Gabe 7: Disco

I have a confession to make. I’m a sucker for some good disco music. I’ve found that a lot of people don’t share my admiration for it, which always confounds me. I don't think the issue is that people dislike the music. Disco isn’t some niche genre like heavy metal or dubstep. It’s actually very accessible and easy to jump on to from something similar like pop or rock. I think most people don’t jump on because they don’t understand how to enjoy it.

Disco began in the 70s as a new genre that fused together characteristics of funk and soul and added a four-on-the-floor dance beat to it. Four-on-the-floor is a type of drum pattern that involves a bass drum hit every beat (think “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen). This continual, rhythmic, on the beat drumming gives disco a sort of driving energy that makes you want to get up and move around, which is the point. Disco is dance music.

I think in order to appreciate a genre of music, you have to understand its purpose. Modern pop tries to connect to the listener through relatable lyrics set to a catchy tune that is easy to remember. Heavy metal tries to convey the artist’s frustration with society through a powerful guitar-centric melody. Disco tries to give the listener a funky beat that they can groove to. Yep. That’s it. Disco is all about the boogie.

In order to listen to disco, you have to get into the groove. Once you start feeling the beat, it loses the boring repetition that many people originally percieve when they first listen to it. It’s energizing. Disco makes great workout music. It’s very good at making monotonous tasks more interesting. I’ve noticed that when I listen to disco in the morning, I become less tired and end up having a better day. Don’t expect disco to be relatable or to make you feel. That’s not the point. The point is to get moving and let all your problems melt away as you lose yourself to the boogie.

Disco had a very short lifespan. It was born in the early 70s, and quickly rose to mainstream popularity. It was so popular, in fact, that it became all that was played on the radio. Ever. By the late 70s, rock fans banded together with the slogans “disco sucks” and “death to disco” in protest to how they believed disco killed all the good music. There was one event where a mob of disco-haters stampeded a baseball stadium in the middle of a game and proceeded to blow up a large box overflowing with disco records with dynamite. By the beginning of the 80s, disco was dead.

I believe the reason disco got such a bad rap in the 70s is not because it is bad music, but because it was played in such quantities that would make any genre seem bad after a while. But I think enough time has passed for the public to be able to accept disco back into its good graces. That’s right. It’s time for a disco revival. What are your thoughts?

Katie Madson Week 7- A Real Master

Theatre is one of my most favorite things in the world. Nothing makes me happier. Whether it is listening to Broadway music, seeing a live show, or the current coming up the opening night as I stand on stage ready to dance, nothing brings me joy like theatre does. Of course, I am a part of NHSTT, Nazareth High School Theatre Troupe. This year, we had a master class. I have attended a few of these classes before, and I had never been impressed. This one, however, blew me away.

Tony Yazbeck was our “master.” He is your classic Broadway star, extremely talented, a triple threat. He started his career young, tried out for thousands of shows until he finally got his big break. His most popular performance was the 2014 revival of On the Town, where we played the lead and was nominated for a Tony Award. He grew up in the Lehigh Valley, so we were very fortunate to have him attend our master class.

In this class, he shared so much knowledge of the stage. He worked on dance numbers with us, critiquing every move. Within minutes of his instruction, the numbers suddenly became so much cleaner. Tony also worked with our two leads on their solos, and they improved tremendously. He was so kind of full of spirit, I never wanted it to end! Even though I was not involved on stage, just watching and observing him help others was such an incredible experience for me. At the end of the night, he sat down and answered our questions. As every Broadway star does, he encouraged us to follow our dreams and not listen to anyone who said otherwise. Usually, these sentiments do not affect me, I like to look at life in a more practical way, but coming from him, I believed it.

To me, this experience was incredible and I will never forget it. To anyone else who does not share the same passions as me, it may have been boring. Even if it is not a Broadway star, is there anyone who you would like to sit in a master class with and why?

Alora Kutzler 7 "Compassion throughout hard times"

As you all know, there was a tragedy that hit our school. Two of our fellow students were involved in a motor vehicle accident two weeks ago. One of our fellow peers lost his life that night. The other student involved was left severely injured. This was a shock to our community and to our school. Thinking that this heartbreaking accident would bring us together in this time of grief and shock, in reality it brought unwanted disrespect and terrible comments about the accident. These comments were directed towards the friends, families, and people involved in this tragedy.

As we move forward as a community, this tragedy should never be forgotten. Despite the people who will continue to be disrespectful towards the situation as a school we should come together to show the friends and family of the victims that we are here and that we will continue to honor them and help in anyway we can.

With that said, Aaron Dotter, the passenger in the vehicle is going to have a very long and hard recovery due to the injuries he revived from the accident. There is a go fund me that is for his financial support if any of you are able to donate that would be greatly appreciated. I have the okay from Mr. Davis to start up a fundraiser in Aaron's name, the details are pending but as soon as we get started there will be more information as we go along. I ask you to help in any way you can, be compassionate towards the situation and keep the friends and families of those affected in your thoughts and prayers.

Muskan Week 7 - Moving

After the long January, we just went through, it's hard to believe it’s finally February. It didn’t hit me that it’s February until my mom told me on the second that I need to get a move on with my packing. In mid-February, my family and I are moving into a new house not too far from the one we live in now. With the fact that we’re moving comes the tedious task of packing and unpacking boxes, as well as going through what we need and don’t need to take with us.

My mom has been telling me to start thinking about packing up since December. She is, by far, the most excited about moving. We have this house built and customized to our likes, wants, and needs. My mom now has her room and the kitchen perfectly matched to her taste. Since our new house isn’t too far away, I joke with my parents that we shouldn’t pack, but rather load up the car with our things instead of putting it in boxes and just driving it there. I’ve even suggested taking clothes by the hanger and just straight hanging them in the new house instead of packing them in boxes and unpacking them when we get them there.

We’ve been planning this house for over a year and a half now. To be so close to the closing date has made this moment so much more real to me, and definitely to my mom. Since I’m older and a lot more mature since the last time we moved, my parents included me more in the planning process. I’ve helped with everything from floor plan upgrades to what counters to have in the kitchen to where there will be carpet and where there will be hardwood.

Being a part of this process has given me a new perspective. I’ve realized how much detail goes into building a house. This experience has taught me the importance of being detail-oriented and how crucial it can be if even one detail is off and you aren’t aware of it until its been built into the house. The interactions between the building company and my family have also shown me what the adult world will be like once I’m on my own.

While I’m not as excited as my mom, I am still happy to have somewhat of a new fresh start in this home that the others in my family and I have created together.

Nigohosian 7: The Key to Intelligence

Nigohosian 7: The Key to Intelligence

This week, I decided to look at the weekly blogging challenge for some inspiration and I came across this quote by Albert Einstein where he stated, “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”. I found this quote helpful because it serves as a reminder that it's not how much information you know, but what you can do with your imagination. Anyone can peruse countless books and amass all the knowledge in the world, but what good does it do if it can’t always be applied or be used properly. That’s where our imaginations come into play.

Our imaginations are extremely flexible and allow us to take any information that we have and apply it in ways that we never thought possible. On top of this, it allows us to create a variety of solutions to an issue that can never be found in a book, which is why the imagination is so important. Also, there are even some instances where a person's imagination became the reality around us. For example, Einstein developed the Theory of Relativity to redefine the understanding of gravity and how it worked. Originally, Isaac Newton discovered that gravity was a force, but he couldn’t prove how. Gravity mostly remained this way until Einstein developed his theory. He looked at the force with a different perspective and realized that it was the matter that moved in curved pathways that created the effect of gravity. For this reason, imagination is a very important part of intelligence because there would be no knowledge that existed if we had not questioned and thought about our surroundings. So what do you think is more important, knowledge or imagination?

Alicia Zhang 7: Silence

 

    This year I took AP European History class, and it's gotten me thinking about human nature. I'm a quiet kid. People ask me to speak up all the time, and I'm usually not the one to start conversations. But not everyone is like me, and most enjoy hanging out with others and talking about a broad range of topics. They debate, argue, and gossip for the sake of gossiping. So why is it that at certain critical points in history, their voices fall silent? Why is it that when injustice surrounds them, when they know of the suffering of others, they stay within the party lines, and jump on the bandwagon of tyranny?

   I believe that silence might as well be tacit approval of the cruel actions taken by dictators and extremists at these junctures in history. Even if you say to yourself in the confines of your heart and home that what they are doing is wrong, it won't change anything unless you speak up instead of biting your tongue in the face of the wrongdoers. The first example that comes to mind of the consequences of this silence is the rise of the Nazi party. They were originally a fringe group that was ill-regarded and ridiculed, but as time went by and they grew in power and numbers, the voices of those who originally spoke up against them died out. It's more than likely that the vast majority of Germany, at least not the ones indoctrinated from childhood, were inwardly skeptical of Nazi ideals and philosophy, but they chose to remain quiet and conform rather than be excluded by others. There was so little open resistance in Germany during WWII that the only significant actors that stand out in my memory were the White Rose group, made up of college youths, and those behind the failed 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler. Silence is the victory anthem that plays for dictators and extremists, and the funeral hymn for detractors. 

   Once we have fallen silent, we have given up our rights as an individual and submitted to the collective. It doesn't have to be on as treacherously grand a scale as the rise of Nazi Germany; it could be 20 children pretending ignorance as 10 taunt a child to depression and death. The words "I don't care" are sometimes the first step to agony of another, and a terrible guilt when all is said and done. So don't look the other way when someone is hurting, because that someone could be you one day. Silence is not always golden, and it especially shouldn't be when that silence costs others. 

MaryJo 7: Who Cares?

Every year, I wake up one Sunday morning to news that it is the Super Bowl, only following my mom’s commands to start cleaning the windows. I have never had any interest in football, but the only reasons I end up looking forward to Super Bowl Sunday are knowing we’ll have a lot of food and being able to watch commercials worth millions of dollars and a halftime show that always drives my dad to give his take on what qualifies as “real music.”

The same day, it began to snow for the first time in weeks. Watching the snowflakes flurry down onto the sidewalks and accumulate on the tree branches was a reminder I didn’t realize I needed that it is, in fact, winter in January. The snow stuck tightly to anything it was able to reach, including, to our misfortune, our satellite dish. By the time 6:30 came, our TV screen continued to load as my dad angrily exchanged certain words with tech support and everyone else awkwardly snacked on chips. My dad has a bad habit of easily getting heated up, and he always lets the smallest inconveniences get to him. Maybe missing the first half of the Super Bowl isn’t such a small inconvenience for a middle aged American man, but it put him in such a bad mood that it threw all of us a bit off.

Even though I was raised in an environment where both my parents get easily irritated and stressed out, I have tried to limit who that behavior applies to and instead adopt a mindset that is more care and stress free. I have a feeling that growing up I have mimicked my parents’ tendencies to become easily overwhelmed, and I was constantly anxious with different things going on in my life. I realized that there will always be something that isn’t going your way, and there is no use to spend your valuable time and energy obsessing and stressing out over it. Not everything has to be as serious as we make it out to be, and we often force ourselves to suffer in a dramatized version of the situation we created in our minds. Knowing this, I found myself getting less annoyed or angry with people and becoming a more forgiving and patient person. If I drop my bowl of cereal on the ground, all I have to do is clean up the mess and pour another bowl so I can continue to enjoy my breakfast within minutes. Maybe I don’t mind putting off studying for my calculus test if it means I can go to bed at 10:00 and wake up tomorrow feeling more refreshed.

Obviously, there are situations that are serious enough to put effort into. However, this is a sensitive line I think we must learn to recognize to ensure that we don’t over stress ourselves while still not making ignorant choices that could harm ourselves or others. Just caring less about what others think about you, misfortunes you experience, and life in general will relieve so much unneeded anger and leave more room to just enjoy life no matter what happens. In the end, it most likely won’t matter anyway.

Do you think it’s healthy to be carefree or do you believe we should treat our lives as seriously as possible?

Gianna 6: Little Things

For the past week, I’ve been driving to and from school all alone. Normally, I take my little sister to school and home with me, but she was out of school sick. 

At first, it felt pretty strange driving to school alone. I frequently drive by myself, but chatting with her on our drive to school every weekday has become routine. Without her there, though, I’ve had more time to myself. A time in the morning that I feel most people overlook. 

I love driving (most of the time, when it's not super stressful). Driving to school in the morning is something I find particularly relaxing. I’ve really realized this week how much a mere 15 minutes in the morning can impact my day. Morning drives are very peaceful. 

You'd never see me up at 7 am to watch the sunrise on a normal day, so it’s really something I've started to notice these past few mornings. Before, I hadn't thought much of sunrises; I’d consider myself more of a sunset admirer.

Recently, I’ve been able to really appreciate the sunrises. They currently come at just the right time during my drive to school. It sets such a beautiful backdrop for just a brief 15 minutes in the car. It is such a wonderful way to start a morning in my opinion. Even though I’m driving towards impending doom, seeing a sunrise on the way can so easily put a smile on my face. 

When people say to “appreciate the little things,” it can seem like a lot. There are literally millions of “little things” to pick from. How are you supposed to appreciate a million little things? It can be especially hard to appreciate the everyday things in our lives when we’re having a bad day. I am very glad that I have come to appreciate sunrises. The sun rises every day, yet I had rarely ever taken notice or appreciation to it the way I have lately on my drives to school. I know that even if I had a bad night or rough week, almost every morning I have a sunrise I can look for to appreciate. 

What’s something, no matter how big or small, you try to appreciate often?

Nathan Schmidt Week 7: Halfway There

Halfway There

Nathan Schmidt

Halfway there!  Semester one has ended already!  It just flew by, and now it is gone.  We are halfway to the end of the school year.  Usually, that statement would bring me joy and excitement.  Sure, there is still a ways to go, but I think that halfway through the school year is something to be excited about.  Why, then, do I feel no excitement?  Instead, I just feel scared.  I only have one semester left and then it is summertime.  Summertime will come and go and then I will be a senior.  Oh my goodness!  I am not ready for that!  I have often been asked by family and friends, "so have you been looking at colleges yet?"  My response is usually, "not really, but I have plenty of time."  I suppose I am just trying to convince myself that that is the case at this point.  Really, though, I don't have plenty of time.  And that scares me.  Where will I go?  I don't know.  What will I do?  I don't know.  How will I get there?  I don't know.

Halfway there.  Halfway to summer.  Halfway to senior year.  Then I will need to start making the decisions.  The decisions that will affect me for the rest of my life.  How can a 16-year-old be expected to do that?  It brings me comfort to know that I am not the only one who feels this way.  I know that there are plenty of others who have no idea what they will do and where they will go.  I always thought I would be one of the kids who had it all figured out.  I was wrong.  So, maybe I need to buckle down and figure it out.  Or maybe I need to forget about it and just hope my path will reveal itself to me.  I don't know what this next semester will hold for me, and I hate thinking about my future.  But maybe it is time that I decide what this next semester will hold.  Maybe it is time that I decide what my future will look like.

Halfway there!  One more semester.  Not a whole lot of time left.  It is time for me to make this semester count.

Do any of you have your future planned out?

If so, how did you get to that point?

If you are unsure about your future, how do you plan on dealing with those life-changing decisions?

Caleb week 7

You know it's Super Bowl Sunday when the ads get more memorable, the grocery store gets busier and the jerseys start showing their way out of the closet. It's an iconic day that has become integral to American culture. Love football, hate football, or (like me) not really care what's going on in the sport, the Superbowl is most likely a day circled on the calendar. That's because the Superbowl has outgrown the game. The real focus of the Superbowl has gradually transferred from the actual game to the funny, memorable, and ridiculous ads and of course the halftime show. 

I can prove it too. The total ad time for the 2019 Super Bowl was around an hour. Add this to the halftime show which lasts 30 minutes, and that's an hour and a half dedicated to these two components to the Superbowl. Comparing this to the actual game, which lasts one hour, and you’ll find that less time is allotted for the game. For research, I googled Super Bowl 54 to see the result that it would bring up. The top three articles that were brought up were about: a person taking a nap at the Super Bowl, a backlash to a coach flexing his Super Bowl rings, and memorable moments from the halftime show, but none having to do anything with the actual game. 

This may be because I don’t follow it that much, but one of the biggest stories leading up to the Super Bowl was that the ads were going to cost around five and a half million dollars for a 30-second ad, again something that didn’t have to do with the actual football game. 

So the point of all of this is that the Super Bowl is no longer a sporting event, or a competition between two teams, it's a national holiday similar to Thanksgiving that just so happens to feature a football game.

So why we are talking about it, what is your favorite Super Bowl ad of this past Super Bowl, mine is the one with the self-park car.  

Megan - Week 7 - Walking on Thin Ice

Has a moment ever felt so perfect that you almost didn’t believe that it was real?

Last winter, I went to the Poconos for the weekend and stayed in a cozy cabin. My friends and I played board games, went sledding, and hiked through the woods, dying of laughter the entire time.

Saturday afternoon, five of us climbed through the snow, trees, and hills until we made it to the ice-covered swamp. It was lined with trees stretching miles high, so grand that I wondered if they were whispering to heaven. Small patches of land stuck up from the ice, too tall to be fully submerged. It looked like a scene from a movie. With my friends laughing and smiling ear to ear, it felt like a dream.

My friend Ellie jumped onto a mound of land surrounded by ice, and onto another and another, like a game of hopscotch.

“Ellie! Come back! You’re gonna fall in and freeze,” I yelled over the frozen swamp.

“She’ll be fine, Meg. Don’t worry so much,” Reia laughed as she, and the rest of my friends, joined the game of hopscotch.

I signed. And then I smiled. They were right. The day was too perfect; no one was going to fall in. I do worry too much.

Without thinking, I started walking forward, closer and closer to the ice: “You guys are crazy!” I laughed.

I don’t remember hearing the ice crack, but I do remember the plunging feeling in my stomach and the bitter cold water. Actually, it was so cold that I didn’t feel much of anything at all.

I’ve walked on thin ice. And I’ve fallen in deep water. Would I do it again? Maybe not literally. Still, there’s something to be said about walking on fragile ground, knowing you may get hurt...

I was talking with my friends the other day about the speed of trust, and it really got me thinking. I trust people fast. Really fast. Sometimes I’m too honest, too soon. I believe the best about people, and I trust that they’re telling the truth.

But, I’m okay with that. I don’t want to live in a world where we never trust anyone else and so we jump around, so scared of getting hurt that we miss meaningful, authentic relationships. The thought of rejection being so terrifying that we’re willing to settle for fake smiles and surface-level conversations, a world where everyone sees us but no one knows us.

When we trust people, we become vulnerable, like walking on thin ice. And when we choose to live with such bravery, we will inevitably get hurt. We may fall deep down and begin to feel numb. After time, our numbness may be replaced with a freezing cold pain. But eventually, it fades. We warm-up and feel whole again.

If we can bear the plunge, we’re better off. Not only are we stronger, but we allow ourselves to be known and to be loved. Only once this happens can we really start living. And we owe it to ourselves because we were meant for so much more than just existing. We are meant to live, and breathe, and laugh, and love.

So walk on your own metaphorical thin ice. Take the risk. The water isn’t so bad; I promise. 

How do you view risk? Is that something that you like about yourself or something that you want to change?

"leaves in the wind; maybe we should use a fan?" Berner 7

With this being the first blog of the new semester, I can not help but feel like I HAVE to talk about this new semester and how I feel about it.

To keep it simple, I am not thrilled with the change. I have found my hardest switch has been managing my time. I am now taking three advanced placement classes; AP Biology, AP Macroeconomics, and AP Language and Composition (This class), I have found my time has significantly dwindled.

I find it more tiring and stressful than I was a couple weeks ago with finals! I understand that I am the only one to blame for my anxiety and lack of time, however, despite me being overloading right now, I recognize that this will all benefit me in the long run, and that is one of the few things that keeps me going. The classes I take and do well in now will reflect into my college experience, which I am hoping to make the best out of.

Unfortunately, right now, that is not the case and I find the busy schedule I have affected everything else in my life. On top of school, I am playing sports which are consuming a large amount of time and I am gearing up for college trips, volunteering and work. My hope is that all this will be worth it in the long run.

It all makes me wonder why we look so much into the future, but at the same time we fear change so much that we will do anything to make it perfect to the point where we ruin the present; like somehow we will it into existence when really our future is ever changing like a leaf in the wind, so why wouldn’t we enjoy the ride and maybe occasionally use a fan to direct it?

                                                                  

Sometimes I feel like I am the only person my age that is planning this far ahead, turning on that fan per say, and struggling now to relax later. I would love to hear if any of you are feeling the same, or if not I am curious to hear your planning strategy for the future.