Après Moi, Le Dèluge

This is Crazy!

2008-06-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

I no longer need to write on here for class, and my original intention was to stop writing on here, but today I found out something really cool and exciting and I need to write about it so I thought this would be the perfect solution.

I was on facebook as usual and I got an event invite from an old friend from my dance class at my old studio, Hailey Whitters. She graduated from Prairie High School last year and moved to Nashville, Tennessee for college. I've written on her facebook wall a couple of times to see how she was doing. She has been singing at local places in Nashville since she arrived down there. When I first heard this I thought it was pretty cool, but I completely underestimated how good she actually is. I figured she was just having a good time singing karaokes etc but it's much more than that. Her event invite was to come here her sing tomorrow night in Swisher, Iowa, just down the street from where she grew up. I went to her facebook page just to find out more about this show. On there she had information about her latest album release. I guess she has signed some kind of deal with a company in Nashville! I went to her myspace and listened to a few of her songs. I had no idea she was so good! I'm gonna keep saying it because I can't believe it! She's so much better than half the artists on the radio, especially ones like Taylor Swift. Look for her, Hailey Faith.

Almost a Perfect Day

2008-05-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend went back and forth. Friday was necessary, I wish it was different but I can handle it. Saturday afternoon was an extension of Friday night and I thought it would give me some Saturday night. I got maybe an hour on Saturday. Sunday was looking good. There was no reason to be home, no early morning, nothing. I got my day and when I went for the night I got hit with a low blow. Stuck at home again. Locking myself in my room made me feel a little better. Then you came down. We fought, yelled, cried, agreed, and left. I knew I would get my Monday...

I slept in late. I had the car and my best friend. I went to the party, it was nice. I stayed there for a while. It was time to leave. I wasn't ready for lunch. Let's go to the park. You finally made up, thank God! There are too many bugs, let's leave. Covered in mud, let's go to your house. Clean again, I could use some lunch. What do you mean you can't find your key? Back to the park. No luck? Let's move on. She was a terrible waitress, but thanks for lunch. Let's listen to Narrow Stairs and relax. Your house? Surprise! It's hot! Can I borrow a swimsuit? I love the sun, even though I never get any tanner. Movie? I'll drive you there. I have to go, but enjoy the rest of the day...

Even after was perfect. Did some homework. Made that CD. Ate with the family. Cleaned my room. It would have been perfect if you were there...

Do I Know?

2008-05-26T16:05:00.000-07:00

I heard what you said. Now, like always, I'm going to over analyze everything. I thought you were talking about me. I should have known better. I wish I would have turned the other way, so I wouldn't have this eating away at me. What are you talking about? Should I know? Is it me? You've never talked to me about this. Why not? I guess I can't really be mad at you, I'm doing the same thing to you.

There are so many things I wish I would have said. I wasn't upset about you, it was all about my lack of control over my life. You make me feel like a complete idiot, and as embarrassing as that is I can't get enough of it. I was jealous, everyone would be, can you blame me? That doesn't mean I was going to make you stop, that's not who I am. You think I'm so clueless about what actually happened, I'm not. I know what you really did when I was gone, I just chose to be a bigger person than you and again let that blow past. I'm not going to live your life for you, you can make your own mistakes, just don't take me with you, I'm smarter than that. Is that why?

It wasn't all bad. Why can't I remember the good times? The bad times weren't bad until you made them that way. I think about everything we did and how little I knew. Why didn't you just tell me? I would have done something for you. I played the "what if" game. What if my mom gave me the same freedoms? I would have done so much differently. I convinced myself that I wasn't overstepping, now I know I was, and I'm sorry for that.

I'm sure you'll never see this, but I'm going to pretend you did and you understood it even though I know you'll have no idea what I'm talking about. I don't know maybe I'm underestimating you. I wouldn't take it back, but I'd love to try over. Just don't think I'm holding my breath, I know better than that.

Love/Hate

2008-05-24T12:08:00.001-07:00

I hate: graduation parties, family vacations, ending old relationships, David Cook, bad writing, foreshadowing, new groups, underclassmen, bent arms, people seeking attention, people who think far too highly of themselves, my parents, school, tests, projects, bad teachers, slow computers, drinking, drugs, and anyone who thinks they're better for doing either, death, lazy people, losing, cell phones, the future, dance team camp, crying, my life, people who pretend they don't care, people who do care, rich people, poor people, food poisoning, missing school, really fat people, really skinny people, shopping, caring about people, old friends, new friends, stupid fights, creating drama just because, working, this blog, curfews, ignorant people, cleaning my house, when my siblings come home, sharing, watching people destroy their lives, bad dancers, curly hair, Mary Murphy...

I love: F4E, Death Cab for Cutie, So You Think You Can Dance, creating new relationships, Travis Wall, my friends, Scrubs, Friends, dance team, show choir, choir, seniors graduating, Coldplay, re-reading Harry Potter for the billionth time, Jim Sturgess, being home alone, dancing, summer, weekends, good teachers, good music, bad music, making fun of people, being completely honest, death, people who care, people who work hard, being in charge, winning, cell phones, money, big cars, getting rides, driving, being alone, crying, good movies, bad movies, weddings, my life, spring, TF, sing alongs, painting, sarcasm, missing school, making new cds, facebook, San Diego, California, old friends, lifelong friends, new friends, creating drama just because, working, this blog, breaking the rules that should be broken, laughing, sneezing, cleaning my room, iTunes, New York City Dance Alliance, St. Louis, the Cardinals, New York, leaving home, staying with friends, my grandma, gossiping about people that are two feet away, YouTube, good dancers, Mia Michaels...

Narrow Stairs

2008-05-20T13:34:00.001-07:00

On May 13th Death Cab for Cutie released their new album Narrow Stairs. After a week of waiting I finally got my hands on a copy. This CD is brilliant. A friend (can you guess who? That's right, Sean Bateman) played me their single "I Will Possess Your Heart" when it was first released. The song is eight minutes and thirty-five seconds long. When Sean first played it for me we were driving in his car by the river before show choir practice and I fell in love with it. The first four minutes and thirty-five seconds is instrumental. I thought that when I listened to the song on repeat (which I usually do when I first fall in love with a song) that I would probably find myself fast forwarding. After listening to this song over 40 times on only my iPod I still have never skipped the instrumental because it's just that good.

After obsessing over their single I couldn't wait for the rest of the album to be released. It's not as upbeat and cheery as the music I would normally listen to in the spring but it's so brilliant that I've made an exception for it. I find myself listening to this CD at night on my drive home from where ever I'm coming from. It's slightly darker than their previous albums which makes it a perfect night time CD. My favorite songs include "I Will Posses Your Heart", "The Ice is Getting Thinner", "Your New Twin Sized Bed", "Bixby Canyon Bridge", "No Sunlight" (which is more upbeat than you think it is). Basically I just love the whole album and everything about it.

And I Will Fix You

2008-05-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

Since the bell rang releasing me from sixth hour yesterday I have not stopped listening to the song "Fix You" by Coldplay (okay well maybe I have stopped listening to it for a little bit but it's been pretty much constantly). I have gone though many phases in my life with Coldplay and I guess this another one. This song has come up twice in the last week (the first time is a dance choreographed by Travis Wall, of course) so when I got home from school I decided that I should listen to it. The summer before my freshman year is when Coldplay's album X & Y was released. During that summer my sister moved back home and her and I spent a lot of time making photo albums of our childhood trying to clean out some of her boxes. As I was listening to it again all I could think about were those photo albums. So I pulled my album off the bookshelf in my room, wiped the dust off, and looked though it. I looked though various photo albums that I have made for a solid two hours listening only to Coldplay. Throughout those two hours I was reminded of many things from my past; my dad, my dance studio, old friends, ex-"boyfriends" (the middle school ones that don't count), when my siblings lived at home, my old cat, etc. As all these memories came to mind I went on to read my old diaries (that I only wrote in like once a year about dance and of course boys). After laughing over my diaries for a good period of time I found some old notes from middle school/freshman year (which were ridiculously embarrassing and hysterical). While I was reliving all these memories (especially the middle school ones) I remember how at the time everything was such a huge deal to me, and now looking back I laugh about it. I guess this was just the reality check I needed to reminded me to stop worrying about everything and just live life because in the long run whatever my issues are now, no matter how big they may appear, they won't be anything but a funny memory to me.

Why Don't We Get What We Work For?

2008-05-12T06:11:00.001-07:00

All of my time lately has been spent with or at dance team, so it’s all I’m thinking about. Over the past couple of days I was talking to my friends, Amanda, about how no one really considers dance team as a sport. Amanda plays basketball and we were comparing the two sports. Dance team has more practices for longer times, and we hold practices all year round, we also qualify for state every year and we bring home many awards, we do many community service projects as a team. Even after all of this we still have the “bad name”. A lot of people think of the girl on dance team as ‘mean drunks’ who are ‘big sluts’. While this may have been true 4 years ago now it’s a stereotype that is completely untrue and I don’t want associated with my name. As a team we are required to give off a good name for dance team. We have to have above a 3.7 for an overall GPA or else we have to have private tutors, not to mention the extra running we have to do at practice if it ever drops below that. After all we strive for we get nothing in return. Just before state we wanted thirty minutes on one of the gym floors to get a feel for a different floor, we ever go tit because apparently that was too much to ask to share. While I understand that basketball can’t really practice anywhere else because they need the nets we can’t really practice in the hall because we need more room to dance. When Amanda and I were talking she asked me where the dance team girls change because we don’t have a locker room, I explained that we get to change in the bathroom when there’s enough room. So all the other sports get the gym and a locker room the dance team is stuck with a hallway and bathroom.

Before Summer

2008-05-11T17:24:00.001-07:00

I have several countdowns going though my head currently. There are 10 days until the premiere of So You Think You Can Dance, 25 days until summer, and 19 days of school left until summer. Surprisingly, I'm most excited about the premiere of So You Think You Can Dance but only because with that comes summer.

I have been ready for summer since spring break and it seems to be taking forever to get here. There is so little time left for the school year you would think everything would be coming to an end but that's not really the case for me. In AP Lang we still have another form of essay to write plus our portfolio and the AP test, in chem I have a huge extra credit project to due, for history we have to turn in our entire folder (similar to the portfolio), and then on top of projects and papers there is the daily homework and after school activities.

This Tuesday is our last show choir practice for the year. The spring practices are always my favorite because you go there and run the show and you're done. It's a nice way to say goodbye to that group because your last time together is just fun. Really our last time to be together as a group is Thursday at our going out concert. As much as I'm looking forward to a new group and a new show I'm really going to miss all the seniors that have become, in my mind, what makes Happiness.

Before summer I still have all this and more to get though, but hopefully it will fly by and soon enough summer will have finally arrived.

Doing it All

2008-05-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you care so much about my dance team drama but I need to write on here and this is what's on my mind so it's what you're getting. The junior captain drama is still going strong, but on top of that I'm starting to feel some tension between myself and the other senior captain. It's not our friendship that's in trouble, but together we are not doing our jobs. Starting last year I always went in to coach's room to ask questions about practice and the other senior still has difficulties doing this. It's not that she's scared or anything like that but more that she just doesn't like talking to coach so she avoids her and instead asks me. This has started to become a problem with the two of us leading practice. I talk to coach on a regular basis so she has started sending me passes during class to give me information about practice and study table. She has been out of town since Wednesday and she texted me to call her during passing on Friday. I of course did and all she wanted was to tell me she wasn't going to be there for study day so it was canceled and I should start practice an hour early. It was noting big. Later that day I was informing the other captain about the new plan for practice that coach told me to do. She got really pissed that coach keeps pulling me out of class and telling me what to do and listening to my suggestions etc etc etc. She feels like she isn't doing anything to lead the team and that they only listen to me. The only reason coach has been going to me is because I've been going to her. I don't really know the purpose of this entry other than to let the other captain know that if she wants coach to come to her she has to go to her first.

In the Future

2008-05-08T16:26:00.001-07:00

Today was my last audition for show choir ever. As excited as I am to never have to audition for anything ever again I get both excited and terrified for the future. Dance team tryouts are long over with, but with this being my last show choir audition I realized that this really is the last audition process I'll ever have to go though (unless I do decide to tryout for college dance team which I'm not planning on doing because I would never make because it's so competitive). I have been preparing myself for show choir and dance team my entire life, and now that I only have one year left it's hard to imagine why I put so much blood, sweat, and tears into it. I'm not saying I regret it, that's the furthest thing from the truth, but it's hard to believe I put so much work into something that is just going to end. I always knew the day would come and I still have time to enjoy what I do but I just can't imagine myself not dancing at all.

I want to go to Iowa State after seeing the campus while visiting my sisters I found that I really feel at home there. I tell everyone that I want to major in interior design because that's the only thing I can see myself enjoying at this time in my life, but I really have no idea what I will actually end up doing. Iowa State has a great interior design program so it just seems to fit. Iowa State has an awesome dance team that I'm sure I would absolutely love being a part of. The only reason I'm not really considering it as an option is time and effort. Even in high school dance team pretty much dictates my life and when I have time, I don't want that while I'm in college, I just want to enjoy myself with no worries. I know I've said this about nine million times now, but I really don't know how I'm just going to stop dancing. I know there are other forms, styles, and places I could turn to, but none of them really appeal to me. I guess for now I'm just going to enjoy what I have left and not worry about what the future holds for me until I get there.

What's So Embarrassing?

2008-05-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

As you can probably tell music is a huge part of my life. My friends and I talk about new, old, good, bad, funny, amazing music all the time. With Me being the competitive person that I am, I see finding new music as a competition (one that I never win). My best friend from childhood, Michael defiantly wins the title of finding the most unique music. He's very critical of every type of music which is perfectly fine, and in most cases good because it opens everyone else up to something new. Sometimes this stubborness he has for finding "good" music can lead to tension between my friends and myself. Mike, who defiantly wins the title of finding the "radio" music, usually doesn't like Michael's taste in music (not saying they never agree on anything but the tastes are just different). I personally am a fan of both of their (for lack of a better word) music types'. Sometimes I need something with a little more substance (which I get from Michael) and other times I just want to sing as loud as I can and dance around to something fun and upbeat (which is where Mike comes in). I'm not the only one who meets in the middle of their types. My best friend, Amanda, also listens to both of them. Amanda, who is new to the whole "finding music" thing my friends and I do, is in the same position I'm in. When I download a new song or artist that I'm really excited about I tell Michael about it. He has never failed to already know that new song plus another 10 amazing songs by that artist (I am determined to someday find something/somebody that he doesn't already know).

We all share music and generally enjoy the same stuff. However, Mike tends to be a target for "bad" music. Unlike Michael he doesn't spend hours everyday researching the latest artist, he just turns on the radio and chooses from there. Normally when I enjoy something that Mike tells me about I find myself saying "I know it's embarrassing but I still love it". That's what I don't understand. If I enjoy the music I'm listening to then why am I embarrassed by it? The artist who made it obliviously felt some connection to the song when making it so who am I to say it's "bad" and I'm "embarrassed" to listen to it? A perfect example of this is one of my favorite artist, Sara Bareilles. I was introduced to her hit single "Love Song" while I was at Regionals for dance team this January. It was playing throughout the Mall of America the whole time I was there. Once I arrived home I downloaded it and loved it. Mike later made me a CD with the rest of her album on it, I absolutely love all of her songs (in fact "Gravity" has jumped to my number two spot on my iTunes with 144 plays in just two months). For some reason Michael doesn't like Sara Bareilles. I for some reason feel that he is the world's best judge for good music, so when I'm around him I find myself constantly saying something like "I love Sara Bareilles, even if she is embarrassing". Why do I do this? I do not know. Now that I've made myself aware of this I hope I to stop being embarrassed by my favorite music and just enjoy it because that's what it was made for.

State Large Group

2008-05-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight is our last choir concert of the year and I couldn't be more excited for it. Over the last week we have voted for our top five candidates for choir president and choir vice-president. I voted for all five candidates in the first round and yesterday we voted for the final two. My best friend is one of the five and I think he more than anyone deserves to get the position. He has never been put into a leading role with an official title, but he deserves it more than people who have had an official title for other things. At the concert tonight we "crown" the new president and vice-president and from what I've heard of voting he has a pretty good chance of getting one of the positions. I think he needs this confidence boast because he deserves so much more than he gets. While all five candidates would be great for the job I don't think anyone would appreciate it more than him.

Not only is the concert exciting for the crowning, it's also our last practice before our competition Saturday morning. At State Large Group you don't compete against other schools but you compete against a rating scale. While all of our choirs go there are only three that I really care about. Last year when we went we got a very disappointing score. This is how the system works; a one rating is the best score and what you would expect from the highest choir from every school, a two rating is what you would expect from an intermediate choir, a three rating would be pretty good for a freshman choir, and a four or five rating is just an embarrassment. Last year the Concert Choir Women received a one rating and the Concert Choir Men received a two rating which was disappointing but the three judges gave them a one, a two, and a two. Both of their twos were one or two points away from being a one rating so it was still an acceptable score. The Concert Choir also received a two rating (we were the only top choir in the Cedar Rapids area that didn't receive a one rating) but this two was completely unacceptable. This rating wasn't based on our vocal talent, but on the behavior of one specific individual. This male student made our whole performance a complete joke. The judges wrote on our score sheets that we would have easily received a one rating if they judged based on our vocals, but they felt they couldn't give us that because of behavior problems. As you could imagine our director was pissed.

Saturday, May 3rd
We had State Large Group today, the Concert Choir Women got a two and the Concert Choir Men also received a two. The only reason this was acceptable is because every group of the morning got a two including Iowa City which has 27 all-staters. Our mixed Concert Choir performed incredibly well. I got chills while singing it was that good. We received a one. I'm disappointed that Men and Women got twos but our one makes up for it.

Junior Captains

2008-05-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

This will be my senior year of high school and I'm finally in the position I've worked so hard for over the last three years. Dance team captains have been chosen in a different way every year that I have been on the team. My first year we were told that the five seniors were our captains (even though two of them were really the leaders and the other three were assigned the title but didn't really do much). Last year we voted for three captains, even though four were actually chosen. Again all four girls were seniors and again it was really only two of them that did most of the work at practice.

This year, my year, our team only has two seniors. Our coach assigned the two of us the position without any question or votes. Before our new season started each member had to have a one-on-one meeting with coach to discuss problems, suggestions, goals, etc. At my meeting we talked about the possibility of junior captains, and coach seemed to agree that this would be a good idea. I decided that this would be the best possible situation for our team because we have eight juniors and five or six of them could become a great leader, but mostly because I know that I will be out of town for two weeks in the summer meaning that the other captain could not miss any of those practice and would be in charge of everything which is a lot of pressure for her to have on her. When I mentioned this idea to the other captain she thought it was a good idea so we wouldn't have to do absolutely everything.

We've had three short practices just to keep us in shape before our season really starts up and it's not going as well as we hoped it would. The two juniors that we thought would step into the position have, and they're taking it out of control. They are trying so hard to take the position they are questioning our authority to make themselves appear as the person for the job. At these short practices we haven't been doing a lot, mostly we're working on some technical areas in our pom dance. It's been incredibly easy and I've made it clear that it won't stay that way. It's hard to clean any of the dance because so many people are gone because these practices aren't a huge deal, and even when we do clean something the two juniors who we no longer want to be captain take it upon themselves to cause problems. Two other juniors have stepped up and they seem to work very well with us senior captains. I've talked to coach about the two problem juniors and she's now going keep an eye on them and hopefully she'll agreee that they just aren't going to work. I guess we'll see what happens when we vote for junior captains in a couple of weeks.

All Time/Current Favorites Artist Edition

2008-04-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

In continuance of my all time/current favorite list due to the fact that songs alone was far to difficult...

All Time Favorites (remember that some of these only make the list because of one or two songs, although most are more than that):
98 Degrees, A Fine Frenzy, Alanis Morissette, Annie Lennox, AQUA, Backstreet Boys, Barry Youngblood, THE BEATLES, Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, The Bird and the Bee, Black Eyed Peas, BRITNEY SPEARS, Celine Dion, Chicago, Christina Aguilera, Coldplay, Colin Hay, Daft Punk, DAMIEN RICE, Death Cab for Cutie, Dido, Elisa, Enrique Iglesias, Enya, EWAN McGREGOR (or anyone from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack), Five, Frou Frou, Gavin DeGraw, Green Day, Hilary Duff, Hugh Grant (or anyone from the Music and Lyrics soundtrack), The Hush Sound, Imogen Heap, Inara George, INGRID MICHAELSON, Iron and Wine, Jack Johnson, Janet Jackson, MICHAEL JACKSON, Jennifer Lopez, JESSICA SIMPSON, Joanna Newsom, John Mayer, Josh Groban, Joshua Radin, Journey, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, Kanye West, LIL' JON, Lou Bega (I know embarrassing right?), Madonna, Mandy Moore, MAROON 5!!, MICHAEL BUBLE, Michelle Branch, Mika, Motion City Soundtrack, NSYNC!!!!!, Norah Jones, OK Go, Pat Benetar, Phantom Planet, The Plain White T's, The Police, QUEEN, Rasheeda, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Regina Spektor, THE ROCKET SUMMER, Rosin Murphy, The Rolling Stones, RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, Sara Bareilles, Savage Garden, Scatman John, SNOW PATROL, SOMETHING CORPORATE, SPICE GIRLS, Spill Canvas, Stars, Sting, T-Pain, T.I., TEGAN AND SARA, Timbland, U2, Vengaboys, VITAMIN C, Wade Robson...

Current Favorites (this list will include some of my all time favorites and music I'm still obsessing over but hasn't quite made the all time favorite list, but is mostly music I still listen to on a regular basis):
A FINE FRENZY, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, THE BIRD AND THE BEE, Bjork, Brandi Carlile, Celine Dion, Chris Brown, Colbie Calliat, Coldplay, The Cranberries, Cupid, DAFT PUNK, DAMIEN RICE, Daniel Bedingfield, Daniel Powter, David Grey, Death Cab for Cutie, DJ Diplo, Eisley, Elisa, Emmy Rossum, Fall Out Boy, Feist, Flo Rida, Flyleaf (I'm So Sick not All Around Me), Forever Thursday, Franz Ferdinand, FROU FROU, Fuego, Glen Hansard, Gnarls Barkley, Haley Bennett, THE HELIO SEQUENCE, THE HUSH SOUND, IMOGEN HEAP, Inara George, INGRID MICHAELSON, IRON & WINE, Jack Johnson, James Morrison, Jay Brannan, JIM STURGESS, JOANNA NEWSOM, John Mayer, Josh Groban, Joshua Radin, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, Kate Nash, Lenona Lewis, LIL' JON, Lil' Mama, Lil' Wayne, M.I.A., Mario Spinetti, MAROON 5!, MICHAEL BUBLE, Mika, Muse, NSYNC!!!!!, Ne-Yo, Nelly Furtado, O.A.R., One Republic, PANIC AT THE DISCO!!, Phantom Planet, PITBULL, The Plain White T's, Queen, Rasheeda, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, REGINA SPEKTOR, Rilo Kiley, Robert Randolph, Robin Thicke, THE ROCKET SUMMER, Roisn Murphy, RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, Sandi Thom, Sara Bareilles, Say Anything, Secondhand Serenade, SHE & HIM, Snow Patrol, Something Corporate, Stars, Stephen Speaks, Straylight Run, T-Pain, T.I., Tegan and Sara, Timbland, U2, Vanessa Carlton, Vengaboys, The Verve Pipe, Westlife, The White Stripes, Will Smith...

I'm sure there are 1000 I forgot but here's a start :)

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Houston Astros

2008-04-27T18:44:00.001-07:00

Born and raised a St. Louis Cardinal fan this was a great weekend for baseball. We started our season off well taking the lead from the beginning. As the first few weeks went by we seemed to be unstoppable. We won our first 5 regular season series, it wasn't until our second series of the season with the San Fransisco Giants on April 20th that we finally lost two of three games. It was a sad day that started off a pretty lousy week for the Cardinals. While our worst losing game streak for this season is still only two games this past week was lose 2, win 1, lose 2, win 1, lose 1, etc. We fell quickly from 1st to 3rd in the NL Central losing our title to the stupid Chicago Cubs. Saturday, April 26th was our turn around game and, in my opinion, a perfect night for major league baseball. The Cubs lost, the Milwaukee Brewers lost (they passed us taking the second place position) and the Cardinals won. We took back the second place spot, and it looks like we will hopefully be taking the 1st place back soon.

Saturday's game was a huge one to win, The Astros came into the game with a six game winning streak hoping to make it seven. Houston took the lead in the first inning with one run. In the bottom of the third we came back with three runs. Houston scored one again in the fourth and the seventh. Going into the bottom of the ninth with a tied score bored it looked like we were going to see extra innings, but the Cardinals right fielder, Skip Schumaker, didn't think that was a good plan. Hitting an RBI single we ended the game right there and then. This three game series was tied one game each.

After ending the Astros six game winning streak the hope for the Cardinals Sunday afternoon game was to have more than a one game winning streak again. Our mission was accomplished beating Houston 5-1. We won another series for our regular season statistics, and more importantly to me took our second place spot behind the Cubs closer to us taking the lead again by only half a game.

SYTYCD Trivia!

2008-04-27T15:13:00.001-07:00

I'd like to say that I'll stop writing random posts about So You Think You Can Dance that no one really cares about but that's really not likely to happen. As season four grows closer every day I find my obsession for this amazing show slowly sneaking back into my daily life. I, like most teenagers, am a facebookaholic (yes I did make that up). Other than my passion for the bumper sticker application on facebook, which keeps me busy for hours at a time sending bumper stickers to anyone I can think of, I spend a huge portion of my day on my other favorite facebook application; Addicted to So You Think You Can Dance.

I've been a member of this application since I first discovered it's existence last summer but it wasn't until I wrote my first post about SYTYCD on here that I discovered the trivia game that goes along with this application. I started playing the trivia game about two weeks ago and since then my rank has gone from 38,263 to 441. It's even more impressive when I say I've earned myself 11,950 points (each question is worth 10 points). My goal for the summer is to take the high score of 23,040 points which is kind of a pathetic goal but I really don't care. I know it's pathetic that I've spent that much of my time wasted playing a stupid trivia game, but I've actually learned quite a bit from this game. For example: Travis Wall's middle name is Michael, and he has a younger brother who also dances for Denise Wall's Dance Energy, or Ivan Koumaev appeared on the Ellen Degeneras show before season two contestants started their tour. I know that this seems like absolutely pointless information that really shouldn't affect my life but it does. I still have more to find out about the little Travis Wall, but I'm very excited about this discovery that has pretty much taken over my life.

All Time/Current Favorites

2008-04-26T15:57:00.000-07:00

Somewhat similar to my "Anticipation!" post this is a list of some of my all time favorite songs and current favorite songs.

All Time Favorites (they may be upbeat, goofy, embarrassing songs from my childhood or somewhat more recent songs that I mostly love to sing/dance to):
Number one on my iPod Elephant by Damien Rice, Wonderful by Annie Lennox, Konstantine by Something Corporate, Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy, Boom Boom Boom Boom by the Vengaboys, Everything by Michael Buble, Feeling Good by Michael Buble, Do You Know (The Ping-Pong Song) by Enrique Iglesias, Thanks for the Memories by Fall Out Boy, Zombie by The Cranberries, Grace Kelley by Mika, Love Today by Mika, Little of Your Time by Maroon 5, Won't Go Home Without You by Maroon 5, Brat Pack by The Rocket Summer, All I Have by The Rocket Summer, Do You Feel by The Rocket Summer, Never Knew by The Rocket Summer, I'm Doing Everything For You by The Rocket Summer, Where We Went Wrong by The Hush Sound, Out the Curtain by The Hush Sound, Us by Regina Spektor, My Bubble Gum by Rasheeda, Technologic by Daft Punk

Current Favorites (includes new music, songs from my Top 25 Most Played, more mellow, and slightly less embarrassing than my all time favorites):
Again number on on my iPod Elephant by Damien Rice, The Blowers Daughter by Damien Rice, 9 Crimes by Damien Rice, Dancing by Elisa, Gravity by Sara Bareilles, Keep Breathing by Ingrid Michaelson, The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson, Insomniac by The Socal Vocals, MLK by U2, Set the Fire to the Third Bar by Snow Patrol, Sparks by The Bird and the Bee, The Night Starts Here by Stars, You're Ex-Lovers Dead by Stars, Run by Snow Patrol, The Moment I Said It by Imogen Heap, No Air by Chris Brown and Jordan Sparks, Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy, Nine in the Afternoon by Panic at the Disco, When the Day Met the Night by Panic at the Disco, Miss You Love You by Maroon 5, Swing by Savage, White Houses by Vanessa Carlton, The Story by Brandi Carlile, Church by T-Pain, Merry Happy by Kate Nash

Okay, there's been a change in plans. This list became way to long and way to hard to narrow down and I didn't even get started on favorites. I'm starting a new list of favorite artists vs current artists. I'll see where that takes me soon...

Pretty. Odd.

2008-04-25T15:48:00.001-07:00

Once again I have my good friend Sean Bateman (who's blog you can also read to find out about this fabulous CD- you really should just read his post because it's much more informative and better in general) to thank for this wonderful CD. Panic at the Disco- formally known as Panic! at the Disco- has finally released their new album. I know you're thinking that it's probably just as bad as their last CD A Fever You Can't Sweat Out but it's not, I promise. When I first heard their single "Nine in the Afternoon" I couldn't wait for the release of Pretty. Odd. While "Nine in the Afternoon" still remains one of my favorite songs on the album it's only because a friend of mine and myself had a silent dance along to this song on our 21 hour bus ride to New York City. :)

My anticipation for this CD was high, but not nearly high enough for what I've gotten out of it. As my anticipation for summer continues to grow rapidly this album fits perfectly with my mood. Pretty. Odd. is full of cheery, upbeat songs about summer that remind me of spending a warm summer day/night outside with my friends sinning at the top of our lungs and dancing around like idiots. My current favorite song (not just from this CD but from everything I'm currently listening to) is defiantly "When the Day Met the Night". The last minute of the song is harmonizing the word 'summer' over and over again, I mean who couldn't love a song that harmonizes about summer! The whole album puts me in a better mood every time I listen to it.

The Boston Marathon

2008-04-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 21st, 2008 was the 112th Boston Marathon and my brother, Rudy's, seventh marathon (it was also his 23 birthday but that's not really relevant). In 2003 he ran his first marathon, the Quad Cities Marathon, in 3:31:40. He took a year off and began training for the Chicago Marathon in 2005. After training he thought he could surely break three hours in Chicago but his real goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

In Chicago he came close to breaking three hours, setting a PR (personal record) of 3:05:14 he was pretty satisfied with his time, more important than setting his PR was the fact that he did qualify for the 110th Boston Marathon in 2006.

We headed off to Boston in April with it instilled in our minds that Rudy would break three hours at his first Boston Marathon. The weather wasn't ideal running conditions, but it was pretty darn close to them; somewhere around 50 degrees, cloudy, and a slight breeze we were all sure he would do it. Standing at the finish line waiting for him the clock seemed to be flying by. As three hours grew nearer and nearer we began to get anxious to see Rudy coming around the corner. As person after person went by Rudy still hadn't shown up. It was gut wrenching to think that he wouldn't come in before three hours, but sure enough the clock passed three. Then we were hoping for at least a new PR, but the clock went past 3:05 and he still wasn't there. Finally at 3:07:30 he crossed the finish line. It was so disappointing for all of us to see, but it just wasn't his time yet. That was my last race for him, I couldn't bear to stand at the finish line and not see him reach his goals that he worked so hard for.

He ran Chicago again in 2006 and 2007. With the cost for Boston being pretty high he decided to wait another year to go back, so in the spring of 2007 he ran the Des Moines Marathon. During all three races I sat at home anxiously waiting for my mom to call and say "HE DID IT", but the calls went the same every time. My mom would call and I would sit in complete silence, she wouldn't say anything either, I always asked "Did he make it?", and the response changed for every marathon saying "He cramped up at mile 16 and just missed it" or "He wasn't hydrated and had a nine minute split" but the worst one was at Chicago this fall when her response was "He didn't finish because the heat was so intense people were actually dying so he made the smart move and stopped at mile 14". Every time was more and more disappointing because not only wasn't he breaking three hours, he wasn't setting a new PR. My relationship with my brother is based mostly on sarcasm so after every race when he came home I would wait a couple days and then hound him on not breaking three.

This year heading off to Boston my parents left me behind again and went in almost the same mindset as the previous time. He ran just over 1,000 miles training for this marathon so this was the most he had ever physically prepared for a marathon, and this was the most he had ever mentally prepared, so on top of those two factors the third most important was the weather which looked like it was going to be perfect running conditions. Race day finally came and it was perfect outside, sunny, 60 degrees, and a slight breeze. He took off at 10am in Boston making it 9am here at home, however, I was confused and thought the race started at 8am eastern time so once 10:30 had come and gone and I still hadn't heard anything I went into a panic stage. There was nothing I could do but wait so I just kept waiting. Finally at about noon central time I got a call from my mom, but I was in class and couldn't answer. I asked to go to the bathroom and listen to my voicemail. Rudy had passed my parents at mile 26 mark and it looked like he was going to make it, but it would be close.

I went back to class anxiously waiting for another call. At 12:12ish I saw I had another missed call from my mom, I waited until the end of class to check my voicemail again. The second we were dismissed I called my voicemail and got the message I've been waiting to hear for four years "HE DID IT!!!!!!". Setting a PR of 2:59:22 Rudy had finally broken three hours. It was close, but non-the-less, he finally did it. He is now part of the 1% of Americans who run a marathon in under three hours, and I couldn't be happier for him.

Travis Wall

2008-04-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

All my excitement for So You Think You Can Dance led me back to my favorite professional dancer, Travis Wall. I first saw him during So You Think You Can Dance season 2 auditions in Charleston, South Carolina. Before he danced they showed a short interview of him and he was talking about how when he dances and he expresses different colors. As I watched him talk I thought oh this will be hilarious, he's gonna be terrible. Then they showed his audition and I feel in love with his style immediately.

Like a majority of trained dancers that audition for the show Travis dances contemporary but his style of contemporary is different than most others. Majority of contemporary dances show the dancers flexibility though difficult technical tricks such as leaps and kicks, Travis' solos have more of an emphasis on turns and actual dancing instead of trick after trick. Of course his solos still have those technical tricks because without them his style would definitely be lacking. He is famous for his difficult turns that include anything from a regular pirouette to grand tours and fouettes but most commonly it's his own original turn. Throughout all of the season I voted for him religiously. As it came closer to time for the finale I started to think about how I was going to continue watching him and other SYTYCD contestants after the show ended.

I did my research on Travis and his fellow contestants Allison Holker, Ivan Koumaev, and Travis' long time dance partner that would later join the season 3 contestants Jaimie Goodwin. Their fame from the show landed all of these contestants a job with the New York City Dance Alliance. NYCDA is the highest national dance competition that travels around the United States. This was a new world for untrained hip-hop dancer Ivan Koumaev but he seemed to adapt to the competition world very well. Jaimie and Travis were certainly not new to this venue, both have earned Denise Wall's Dance Energy several national titles at this competition in the past. Travis choreographed dances including 2004 grand champion winners Fever and We're Gonna Party for his mother studio. Jaimie and Travis graduated from Denise Wall's DE and brought best friends Allison and Ivan along with them into the world of competitive dance and they are all there to stay.

Season Four

2008-04-14T17:23:00.001-07:00

Last week American Idol did a special that included an opening number full of my favorite So You Think You Can Dance contestants. I normally don't watch American Idol just because I forget it's on so I missed this performance. The next day at school my friends were talking about it and I was so mad that I missed it because SYTYCD is a huge deal to me. I remembered to YouTube it today. After watching SYTYCD contestants including Travis (season 2 favorite), Melody (season 1 favorite), Danny (season 3 favorite), Nick (season 1 winner), Benji (season 2 winner), Lacey (season 3), Lauren (season 3), Pasha (season 3), Heidi (season 2), Donyelle (season 2), Hok (season 3), Dominic (season 3), Cedric (season 3), Ashlee (season 2), Musa (season 2), and a couple more my excitement for the start of season 4 grew. I spent the rest of my day watching YouTube videos from all three seasons. It's 38 days until the premiere of season 4 on Thursday, May 22 on FOX at 8/7c but with how excited I am it feels like it premiers tomorrow.

As the season premiere approaches it’s almost time for my YouTube addiction to start up again. Going into season 3 I did some research on YouTube to find out who may be auditioning for the season. I went into season 3 with my favorite picked out. Jaimie Goodwin is one of the most incredible dancers you’ll ever see, but she is also one of the most annoying people you’ll ever have to listen to. I thought her talent would be enough for me but as the season progressed and she continued talking I could help but pick somebody else as my favorite. At this point in time I have no idea what to expect from the new season but it better be just as impacting as the last three have been.

Swan Lake

2008-04-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

Swan Lake is one of the best known ballets ever. However, not many people around here know about this Swan Lake. My sister sent me a link to this YouTube video of the Great Chinese State Circus, a group that I had heard of but never seen any of their work. After watching this I promise you I'll see a lot more of them. The video starts with a very cool frog piece that lasts for about 1:30. Then starting at 1:40 until 5:55 is one of the most incredible things you'll ever see. They dance to the traditional Swan Lake music, but it is in no way the traditional Swan Lake.

When it first starts it doesn't appear to be so different from other ballets, you have the male and female principals (the leads) and the female company (background dancers), nothing particularly unusual. At 2:20 is when I got my first surprise. Her legs have so much strength and fluidity it's almost unreal, they move a though they are her wings. Then again at 2:30 her flexibility is completely unreal. Then it goes back to a traditional ballet until 3:20 when she decides to stand on point on his shoulders. If that isn't enough at 3:40 she decides it's a good idea to just do an arabesque turn on his shoulder. It remains insanely cool for a few more technical tricks and then the company comes forward for their moment to shine. At about 4:45 the only thing I can think is "Are you kidding me?!? She's dancing on his head on point?!?". It continues to amaze me until my favorite part at 5:12 until 5:22. I know I pretty much just explained the whole thing so there's really no surprise for you if you watch the video but it's that incredible that I can't stop talking about it! I can't even begin to imagine what this would be like to see in person.

The B-Side Collection

2008-04-10T06:36:00.000-07:00

I think it’s pretty safe to say that everyone has heard at least one Maroon 5 song at some point in their life but only a few have heard their new EP CD. Normally I like to think of myself as someone who doesn't listen to the same type of music as everyone else but Maroon 5 is defiantly an acceptation. It’s not that I don’t listen to the radio ever but typically I make fun of people who aren’t original enough to branch off and find something new and different. Now I can’t take complete credit for most of the music I find. I have several people to thank for the variety of styles that I typically listen to; my sister, Sheena, my brother, Rudy, anything danced to on So You Think You Can Dance, but mostly I have my best friend, Sean Bateman, to thank for all my music.

The latest CD Sean made me includes seven Maroon 5 songs that didn’t make the final track listing of their latest studio album; It Won’t Be Soon Before Long. Their EP album The B-Side Collection was released exclusively on iTunes and within the first day of its release the album went from 96 to 6 on the American iTunes store. As much as iTunes promoted the release of this album not many people seem to know about it, at least not around here. It’s completely understandable that few people know about this because it was only promoted on iTunes. Over the last few weeks I have listen to The B-Side Collection pretty much nonstop. During this time I’ve told anyone and everyone who would listen to me to go home and buy it off iTunes because it’s so worth your money.

Research Topic 3

2008-03-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

I've found two sources that I'm very satisfied with. One was actually mentioned in my second research post and the other I found during class on Tuesday. I know that we were supposed to have somewhere around six good sources by Friday but since I'm going to be in New York City I deiced to procrastinate and find my four other sources over break.

From these two sources I have already learned a lot about rheumatoid arthritis. Almost every question I had about the disease has already been answered. While my questions weren't very complex I'm still pretty proud of how much I've learned from how little I've looked at this point. Some general answers I've found are: it's more common in females, the age group most commonly affected is anywhere from 30-50, it not only attacks your joints but it may attack other vital organs including lungs, blood vessels, heart, and skin. It's mostly common knowledge about the disease that you should know if you are dealing with it.

As for the direction I'm planning on taking the paper I honestly haven't even thought about it until now. I would like it to be mostly informational because that's what I personally wanted to get out of this topic. While that may be common and a little boring I think that's where I'm headed with what I know about rheumatoid arthritis.

My Way Home

2008-03-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Since I wrote a post about "Friends" I thought it was only fair for me to write one about my other favorite sticom, "Scrubs". Staring Zach Braff (J.D.), Sarah Chalke (Elliot), Donald Faison (Turk), Judy Reyes (Carla), and John McGinley (Dr. Cox) this cast is guaranteed to make you laugh. It's another medical show, only unlike Grey's Anatomy or House it's not a drama. That's not saying this show doesn't have any drama because it obviously deals with deaths every now and then. While "Scrubs" has left me in tears a few times so many other times it leaves me with an ab workout. Favorite episodes include: "My Musical" (season 6), "My Own American Girl" (season 3), "My Jiggly Ball" (season 5), "My Half-Acre" (season 5), "My Way Home" (season 5).

I would say the most important episode of all is "My Way Home". This was the 100th episode of the series and to make it more important it was directed by one of the starts, Zach Braff. Braff directs a brilliant episode written by Neil Goldman & Garrett Donovan, two of "Scrubs" most common writers. The episode stands out from all the others because of the many references to The Wizard of Oz. J.D. gets called into the hospital on his day off and wants more than anything to go home. Meanwhile Elliot tries to convince everyone she's an endocrinology expect and in the process she realizes that she really does have the brains, Carla has doubts over being a parent and has to find the courage to raise a child, and Turk has to wrestle over an issue that will either help his career or break his conscience.

Smelly Cat

2008-03-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

My all time favorite T.V. show is Friends. Surprisingly one of my favorite things from the show is from one of my least favorite character. Phoebe Buffet (Lisa Kudrow) is certainly one of the funniest parts ever on T.V. The only thing keeping Phoebe from being one of my favorites is the fact that I can relate all the other characters to people I personally know making them so much more funny. Anyway my favorite thing that Phoebe does on the show is write a song that goes with every situations presented on the show. She prides herself on her honesty and she clearly shows that in every song she sings. The most common Phoebe Buffet song is defiantly "Smelly Cat". It's somehow worked into every season at some point or another (in fact in one episode she makes a music video for the song), Every time it's used it becomes more comical. My personal favorites include: "Blackout" written during a New York City blackout, "Two of Them Kissed Last Night" written about Ross and Rachel's first kiss, "Barnyard Animals" written for a gig she gets at a children's library, "Holiday Song" written as her Christmas present to all her friends, "Little Black Curly Hair" written after Ross won't tell Rachel that their still married, "First Time I Met Chandler" written after Monica and Chandler tell Phoebe that she can't sing at their wedding, really their all hilarious and I won't bore you with my list. If you're ever having a bad day or just want to have a good laugh I highly recommend watching an episode or two of Friends because it's guaranteed to at least make you smile.

Never Miss A Day

2008-03-25T13:29:00.001-07:00

The best advice I could ever give to anyone is to never miss a day of school unless you absolutely have to. I started battling a virus over the weekend and Sunday around 1:00am I was suffering from such a severe cough I couldn't catch my breath. My mom woke up and took me to the hospital. While I was there I started my first round of prednisone, a steroid that helps clear up lungs, and my first round of nebulizing, a breathing treatment of albuterol only instead of an inhaler it's a mist that reaches deeper into your lungs. Both of these medications cause you to become very jittery and prevent you from sleeping. Arriving home from the hospital around 4:00 all I wanted to do is get some sleep, unluckily my medications prevented me from that. Finally getting to bed around 5:30 I slept until 11:00am. Since I still felt like crap it was pretty obvious that I wasn't making it to school or any of my after school activities. After missing one day I am completely overwhelmed with work I need to make up. Missing the review day before a math test I couldn't take the test today so I have to find a time to come in and make it up when my teacher has the time for it. We had a guest speaker in history that I can’t make up so I completely lost those points. I missed everything new that we learned in chemistry. I missed my dance team meeting after school for our next year, and I thought that that wouldn’t be a big deal but apparently I need to find a time when the coach and I can get together for an hour and go over everything one on one.
The most overwhelming part of all of this is that I have absolutely no extra time this week to get caught up, and I’m still sick! Getting home from school all I wanted to do was take a nap and rebut after the long day that school was. But do I have time for a nap? NO! I have two hours to try and get last night’s homework done and try to get a start on tonight’s homework. This wouldn’t be a problem if I knew what the hell I was doing in any of my classes but because I was gone I missed everything I need. Now not only do I have yesterday to get caught up on I’ve requested my homework early because I’ll be missing part of Thursday and all of Friday for our choir trip to New York City. I’m trying to get everything done in time for that and get caught up and kill this stupid virus that has created this whole mess. I guess the point is even if you’re sick do everything you can to not get behind, and don’t spend that sick day sleeping, instead work ahead because otherwise your asking to become overwhelmed.

You're Always Auditioning

2008-03-22T13:06:00.000-07:00

Every spring auditions for both dance team and show choir are held. As audition season approaches you hear the quote "you're always auditioning" a lot. It's used more in the world of show choir because it's so difficult to make show choir and it's a friendly reminder to behave and work your hardest because if you screw around there's always someone else who can take your spot. It's a reminder that can be used in both a positive and a negative way. You might hear it when you've worked really hard and accomplished your goal, but most often it's used when your being obnoxious and holding the group back. Since I life in two worlds (the dance team world and the show choir world) it's a phrase that helps with show choir and should be used a lot more for those auditioning for dance team.

Varsity dance team auditions were held this morning at 9:00am. It's a week long process of learning a dance, practicing that dance, and doing a series of technique skills that you must have to make the team. Actual auditions are held in front of six or seven judges. In front of them you perform a list of 10 different technical skills from the week prior and the try-out dance. They score you and the team is decided where ever the natural break in scores accrue. Practices during this week always run smoothly because no one wants to draw attention to themselves in a negative way. This year there were 20 girls auditioning for the team and only 18 spots. Like expected everyone worked their asses off during this week, they followed all the rules, and they were early to every practice. This is not a clear example of how the new team will actually work if they make it. There's an entire year prior to this week for the coach to look at and see how you will actually behave. No one ever mentions that "you're always auditioning" at dance team practice and I think that some girls don't realize that they are setting themselves up for failure. Whether you are a returning varsity member, a JV member trying to make varsity, a cheerleader that realized that dance team is better, or just a girl auditioning, our coach does her research. Your name will decide if you make the team before your talent. Some of the girls auditioning for the 2008-2009 team have given themselves a bad name and I fear they won't make the team, no matter how talented they are. I got my call this afternoon congratulating me on making the varsity dance team. We have a celebration dinner tonight at 6, it's at dinner when I finally learn who made the team and who didn't. I'm curious to see if the rumors hold true and the girls with the bad attitudes really don't make it. You're always auditioning, and you should never forget that.

The Wonderful World of Disney

2008-03-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

Just like every Wednesday night I was flipping though channels trying to find something worth watching. As I was getting to the end my list of usual channels that I watch I thought I would give Disney a try to see what kind of movie might be on. To my surprise one of my all time favorite Disney channel original movie's "Smart House" was on. Ryan Merriman, one of my favorite Disney actors, stars as Ben Cooper. It's a story about a single father Nick Cooper (Kevin Kilner) raising his children Ben (Ryan Merriman) and his younger daughter Angie (Katie Volding) after the death of his wife. While Nick is working a lot to support his family Ben takes care of most everything at home. He enters in a lot of contests in hopes that if he wins it will better his family's life. After losing contests time after time he finally enters in the right one. Sara Barnes (Jessica Steen) has designed a "smart house" that looks like any other home on the block only this one is run by a computer program, Pat, giving the house a mind of it's own. Pat can get you anything you want/need in the blink of the eye. Once the Cooper family moves into the "smart house" it looks like Ben's life has just become easier. Pat takes care of cooking dinner, helping Angie with homework, cleaning the house, you name it and she does it. Everything is running smoothly until Nick starts dating Pat's creator Sara. Ben thinks his dad is trying to replace his mom with Sara so to stop their relationship from going any further he helps Pat become everything they would ever need. Towards the end Pat develops a mind of her own and has a melt down during which she locks the Cooper family up in the house with no contact to the outside world. Ben has to work with Sara to get her into the house so she can shut Pat down from the control room located in the middle of the house. After Pat realizes that she is in fact not human and that the Cooper family needs Sara she goes back to being the "smart house" that she is.

I was eight years old when this movie came out and I absolutely loved it. Now when I watch it it's not so much the movie I love but the memories it brings back. When I was younger and I watched "Smart House" I really didn't have a care in the world but I wanted more than anything to have my own smart house. The idea of my house making me whatever I wanted for dinner right when I wanted it was the coolest thing in the world. More importantly it could clean my room for me, something that I had issues with as a child.

"Smart House" isn't the only Disney channel original movie that I love re-watching. I generally enjoy almost every movie made from 1991-2001. Some personal favorites are "Susie Q", "Escape to Witch Mountain", "Hocus Pocus", "Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century", "Blank Check", "Genius", "Wish Upon a Star", "Seventeen Again", "Brink", "Johnny Tsunami", "Doubled Team", "Gotta Kick It Up", and soo many more. While yes all of these movies are extremely cheesy you have to have a open mind and be willing to laugh at just how corny they actually are.

Anticipation!

2008-03-16T17:49:00.000-07:00

So if you can’t tell by the four posts (unless you count this post making it five) today I got a little behind on my blog. I took a break from posting and talked to my best friend Sean Bateman about his posts. He wrote one about all the things he’s excited for that are coming up. After reading his list I decided to create my own. I have to give him the credit for the idea and several of the ideas that I’ll use in my own list. Alright I’m excited for opening day at Busch Stadium, New York City, the Boston Marathon, buying Scrubs season one on sale at Target, bringing back my favorite spring time game woodchips, SUMMER, The Hush Sound’s new CD, Zooey Deschanel’s and M. Ward teaming up and making She and Him, my new bead bracelets that I made last night, rereading Harry Potter for the billionth time this summer, SUMMER again because I’m so excited I have to say it more than once, actually watching the movie Once because I still haven’t seen it but I’m obsessed with the soundtrack, the fourth season of So You Think You Can Dance, listening to Stars more, being caught up on my blog, listening to Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy again tonight, dance team next year, Happiness next year, my senior year in general, my sister’s wedding, unlimited texting while I’m in New York, giving my sister more of my music, getting my paycheck, finishing Will and Grace season two, singing Eric Whitacre, painting this summer while listening to Aqua, quoting Friends everyday of my life, singing Phoebe songs with Amanda, all of Sean’s new piano music, having only one more year of dance team camp, the possibility of doing state solo, and everything that I forgot and will want to add later but most likely won’t add.

Research Topic 2

2008-03-16T16:48:00.000-07:00

It took me a long time to come up with a topic that I actually wanted to know about and would be able to research it. I finally decided on studying rheumatory arthritis. I know two people very close to me that were diagnosed with this specific type of arthritis during high school. My older sister, April was diagnosed her senior year of high school. I don’t know a lot about the disease but I know that since her diagnosis treatment for it has improved greatly. She used to take somewhere around nine pills every morning. She was on so much medication that whenever she got a cold it was near impossible for her to get some kind of antibiotic because they couldn’t mix with one or more of her medications. Now instead of taking a ton pills she has to give herself a shot once a month. Whatever the shot is it really helps her because not only does she show less symptoms but the medication in the shot can mix with just about anything. The other person doesn’t really want this to become public because they are very active and don’t want people to think less of them, so for their purpose I’m going to call them Emmy. My hope for researching rheumatory arthritis is to gain a better understanding of the disease in general. I would also love to know how you develop arthritis because I’m pretty sure it’s somewhat genetic (I could be wrong though) but no one in my immediate family suffers from it other than my sister. I also would like to know how the shot takes care of everything that the other forms of medication don’t. I looked at a few websites but I didn’t really get into it much.

Rheumatory Arthritis

Arthritis Treatment and Relief

Arthritis Conditions

Eric Whitacre

2008-03-16T16:43:00.001-07:00

Music is a big part of my life, wither I’m listening to my iPod or singing in choir it's a part of my daily life. I listen to almost every type of music, and I know that everyone says that, but really if you look at my iPod you’ll find hip-hop and indie or rock and classical. I really do mean all types. One of my favorite things to listen to is music that we’re singing in choir because I actually know the parts and it makes it that much easier to understand the music. My favorite composer is Eric Whitacre, and not that I know that many composers to compare him too but from the little I do know his music is the most moving for me. Over the last two years I’ve been lucky enough to sing three of his songs, “With a Lilly in Your Hand”, “Sleep”, and “A Boy and a Girl”. When you hear one of Whitacre’s pieces you know immediately that it’s his. It will start out soft, and then grow throughout the song until the end when he brings it back to the softness at the beginning if not softer. Throughout any of his songs there are clashes between every voice part, with up to eight harmonies at times. All of his songs tell some kind of historical story. “A Boy and a Girl” is a story about two skeletons that were found on a beach somewhere hugging each other when they died. “When David Heard” he tells the story about when David heard of the death of his son, Absalom. The song is 15:07 long it start by saying “When David heard he wept” then it goes on for another 14 minutes saying “my son”. It’s one of his more powerful works. If you ever just sit and listen to one of Whitacre’s songs I don’t doubt that it will leave you in tears.

Can You Feel It?

2008-03-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

With one of the coldest and snowiest winters Iowa has ever seen you can feel the arrival of spring and I couldn't be more excited. As the weather warms up, the streets clear, the snow banks melt, the sun shines and spring spots start everyone knows that it’s finally time to go outside and enjoy yourself instead of going out to shovel your driveway for the third time that day. Today I took a walk with my mom around the neighborhood to help expedite the melting process. With small frozen snow banks still sticking around my mom and I took it upon ourselves to stomp, kick, and jump on the edges to make it easier for the sun to melt the now broken up snow banks. While we didn’t go far we were gone for about an hour beating the snow to pieces. While in some spots you could walk over the edge and it would crumble in others we would jump on it together with all our might and not make a difference. Those times were the most fun. The tough snow banks especially resulted in us jumping around and then laughing for long periods of time because of the fact that we made no difference. Even though we didn’t really accomplish anything worth while on this walk it was our way of bringing in the season of spring.

Opening Day

2008-03-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Born and raised a St. Louis Cardinal fan I, like all other baseballs fans, can't wait for opening day at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. On Monday, March 31^st the new Cardinals line-up will play their first game of the season. My brother was lucky enough to get three tickets to opening day. When he first told me he got the tickets I begged him to take me because I knew he would want to take my older sisters because they would pay their own way. Then my mom offered to pay my way until we looked at the date, I will be in New York City on March 31^st. For the first time ever I didn’t want to go to New York, but I guess I’ll make the sacrifice to miss the game so that my sister’s and I won’t have to fight over tickets and I get the added bonus of being in New York City.

Even though I’m missing opening day I’m still getting excited for the new season with almost an entirely new team. With so many trades for this season it was hard for me to get excited, at first, for baseball season because we traded almost all my favorites. We lost David Eckstein (short-stop), So Taguchi (outfield), Scott Rolen (3rd base), Jim Edmonds (outfield), Scott Spiezio (3rd base and some right field), Troy Percival (pitcher) and some others. Although we lost all these Cardinals to various teams we signed on several promising players. With many injured pitchers last season we signed on new pitchers Kyle Lohse, Blake Hawksworth, Kelvin Jimenez, Kyle McClellan, Jason Motte, Mike Parisi, and Mark Worrell. Not only did we get new pitchers we also signed infielders Brian Braden, Jarrett Hoffpauir, Brendan Ryan and outfielders Brian Barton, Body Haerther, Joe Mather and catcher Jason LaRue. With the loss of old teammates and the gain of new teammates we did keep Cardinals pitchers Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright (our relief pitcher that closed the final game of the 2006 World Series), Anthony Reyes, Tyler Johnson, Josh Kinney, Brad Thompson, Matt Clement, Randy Flores, and Jason Isringhausen. Other returning Cardinals include catcher Yadier Molina and infielders Adam Kennedy, Aaron Miles, Albert Pujols, and outfielders Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan, Juan Encarnacion, Ryan Ludwick, Skip Schumaker. It's hard to know what to expect this season from the Cardinals because it’s such a new team, but looking over the new team roster I’m more and more excited for the start of what should be a great season for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Titled Happiness

2008-03-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

My blog page was titled Happiness and it's not because I'm a person that finds happiness everywhere in everything (even though that may be true), it's because my life is show choir and my show choir is "Happiness Incorporated". I'm the youngest of four which also makes me the fourth child in my family to be in Happiness Inc. I spent my childhood watching my older siblings on stage dreaming of the day when I could be the one on the stage as a member of Happiness.

That day finally came for me at the end of my freshman year when the casting list came out for the 2006-2007 show choir season. Trying out for show choir at Kennedy is a competitive thing, especially for girls. There is so much talent at our school and so many people who try out you should be grateful to make anything at all. I wanted so badly to make Happiness and be a three year member, but I wasn't holding my breath. I'm not the greatest singer so I knew my dance audition would have to carry me threw tryouts if I wanted, even a chance, to make Happiness. That year our choreographer decided to make what he called his "toughest dance audition". It challenged even the best dancers leaving me petrified that I would mess up and not make anything, including our prep show choir Protégé. I went in and could not have done any better, I didn't mess up once and I kept a huge smile on my face to whole time. I came out and I knew that I was one step closer to making it. As the day results came out grew closer I grew more and more nervous. The day before our director announced that it was too difficult for him to pick girls because tryouts were too close so he was holding call backs for all the girls. At call backs he kept having me sing with returning members so I knew that I was on the border of making it. The list was going to be posted on the school webstie. The day the list came out I remember sitting at home on my computer with the page open clicking refresh over and over again, each time hoping the list would be up. Then, there it was! My name on the Happiness list! I screamed for my mom to come look and she wouldn't come because she already knew from my scream.

That was the single greatest moment of my life until I began competing as a member of Happiness Incorporated. Finishing my sophomore year with two Grand Champions, Best Vocals and Best Choreography I thought I had reached the highest level of competition that I ever would. That held true until two weekends ago when we competed at the Great River Show Choir Revelry. Happiness has won 5 Grand Championships out of the 8 years this competition has been held. My siblings won two of those 5; I was part of 2 more. After winning my sophomore year we had the last slot in day rounds meaning we would have the biggest crowd because it was right before day awards. With the auditorium packed full we took the stage as defending champions knowing that we could win it again. It was clear by the end of our opener that we were there to take home another 1^st. When results from day rounds came out we were in 1^st by 23 points, this confirmed us for what we knew too be true, Happiness was going to take it all home. Going into finals we knew that this show had to and would be better than our first. During our warm-up the previous year our band surprised us with our school fight song to pump us up even more. This year I asked our director if he would ask the band to play it again. When the first dumb hit happened everyone knew what it was and we started jumping in a circle celebrating what we knew would be another victory. We took the stage like champions should and did one of the most fun shows known to Happiness. Once they announced Best Vocals and Best Choreography it was obvious that our goal was accomplished. We rushed the stage and took our 4 foot trophy and held it high and proud. With one competition left we can only hope to do another show like our Great River show. There is nothing better than the feeling of accomplishment when you come off the stage after a close to perfect show, no matter what the results are you can’t hide that smile for days.

Research Topics

2008-03-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

I have been asked to write about possible research topics for class and I really have no idea what I would want to write an essay about. We are always told to pick something we are interested in and know a lot about but it was difficult for me to find something I'm interested in and can still do research on. The first thing I thought of was sports history, more specifically the St. Louis Cardinals. It's probably a very different topic than any other student in my class, which can be both good and bad. I have read three or four books, that I loved, about the Cardinals past from when they were still the Brown Stockings (they were called the Brown Stockings because they spit their chewing tobacco out and it splattered their socks and tuned them brown). My dilemma with choosing this as a topic is I don't really know what research I could do for an essay other than how they came to be the Cardinals, there's no opinion that I could add to this as a topic. Other than the Cardinals there's only one other thing I could think of that somewhat interested me and that's reality T.V. I don't think anyone, myself included, really wants to read another essay about reality T.V. and our society. I'll keep thinking. Any ideas for me?