Katie Madson Week 8- Chicago in New York

As many of you have come to know, I have a great love for Broadway musicals. Part of this stems from my love of New York City. That is where I plan to begin the rest of my life after high school. I was around the age of eight or nine when I saw my first Broadway show. I say Beauty and the Beast. Sadly, I only remember the “Be our Guest” song, but I know it was an amazing show. Since then, I have seen a total of nine shows, my favorite being The Phantom of the Opera.

This year for Christmas, my boyfriend bought tickets for us to go see Chicago on Broadway. He knew how much broadway and the city meant to me. I have been yearning to see this show for years and years. After a few reschedules, we finally made it to the city to see the show.

Chicago is very different from other Broadway phenomenons. It is the longest-running American musical in Broadway history and is one of the most popular shows worldwide. The most popular songs from the show are "All that Jazz" or "Cell Block Tango." It follows the story of a woman, Roxie Hart, and what happens to her as she kills the man she was having an affair with. It is all about the legal process and how many women in the 1920's got away with murder. As I mentioned before, Chicago is very different from other shows. The orchestra is one stage, there is no set whatsoever and not much to the costume. However, the music, dancing, and intense storyline make up for all of this. The show is a bit risque but in a tasteful way. It is now in my top five musicals I have seen.

Now, as I ramble on about this show and my love musicals, I ask you these questions. Have you seen any Broadway shows? If so, which was your favorite? If you could pick one show out now, what would it be? If you could choose one show to put on Broadway that is not there currently, what would it be and why?

Alicia Zhang 8: Memory

   

   Sometimes I wish I had a better memory. This thinking happens whenever I forget a school assignment, don't know where I placed a folder, or can't remember the name of that one restaurant I went to that served some great waffles. Right now, I'm really regretting that I went onto Schoology and only took a look at assignments on the next day in the calender and entirely ignored the ones due that day, because then I would have seen that the blog was due at midnight. Oh, it's not Thursday and now Monday? Well, just great news. Wonderful. I'm sure that I was cognizant of the blog due date on the weekend, but I thought I could hold it off like I usually do and just type it up 2-3 hours before the deadline. It sure didn't work out this time. The words 'thought' or 'assumed' always lead to disaster with me, and a lot of headaches and complications for normally simple tasks. 

   Beyond just plain forgetfulness when it comes to schoolwork or where I left something, I tend to have difficulty when it comes to associating names with faces. Whenever people introduce themselves to me, it's a 50/50 chance that I'll remember by the second meeting, and I've pretty much given up at this point on even trying. It's not like this problem comes up a lot though. Most of the time, I can muddle through by just saying 'you' in conversation or making motions towards them if needing to indicate where they are. When it does come up, however, I'm always left feeling embarrassed and more than a bit concerned. One time, I was asked by a teacher who was my counselor, and, not expecting that question, I couldn't give any kind of satisfactory answer. Why, Mr. Teacher, she's the lady with a nice sweater in an office filled with pictures of her children and a couple of fake plants and rocks. Am I already a member of the elderly? People seem to recall other's names with such ease, and here I am, struggling to give an answer associated with a face I've seen at least a few times over the past few years. 

   Whenever I end up messing up because I've forgotten something and had a blip in my memory, my mom always ends up asking me what I plan to do to prevent this kind of incident from happening in the future. What can I do though? Make a schedule of tasks, or scribble down on some Post-It notes on what needs to be done for the day? I've tried following a calender of daily tasks before, and it ended up falling apart because I either forget to check it, or I couldn't do those tasks when I had something else to do. Forgetfulness is probably going to be one of those traits I'm never going to get rid of, so I've determined that maybe I should just just get some more sleep and do my homework earlier so I don't have the opportunity to miss the deadline for my blogging assignment in the first place. From here on out, I think I'm just going to write up my blog on the weekend rather than wait for Monday and risk forgetting like yesterday. When did you ever forget something important, and what methods do you use to help jog your memory and keep you on track? 

Muskan Week 8 - The Need for Success

Parent's expectations of their children to achieve have risen drastically since the late 1900s. Parents put the pressure to succeed on their kids either intentionally or without knowing it. In the article “Stop Trying to Raise Successful Kids”, the authors, Adam Grant and Allison Sweet Grant encourage parents to raise their children to be better people rather than people who only succeed. They argue a valid point that even if parents don’t flat out say that they value achievements over kindness and compassion, their actions speak louder than words. 
It is a well-known fact that young children, mainly toddlers, understand how to behave and what pleases others through seeing the actions and reactions of others around them, mainly those of the people that are closest to them. How often have you seen a toddler repeat the same action over and over again if they see someone laugh because of what they did? I have seen this countless times.
When I visit my niece, who is 4, I always have to be careful about what I do and say around her. Toddlers tend to pick up both good and bad habits fairly quickly. As hard as parents and others around children try to be good influences, they do have slip-ups. There were at least a few instances this past year where I slipped up around my niece. In one certain instance, my sister had been annoying me, so I responded with “shut up Jaslyn, don’t act stupid” and within a second my niece repeated, “Yeah, shut up Jaslyn, you’re being stupid”. While I didn’t intend to teach my niece to be rude and disrespectful to my sister, she had picked up saying those things from me.
If children learn bad behaviors this quickly then parents must understand that even the most unintentional acts can lead a child to believe that being successful is more important to their parents than being caring is.
Another point brought up in the article is the fact that people view good deeds for others as “chores” rather than a way to give back to the community or the world. I agree with this statement because I have seen a decline in community service and kindness among adolescents. Teenagers, especially, see community service as a chance to put something good on their resumes instead of a good way to provide service to their community. Not all teenagers are like this, but many are. In elementary school, I saw various occasions where someone fell in the halls and multiple other students helped the fallen student get up and gather their books for them. As I get older, I see fewer students helping their peers in situations like that.
While parents don’t want it to seem that they favor achievements over compassion in their children, their actions imply exactly that, which has created a negative impact on society over time.

Nigohosian 8 - A Tired World

When I woke up the other day and proceeded to go through school, I noticed that I was tired. I thought to myself it was probably just another late-night again, but I thought about it more and I realized that I went to bed much earlier than I did normally. Usually, you would think that you would feel more energized throughout the day, but I felt the opposite way and I didn’t know why. I thought maybe it could be quality of sleep so I decided to look at that.

After looking here, I found a few pointers that could help me out with my sleep. For example, the article states that it’s important to have a consistent sleep schedule, and maybe that could have been the issue because of the time that I went to bed. I could’ve possibly messed with my circadian rhythm and somehow affected how I felt the next day, but I don’t know how sensitive our circadian rhythms are. The issue with this for a student is that I get large amounts of work and sometimes it is hard to go to sleep at a consistent time. Maybe I could consistently start my work early to improve this issue and create a more consistent sleep schedule.

Also, another thing that I read that is important is to only associate our bedrooms with sleep and similar activities. It probably doesn’t help that I do homework there too as my mind will associate my room as a working space rather than a place where I should be sleeping. This is an easy solution as I just have to do work in different areas of the house to improve the quality of sleep. I'm glad that this is an easy fix for something that's so important. In general, it's important to get lots of sleep so I will try to fix the number of hours of sleep that I get as there can’t have a quality amount of sleep if I don’t go to bed for very long. Because sleep is so important, do you have any solutions to getting a better amount of sleep or improving the quality of it?

Megan - Week 8 - Caramel Candy

“Remember when Mom made caramel candy for Valentine’s Day last year?” my brother reminisced. 

“You mean Easter?” I questioned.

“No, she definitely made them for Valentine’s Day.”

“It doesn't really matter. But, just so you know, she only made them for Easter. I’m 100% certain” I laughed. 

Both refusing to be wrong, we flipped back through piles and piles of pictures. Sure enough, my mom did make caramel candy for Valentine’s Day last year. She made caramel cookies for Easter. Dang it. 

I was so certain. I didn’t have any doubts. Yet, I was wrong. It’s startling, almost eerie, when we realize that we can be so confident and still be wrong about the world around us… 

There are 4,200 religions, and each one has members who are certain that theirs is true, yet, at least 4,199 of these religions must be false. 

We put certainty in scientific belief that turns out to be wrong or, at best, incomplete. Not too long ago, we were certain that the Earth was flat. We had no doubts that the Earth was the center of the universe. Now we claim to know that the Earth is round and the sun is the center. For the record, I believe it is, but how can we be certain when we were so confident, yet so wrong, before? It would be pure arrogance to believe that somehow now we have it all figured out. 

We are certain that gravity is the force that keeps us from floating around, but what’s to say that tomorrow, gravity will continue to rule?  The probability of gravity disappearing is so small, smaller than fathomable even, but I believe that this probability exists. 

The probability of everything exists; in an incredibly complex, always changing, and greatly unexplored world, nothing is truly certain. 

And, boy, is that humbling. Once we understand that we could be wrong about everything, the way that we view people who disagree with us changes. We can’t be certain, and they can’t be certain. Maybe there’s some middle ground there. When we recognize how little we truly know, we humanize those who disagree with us and allow for greater compassion; we’re all uncertain together. 

And I think that a little more compassion is exactly what this world needs.

Do you think that we can be certain about anything? Why or why not? 

Nathan Schmidt 8: Common Goal

Strangers

I had the incredible opportunity of meeting some new people recently.  Let me preface this by saying that I am not usually the first one to reach out to new people.  No, I definitely do not consider myself an introvert, but I kind of have my group of friends that I stick to and I am perfectly content with that.  That being said, I was added to a group chat with a number of my friends and a number of kids involved in the Easton theatre program.  I was skeptical at first because I really had no idea who these people were, but I decided to play along, and I am so glad that I did.

After being added to the group chat, I was greeted with a ridiculous number of texts about a ridiculous number of completely unrelated topics (you have probably experienced this yourself if you are in a group chat with a large number of people).  I will admit that I had to put the group chat on "do not disturb" in order to stop the constant ringing of my phone.  As I started to get to know these strangers, though, I realized that we all had so much in common.  Many people, myself included, are skeptical of strangers, and that can make it difficult to reach out to others and form new friendships.  I first met these strangers over text about a week ago.  Since then, I had hung out with them twice over the weekend.  These strangers have all become my friends; friends that I never would have met if a person had not decided to reach out.

It is not usual for people to be able to form close relationships with people who were strangers a week ago.  Most people have a difficult time talking to new people in the first place.  The reason that my friends and I got along with these people so well is because we had something in common, theatre.  Immediately we were able to bond over this and form such great friendships.

People cannot often find this commonality so easily, but there is often something there in everyone.  We all want to be our better selves, we all want to be successful, and we all want our lives to be enjoyable.  Why, then, do we all find it so difficult to reach out to others?  If I had not decided to get to know these strangers, I would have missed out on so many great friendships.  Maybe reaching out to others, those we know and those we do not know, is really the best option after all.

Do any of you find it difficult to meet new people and form relationships with them?

If so, how do you cope with that?

Does anyone else have a similar story to mine?

Caleb Johns 8: Top 5 Days of the Year

5. New Years Eve
After Christmas day there seems to be a loss of morale in the world. The holiday season ends and the Christmas trees start being dragged out to the end of the driveway. However, there is one day that keeps the magic of the holiday season alive, and that is New Year's Eve. The food is top-notch, the TV entertainment is laughably-awful, and the ball dropping maybe the most thrilling thing I have ever seen in my life. It's a day that you can’t have a complaint about no matter who you are.
4. Christmas
This is probably everyone’s number one. But I thought I’d change it up a bit. What's great about it? The presents, maybe some snow, and of course breakfast. Also, the long break is always a nice additional add on to this day. What's my complaint? The presents! Everyone has to have a present and they are all way too expensive!
3. Independence Day
Independence Day was never a big part of my family, hence why it is as low as it is on the list. However, I do appreciate the history behind this holiday as well as the traditions and festivities that it includes, such as fireworks, cookouts, and lawn games.
2. Thanksgiving
Turkey, a long break, family traditions, how could anyone, not like Thanksgiving? It's a great holiday with even greater food. But the food is not what makes this holiday so special, neither is the long break or the family coming into town, the one thing that makes Thanksgiving so special is the National Dog Show.

1. Labor Day
This might be a bit of an odd selection, but when summer ends and you look at the calendar hoping for the next summer, you might get a little depressed. That's when labor day comes in as it extends our summer just a little bit longer. We may get a long break for Thanksgiving, another long break for Christmas and New Year's Eve,  yet that four day weekend one week into school makes Labor Day the best day of the year.

Alora Kutzler 8 ¨I might have a problem...¨

Last week I was feeling bored, I didn't have much school work, and I wasn't working. All my friends were doing something so I was stuck in my room practically contemplating life. Now I usually keep my room unbelievably clean. I am anxious if there is even a single shirt on the floor. I pride myself on my neatness, it makes me feel 100 times better knowing my room is neat. For one, the atmosphere feels so much better, and two it's aesthetically pleasing to me.

So anyway, As I looked around my room I noticed my art supplies were all messed up in their bins, my shoes were crooked, and my bed seemed to be leaning more to the left. All these things and more I over analyzed for about a half an hour. I then decided that to solve this I needed to rip apart my room at 8 o'clock at night and rearrange it.

Now I'm five foot and like 120 lbs. I'm not strong whatsoever. My bed frame and headboard are super tall and heavy. There was no way I was moving that by myself. Oh but I was determined. So with Justin Bieber blasting and all my strength I turned into the hulk and chucked my bed a total of 6 inches. I looked at its position and I was pleased. I then turned to my dresser..


I went about my night rearranging everything that I could, hanging up more Christmas lights and fairy lights then necessary. I'm not going to lie, I turned my room into a Hallmark movie winter wonderland. As I finished up, my mom came into my room to tell me to turn down Justin Biebers new song ¨Yummy¨…. Lets just say she wasn't a fan.

She then asked me why I had rearranged my room when I had just done it literally a month ago. With that, I then realized I had indeed done the same thing a month ago and I'm pretty sure the month before that. I realized I was a compulsive room rearranger. But I can't be the only one right? Rearranging your room, even just cleaning it, can give you such satisfaction and overall just makes the vibe in your room so much better. Am I right? So I ask you, am I alone in this? Are you an obsessive room rearranger/cleaner? (I hope i´m not alone!!)

Gabe 8: Rickroll'd Again

In the summer of 1987, a new british pop star by the name of Rick Astley put himself on the map after he released his first hit single: Never Gonna Give You Up. The song itself is nothing too special. It’s a pretty average classic 80s pop sound, complete with the intese synthesizer, overexaggerated vocals, and incessant dance beat. What sets this song apart from the pack is its music video, which features Rick Astley himself doing a rediculously dopey dance as he sings to the camera. The fame was short lived. Soon, the 80s ended, and Never Gonna Give You Up was left behind in the sea of nostalgia like so much else from the era.

But not forever. In 2007, an anonymous person posted a link to a YouTube video on a video game message board, claiming it was a leaked sneak preview of Grand Theft Auto IV. The game had not yet been announced, but there was still massive anticipation for its eventual release following the success of its predecessor. Needless to say, thousands of eager gaming fans clicked the link, only to be met with Rick Astley’s smiling face as they were redirected to the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up. Ladies and gentlemen: the first rickroll.

Rickrolling took the internet by storm. The formula was simple. All you had to do was post a link to Never Gonna Give You Up and claim it’s something that everyone just has to see like a leaked trailer or funny cat video. Then, you could sit back and imagine the fustration of all the people you just pranked. Soon, no link on the internet could be trusted, because most of them would just take you back to Rick Astley (this article provides a much more in depth look at the illustrious history of the rickroll if you’re interested). Even today, thirteen years later, rickrolling continues as a time-honored internet tradition, with no signs of stopping.

In my eyes, rickrolling is the epitome of internet culture. The internet was created as a way to bypass geographical barriers to share information instantly. It was meant to connect people from across the world and allow them to share their knowledge, pushing human society further forward as a whole. And instead, people use it to prank complete strangers by sending them to a video of Rick Astley’s dorky dance moves. It just goes to show that humans as a species are incapable of taking anything seriously. At any rate, the internet seems like it never intends to give up the rickroll, and I’m ok with that.

What’s your opinion on rickrolling? I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Gianna 8: Nostalgia

     Nostalgia always seems to hit me quite hard, even over small stimuli. Over the weekend, I spent two hours flipping through old family photo albums. I love to see the memories I can't recall on my own without any prompting.

     I'm writing my blog post as I'm on my way to Great Wolf Lodge, arguably my favorite childhood getaway spot. I have only positive memories and feelings associated with this place. I haven't been here in years, but even just the thought of pulling up the long driveway makes me feel almost melancholy. I long to feel the same levels of excitement I felt at age 6.

     Hearing any song from “Folie à Deux” or “Infinity on High” by Fall Out Boy immediately brings me back to elementary school. These albums were some of my first tastes of music that I really loved.

     I hold childhood memories so close to my sentimental heart. Does anyone ever know when it’s "the good old days?" I think that’s part of why I am so wistful. It’s at times impossible to tell when an experience is going to be something you look back on and long for, especially when you’re a child.

     Even right now, I can think of memories from just a year or two ago that I know will give me this same feeling of nostalgia in the future. It makes me wonder what place or journey I am going to long to relieve in a few years.

     I’m feeling nostalgic just thinking about the memories I'm making as a teen, good or bad. I know I'm going to reminisce on them. I feel like being 16 is a great age to be, despite the struggles being a teen comes with. I want to enjoy the “now” as much as possible before it becomes the past.

     Would you consider yourself a sentimental person?

MaryJo 8: Prom

Although it’s only February, I have been in high school long enough to learn to anticipate how quickly the second half of the school year rushes itself to end. Maybe only after we’ve been through a semester once before does the second one feel quicker, like the trip back on a road already traveled. Or maybe it’s because of how conveniently all of our major responsibilities are all concentrated in the last 3 months of the year, and dreading their arrival only motivates it.

This year sets the bar the highest it has been for how much end-of-the-year stress I’m given, from upcoming finals, AP exams, and SAT’s to college visits and applications. However, what has been winning the battle for the most thought and concern taken from me was prom.

This year, I can finally go to prom without having to be asked by an upperclassman since, surprisingly, I am the upperclassman now. It will also be the first high school dance that I go to, since I have been unable to go to homecoming because of marching band and had no interest in going to any winter formals. Prom is one of the most classic experiences growing up that most people can easily recall decades of years after. So many movies and shows have teased me with beautiful dresses, flashing lights, and sickly romantic slow dances. Although I have no expectations for my first prom to be anything like 10 Things I Hate About You, I am still really excited to see how it will turn out.

This weekend, I sat down with my mom and began looking for prom dresses, mostly because my mom found a website full of nice dresses on a winter sale. I could have spent hours looking through all of the different types of dresses and colors. I finally found one that I really liked, and I couldn’t help but go back to it even after looking at alternatives. I know it’s risky to buy a dress online, but the reviews were very good and it looked really beautiful in the pictures people attached with them. My mom and I even got measuring tape to get exact measurements for a custom fit. Maybe I’m going over the top, especially since prom isn’t until 3 months, but I’m super excited to finally be able to go and have a fun time with my friends.

Are you going to prom, and are you excited as I am?

Hayden 8 "Defining moments"

Some moments in time slow down, as if to tell us to drink everything in and remember this moment, to tell us this is important, and will play a part in building a person’s character for the rest of their lives.
                                                        

One of my moments started with an announcer's voice booming through the speakers hung up accordingly around the arena that was hosting my soccer teams district finals game. “FREEDOM SCORES AGAIN!!” he yells.

I looked up at the twinkling night sky watching my breath puff out like little white clouds and disappear blending into the pitch black night. Leaning onto my knees I take my hand and swipe it across the back of my left thigh to get rid of the painful burning from my most recent dive into the turf suddenly time seemed to stop.

I bring my hand back into view and notice the red glint staining my hand, highlighted by the stadium lights. I turn my leg and study the steadily increasing blood stain dripping down my hip and soaking into my uniform.

Bleeding during a game mandates immediate substitution, but with 20 minutes left in the game and being down by 2 goals, I decided to just pull my compression shorts around the burning wound, wipe away the blood, and keep playing through the pain.

The importance of this moment is not if we managed to win the game or not (just to note that we didn’t win), it is to showcase an important character piece in the complexity that is my personality. I have always been stubborn. My parents had raised me to never give up and give everything I got with whatever I am doing. When I reached the age to play sports I found that the unrelenting toll that soccer took on my mind and body was both challenging and rewarding and put the practice into what my parents were preaching, to never give up.

We are challenged everyday to push ourselves and while it might not be an injury worthy of substitution in an important game. It could be a defining factor to what makes you, you. I would love to know what qualities you have that you are proud of or that define you.