Merry Christmas...Music!

After a very long wait, my favorite music is back on the radio...Christmas music!! Last year, channel 93.9 started its holiday season on November 1st, the day after Halloween. Mostly everybody thought that that was too early-everybody but me and my friend Elli. We were happiest when listening to Christmas music. We wish that everyday were Christmas!! This year, we started a countdown in advisory-counting down the days until 93.9 started playing our beloved Christmas music again. We started at 20 days to go. On November 1st, I woke up and turned on my radio. What did I hear? Regular music. Not even a hint of holiday cheer from 93.9. It was a major disappointment to me and Elli. My mom, on the other hand, couldn't have been happier. She had to listen to it all last winter with me when I was learning how to drive in her car. But on Friday, my alarm went off at its regular time, and instead of hearing any old song, I woke up hearing the beautiful sound of holiday music. I was so excited that I started yelling for my mom to come into my room. She ran in, worried, but was finally relieved to see me dancing to Christmas music. Sure, it may be early for a few people, but I will celebrate the holiday season as early as possible. It is my favorite time of year. Everybody just seems to be nicer around the holiday season. The music brightens up any day and I love to sing along with my favorite Christmas tunes.

Identity

In class, the book we are reading, Fires in the Mirror, is about racial and religious confrontations with two groups of people: Blacks and Jews. Identity has a large role in this book. In Crown Heights, where the events take place, Jews and Blacks live amongst each other and are "identified" by their race and/or religion. Is that O.K? To be judged by what you believe in or what the color of your skin is? In the book, a young black child is hit by a car and killed. The driver was a Jewish man. A few days later, another Jewish man was killed. So, the driver did a terrible thing, but an innocent man was killed because he was Jewish as well. Just because somebody does a bad thing doesn't mean that everybody who shares the same belief/race should be punished.

Politics in Class?

In class over the pass few weeks, we have discussed whether or not politics should be discussed in class. At first I thought, 'Why not?'. But during the day, my friend asked me what Palin's first name was. I was taken back, shocked. I asked the person if that was a serious question. Their answer was 'Yeah...'. Then I realized, if politics were a large percent of the discussions taking place in A.S., and some students didn't know much about politics, they have nothing to say. They sit and listen, and don't get a chance to participate because they maybe just aren't 'into' politics. So, sure, I don't mind if people voice their opinions in school or loudly support a candidate. But I don't think it's fair when the topic for the majority of class is something that you would have to be tuned into to know about, like a debate or a speech. I like talking about it, personally, but for a student who doesn't follow politics, I see how confusing it must be to sit in class and not have an idea what is going on. Should politics be discussed in class?

Vice Presidential Debate

In class on Friday, the discussion we had about the debate really interested me. The topic was about the Biden vs. Palin debate. Watching the debate the night before, Palin looked very friendly and happy. On the other had, Joe Biden looked tough and serious. Was there a reason behind that? Was it planned? In class, we talked about how, since Palin is a woman, she has to look approachable and should be smiling alot. Unlike Palin, Biden has to look serious and looking like a man who will get the job done as V.P. Not that Palin wouldn't get the job done, but since she is female, she has to look, as I said earlier, more approachable and relatable to Americans.

Blackout

I wore all black today, but it wasn't because I was mourning. I was at the Chicago White Sox game vs. the Tampa Bay Rays. All fans wore black to the game. It was the third game out of a possible 5 between the two teams. Tampa Bay had already won 2 games, so if the Sox lost today, they would be done. It was a nerve-racking game. The hotdog inbetween the 2nd and 3rd inning calmed me down for a while. Danks pitched about 7 innings (106 pitches), while Dotel pitched in the 8th and Jenks closed the game. The score was 1:1, then 2:1 Tampa, and then finally, around the 5th and 6th inning, the Sox came through and the score was 3:5 with the Sox in the lead. The 40,142 people in the ball park were mostly wearing all black and were given white towels with the Sox logo to wave in the air. The last few pitches by Jenks were the most stressful. My mom, dad, and twin were at the game with me. We were sitting front row, third base line and throughout the game we were either eating, looking and Ronny Woo-Woo wearing a Cubs uniform, or intensley watching the game. A few times we would try to get third base coach Jeff Cox to do his famous hand signals. At the top of the 9th, with 2 outs, Jenks through the final pitch. Everybody in the stadium went silent, and then were immediately relieved when the umpire called a strike. The White Sox won!! Can they keep up their good luck tomorrow? We'll just have to wait and see...

SNL Spoof

In the past few weeks, Tina Fey has been portraying Sarah Palin in 2 Saturday Night Live scetches. The jokes are hilarious, but are these Sarah Palins' actual words or is it written by the SNL writers? When Tina was asked a question by Katie Couric, played by Amy Poehler, about foreign policy, Tina had an answer, but made a circle around answering the specific question. She said that her foreign policy was to "shoo" the Russians away every morning. She never had an answer to what she would specifically do to solve the economic crisis. Tina went on about not enough jobs, and somehow healthcare came into her answer. Sure, it was funny, but when watching the actual interview with Palin and Couric, it seemed very similar. Palin never pin-pointed how she would solve something. She gives very broad answers to most questions given, and she is portrayed correctly on SNL. Does Palin have an precise answer to Foreign Policy? Well, watch the video on http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/ and find out for yourselves.

Trust

This past weekend, my dance company at New Trier, Kinesis, went on a high-ropes course. Having never done one, I was really nervous. The course, which was indoors, must have been 50+ feet off the ground. The room in which the course was also included a climbing wall and playground-maze type thing. I tried the wall climbing first. It was difficult, but it felt good to reach the top and ring the bell that was on the ceiling. Then, I had to face my fear and do the ropes course. My parter was my really good friend Shayna, who was equally nervous. My nerves quickly began to arrive on the climb up the ladder to the course. The course included many difficult tasks, some including working with Shayna. To make things worse, the guides at the top of the course would shake and jump so that it was more difficult for us to get across. We were the last group to go, so a guide followed us so that she could get off after we did. Near the end of the course, I was walking across a plank and behind me, the guide was lying across the plank looking down at everybody. She told me I should try it. So I went out of my comfort zone and hung from the ceiling with her. After a few more challenges, I was finally able to get off of the course. I then noticed that throughout the course, Shayna and I were gripping each others hands the whole time. I realized that we both were less nervous when hanging on to each other. We trusted each other throughout the course and we made each other feel safer on the course. When I trusted Shayna, I knew she wouldn't let go of my hand the whole time.
Question: Was there ever a time when you were in a situation where you were nervous, but had a trusted friend/family member with you to make you feel safe?

Grizzly Man

When watching "Grizzly Man" in class this week, I thought that Timothy Treadwell was crazy. What kind of person goes up to a dangerous animal and pets it? But after his death, I considered why Timothy was doing this. He was living amongst the bears and other animals because he truly loved that. He fought to keep the bears safe from hunters and other dangers because he cared for him. In class, I made a point by saying that thougth Timothys death was tragic, the documentary opened so many peoples eyes. It showed me that if you really care for a cause, you fight for it. Others might say that he was a nut-case, but I think that Timothy was just doing what he loved, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!!

This Saturday, September 13, fourteen-time Olympic Gold medalist Michael Phelps will be hosting the season premier of Saturday Night Live. He will be joined by musical guest Lil' Wayne, one of Phelps favorite rappers. Both Phelps and Lil' Wayne will be making their SNL debuts. Sure, Phelps is a great swimmer...but is he funny? As the first host of SNL's 34th season, he has a lot to live up to. Certain athletes who have hosted SNL in the past have done a great job, such as Peyton Manning. Others have, well, failed (LeBron James?). As a big fan of the show, I am excited to see this episode. There will only be about 7 live shows so far, seeing as the election will be approaching on NBC. So, my question to you is: Will Michael Phelps be a good host? Will you tune in? I guess we will all just have to wait until September 13 and find out. Well, that's all I have to say. Make sure to watch this episode of Saturday Night Live! Bye!

Hey!

Hi! Welcome to my blog.
If you didn't know already, I am a huge White Sox fan. My family has season tickets: front row, third base line and I love going to as many games as I can.
I have a twin brother, a 22 year old brother, and a dog named Lucy.
I love to dance. I dance in New Trier's Kinesis Company and also at Giordano School of Dance.