A Medley of Commercials

Gotta love the bipolar weather. It's late February and it's STILL snowing in parts. Horray for the effects of global warming! People are getting really worried about this too. They've been using television to get their messages through. It's kind of funny because as I'm flipping through channels, I always see those "green" commercials and exercise commercials; one of them being the new Wii Fit that just recently came out. Seriously, I think it's cool and all but going outside will have much better results than stepping on a plastic floor board over and over again.

So here is the improved parody version of that commercial.

I've laughed at a few commercials. Remember those awesome Geico ones? I loved the gecko and though it had nothing to do with actual car insurance, it got a lot of people's attention. Then came the "so easy that even a cave man can do it" commercials and my parents got a real kick out of that one. Much to my annoyance, they kept repeating that phrase for three days after viewing commercial. So where are they now? Now? Now they have that lame stack of dollar bills with those googly eyes. It's not even funny anymore. What happened?!?!? I'm starting to question whether Geico is actually a car insurance company or just a 30 second comedy stand-up. I'll stick with State Farm ^_^.

And then there are those commercials that aren't supposed to be funny but they try to make it so serious that it turns out hilarious. Check out this anti-drug ad:

And lastly, McDonald's commercials. We all know the familiar Ba-da-ba-ba-ba and maybe some of you remember "put a smile on". But what was it like back in the day when we weren't even born yet? After seeing this, I'm kinda glad I wasn't born yet.

I mean seriously! He looks like the guy from Saw! Yet another reason not to go to McDonald's.

Well that's all I got for you guys. Join us tomorrow for another extra-terrestrial post from Caroline!

-June

No random things today =(. I think the videos were good enough.

Oh gosh.

The Gatsby presentation for English was amazing. Erica and my fellow power bloggers were just too perfect.
We had an essay on the prevention of obesity for Spanish.
The day was really as good as it could be until...
When I went home, Linda told me that the physics tests grades were up. I checked, and in no way of a joke at all, I must say, I got a 56 out of 100 points on it. I do not know why. In fact, I was very sure I could've answered more than a 60% of the test correctly. I guess not. I am in an absolute state of shock right now.

-Kejing

The Alchemy of Life

Remember when you were a kid? You know what I mean, a little kid- the kind of kid where the number one asked question by adults was always, "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

I wanted to be an alchemist. Turns out the demand for that job tapered a few hundred years back and instead I was left to wander the sea of potential jobs myself.

It seems that, with age, your diversity and sophistication of job titles becomes greater. What was once a "ballerina" or "firefighter" becomes a "performing arts major" or "pyrotechnician for Disney."

What do I want to be now that alchemy, my lost but noble first choice, is no longer available? Perhaps a doctor. "Oh, a doctor? What kind of doctor?!" Immunologist focusing on epidemic research. "Oh."

See, before, when we were little kids, our job choices were finite but immensely exciting to adults. When we said "police officer" or "scientist" adults would jump up and down with excitement, fueling our fantasies with encouragement. My father now just tells me that I will never make it into UF's Medical School with my kind of grades. Where is the enthusiasm? Where is our untempered craze for our chosen profession?

I say we lead a revolution, drumming up interest within our prospective fields and just go nuts. Hey, if it does anything at all, at least we'll have fun doing it.

- Jonathan

PS- Check out my post from last week complete with picture of my nephew!

I Wish I Had a Starbucks Under My Desk

I've literally been working since I got home, and I'm exhausted, again. Maybe Wednesday just isn't my day of the week. I'm working on a Lang project right now, and while I was researching I found a website set up detailing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or the new stimulus package just passed by Obama. Pretty cool huh? Yeah, I thought so.

Pretty.

At some point I should probably study for that Physics test tomorrow, so I don't end up getting a 27%.

-Viv

Hello everybody. It is Tuesday. Here are some of my thoughts. For the past week I have been so worried about several different things. Tests and studying and school and decisions to make. This is the first time in forever that I feel relaxed, like I know that things are going to work out somehow. Tomorrow will be the twenty-fifth. Today was really nice. School turned out to not be too challenging and everything went really well. I even got to squeeze in a few naps. We should have more school days like that. I don't even have that much necessary homework. I can't wait to go to sleep. Except for a little bit. I just feel like I'm going to sleep really well tonight which I need. My friends have been really awesome the last few days, not like they aren't always. It's just extra lately. I have no idea what I would do without them. I missed everyone so much and I'm glad that I am back. We have a MAO trip this weekend. With an eight hour bus ride. I can't wait. No school Friday. That means that after tonight, I really only have one more night when I have to do homework. Well I am going to finish my homework. High five world, I'm happy. And I hope that all of you are too. It really seems like a waste of time to not be happy in life. So cling to whatever it is that makes you smile. And I'll talk to you next Tuesday.

-Lacey

A Day In The Life...

1. Struggle out of bed.
2. Get dressed.
3. Stare at the clock and wait for Amanda to get ready.
4. Walk into seminary ten minutes late.
5. Drive kids to school.
6. Go to the IRC, and try to avoid getting kicked out.
7. Go to Orchestra, promise myself to practice that night.
8. Go to Art History, promise to actually read the chapter.
9. Go to Lang, is confused when we actually do work.
10. Go to Stat, sleep.
11. Go to lunch, wonder why I don't see most of my friends there anymore.
12. Go to Physics, laugh.
13. Go to History, frantically take notes.
14. Go to Calc, pray it's a work day.
15. Mu Alpha Theta or Brain Bowl.
16. Nap.
17. Lose multiple hours on the internet.
18. Watch Jeopardy.
19. Do homework.
20. Read scriptures.
21. Pray.
22. Lay in bed and remember that I didn't practice or read.
23. Lay in bed and wonder how I made it through the day.
24. Drift off to sleep.
25. Dream wonderful, extraordinary dreams.
26. Wake up, try do better than the day before.

-Brianna

Desolate Earth: The End is Here

Wow I can't believe I missed my post. First time ever.

So Mrs. O'Bryan is basically trying to kill us. We have seussical rehearsal every single day this week and we had it from nine to four on Saturday. I'm gonna have no voice, sore feet, and an intense hatred for the musical come next Sunday.

I wish the weather would make up its mind and either be warm or be could. I don't like it being so bipolar.

Leaving your water bottle in the car over night causes strep throat bacteria to quadruple in it. I learned that the hard way.

Cheez-Its haven't been tasting that good lately. They've been really crunchy and burnt-tasting. I am not a fan.

For the first time ever, I have a guy best friend. It's kinda weird, but also nice because he's like the brother I never had.

I really want to get another cat. I know, I am destined to be an old cat lady one day. 

I've written more songs about Coltar than anyone else. Ever.

I now know where Mr. Gamache lives! Let's egg his house! Just kidding...

There's this box in my room labeled "Colleges that want me because I'm so AWESOME!!!". It's filling up with junk.

I got a college letter today saying that "Colleges wish to have a diverse socio-economic range, and low-income students like you are very valuable!"....We are not low income...

For the first time in a long time I actually am not understanding math. It sucks.

I almost broke my hand on Saturday when I accidentally punched a chair.

Listen to the song "Desolate Earth: The End is Here" by Underoath. The lyrics are few but truly epic.

-Caroline

An Insight of My Thoughts 3

What to do, what to do.... I can do my homework and study all night long. I can play my guitar and fill my senses with the sound of music. I can play video games until my head buzzes and I'm staggering to bed. I can go online and talk to my friends until they get tired of me and leave. I can do all sorts of activities today. So many choices. So many roads and so many pathways confusing me to this direction and that direction; an endless labyrinth with many dead ends and even more roads branching off those roads with more roads branching off on those roads. Sometimes ropes and chains restrict my hands and feet, forcing me to take the path that leads me to where I never intended to go. Sometimes a road block punches me back to the beginning of my trip, forcing me to trek the path once more. Sometimes the marble paths lined with gold are so tempting even though I can see the gravel and broken glass littering the path. So many choices, so many consequences, so many victories, all leading to the edge of the abyss in which no man or woman can escape. Looking back, I wonder if I walked the way that I wanted to. I look back at the garbage that litters the road and the people waving back at me, traveling on their own roads. I wish I could pick up that garbage and make the road look at least a little nicer. But I plan to make the road ahead much cleaner. I plan to make it shine and make it look like the "road less traveled". Because nobody can travel the same road that I'm on, so why not make it my own? Stroll like there is no tomorrow, stride like there is no yesterday, strive like every step matters. Make the short trip worthwhile.

School has a lot of masks. Don't you see them? Everybody wears one. She wears one, he wears one, they wear masks, and even I wear one. The masks look so happy. They tell you the world is just fine and everything is okay and they want to be your friend and you can always rely on them. That's a big promise. Is the world really just fine? Is everything okay? Do you want to be my friend? Can I rely on you? I don't really understand or know what you're saying. Maybe if you took off that mask I could hear you better. Hey, hey? Can you hear anything I say? I guess not.

-June

Shout Out: I'm curious as to who actually reads this blog. If you are reading this, just leave a comment on this post so I can get a grasp of how many people are keeping up with us. Thanks! =)

We were given a packet, describing our tasks for the Engilsh project. In our four-person group, Erica and three other Power Bloggers did so much work in only about 30 minutes that I felt like a part of the most efficient foursome ever. We have some great extra credit going on- so much that I can't even tell you how amazing it is, or it won't be as much of a surprise, even though it would still be a surprise because these three people are shockingly amazing.

I cannot stop sneezing.

Study study study study study... -sigh-

Scriblink is really fun. Ryan showed it to me yesterday, which caused me to lose at least an hour of sleep. It wasn't quite worth it, but it was fun.

I really need to just sleeeeep...

Have a marvelous Friday.

-Kejing

Destruction, Mayhem, and Drywall

Okay, so this is being written about a week after I posted this since I had no time (I was going to Jacksonville!). But here's why: I went and made over my brother's living room last weekend. Intense.

So we arrived around 8 or 9 pm on Friday and begin moving all of his furniture and TV and stuff out into the adjacent rooms- some of that stuff was heavy! Then from then until midnight, we did demolition, stripping baseboards, paneling, and crown molding. All that remained were studs and insulation (which we later replaced since it was disgusting). That Saturday we began laying extremely heavy sheets of drywall on the ceiling, which I tell you is no small feat as they were vaulted and 8' high at the lowest point. We had to lift, position, and screw them into the ceiling. OUCH. Heavy stuff! Saturday and Sunday we had to carefully cut out and place the holes for electrical sockets on the wall pieces of the drywall, and of course lift them into place and screw them in securely.

In the long run it paid off since the room looks x100 better and his wife approved when she got back with the kids. Below is a picture of my nephew, Sam, playing some serious baseball while his aunt (my sister-in-law's sister) watches over him. In the background you might notice large hunks of drywall. =]



- Jonathan

So today I told Amanda I'd give her a ride home, and forgot and left within a span of fifteen minuets, I feel awful about it. Basically right after she asked me Peggy told me we had a Green Team meeting (which I'd also forgotten about) and so then I thought, "Oh snap! I better hurry over there right now!" The worst thing is I decided against it and ended up not even going to that meeting anyway.

Some other stuff happened today, but I don't really feel like like talking about it, and I can't really think of much else. Sorry this is so short.

Interpol - New Music - More Music Videos

-Viv

What's the point?

So now that I am studying for the SAT everyday, I cant help but realize how much elementary information I forgot. It is completely ridiculous. And whoever came up with SAT Subject tests is really sadistic. I am going to be studying for tests the rest of my life. SAT this month. ACT next month. SAT Subject, maybe SAT, and AP exams the next month. It is never going to end.

It just makes me think . . . what is the point? I guess I'm going to have a pessimistic week. I can tell already. But, really, what is it? One of my best friends says that life is just supposed to be awful so that you can be glad you are finally dying. She was probably kidding. But still. It seems like nothing will work out. And we only really get a break from all this when we are old, but then we have to be old.

So I'm pretty sure I am never going to recover from having my wisdom teeth out. If I had to guess, I'll be going to the doctor more in the next couple of weeks than I have all school year. Yikes.

So now I'm legal. I'll let you know when I do something eighteen-ey.

Now if you are reading this and thinking, oh the disappointment because you expected something better from me, you should know that I actually just woke up from a nap AND I have some really great, cheerful, happy topics, but I can't give them justice when I am in this kind of a mood. So come back next week for that.

-Lacey

Katie, don't cry

I was going to post a video, but my camera isn't working. Hopefully the batteries are just dead, but because of a lack of AAA batteries, there's really nothing I can do about it. Maybe I'll post it next week. It's really good. It's about anglerfish...

Anyway, does the mail come today? I don't know.

I bought a FM transmitter so I can listen to my zune in the car. It works very well, as long as you hold it up close to the radio. To prevent ourselves from wearing out our arms just to listen to music, Amanda and I took some scotch tape and taped the transmitter next to the radio. It looks a bit ridiculous, but it works.

But really does the mail come today? I'm expecting something.

I still have homework to do, but luckily it's not too much. We're going to the dollar theater in a few minutes to go see Yes Man, which probably won't be that funny. Whatever.

I don't think the mail comes today.

I hope everyone enjoyed the short break.

-Brianna

Oceans Away

Hello there, Blue Powerblogger here!

So this past Valentine's Day, I made a revelation of sorts. I am in one of those "if we were a movie" type relationships. but not in the way one would think...

I met, errr, "Tom", as we shall call him, a month ago yesterday. He's everything I could ever ask for in a guy-smart, attractive, musical, christian, kind, thoughtful, and slightly mysterious. I knew from the very moment I met him that he would play an important role in my life.

Well, that role has been defined. We were both signed to a record deal-together. This is pretty much a death sentence for any sort of relationship that we could ever be in. So I've told myself that instead of focusing on him from a "potentially dateable" stance, I am going to focus instead on becoming one of his closest friends. I feel like this would be best for us in the long run, because it won't jeopardize our career together. The only problem is, I just can't convince myself to not like him. I can't even consider liking another guy now that I've met him. He's just so perfect in every way, and he's someone that I could even see myself marrying. 

The thing is, he's really flirty towards me, too, but I can sense that he still likes his ex-girlfriend. Basically, they dated during the fall, she dumped him, and she's beginning to move on, but I think that he still has feelings for her. So lucky me, I get to standby and watch as he tries to win her back. I get to hear about how sucky his Valentine's day was because he didn't get to hang out with her. I get to see him attempt to flirt with her at church. It puts me in a weird position, because I know I shouldn't like him like that and therefore, I shouldn't be jealous, but I am. And it kinda sucks. 

Thus begins my role as "the best friend, but not the girlfriend". I have to sit back and listen to him talk about how much he still likes her and how he's concerned for her along with all his other problems. And I have to pretend like it doesn't matter to me.

But maybe that's the best. Things will only work out in the long run if we are best friends as opposed to boyfriend and girlfriend. And that's the beginning of my "if we were a movie" relationship. Maybe in the end, he will realize that he really does love me, and we can live happily ever after and it won't affect our careers so we can have both success and love!

A girl can dream, can't she?

And in theme with this note, I have an awesome lyric from the song "Oceans Away" by Chasing Victory. "Love is so direct, and you're exactly what I've waited for". The next line is a bit more foreboding, though-"There's a ghost; he's ready to slit your throat"

-Caroline  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sorry about the late post. I put the "post in progress" as a spot marker but I never got around to it. @Ryan: You're fat! >:)

Ah.... Valentine's Day. It's either the happiest or saddest day for people everywhere. It's the happiest because some people actually have boyfriends or girlfriends while the rest of us (including me) don't have that luxury. So in order to put some humor into our sad, dull lives, one of my friends call it "Single Awareness Day". Pretty neat ain't it? But the main point of Valentine's Day is love; that mushy, gooey residue that you find at the bottom of your heart.

Love is very unpredictable. It sneaks up on you, it gives you the completely-uncalled-for-slap in the face, it gives you that warm feeling, it's the thing you can't live without, and above all it's bipolar. As for me, do you think that I love? If I think about it from another person's perspective, I either get,"Player," or "Unlikely." You would think that since I hang around a bunch of girls, I would at least like ONE of them right? Unfortunately, no. You must be thinking,"June, you love machine! Why not?" I'm currently in the "neutral zone" and I don't plan to get out of that zone anytime soon. I've seen enough relationships to know that high school is not the best time to start going out because:
1. They don't last very long.
2. There are going to be problems after one or both people graduate.
3. It's terrible for a person if he/she breaks up.
4. I doubt that most people have the maturity to actually take the relationship seriously.

Is my heart made of stone? No. Did I like someone? Yes. I'm human after all. So here is an account of a girl that I liked a while back:
The first distinguishing trait of the girl I liked was that she was my best friend's sister (best friend = guy. Don't get any weird thoughts). She was Korean, a bit short, liked cats, had longish, black hair, and was either uncaring or very bubbly; one or the other on certain days. It wasn't a love-at-first-sight situation but more of a gradual likeness. Back in the day, my best friend, she, and I would always hang out together since we lived in the same apartment complex. I still remember what we did everyday too:
1. Meet at pool.
2. Swim for an hour and a half.
3. Go over to best friend's house and change.
4. Play Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy 10.
5. Go outside to do whatever.
6. Go home on bike.
We did this every year in the summer for all 3 months. I think that's how I got my tan but I lost most of it now. Yeah I know. Imagine a June with darker skin than he has now. Anyway, we ALWAYS hung out. Every holiday, every major event, almost every trip, and pretty much everything. It makes sense that I would like her at least a bit. Well, this has somewhat of a tragic/boring end to it. I never got to tell her I liked her and she had to move to Tampa because her dad got a new job there. I wasn't thrilled but I wasn't depressed either because this would be the 3rd time a good friend of mine had to move. We said our goodbyes and that was that. But I'm over it and I'm still communicating with my best friend though not as much as I want to.

I'm through with this very rushed post. I would like to get into more detail but I'm typing this on Sunday and I want to practice on my guitar. So join us today for another great post from Caroline (I hope you're feeling better)!

-June
Question for men to ponder: The great question... which I have not been able to answer... is, "What... does a woman want?"

Smile!

How amazing is that? IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! Wooh!
I hope you are having loads of fun, and that your test in 7th period wasn't too hard on you. You're amazing, and never forget that. But you get to be extra-special-super-amazing today! Even more than usual! That's pretty... amazing! It's a pretty day- almost as pretty as you. Remember to smile. I hope to see you in the next 13 hours.

I basically have this ridiculous pile of homework to do, but I'm excited about this weekend, even though I have always thought that the OWC tests were a little touch on the crazyweirdwhatISthis side.

I lost a really close friend, and I don't even know why. He won't talk to me anymore, and I really miss talking to him, laughing with him, joking around with him, and just being around him. I guess it is over now though. I have given up my hope.

Jonathan: Thank you very much for the musical compliment!

-Kejing

My 10 Things

Lately there has been a survey that has been passed around like Hepatitis C in a retirement community (for those you that didn't catch that, it means that it's spread like wildfire). The survey I refer to is, of course, the 25 Facts About Yourself survey. The gimmick is that you post 25 little known facts or insights into your soul so that people can get to know you better. Well, since I'm bored, procrastinating from my homework, and writing a post for the blog, I thought that nothing could be better. So, instead of 25 facts I shall do 10 and explain each because, let's face it, I'm not that creative or proactive.. Here we go!

1. I'm really really outgoing once I pass a certain threshold of self awareness. This is something I've only recently developed and seem to improving on. It certainly has helped to put others at easy, and ironically enough (as if we hadn't heard of working at all) it has given a lot more friends this year. It helped establish me as insane enough to try out for the spring musical with virtually no singing or acting experience whatsoever. However annoying extroverts may be, I vow to still be everyone's friend on this blog (even if you annoy me sometimes =P).
2. I really like outer space. Now, I wouldn't ever consider it for a profession (MATH?! YUCK!), but I still romanticize the unknown murkiness that extends out of eternity- breaking even the boundaries of time. I often postulate universe birth and the various theories and theologies to it's existence. I haven't had any breakthroughs yet, obviously, but once I do, I'll alert the media.
3. I'm not a very good musician (which makes Seussical a bit of a problem). I mean, I can sightread stuff on the piano and violin and play assigned pieces, but I am nowhere to the level of Kejing or any serious musician. For 12 years of piano I should a lot better than I am.
4. The trachea is perhaps the most frightening thing in the world to me. I don't really know what it is but I hate it when people touch necks- be it their own or mine. What's especially traumatizing is a tracheotomy when they puncture your windpipe so that you can breath. See, that sentence took me 45 seconds to write since I repeatedly gagged and to stop typing for a little bit. Ugh, I'll be glad when I can stop writing about damn tracheae.. oh wait..
5. Anyway, I hate melons and fresh tomatoes. Really it's a blanket hatred over all watery fruits. I like oranges and apples since they have distinct crisp flavors but melons and fresh tomatoes have too much water before you get to any good taste. Blech!
6. I can't compose music worth crap. I've tried, I've really tried. It just doesn't work. I've spent hours at the piano trying in vain to piece together any sort of melody and what comes out is a rehash of whatever I'm assigned to play on the piano but in a different key. Whoops..
7. I make really good oriental food. Like really good. I can make you a delicious teriyaki in only 5 minutes, using only 4 ingredients for the sauce. I've made killer sweet and sour chicken and some pretty amazing sushi. I ooze culinary ability- it's a burden, really. Yeah right. =P
8. Though I may have labeled myself as a Presbyterian in my youth, I don't think I've ever been Christian. Thinking back to what I believed back in elementary school, I never accepted Jesus Christ as anything other than a prophet from biblical times. I might have believed in a god, infact, it might have been the God that every talks about, but I have long since abandoned that belief. Confusing, but interesting nonetheless.
9. I talk aloud in the car when I'm alone sometimes, namely when I'm in the Tahoe we have. Let me explain- I'm paranoid that there's someone in the trunk or hidden under the backseat. So I flash the interior lights and aloud say, "I know you're there, and frankly I'm not scared." Then I might go on about how I have a gun in my lap for such occasions as these. Then, when the fictious serial killer exits the trunk in my immagination I breath a sigh of relief.
   
10. I'm a real sentimental perfectionist on dates. I meticulously plan out every detain and mercilessly perfect everything in my power, down to the clothing I will wear and what I will say. Needless to say, I haven't been on many recently- the stress toll alone would kill me.

So yeah.. that's 10 facts or insights all about me. I hope you feel informed! Meh, actually I don't really care at all. =D

- Jonathan

OH, and one more thing- in response to a question posed earlier this week (why do [I] care so much that [they] included God into [their] topic?):
I happen to know that I wasn't alone in my sentiments, however tacit the others may be now, about the amount of religious language and focus was finding its way into our posts. As I posted last week, I am tolerant, just like the Jews, Muslims, or even Christians in our group are, but I also saturate when the variety diminishes and once was a fun blogging project turned itself into a online ministry. We are a diverse bunch that function well for the most part. We did well during the election not to throw politics into the ring, and for months we did well with religion. We are nowhere near the level of intense debate that we were in the summer months, but it would be nice if we could go back to the way we've been handling it: as the 800 lbs gorilla in the room that everyone notices, observes, but doesn't really fixate on. Can we not put politics and religion into the same category of topics to avoid if possible? I'm not calling for a taboo, just a return to the peaceful and placid ways of our fall months. Phew, that was a long paragraph!

There’s a site called Rainbows Bridge. If you visit it, you are greeted with a short note informing you the site is dedicated to deceased pets of all sorts; here they rest in a graveyard of infinite virtual space, their cyberspace plots lined up one by one, all with MIDI music playing softly in the background. If you were to enter this site, you could scroll down to a link that allows you to visit the residents of Rainbow Bridge. After this you could click on the capital T in the alphabet lineup.

Then, if you were so inclined, you would be able to scroll down past the touching Helen Keller quote (“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt with the heart”) until you found a resident “fur baby” by the name of Teddy Puppy. If you clicked on his name you would be taken to a page that looks something like this:

Now you might be wondering, why the fuck did she tell me to do all this? Well children, Teddy was the puppy of someone some of you know, but don’t actually know much about, Mr.Gamache. Somehow we got on the subject of dogs today and Amber and I were instructed to visit this website. Apparently Teddy was a part of the Gamache household for over a decade, and despite Amber’s advice, he doesn’t want to get another dog. He feels like it would be cheating on Teddy.

I certainly wasn’t expecting him to share something so personal with us when I walked into class today, or ever. But I guess I’m glad he did. Even though I’m a little weirded out. For some reason I felt an obligation to share with my fellow Frenchies.

-Viv

So as I sit here, on my last Tuesday as a 17 year old, I have to ponder this past year of my life. When I take the time to look back on being 17 I have to say that it pretty much has sucked. I don't think it was 17's fault. But I'm just saying. Oh and it's Friday (my birthday) in case you forgot.

It is anticlimactic. Turning eighteen.

This week is so awful that it will be a miracle if I live until Friday.

I just registered for the SAT. . . I have decided to study for it for an hour everyday starting on February 15. Hopefully I can do that. I have way more faith in my willpower now that I still haven't had any chocolate.

My dad is watching a chick flick in the next room over with the volume all the way up. I can tell from the music that the girl was waiting for the guy, thinking that he wouldn't show up and then he did. It sounds awfully nice. I think I would like to live in a movie. Not necessarily a girlie one like he is watching, I think Garden State would be my top pick. Although I could probably go on all day about other ones.

Have you ever had some really amazing pancakes and then someone put something on top that wasn't very good and it ruined the pancakes? . . . Yea. I guess I won't be using "Life is like a box of chocolates," because I am trying to ignore the fact that chocolate still exists. So now life is like a stack of pancakes. (That quote was from the movie Forest Gump. See, Ms. Jackson, I am citing all of my quotations.)

I really wanted to come up with a good conclusion to this but. . .

-Lacey

Monday already?

A couple of things that ran through my head today...


Am I forgetting something? I feel like I'm forgetting something.

People should use more puns. They are so funny.

I wonder where my metronome is. I kinda really need that.

If I could get my guitar in tune, I would be so happy.

I have to finish those tests for Mu Alpha Theta.

I wish had a boyfriend for the soul reason that he would carry my stuff.

Oh-oh we're halfway there! Oh-oh livin on a prayer!

I haven't eaten Taco Bell in forever. I kinda want it.

My history grade is totally shot thanks to this intern.

Maybe my dad took my metronome, he was really interested in it.

Pie would be really good right about now.

Heroes tonight!


That is all.

-Brianna

Coming Down Is Calming Down

Hello there, Blue Powerblogger here! 

Ok, so I am tired and I am sick, and I feel like instead of reading whatever random craziness I would normally post here, you should spend that time reading June's Post. With that being said...

I GOT A FREAKING RECORD DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats all for now.

"the lost ask for a hand but I can't stop, I never stop..."- Coming Down Is Calming Down. Give it a listen.

-Caroline

Who I am

June walked into his dad's room and turned on the computer. As the computer struggled to load, June went through the post in his head, happy that he actually planned something beforehand. The familiar background trudged its way to the main screen and displayed its options. The pointer poked at Mozilla Firefox until it reluctantly gave way to the home page. The pointer then commanded the "Bookmarks" option to show its contents. "Bookmarks" surrendered and the pointer slapped the Power Blogger's page onto the screen.
"I haven't done anything with the computer except for research and such. Let's read the other posts first," thought June. As he read Monday through Friday June's brow furrowed. He read the word "religion".
Uh oh.
It was time to take up his Sword and rush into battle.

I'm not fond of this topic when I see it on here. It turned into an all-out war the last time we talked about it and neither side won. In fact, all we gained was a really bad bellyache in the pits of our stomachs. I've kept quiet about this but under these circumstances, I don't care anymore. So I shall pose a question:
"Why did you care so much that we included God into our topic?"
I thought this blog was a blog in which a person could write about anything he/she chose to write about. Apparently I thought wrong. Indeed, what happened to the freedom of post? Why did Caroline meet so much resistance when she wrote about one experience? Why can't we just read, move on, and keep it to yourself? Why are you "compelled" to argue against a post? Do we have to start another forest fire?
Before I start my actual post, I'd like to clear a few things up: Christianity is NOT a religion. Due to popular belief, it has been an assumption that Christianity is cooped up with the rest of the religions. Well, it's not. It's a mutual relationship established by your own choices. And on that depressing note on with the post.

I was browsing through my songs, all 130 of them. I have a 30Gb video iPod and I have to say, I'm making much use of the 30Gb it can dish out. Scrolling down, I came upon the artist, Relient K. I haven't listened to them in ages and I only had one song by them, "Getting Into You". I remembered I used to be obsessed with that song, so much that I printed out the tabs and learned it on the guitar. An empty vibe came from the Relient K section of my library so I felt that I needed to get more songs. Time to rip from YouTube!
I browsed through the more popular songs performed by Relient K and I found one peculiar song labled, "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been". Curious, I clicked on the link. I have to tell you, I was blown away by the guitar and the lyrics. Check it out:

It struck me pretty hard. So here is a little testimony (if you will call it).
I wasn't always the nice Korean guy who occasionally poked fun at his friends. In fact, I was a total jerk. Looking at my past, I was a complete psychopath who had this sick and twisted mind. I probably cursed more than any of you guys put together, I bullied people (yes I actually did. I have two victims to the crime that you can ask to verify) and I spazzed over my grades. I didn't recognize the human emotion. If I hurt someone, I would tell myself that everything was okay and the person would get over it eventually if I apologized enough. Emphasis on TOTAL JERK. A quiet, sweet Asian on the outside and a storm on the inside. I was constantly asking myself why I was so unhappy with myself. I had awesome grades, I was fairly decent in sports, and I had friends. Why am I so unhappy???
I sank into a state of acceptance. I sank into a state in which I accepted that I was imperfect and that I would probably never amount to anything. My grades were high but I wanted to go higher. It almost became an obsession. I wanted to excel in sports and give my parents a reason to show me off to the other parents. I wanted to fill the void of being imperfect. I was being weighed down by the monotonous cycle of life that never seemed to end.
Christianity did not play a part in my life at all back then either. I was dang near atheist actually. God was a superhero, Satan was the super villain. They fought over me, an insignificant zit on the face of the earth. I went, sat down, listened to the praise team play, slept during the sermon, and went home to play video games. "What is the point of listening to God when He never listens to me?" was what I thought. They told me how great He was and I would stare back with an empty expression. But it grew on me. I began to believe a little bit but with the wrong mentality. I only called out to Him whenever I was in trouble and then forgot Him whenever I got what I wanted. I was a hypocrite.
All of that changed when I went to a program called,"Lake Yale". It was a Christian retreat that I was dragged into. I had to spend 3 whole days at a mediocre camp infested with bugs that swarmed around the lights at night and food that made the greasiest Big Mac look appetizing.
We trudged through two days of heartfelt sermons that poked at my consciousness. I could tell something was either very wrong or very right. "Why are all these strangers so united? I mean, they've only met for a day or two and they act like they have been friends forever. What's going on?" Some of them even tried to make friends with me but I would have none of it. I always kept the brick wall between me and other people.
On the last day, the atmosphere in the auditorium was very different. The lights were dimmed, music was playing, and everyone on-stage had a very serious look on their faces. We sat down and we listened. I wanted to go to sleep but something told me to listen closely. With nothing better to do, I focused on the sermon. I don't remember too much of what it was about (sorry >.<) but I do remember at the end there was a part where if you wanted to, you could go up to the front of the stage and pray. My legs moved on their own and I was almost powerless to stop them. Every fiber of my being told me,"Go back! You don't need any of this crap!" but I kept on going. Before I knew it, I was at my destination. I knelt down and prayed. At first I felt nothing at all. I was waiting for the pastor to come to me, pray, and get it over with. But then I heard in an unfamiliar voice,"June, what am I going to do with you?" The pastor finally came to me as I was figuring out what I just heard. He asked me,"What are you doing here?" That was a great question! I didn't know! But for some odd reason, I wanted to say,"I want to be saved." Before I knew it, I said it. He nodded and told me how the angels were dancing over me in heaven and how God was celebrating. I thought this was pretty absurd but I accepted it and let him pray for me. That was the first time in my life that I ever felt like I was someone important; someone who was cared for by a God I refused to acknowledge. God could have given up on me, left me to die, but He was always running after me. He is a God who never leaves your side. He is a God who is quick to forgive. Do you know what speaking in tongue is? It is a state in which you are connected with God and you are speaking in a language that you and God can only understand. All of it is unconsciously done. When we finished prayer, I continued to pray without the pastor. When I was done, I heard myself babble the last words of my prayer in incoherent words. "What the heck did I just say?" It was a two years later when someone told me it was a gift. The transformation I admit was slow but I transformed into a totally different guy. It was after that, I vowed to never use a curse word ever again. After God came into my life, I began to see everything differently. After God came into my life, I took up guitar for the sake of God. After God came into my life, I began to recognize people as people. He defined who I am today. So even if there is nothing on the other side of life or God is just an imaginary friend that people made up, I don't care. If He changed me this much, God is something worth believing in. I never want to go back to the life I once lived.
And so, I want to tell you one more thing. Asking me to not talk about God is like telling me to stop breathing. I will respect everyone's decision to believe what they want but if the urge to post about God comes up, please don't flame me or reply with a post trying to pick an unintentional (or possibly intentional) fight. I don't want to cause any friction between us and hopefully we can all remain friends on this awesome blog we call The Power Bloggers.
Thanks for hearing me out.

-June
(whew I let myself go on this post)

Really not that excited about life.

Things that caught my attention today...

• The fact that I could absolutely not follow the second chapter of The Great Gatsby. It probably had to do with the fact that all I was simply moving my lines across the lines and picking up about ten percent of the words.
• The amazing iPod application that allows you to find the resistance of a resister by scrolling to each corresponding band color. It was amazing! We used it in to do our lab more quickly.
• Getting better at the pencil spinning that my favorite cousin has unsuccessful tried to teach me for more than half a year.
• I have the weirdest Valentines' Day surprise ever.
• Ryan has good reason to hate _ _ _ _ _... I think.
• Yeah Ryan, your name popped up again.
• I did really badly on this quiz. The worst I've ever done on a history quiz this school year. Wooh.
• It's getting warmer!
• There were all these little birds in the courtyard yesterday after school. I could imagine Jack putting them over a fire and eating them up like popcorn.
• Standing inside the house, it was 58 degrees Fahrenheit this morning.
• The Spanish exam is going to be really really really impossible.

-Kejing

Religion- 'Nuff Said.

I began writing this post on Monday, after reading what Brianna posted. After reading what she wrote, I felt compelled to write, if not in response, then along the same lines.

Religion. It's an eight letter that evokes just about every possible feeling. It can stir the coarse sands of contempt and at the same time inspire the greatest senses of achievement. In some of my constituents is a very important part of their life. In others, such as myself, it is little more than a word and a theme in history. My religious constituents tell me how great it is to believe in a god and know that there is an afterlife.

Do I function differently? Am I not as whole, not as enriched as my friends? Do I not share many of the same feelings they share? They explain the sense of fullness they feel after coming in contact with their holy spirit as if it's something I'm missing out on; however, I am very familiar with this sensation: it is the same feeling when I make a connection that was not explained to me, particularly in the field of biology. When I made the connection between the immunosuppressant chemotherapy drugs and how and why Neulasta (pegfilgrastim- the white cell booster drug) work. I feel exhilarated and a sense of awe fills me when I learn about immunology. Who is to tell me that this isn't the same feeling as presence of their gods is in their souls?

I don't believe that whatever your personal beliefs are, you're right and what you think will happen will come true, anymore. I don't believe that Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Satanists, or any other religion, except atheism, is right. For the sake of peace and, more frankly, my ear, I will not go after my friends and tell them, systematically, why I do not believe in whatever they have the rights to belive in. I will not tell them that they are misguided or that they are wrong. I will tell them, straight up, that I do not believe in what they believe. Much like my contituents, if you feel any compulsion toward atheism, and want to talk to someone about it, I am here to talk.

Finally, I want to make it clear that I don't harbor any feelings of distrust, contempt, or any other "negative" feeling towards any of my religious friends. Now that I have made myself clear, I should hope that you will respect my choice not to believe in any god and not comment to this post with offerings of council should I change my mind. I'm quite sure I won't, but if I do (god forbid) then I think it's something my deity and I can workout together. Furthermore, flame responses because you disagree with me will not be tolerated. I have come with nothing more than peace and an explanation of my beliefs and how they may be not so far off from your own.

Peace.
- Jonathan

I Think I Plagiarized Myself

Okay, I'm going to be honest. I'm way too tired to even pretend to write a post right now, so I'll just give you something else instead. I'm not saying it's not my fault, or that I have a good excuse. I basically watched far too much Lost today and didn't get around to my homework until much later than I intended.

Anyway, I spent most of my homework time today making this pretty good power point for BC so I'll just share information, how would you like that!?

For example, did you know that each slice of a curve has a slant height that can be found with the distance formula using the two endpoints of the slice? No!? Well now you do, and here's proof!


Wow, that's pretty awesome huh? It's pretty much a really great powerpoint, I'm glad I spent so much time on it. It shows through in the final product.

In physics today we were listening to Taper Jean Girl by Kings of Leon, and apparently some people find that song/ KOL's earlier music obnoxious. One of these somebody's was Gennaro, and believe me, was I ever shocked that he'd find something I liked obnoxious.

Watch more Yahoo! Music videos on AOL Video

Watch more Yahoo! Music videos on AOL Video

Personally I love both the old and the new, but I could see someone liking neither. For some reason I've just been thinking of that alot today. Until next time I guess.

-Viv

oh, trevor

Hello Everyone! Happy Tuesday! Happy February 3rd! Happy ten weeks!! And a very happy birthday to Caroline!!

So I am chilling with my sister. Watching a reality TV dating show. It has to be hard to be on this show. I literally just watched this guy tell both of these twin sisters that he loves them. How can anyone find love on a show like this??? Why would even think that it's possible??? I don't think that dating shows can ever work.

I am having so much trouble working. I just can not concentrate for some reason. Every time I try to work on something, including this post, my mind just drifts.

I've also been sleeping way more than usual and I am still so tired.

I left my house today at 6:30 and didn't get back until 10:00. My parents never called or asked me where I was. Could it be that there is actually going to be some type of benefit for me now that I am turning 18? My mother also informed me that as soon as we have moved we are going to have a party for my 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18th birthdays. That way it will make up for missing my birthday all of those years and forgetting last year. This year they definitely have not forgotten. Which seems unfortunate now.

Luckily, my best friend has offered to plan my birthday for me. She knows I hate making decisions and says I will not have to decide anything. IT IS AWESOME!! I am so excited to see what she will come up with.

I have so much to do and I am so tired. . . So I suppose I am going to go and do that.

-Lacey

Yep, A Religion Post

It's long, but I hope you take the time to read it.

I'm the kind of person who dwells on things. I don't mean like regrets. I don't regret anything I do, because it's already been done and there's no going back. I don't mean like grudges either. I'm generally quick to forgive, I remember but I forgive. Yesterday, in church, my Sunday school teacher asked me what I pondered and thought about deeply. It was on the spot and I could only answer with words "life" and "my beliefs". Which is true. I think about what is going on in life, how I can fix things, worry about people, think about what will happen next. And I often look over what I believe to see if everything still holds true and if I'm living up to everything I believe in. And this long introduction leads me to my point.

I know none of you can forget about the controversial post on religion we had months ago. After it was over I didn't give much thought to it, just relived to see it end. Then, when Catherine posted in September, it was brought back into my mind when she said, "Jonathan told me to avoid the topic of religion..." And I've thought about it since then. It seems ridiculous, but like I said, I dwell on things. And I've waited for time to pass, because I've wanted to say something about that post, but not too soon.

The post would obviously bother me because I am a Christian, but I was OK with it. We all believe in different things, and whatever makes us happy is what we should believe in. What gave me a real unsettling feeling that lasted days afterwards, were those comments. People were against Jonathan, people supported Jonathan, and argument after argument was presented. I felt it was stupid and uncalled for. I was annoyed with the fact that we were supposed to be friends and yet here we were defending our position as if we were fighting the worst of enemies. People were mean too, and that was the least called for thing ever. And all those "anonymous" comments from people who wanted to get involved but didn't want people to know, that was ridiculous also. It made it worse because people we didn't even know were throwing out mean and harsh comments.

And my point in saying this is that there shouldn't be an avoidance in religion or any topic really (I'm sure that politics would bring up another controversy) . I would like think that we have enough respect for each other to listen to others beliefs and try to understand them. To my friends that believe in God, it hurts when people dismiss what you believe in as a joke, I know, but you know it's going to happen and there's no point in fighting. You can only correct when people say a false stereotype of you or your beliefs and move on. To my atheist friends, sometimes it'll feel like we're throwing our religion in your face. It's not our intentions. We find happiness in them, and we just want to share it with our friends. If it's ever too much, just say something and I'm sure we'd be happy to pull back.

I think we're all just trying to live our lives to the best of our ability. We have to understand that others are too. Don't forget that, guys. Understanding is what being a friend is all about.

-Brianna

PS I LOVE talking about religion, if you couldn't guess. So if you're every up for a discussion, not a debate, a discussion, I'm totally game.

Everyone Looks So Good From Here

Hello there, Blue Powerblogger here!

Yesterday I had pretty much one of the most awesome days ever. My birthday is on Tuesday, so I did some pre-birthday shopping and got my hair cut. But that wasn't even the exciting part. I got to sing with a band at a local club!!! 

So on Monday, I went to voice lessons as usual. I've been working on some songs and stuff with the guy that has voice lessons before me. Let's call him Tyler. When I walked in to voice lessons, he asked me, "hey, are you coming to the show on Saturday?" (his band was playing at a local music venue that evening). I told him I planned on it, and he replied, "so do you wanna sing onstage with us?" I was speechless for a minute, and then I finally said some form of "uh...sure...yeah..." Needless to say, I wasn't prepared for that shock! 

Friday, I got to meet the rest of the band for band practice. The guitar player, "Nick", was really nice. He made small talk in order to make me feel more comfortable and ended up helping me out a lot the night of the show. The bassist, "Ben", seemed nice, too, but I didn't really get to interact with him much. The drummer, though, was a little standoff-ish. Don't get me wrong, he is one of the most talented drummers I have ever heard, but he seemed like the one guy in the band who was like "we don't need this random chick in our band!" But who knows, maybe he will lighten up a bit. Anyways, we practiced in this tiny room and my eardrums pretty much almost exploded! My ears were ringing the entire night!

Saturday was the day of the show. My friend and I got to the club when the doors opened. Two other bands played first-"Drama Party" and "Mayday Cried the Captain". They were both kinda weird, but still pretty good. The club itself was strange to me, though. There were all these young kids smoking and half the people there were either drunk or high. It was just really sketchy. But my band played third in the lineup, and I was set to sing with them on the last song. When they started playing the final song, I thought I heard my cue so I jumped onstage. Unfortunately, I went on too early. The thing was, I was supposed to sing during this one verse at the end of the song, but I didn't know that they played it earlier in the song, too! Luckily, it didn't really sound out of place; I just looked a little out of place!

Afterwards, I felt really bad about coming in at the wrong time. I told Nick that I was really sorry, and he just brushed it off, saying that it wasn't that bad and that I was just nervous and to not worry about it. When I went to apologize to Tyler, he told me that I did awesome and gave me one of the best hugs ever! It was soooooo cute! And he reassured me that I would be singing with them again.

So pretty much, I've had eight years taken off my life because of secondhand smoke, I've seen more sketchy people in one place than I have in a whole lifetime, and I sang at a club for the first time and messed it up. But it's all ok, because the band is awesome and the night was crazy fun!

And listen to "Everyone Looks So Good From Here" by Underoath..."It's so easy when it's pulling me under...I swear I've slipped right through the cracks in the floor"

Until next week, 

-Caroline