but I haven’t had an epiphany over any other yet. But every time I listen to this song I think it’s cool how they put those in there. I don’t know if they meant to have double meanings or not but either way, it makes the song more enjoyable.

And here’s the video with lyrics if you wanted to hear it as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlTMx075_UA

And on a completely unrelated note, I love having the use of Google. You can look up anything and everything you want. It’s so helpful and I’m glad we have awesome enough technology to have Google.

Everyone Should be Entitled to Their Own Rights

There’s huge debate between many individuals over whether or not abortion is right. Some are “pro-life” meaning they are against abortion while others are “pro-choice” meaning that they believe the woman should have the right to make her own decision.

Those who believe pro-life is the way to go often make their decision based upon these ideas: “You’re murdering an innocent life.” “There are plenty of ways to not become pregnant, like birth control or abstinence.” “People spend so much time on waiting lists to adopt a child.”

Personally, I’m totally pro-choice. I believe it is the woman’s decision. She’s not necessarily killing an innocent life; if abortion happens within 21 days of conception, the baby’s heart hasn’t even started beating says abortionfacts.com.  They also say brain functioning doesn’t happen until about 40 days after conception. So generally, that “child” isn’t even living so you’re not taking away life.

I do agree, there are definitely ways to avoid becoming pregnant in the first place, but in the case of rape that is an entirely different story. If a woman was raped, why would she want to keep that child as a reminder of what had happened to her? Even if she gave it up for adoption, just knowing she had a child that came from the man who raped her would probably be scarring enough.

It’s true that people spend a lot of time on adopting waiting lists. But, have they heard the saying ‘beggars can’t be choosers’?  I understand the want for an innocent, newborn baby. But don’t sit there and make a woman feel bad for not putting a child up for adoption when there are plenty of foster homes out there with kids just begging for a home. Those kids are sick of not knowing what it is like to have a family. So those on adoption waiting lists are just looking past those needy children for their own selfish desire.

Not that I’m against adoption waiting lists. I do understand, but I don’t think it’s a fair argument at all when you bring an aborted child into that picture.

My argument for pro-choice is this: it is all up to the woman. Most of the time, it is young girls getting pregnant and considering abortion. 9 times out of 10 they aren’t going to be able to support a child. So if they had the kid and couldn’t keep up on bills, didn’t have enough food, and just had a horrible lifestyle, that isn’t a good situation to put a kid in. That child would grow up with cruelty from his peers just because of his background. Why would you want to put a kid through that?

Adoption also has its downsides. The child could wind up not being adopted and put in foster home after foster home (or adoption home) and grow up with a life of crime and depression. Not only do they struggle within the care center, but once they ‘age out’ (become 18 and live on their own) they struggle then too. According to fostercarealumni.org in 2005 ‘aged-out’ kids had only 54% earn a high school degree, 2% got a bachelor’s degree or higher, 51% were unemployed, 30% had no health insurance, 25% have been homeless, and 30% were receiving public assistance. To me, this is also a terrible way to end up.

I don’t disrespect anyone who is pro-life. It’s their own opinion and it’s not right or wrong. But I personally believe that everyone is entitled to their own rights. Just because someone doesn’t agree with your actions, doesn’t mean you’re wrong.

I think for those who like having their own rights, they should not try and take away others. Don’t expect to be supported by those who you would not support.

Don't Think I'm Above Smashing Clocks...

One of the most annoying things ever: You're sleeping so well and then you wake up and check the clock. This is when you realize you have just woken up 5 minutes before your alarm is going to go off. What. The. Heck.

You obviously can't just get up. Then the clock wins. So you lay there, get all warm and sleepy again and then...(INSERT ALARM HERE). It sucks so much.

On the flip side of that though, nothing is better than waking up and realizing you have 2 or more hours left of sleep :)

SUB CLUB

Here at Kennedy we have a thing called sub club for the swim team. Sub club means you get under 1:00 in your 100 free. Most average to fast swimmers swim in the range of 1:01 to 1:10. You're a great swimmer if you're in sub club.

Currently we have about 7 people in sub club, our highest number of sub club members in our coach's memory of coaching for Kennedy. I am at 1:01.80. I plan to get sub club before my high school swimming career is over...which means I have only 3 more meets to accomplish that.

Sub club is a very great honor to achieve and the whole team congratulates each new member. It's a fun and competitive goal each swimmer strives for.

Stressed Students

I recently read a really good blog (http://forkednighties.blogspot.com/) and one of her posts was about how the pressure to succeed for this generation’s youth is so much higher than it used to be. She goes on to say that college students are checking into a form of therapeutic office on campus so much so that there are too many patients.

Kids these days have really got it hard as far as education goes. Now the new average is a B, A students are pretty smart, and A+ kids with over 4.0 (which really shouldn’t even be possible) are the ones who’ve got it made for their future. Kids (and by kids I mean young high school/college students) are getting loads of homework a night and often have to get tutors just to keep up. There are many high school students that stay up until midnight or later just to finish their homework after their extra-curricular activities. Most have to wait until the weekend to actually see their friends but sometimes, they already have work or sports or music taking place of that.

The Associated Press released a study on young people’s anxiety on January 28^th of 2010 with one professor saying "It's another piece of the puzzle — that yes, this does seem to be a problem, that there are more young people who report anxiety and depression," says Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psychology professor.

Now, whether this means kids are just being more open about it in this decade or whether they do have more problems and stress is up for debate. Personally, I believe kids my age get way more pressure to become successful than in previous generations. Not only do we have to be smart in school, but we have to have a high degree in order to just get into middle-class jobs. A lot more is on the line now than before and I think there are plenty of kids who are feeling the stress from it.